|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:41 pm
Backdated to April 2024. “Are you sure??” Riker blurted out loud before he could stop himself. He had his palms flat on his desk and he was practically out of his chair, his eyes wide and ears red.
His classmates were looking at him weird, some were giggling and others were making faces, probably feeling bad for Énna, who had just been paired up with him for an assignment.
Before Ms. Tyndall could answer or scold him, he quickly sat back down and dropped his head to his desk. Go figure. This was just his luck. Out of everyone in this class, he had to be paired up with Énna. Who he knew was Yvoire. And who he also knew disliked him greatly (for good reason), but had also given him a kiss on his cheek (as Reims), but he didn’t know he was Reims. Just… that jerk kid who made fun of his locker that one time.
No, this was okay. Maybe he could convince Énna that he wasn’t so bad, right? And then one day he would be able to tell him that he was, well, also magical. And that he knew him. Thankfully there wasn’t much left of the school year, so if he really messed up, he just wouldn’t worry about seeing Énna until the following year. Or something.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:42 pm
Maren was already regretting having the kids work together for their final project of the semester and she’d only just finished pairing them off. Very few of them seemed happy; no doubt they would’ve liked to choose their own partners. Maren understood the desire but didn’t always like the way many of them chose their own friends. The ones that didn’t have friends in the class ended up feeling awkward or left out and the ones that did often ended up too distracted to do more than the bare minimum.
So far, none of the pairs had outright rebelled. Riker’s embarrassment and concern seemed to be the extent to it.
“Is there a problem?” Maren asked, patient and attentive. She didn’t want them to think they couldn’t voice their concerns, but she didn’t want them thinking they could argue against every decision either. It was a balancing act—giving them freedom to grow while also keeping them on task.
She glanced between Riker and Énna. Énna was always quiet in class and never caused any trouble. Riker was quiet, too, though Maren knew he could be a little rough around the edges. She’d hoped they’d balance each other out, that Énna might help soften Riker and Riker might help Énna find more of a voice.
-
Énna sat tense in his chair, gaze cast down toward the surface of his desk, staring at the doodle some other student had left there. He hated group projects, even if the group in question only consisted of himself and one other student. Either he got stuck with someone who didn’t contribute enough or someone who took control without allowing any input from him; in both cases, he would’ve had a better time doing it all himself.
That he’d been paired with Riker...
Énna couldn’t help feeling resentment.
Riker was mean and judgmental. He never really made any effort to be friendly to Énna, and Énna wasn’t all that interested in allowing him the opportunity to prove otherwise. They were different people with different worldviews and different groups of friends, and that was fine, so long as they never had to interact.
Maybe Riker wouldn’t want to do any of the work and Énna could just do the project himself. He wouldn’t mind. He’d even prefer it. He wouldn’t even tell Ms. Tyndall. Riker could take whatever grade Énna earned for them and go off with the rest of his jerk friends, and Énna wouldn’t have to worry about him all summer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:42 pm
This was the absolute worst. He could definitely feel Énna’s loathing from across the room. Embarrassed that Ms. Tyndall was just asking, he popped his head up from his desk once more and got up.
Maybe if he went to talk to her, she could let them just… do their projects on their own or something!
“Hey, sorry. Yeah, um,” he struggled to start once he was at her desk, keeping his voice low so he didn’t have Énna hearing him. “I wasn’t very nice to him before, so now he hates me. And I don’t blame him for hating me, but it’s going to be super awkward and we’ll probably be better off just working by ourselves, okay?”
That was reasonable, right? It wasn’t like he was trying to get out of the work! He just didn’t want to force Énna into something that he could already imagine he wasn’t looking forward to.
“And yes, I’ve tried apologizing. He wants nothing to do with me.” Which was a shame, because they had a lot of fun together as knights.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:44 pm
“Oh…” Maren looked between Riker and Énna again. “Well…”
She should be better at handling situations like this given that it was her job, but she was a bit thrown off by the fact that Riker admitted to not being nice to Énna. Usually kids liked to pretend otherwise, if not outright deny that they’d done anything wrong. Or they blamed the other party.
“Okay… Well…” She was floundering. Maren knew she was floundering. She was going to look weak in front of her students and then they were going to make class a living hell.
