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.
 
Before lunch, Milo quietly offered Xander to eat under the bleachers with him. He promised not to talk much (which wasn't difficult for him) but suggested it might be better than the noise of the cafeteria.

At the cafeteria, though, Sloan quickly picked up something was going on with whichever twins came, but knew well enough not to press to hard. Instead she privately send texts promising she was there if they needed it.
 
Xander accepted Milo's offer, and sitting under the bleachers with Milo did help him calm down. He finished eating rather quickly, and then he laid down and stared at the underside of the seats above, just resting in silence. He knew what he wanted to do, but he was not certain if his idea was the correct one. Should he do this? Or should he let Alec lead the way? He knew something had to be done. Just... what? And in what order?

Alec tried to be as normal as possible, not yet ready to talk about what had happened publicly. Peter and Becky both caught on that something was up, but they went along with Alec's attempt to be normal. Becky never asked, not wanting to fall into her penchant for prying, but Peter did later check in.

The rest of the day went quickly, and while waiting in traffic, Alec texted Sloan. I don't want to go into details, but I think I saw something happen at school that will make my parents upset. I know I need to talk to them, but I need a pep talk that's more than just raging anger, which is what I'm getting from my twin. I know he doesn't mean it, and he's trying to cool it, but I could use a friendlier pep.
 
Damn, that's really awful, I'm sorry Sloan texted back, I mean I guess like, if it's going to upset your parents, it'll probably upset them more if they find out from someone else? Parents are meant to protect you, right?
 
Alec thought about that. This isn't exactly the pep talk I was hoping for, but you have a point. I'm just worried that if I leave it too long, I won't find the courage, or worse things will happen, or... I don't know. Do you think I should sleep on it?
 
You can, Sloan suggested, But I guess, like, if you think it's really important you do it today... Then like, here's that pep talk: Once you do it, it's like ripping a band-aid off, right? Because if you sleep on it, and wait, it'll just keep weighing on you, and you'll keep making it bigger in your head, but if you just come right out with it, then it's out in the open. The unknown is always way scarier than reality
 
Yep. That's the talk I needed. Thank you. You are absolutely correct. Thanks. Alec took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. Rip the bandage off! He could do that. He could do that! He could... not sit here imagining his father's expression when he told them what had happened. And been happening on a much quieter level.

Xander didn't talk the entire trip. He meant to ask Alec if he was going to talk to their parents, but Alec looked as distracted as he felt. So he said nothing. Maybe they'd talk when they got home. He pulled into his usual parking spot, and Alec got out before him, which was unusual. He followed Alec in, and they called out a greeting as they touched the salt and kicked off their shoes.
 
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