Art Class, Miss Goshe

Gadiel was watching his classmates flinging the gooey paint all over each other. It looked as if by now everyone was involved in the paint war and were apparently having a great time. He was thinking either the teacher hadn't had a clue how the class was going to turn out or she had expected it and just didn't care. Based upon her attitude he guessed the latter was the case.

He was grinning at all the confusion and mayhem-and happy mess makers- when he heard his painting partner calling him. He turned his attention to her as she came up to him speaking. When she broke off, thoughtfully, he waited to see what she was going to finish with as the bright rainbows of color flew through the air. Scooping up a few cupfuls of paint while she finished her question, he replied, " Doesn't matter to me who gets painted" he grinned again. "Let's just go get someone. want some paint?," He offered her some of the paint he had just picked up holding it so she could choose her color.

Lissa slipped quickly out of the room, her face red, hoping nobody would notice her dead run escape. She headed to the girls bathroom where she quickly pulled her shirt back up off her back and shoulders, and lightly rubbed some healing ointment onto the large bruises, taking some comfort in the soothing feel of the cool medicine on the hot skin before dropping the shirt back into place and disappearing into one of the toilet stalls, locking the door and crouching with her feet on the rim of the toilet seat.

she decided she would not go back to class and would stay where she was till the bell signalling the end of the day had rung. She was embarrassed about her loud outburst and nervous too. besides everyone would soon forget about her and would go back to their fun, which was what she wanted. She didn't know how to fix the situation she was in now, at the reaction her loud outburst had gotten from a couple people...they didn't have to say anything, she'd seen their faces.

Sighing, Lissa thought that hopefully nobody would see her leaving the school or confront her on her reaction to the paint, or her disappearance from class. Her feelings were too much and she couldn't fight back the tears. How could her family never notice and not believe her the one time she tried to tell? Well...she had learned and she would never tell anyone. Never ever would she try to reveal it again. Lissa buried her face in her hands and cried quietly, wishing her life was different, that she was a normal girl.

It had been far too long since the pair of Stills had a good genuine laugh together.  As they sat there giggling uncontrollably in a puddle of what was now a prism mixture of goop , Emma felt as if a weight had been lifted from her tiny shoulders. These candid public moments were far and few between for the siblings, so when they did come around she truly treasured them no matter how short lived they happened to be. Which in this case was particularly short…

Emma could hardly contain her smile as Chuck made his abrupt entrance, laced with his affection for her in a short but sweet compliment. Of course Emma’s heart melted right then and there. Thankfully most of Kyren’s paint hid her unyielding blush that stubbornly appeared in his presence. “Hold on . . . what happened?”  Emma asked carefully getting to her feet concerned in the festive moods sudden shift. Admittedly she was more than confused at what Chuck had been talking about, since she couldn’t quite keep up with the colorful chaos that had erupted within the class. However it seemed to really concern him and on the other end of the spectrum infuriate her brother.

“Someone roughed up a blue haired Nun?” As soon as the question left her lips Emma knew how daft it sounded. While Kyren turned to Chuck going on about finding the teacher, Emma took a moment to compose herself from her foolish previous question. While wiping the paint from her hands with a nearby -fairly clean-  painters cloth, the unmistakable blue hair of the nun classmate caught Emma's attention. It was only for a second for the girl was quickly out of sight as she bolted out into the hallway, but it was clearly Lissa that Chuck had been so concerned over.

Lissa Snow . . . . . . another shy and tepid student. Emma didn’t know her on a personal level, but they had been going to the same school for years. Though Lissa seemed closed off and easily startled, Emma couldn’t help but want to comfort the poor girl. She’d taken off in such a hurry it was obvious now that something must have been terribly wrong . . . but this was far out of the brunette's comfort zone and she’d hate to involve herself where she was unwanted. Yet against her better judgement her heart ached to reach out and help if at all possible, and her feet seemed to agree as they lead her off in Lissa's wake. So not to depart from the boys without a single word, Emma let them know she'd go check on their classmate. After all a females presence would probably be more welcoming than a males.

Through her narrowed eyes, Lorilynn watches the classroom in annoyance. They’re so boisterous and bothersome, practically squawking and splashing paint on each other like animals. For a moment, she wants to scoff at herself.

