How Green Becomes Wood

"M'kay, I can see I'm kind of putting you into overload, so I'll stop making suggestions, but I know a place where you can work with horses to pay for your therapy," Xander told him. "It's something to think about, and I can give you a ride one of those days. I'll stop now. You just... take your time."
 
"You might not like it, and that's cool. I'm just saying it's an option." Xander sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "This week has felt like a month. I swear. I'm ready to go home and straight to bed, but we still have stuff to do."
 
"I hate that it's only the second week of school. I feel like this year will never end." Milo complained, and then shook his head, "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be that bothered by it."
 
"I hope so," Milo sighed, packing up what was left of his lunch, "because I'm exhausted. And if it's like this all year, I think I'll probably not survive it. We should probably head to class."
 
Xander cleaned up his stuff and followed Milo out. "Don't worry. We'll figure something out. Half the day down, half to go. Less than half, actually. Then break time. Are you coming over tomorrow?"
 
"Um... I dunno. I guess, probably not. I know Alec and I made up, but it still feels weird. You know?" He shoved his hands into his pockets, "I'm sorry."

Out in the hall, Claire was walking to her class. She was wearing a colorful dress and she had a couple braids in her hair, which otherwise fell loose around her shoulders. While on her way, a bird landed on a tree outside, so she paused to look at it.
 
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"S'alright," Xander assured him. "We can do it another time. Better hurry, though, 'cause the Mini's not going to stay that mini for long. She'll be walking any day now. And Alec works Saturday mornings. Not this Saturday, but other Saturdays, and Friday nights."

Alec was about to enter the classroom when he spotted Claire. He paused, watching her. She was really, really pretty, and she seemed as nice as she was pretty. Her hair captivated him, and her expression looked soft as she watched the bird. He shook himself and turned away. He shouldn't be staring at a girl like this. It was creepy. He hurried into the classroom, suddenly feeling guilty, but he wasn't entirely certain why. Claire... and Emma... why was he thinking about them side by side?
 
"She'll probably still be mini next week, though," Milo replied, able to just barely smile. "When babies fall over you're supposed to laugh at them unless they immense start crying, did you know that?"

Claire very briefly saw Alec, and she smiled and held up one hand as a wave before walking off to her class.
 
"Fair enough. And I guess I didn't know-know that, but Mama did say something about it, I think. Or just does it, not sure," Xander said with a little frown as he tried to remember. "Got something going on next weekend, but if you have energy to spare after school some day, you can come over then. Or whatever. Literally just telling you the openings, not trying to push you into a decision right now."

Xander noticed Alec going into the classroom before them. His thoughtful frown deepened into an actual frown. He slowed walking just a little before picking up to his regular speed. He wasn't looking forward to sitting next to his brother again, but he was also determined not to make a big deal of it.
 
"It's really lucky, actually, because it means you don't need to pretend like it's not funny when they fall." Milo said, hoping Xander would enjoy that. "It's okay that you're busy. What, um, what are you up to?" He asked, giving a wave to Alec as they sat down.
 
"That's a good point," Xander mused. "The folks are doing a special thing. Actually, Mama is doing a big surprise for Ba. It's a whole thing, and she needs help pulling it off."

Alec looked a little surprised and then pleased as he returned Milo's wave. He tried not to make a big deal out of it and turned his attention back to his desk. There was a pop quiz today, or as the teacher called it, a "quest." He stressed that while it would be graded, it was a homework grade, not an actual quiz grade. The point was to help them and him see where they were at now that they were a whole two weeks into the year. Leaving answers blank was perfectly okay, and even though it was short, they had a nice, long time to work on it. The teacher graded them as they were turned in. Alec finished his at about the mid point and turned it in. He got it back relatively quickly, and his heart plummeted.
 
"Oh. That's cool." Milo replied, wondering what that must be like.

Milo took a decent amount of time on the quiz, and did well on what he recognized, but because of how sporadic his school had been, there were some questions he knew surprisingly well, and others which he didn't know at all, and the balance of what he knew and what he didn't seemed incongruent. Still, he made an attempt at every question, rather than just skipping them, because he did genuinely try his best at school, despite the gaps.
 
The teacher praised them for doing their best and said he'd be doing this every so often. He encouraged them to keep their "quests" so they could see their weaknesses, strengths, and where they'd grown. Then it was into the lesson, which went well.

