How Green Becomes Wood

Xander shook his head as he strode past. "I don't want to talk about it." When he reached the opposite side of the hall, he stopped long enough to pull out a stress ball and started squeezing the life out of it.

Alec walked more slowly, his face pinched with uncertainty and worry. "I... will take the grade," he said slowly to Milo.
 
Milo stared at them both in surprise, stunned by the drastic change which had come over them both. Stumbling slightly over his words, Milo peeked back into the classroom at their teacher and said, "oh... okay... I'm sorry it didn't go well."
 
"It doesn't feel like good news," Milo replied with a frown, "Neutral news, maybe, but if you didn't deserve your grade, and she is refusing to fix it, that's bad. It's worse than bad, because that makes it unjust."
 
Alec looked at Milo for a long moment. Then he smiled and reached out to give Milo a fast, one-armed hug, made even more awkward by their backpacks. He was quick to let go and not make it more awkward. "You are a good guy, Milo. A really good guy. It's okay, though. I really don't mind you being proud of your grade because you did a lot of work. It looked fantastic!"
 
"Milo, my friend, you are not one to make a big deal of just about anything. You are My-Low," Alec said dryly. "Anyway, we should get to our next class. I need to think about what to do next."
 
"I know," Alec nodded to Milo's statement that he took some things seriously. His mother, for one, the extent he went to be ignored and/or forgotten, and things like that, but he saw no reason to start listing things out. "I'll let you know. By the way, could you hear anything?"
 
"Okay," Alec said with a nod. "Don't worry about it." He was confused between feeling disappointed and relieved. If Milo had heard, Alec could have asked him to be a witness if need be. But if Milo had heard... Alec would need to ask him to do something he would absolutely, 1000% hate, but would probably do because it would be the right thing, probably.

They got to their next class, and Xander sat quietly abusing a stress toy, giving it a severe workout. At least it was a quiet one so that it wouldn't annoy everyone else. They didn't talk much the rest of that day. Xander was working on maintaining his anger, and Alec was trying to figure out what he should do. What did people do in this situation? The easy answer was talk to his parents, and he knew they'd believe him, but... it would also bring them a lot of pain. He didn't want them to have to face someone like this. Then again, a handful of students were of Arab descent, so what were they most likely dealing with? He just wasn't sure what to do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top