As if she’s one to talk. She too had carried on quite unladylike earlier, with all her yelling and paint throwing. But it wasn’t like the way she acted was entirely her fault. Between Ah-Gyul’s terrible art skills and Chepe’s brash and barbaric behavior, what was she to do? Stand there with a smile, giggle and cry, “Haha! Good one guys! I’m gonna get ya!”

She thought not!

Instead, she chooses to stand off in the corner with her arms crossed, lips formed in a heavy pout. How is she supposed to wash all this stupid paint out of her hair now? The art teacher said that it didn't stain clothes, but she didn't mention hair.

It's when Lorilynn is inspecting the strands of her purplish, white locks that she can see a blur of blue leave the art room through her peripheral view. She looks up quickly, only to find that Emma has followed suit. Now there's a girl with the right idea, Lorilynn thinks. It's quite obvious that Emma's leaving to wash off some of this paint off of her.

Well, it is a bit too early to be cleaning up with so much time to spare in class, but Lorilynn wasn't above cutting class to tend to her needs, and right now, she needs to be clean. Or at the very least, somewhat presentable.

Without hesitation, she makes for the door, never losing sight of her petite friend. "Oh, Emma," Lorilynn calls out to her. "You're off to get cleaned up too, aren't you? I couldn't stand another minute in there!"

Lissa gradually brought herself under control, wiping her face on the hem of her shirt. She decided no one had seen her run from the room, though she had a nagging feeling that the curly haired Wilder boy had indeed witnessed her mad dash for the hallway. standing slowly she carefully rearranged her clothing, somehow overlooking the fact that the left side of her shirt was still hiked up in the back, revealing the very edge of one of the more serious of her large bruises.

She sat on the toilet seat for a few moments trying to bring her breathing..and every other emotion and function back to her normal state. When she made a break from the bathroom she didn't want a single soul suspecting what had actually happened. Slowly Lissa opened the stall door and exited into the spacious bathroom, fully intent on leaving.

Though the antics of Kyren’s art partner kept Lena occupied long enough to miss the departure of the blue haired mouse, she did indeed witness her best friend and roommate’s escape. What is this!? Emma Marie Stills slipping out of class before it was over? Le’ gasp, what a rebel she’d become! Soon follows the flunking and tattoos…tsk tsk! Might as well turn in her milk and cookies for a flask and whisky! Lena’s exaggerated thoughts prompted a silent and inward chuckle, the best part of her wild imagination was pondering on Kyren’s reaction if that were to ever come to fruition. Oh the horror, heehee...

Honestly this game of one upping the other had become a bore real quick, and even more irritating to the now paint covered teen – she was clearly on the losing end of this battle! With an unamused huff Lena abandoned her revenge plot on Lizzie, before completely losing sanity and drowning the tenacious twin in a shallow bucket of peppy pink paint. Instead she took the chance to follow after her friends before she'd completely lost sight of them. "Ditching class without me? Shame on you two!" Lena accused coming up on the other side of Lorilynn. There wasn’t much hope at cleaning herself up, but maybe with their help she wouldn’t be leaving blue and orange foot prints everywhere she went.

Go to a teacher for help? A dark brown brow arched up incredulously and the look on Chuck's face clearly showed he highly doubted Kyren had any experience in handling domestic violence issues. "Are you insane?" He asked Kyren quietly, trying not to let anyone overhear him, "Listen, I know you don't like me and I really don't care, but this is important. We go running to a teacher about this and the teacher will start askin' her questions. She might clam up, might not come to class, hell - she might even disappear."

As Emma darted after the girl in question, he saw Lorilynn and Lena follow her out. At least she had a kind enough heart to see if she could comfort the girl. He felt good knowing that and turned back to her older brother. Jerking his thumb in the direction of the exit, he bluntly stated, "Emma will be fine with those two with her. But if you're worried, I'd suggest you follow me and make sure nothing happens. Either way, if you nark on that girl to the teacher, you might only make her situation worse." He grabbed his things and, without turning back to Kyren, muttered just enough so that the skinny boy could still hear, "You wouldn't want that now would you?"

Without waiting for an answer, Chuck used his short stature as an advantage for slipping through some of the other students and popped up next to Chepe, lobbing some paint as he went. "Yo," He whispered to him in a conspiratorial way, "I've got to take care of something important. Tell you 'bout it later. Cover for me?" And with that, he slipped out the door and into the hallway. It'd probably only be another ten to fifteen minutes before the bell rang, so hopefully Emma had enough time to get some answers.