The rest of their classes went by without incident, and then it was time to head home. Xander walked with Milo to the parking lot and offered him a ride home, as he always did. Alec stopped by his locker to sort out his stuff, and in doing so, he quickly lost sight of Xander, who did not wait for him. Pain pinched his heart, but he resolutely continued on his way.

"Hey, look who forgot their guard dog!"

He groaned, recognizing the voice. He really did not have the energy for this. He turned to see the three footballers sauntering toward him, smirks on their fat faces.

"It's been a while since we've had a good talk, you and me," the lead guy said.

"Today is not a good day for this," Alec said bluntly, not flinching away.

The lead baller hesitated, looking confused. This was not the reaction he was expecting. He rallied and grinned at his two friends before reaching out and grabbing Alec's coat lapel. "Where'd you get this? The thrift store's dump?" A single stitch popped as he tugged.

Oh no. That was it! No one touched his coat! Alec smacked the baller's hand away. "Are you serious right now?" he demanded. "I mean, really? Are you kidding me? What do you think you are doing? Tell me! I wanna know! What is three of you kicking around a guy that only one of you could easily turn into a pretzel going to accomplish for you? Is it going to be padding on your resumes? Get you the girl of your dreams? The guy of your dreams? Keep you on top of the dog pile? Or even just make you feel good about yourselves for five more minutes? Does it even make you feel anything at all? Tell me!"

"Uh." The three ballers, especially the lead one, stared at Alec in confussion. To pummel, or not to pummel? But they found themselves strangely captivated by this quivering red-head.

"You aren't going to tell me? Fine! I'll tell you what I think! I think you are all doing it to impress each other and stay on top of the social ladder, to keep your social status, but guess what? The only social status is the one you guys are currently actively creating right now! It could literally be whatever you want! The best guy in school could be the one brave enough to smuggle a bee into the classroom every Tuesday so we get out early for pizza days, or it could the the guy with the best afro, or the one who draws the best kitchen layouts, but you guys choose to make it about who can be the biggest a**holes! Is that really how you want to define yourselves for the rest of your lives? Especially schooling lives? Who can shove the hardest, hit the hardest, and pick on the smallest dude? Really, what is even the accomplishment of picking on someone like me or Milo? Why not try picking on the biggest kids in school, huh? Now that would be an accomplishment! As it is, you are all just a bunch of pathetic bears trundling around smacking rabbits! Wow! Amazing! I am so incredibly impressed by you all, and I can't wait to tell my kids that i went to school with such astounding blowhards as you guys!"

The three guys stood frozen, their faces screwed up as if they were collectively trying to figure out what Alec had said and if they should be offended by it or not. Red faced and seeing his chance, Alec turned and hurried out, aiming for Sloan's car.
 
Sloan was actually just leaving her locker when Alec was confronted by the footballers. She was going to intervene, since Xander wasn't around, but she hung back and watched Alec handle it on his own. Impressed, she stood back until Alec stormed off, and then strode by the footballers. Then she stopped, smiled at them, and said, "If you mess with my friends again I'll tell my friends on the cheer squad that you're," she pinched her fingers to be about an inch apart, and then went to meet Alec by the car. She didn't want to invalidate what he had done, because he had stunned those jerks more than anyone else when they tried to shake them off, but it seemed worth while to add just a bit of an extra incentive.

On her way, she grabbed Benny, who was doing his absolute best to flirt with another freshman girl, and once she reached Alec, she said, "Sorry dude, I had to get this guy to actually come to the car."

"Whatever, you're just jealous girls actually like me."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure all the girls are just aching to date a thirteen-year-old who is only in high school because your mom started you in Kindergarten early."
 
Alec was still a bit red-faced and flushed from taunting death like that, but he tried to brush it aside and focused on Benny. "Really? You are an early achiever? Curious." He didn't know what else to say about it, but at least it was something to talk about and focus on.
 
"Not really," Sloan replied, "His birthday is in December, and my mom didn't think there was much of a difference between him starting school a few months before turning the right age and me starting a week after I did. He didn't astound with his genius or anything."

"I think I was just a really annoying kid," Benny commented, getting into the backseat.

"You were, dude."
 
Alec got in and buckled up. "Well, I hope that head start is working for you now, and I hope you make some good friends here." He looked out the window to watch as they drove.
 
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