It wasn't hard to guess which way the girls had gone - the bathroom, of course - and Chuck nonchalantly headed in that direction. If a teacher happened to spot him, he could just tell them he was heading to the boys' room to clean up. Luckily in was right next to the girls' room. If anything did happen, he'd be close enough that he could just run in and put a stop to it. Odds were that if a dixie cup bouncing off her shoulder made her cry out like that, then there was something seriously wrong. "Bruises." He muttered to himself as he approached the outside of the girls' bathroom and leaned his back to the wall, "Gotta be bruises on that girl."

Laughing at the way Lori had looked as she had taken off out of the classroom, it wasn't hard for Chepe to figure out where she had gone. Of course it would be the bathroom. He figured that was also where his girlfriend had gone-If this was true there would be a real party in there very soon.

Chepe nodded in agreement as Chuck explained he had to do something and finished with asking him to cover for him. He answered, a bit concerned knowing it must be something serious. "I will. Take as much time as you need."

He began trying to come up with some story to cover chuck's ass if he was asked where he'd disappeared to. The fact that he didn't in fact know where he had gone made it easier..but also harder, since he didnt want someone seeing Chuck just after he made an excuse. But it was almost the end of the class and possibly with the number of students, coupled with the paint throwing frenzy going on all around them his friend's disappearance wouldn't be noticed for a while

Emma gazed down the length of the hall on either side, but only the freshly waxed ivory tiles shimmered back at her. Any sign of Lissa or where she had run off to was completely gone. Emma contemplated heading back into class hesitant at wondering the halls blindly, but the thought of Lissa off somewhere alone and possibly hurting (emotionally or physically) was eating away at her tender heart.  Thankfully Lori and Lena’s sudden appearance sparked the -blatantly obvious- idea as to where their classmate had ducked off too.   The Washroom! Speaking of appearances Lori was obviously distraught over her own; prompting Emma to offer her the cloth that she’d been using to clean the paint from her hands. “Well, you survived your first day with only a few battle wounds! That’s a victory if you ask me.” Emma assured her. Lena on the other hand…..she didn’t just lose the battle - she lost the war.

Brushing off the redhead’s “skipping” accusation Emma took a small step towards Lena, not sure if there was anything she could do at this point to help her friend. “Goodness Lena… what did you do? Bathe in it!?” She asked disturbed at the amount of paint that was dripping onto the floor. Oh Lordy the janitor was gonna kill them. Honestly Emma didn’t need an answer. It was Lena after all . . .

Quickly reaching the ladies room, Emma was the first to enter.  To her relief Lissa was indeed there composing herself near the furthest stall.  She’d taken a few steps in her direction before catching sight of her bruised back, stopping Emma in her tracks. It had only been a moment before the shirt fell back into place, but it was definitely a bruise and a rather nasty one at that.

Lorilynn accepts the cloth that Emma hands her graciously before wiping away some of the paint that colors her face. “Ugh, I’d rather not be on the front lines of the war to be honest,” she pouts. And it wasn’t even a war. Instead, it was more like she had been the target of assault.

“And Lena, you poor thing,” she begins, “we’ve got to get you cleaned up before you dry up and stiffen there.” Lorilynn smiles at the thought – the first genuine one all day today.

When they reach the bathroom, Lorilynn quirks an eyebrow at her petite friend’s lack of movement. “Um, hello? Emma? We can’t really get in with you standing in the doorway like that.” When she doesn’t say anything, Lorilynn looks to Lena before her eyes fall on the girl all the way at the end of the stalls.

She looks shaken up, and her clothes are an absolute mess – wrinkled and draped haphazardly. Lorilynn moves closer to Lena and whispers, “Is there… something going on between the two of them? I’m a bit lost.”

All she wants to do is just get to a sink.

Hey this paint was not entirely her fault. No! Technically Emma’s sneaky brother was to blame! He conspired with that partner of his to bring her down! She was half tempted to head back and reap her revenge, but she definitely didn’t want to have to clean up anymore paint from her body. Seeing as she had a big enough job on her hands already.

Upon entering the bathroom Lena hadn’t noticed the 4th girl right away.  She was too preoccupied with her own mess. It wasn’t until Lori acknowledged her that Lena realized how shaken up the girl was, and how it had affected Emma.  “Umm… I don’t even know who she is.” Lena quietly responded to Lori, honestly not realizing it was one of her own classmates. She turned to ask if the girl was okay, but Emma had beaten her to it. Her friend’s voice was soft - almost as if soothing a child. It was obvious that she was out the loop on whatever had happened, so she hung back so that her own brash nature wouldn’t interfere.

Lissa looked up quickly at the sound of many approaching footsteps..suddenly this appeared to turn into a party. How was she going to get out of here now? She tried to keep calm and tried to look relaxed and not how she felt."Hi.." she said quietly, attempting to come off as simply shy the way she always did.

Lissa didnt know if they saw her taking care of the massive bruises on her body but she hoped not. She moved closer to the girls slowly, intending on politely moving around them to escape to the outside. besides these girls never talked to her, so she didn't know them. She only knew them by sight.carefully keeping her arms down, holding her shirt tightly to her body, she said "excuse me, " maneuvering through the girls with a polite smile..

Reaching the door, she said, "have a nice day girls," and pushed the bathroom door open. she thought she had escaped their notice quite well. Looking out into the hallway, she could see freedom moments away, and she stepped out, her hand still on the door. Just as she started leaving she saw that curly haired guy from class, who had seen her escape from the room,  right in front of the door and she stopped, unsure which direction to run in. which way should she go? how would she get away from the three girls, and dodge that Wilder boy as well?

Emma took Lissa’s rigid posture as a warning to back off and leave it be. She obviously didn’t want to talk about it, but she couldn’t just let her go without letting her know that there was someone who would listen to her if she ever wanted to talk. Taking ahold of her hand as she passed by Emma pulled Lissa into a gentle embrace. Careful as to where her hands went Emma gave the frail girl a soft encouraging hug. It might have been awkward sight as Emma was significantly shorter, but she didn’t let it bother her.

Lowering her voice to a hushed whisper Emma chose her word wisely.  “I won’t pressure you to tell me - but if you ever want to talk. I will listen…” She knew that prodding the poor girl any further wouldn’t do anyone any good. It had to be Lissa's decision, and Emma was not the type of person to force her hand.

Lissa looked at Emma, then in turn looked at the other girls, before finally looking at Chuck and back to Emma again. The expression on both Chuck and Emma's faces made her wonder if they already knew.

Silently without a word, knowing that she wouldn't get out of it, with she herself being outnumbered and totally ignoring how many people were there and could see her..all 4 of them... Lissa lifted the back of her shirt as far up as she dared, wincing in obvious pain as the soft material slid up and over her tender skin revealing a mass of black and purple ugly bruises, entirely covering her back. Even though you could only see her back, it could have been easily imagined that the damage was not limited to just the back, but was also spread around to the other areas still covered. She had wanted people to know, and to believe her for a very long time..and even now she worried they would call her a liar or worse.

She dropped the shirt back into place and whispered, with a somewhat tired and frightened look, "I can't talk about it." She fidgeted. "he'll kill me."

Chuck was quiet about it for a while as he processed this information. Despite the fact that he wasn't exactly book smart, he was pretty sure he knew what was going down. The key here was to avoid certain topics and only ask specific, non-probing questions. The vicious bruises were of differing shades - and that meant that this was not an isolated incident. If that were the case, then the offender was probably someone she was close to. A friend, a family member...

He didn't recall seeing her out in public with friends very often. Rather, the only times he'd ever recalled seeing her, she was always dressed in form concealing outfits. This had been going on for a long time. An idea popped up into his head and he gave her a friendly, understanding smile. There was always an answer available if you knew how to find it. But first, a question.

"That's understandable. We aren't going to force you to tell us anything about it if you don't want to. I just have one question for you. Are you going straight home after class today?"

Looking away Lissa said, "yes. I have to. Dad expects me home every day right after school....He'll get mad if i don't..." She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, nervous at the idea of going home. She knew what was waiting for her at home. more of the same. She felt like her fear was showing at the very mention of her dad. She'd never known him the way her sisters did, as a loving father. if they had to live with him...but the simple fact was, she knew, that they didnt.

she wondered what he would hit her with tonight. the aluminum baseball bat he had used on her just that morning? maybe the thick wooden board? maybe he'd just try and kill her with the heavy cast iron skillet. If she was lucky all she would be was beaten. But maybe if she didn't mess any chores up, or burn food..or anything he would let her off? She knew better than to even hope for that but she couldnt help it.

She kept her gaze averted. She didnt know them well yet she was telling them even this tiny bit...He would know the second she had gotten home that she had told. Then what would he do to her? maybe he would arrange an accident for her. or maybe she would just disappear.

It was clear that he didn't have much time then. As she gave her answer, he flipped out his cell phone and sent a quick text message to his younger brother Keith, making sure Lissa couldn't see what he was typing. Lissa Snow is the target of domestic abuse. Bruised all over. Get me her address quick. Call John and Terry and have them meet me at her house. The second the message was sent, he closed the phone as if the message he'd sent was one of no importance. Sliding the phone back into his pocket, he nodded in understanding.

"All right, that's fair." He said, then suddenly remembered something, "Oh, one more thing. Do you happen to walk home or take the bus?" His phone vibrated for a moment, indicating he'd just received a text message.

She looked up. "I walk every day." she always felt like that was the only time she was in full control. she could walk slowly or quickly and she could have that little bit of time not being afraid. "I like being outside." Lissa wondered why he had asked her if she walked or took the bus, and dearly hoped he had not been implying she needed company to walk home with. Oh she could imagine her father if he happened to look out the window and saw her with anyone from school. She wasn't allowed to make friends. He didnt even like the fact that she had Riza. she sighed. Riza was her best, and only friend and the simple fact she had always been a good friend helped her get through, even though it was hard to keep this from her. She was always so observant she had a hard time acting normal around her.

Lissa wondered what he was typing. She knew it wasn't any of her business and she figured if it had been anything important he would have looked more worked up. Maybe she was lucky and he didn't know what was going on with her like she had feared he did. she looked down at her feet and fidgeted nervously. She fully believed her dad would kill her if he found out she had told.

He gave her a nonchalant nod as he checked the message on his phone. Damn, that was fast. Chuck thought to himself as the message not only listed the address, but also that John and Terry were already on their way... with friends. Well then, it looked as if he'd better get this show on the road. The end of the message only had two letters, BP, but he knew what they meant. He frowned and heaved a sigh of exasperation. "Ah, shit."

Looking back at the gaggle of girls he closed his phone and waved it towards Emma. "Hey babe, can we reschedule our tonight's study date for tomorrow?" He asked with a charismatic and apologetic smile, "Forgot about somethin' I need to do with my family." Anyone else in the world might've thought he hated missing out on their big date, but he was sure Emma would catch onto what he was up to. Especially considering they hadn't made plans to study tonight. "Don't worry though, I'll call you later. Right now, I need to change my clothes and go." And with that, he gave them all a friendly wave, turned around and headed for the nearest set of stairs.

Lissa watched him leave, breathing a sigh of relief. He hadn't picked up on anything after all. She looked back at the three girls and said, "I need to leave now too. Class is almost over anyway." She wondered why the girls were so darn quiet, when they had been so noisy earlier, with their chatter as they came in the bathroom.

Oh well. It wasn't any of her business. and this was how she spent her life, questioning nothing anyone did. deciding she better start heading out, she politely waved at the girls, giving them a flat "see you tomorrow!" Lissa then started on her way home.

https://raiisland.forumotion.com/t161-lissa-snow-and-darshan-snow-s-home

Emma watched in absolute shock as Lissa slowly and deliberately pulled her shirt up, revealing the secret she had been desperately trying to hid. In truth it was far worse than Emma could have ever imagined. Her classmate’s slender back was tarnished with black and blue patches, some fading color in the transition of healing while others shiny and fresh. All proof that this was an ongoing torture and not just some horrible accident. The pit of Emma’s stomach turned as Lissa spoke. The poor girl was visibly terrified at what awaited her now that her secret was out, and as the words ‘he’d kill me’ reached the small brunette’s ears she felt physically sick. What kind of monster terrorized such a sweet and innocent girl? As far as Emma knew, Lissa had never hurt a soul – let alone spoke a negative word to anyone. She didn’t deserve this. No one did!

Emma stood in silence listening -as she had promised- while Chuck carefully navigated his conversation with Lissa. It was remarkable how well he handled the situation, however as the topic turned to the girl’s father Lissa’s demeanor darkened. It didn’t take a verbal admission for Emma to realize who the real culprit behind all those bruises was - Mr. Snow . . . . How could a man harm his own child? Even as Emma’s own father slowly lost his sanity to Huntington’s disease, he’d never once raised a hand to her or Kyren. It was barbaric, and someone had to help her.

Pulling Emma from the dark thoughts that currently overwhelmed her was Chuck, as he called out to her with his pet names and warm smile it assured her that everything would be okay. Knowing that she’d be more of a hindrance than an asset in whatever he had planned Emma merely nodded in response to the ‘rescheduling’ ruse, allowing him time to slip away in order to get a headstart on Lissa. Speaking of their blue haired classmate, she used Chuck’s exit as means of escape for herself. Quickly saying her goodbyes she had already slipped away down the corridor.

Once Lissa was out of sight Emma turned back to her paint cover friends. Her cheeks were wet with tears though she wasn’t quite sure when they had appeared, but now that Lissa was gone they ran freely down over the dried black paint. The truth had definitely shaken her. It was hard to digest seeing as this wasn’t one of her storybooks . . . no, this was reality. A reality that now involved them all. She just prayed that whatever Chuck had planned - he was being careful.

Standing beside Lori, Lena’s mouth hung open in shock at the sight of the strange girl’s back. Upon the reveal she (out of reflex) grabbed ahold of Lori’s hand unable to look away. “What the hell did we walk into?” Lena’s voice was quiet enough so that only her fair haired friend could hear, seeing as she was most likely as confused and mortified as she was.

The situation slowly made itself clearer as Emma and Chuck quickly took matters into their own hands. As serious as the situation was it was obviously too big for a bunch of high schoolers to handle. Where was her father when she needed him? Officer Nelson had instilled a strong sense of ‘legal’ justice in his daughter at a young age. ‘An eye for an eye’ was not acceptable under any circumstance, but **** that shit! If Chuck was heading off to prepare a grave for whoever was using this girl as a punching bag than good riddance! Society was better off without them anyways!

Lena was finally able to find her voice again once Emma turned back to them tears in her eyes. “Oh Ems…” Knowing that her tender hearted friend felt that girl’s hurt deep in her core, Lena pulled her into an embrace. A wet embrace, one that affectively covered the front of her friend in blue and orange paint, “Come on lets clean you up! No worries. I am sure everything will be fine.”

The scowl that tugged at Kyren’s face served a secondary purpose of hiding the hurt coiling inside his chest as his fragile moment of contentment was swept beneath an unforgiving tide of insecurities. While he had been upset by the interruption, Emma seemed to have a secondary life breathed into her, a gaze a touch past fond and a vibration of expectancy seemed to come alive at the presence of this near stranger. Turning his head away from the pair, he pressed a middle finger and thumb to his temples in frustration. This only proved that he had every right to fear a rift in the Stills siblings. The one thing that he had so far managed to avoid confessing even to himself now seemed omnipresent. The elder of the two had no idea how to handle this type of smitten sickness because he himself had never had this bodily reaction to anyone, a fact that he had never shared. Seeing it plain on Emma’s face only fueled his hatred of Wilder more, for he was the most immediate cause of this fear. Completely out of his depth, Kyren felt the discomfort lodge in his throat, oblivious to the continued conversation next to him, and almost missed the departure of his sister.

When he did turn back to the sight of her slipping quietly from the classroom, he swore under his breath and swiveled, eyes blazing once more, to the latest cause of his issues. He listened unimpressed as the idiot acted for all his worth like he had done the right thing, scoffing at the irony of being called insane and hiking his own eyebrow up at the self-centered insinuation that his worry for Emma in the face of seeing the results of familial abuse had anything to do with Wilder himself. “You really have no idea what you’ve done, mutt,” he let his voice trail off as he watched the clearly demented Wilder take his leave.

Making his own way for the exit, he silently dreaded the result of this debacle, his worry shoving aside his little crisis moments before. Uncertain of what direction to take, he headed toward to the first place he imagined a group of girls would make their way to, and a destination he would most likely need to make use of himself after the mess in class: the bathrooms. He had no doubt Wilder would insert himself wherever he pleased, so to see him headed away from the place in question, followed by the girl who seemed just as happy to leave the destruction in her wake, made him realize that he had missed the confrontation and dismissed them completely. Now stood awkwardly outside the girls’ side of the bathrooms, he weighed the notions of indecency versus the need to protect and decided the latter was more important as his hand already made the motion to open the door.

It was more or less what he feared, Emma’s face streaked with tears and Lena soothing his distraught sister. He looked on woefully, regretting his lateness, and silently thanking Lena for being there while he was not. Stepping forward, he gently placed the cleaner of his two hands on Emma’s head and looked to Lena for answers.