“I can’t let you do the assignment alone.” She could, but she wasn’t going to. The whole point of working together was to prepare them for similar situations in the real world, to learn how to get along with people who weren’t their friends. It sucked, but it was what it was, and she couldn’t allow Riker and Énna to do the project on their own without allowing the rest of the class to do the same. “But I can pair you with someone else if you really don’t think you can handle it.”
-
Their classmates were staring, laughing, and whispering to each other. Énna couldn’t hear what Riker was telling Ms. Tyndall, but he assumed it was something along the lines of how he couldn’t work with Énna because it would be embarrassing for him, or… something. Because Énna decorated his locker with cutesy things and painted his nails, or whatever Riker had a problem with when it came to him.
Maybe Riker had tried to apologize that night at the fair months ago, but he hadn’t been specific and Énna couldn’t find it in himself to be forgiving if Riker wasn’t going to admit to what he’d done and that he hadn’t meant it. Énna didn’t know if he’d actually believe Riker, but… it would be better than the awkward, half hearted attempt he’d made before. Maybe…
Maybe not.
Énna kept staring at his desk, kicking the toe of his shoe against one of its legs. This was the worst. He wanted to sink into the ground and be swallowed by the Earth and never have to do any sort of group project ever again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:44 pm
“What? No, I can handle it. I just-- I mean-- I don’t think he’d want to work with me,” he winced, once again not blaming Énna for any of it. He wished things were different but he’d been in a really bad place earlier in the school year. Now, he knew better. And he knew Yvoire. And he really, really wished he hadn’t been mean to Énna.
“Okay, okay, I’ll just… It’ll be fine,” he said, more to himself than to his teacher.
He would just have to not think about the way Yvoire kissed his cheek.
Turning on his heel, he shuffled back to his desk, and then, when it looked like other students were breaking up into their pairs, he followed suit and noisily dragged his chair over to Énna’s desk.
“So uh, your nails are nice,” he attempted, and immediately winced, knowing that Énna wasn’t going to believe him. “No! I mean. I saw a video on YouTube about how much work went into stuff like that, so it’s cool that you have time to do that. I can’t because I play baseball and it’ll just get messed up. I mean, I haven’t thought about painting my nails before, but if I did I wouldn’t want to ruin them, you know? Oh boy, um…”
This was bad. His ears were burning, but he refused to look at anyone in the classroom. They didn’t matter. And he was surprised that he would even think that when he’d spent so many years of his life trying to fit in and paid attention to everyone who… actually didn’t matter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:44 pm
Whatever Riker had been talking to Ms. Tyndall about, it hadn’t done anything to change their fate. Énna slunk down in his chair morosely as Riker shuffled over, cringing at the sound the chair made as it was dragged over the floor.
He shot a brief glare in Riker’s direction before glancing away again, dropping his hands under the desk to hide his nails after Riker drew attention to them. Sure, it didn’t sound like he was making fun of them (yet), but Énna didn’t trust that Riker wasn’t trying to lull him into a false sense of security.
“Some baseball players paint their nails,” he countered moodily, more to make a point than to argue. Just because he liked to paint his nails didn’t mean he didn’t know anything about sports. “So the pitcher can see the signs easier.”
They probably didn’t use glitter or paint flower designs on them, but whatever.
“We don’t have to do this,” Énna continued. “I can do the work myself and we can both take the grade. I’m not really interested in you playing nice in front of Ms. Tyndall just to act like a jerk after school.”
-
Maren watched over Riker and Énna for a few moments to make sure there wasn’t going to be any arguments breaking out in class, waiting for the rest of her students to settle in next to their partners. She felt bad but couldn’t decide what to do about it. Breaking Riker and Énna up to put them with different partners would only draw more attention to them now that Riker had decided he could handle things after all. And there was always a chance working together on a fun end of year project might help them resolve some of their issues!
“Alright, I want each pair to pick one of the plays we read this year and put together a soundtrack for them based on their themes. Design a cover and a track list, and write a paragraph for each track detailing why you picked them. Try to have at least seven. You have until the end of the month. You won’t have to present anything, we’ll just have a fun day at the end of the month to listen to each of your soundtracks.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:45 pm
Riker could feel his ears burn when Énna countered him about the nail painting. He was about to tell him that he played shortstop, but figured Énna wouldn’t care.
Oh boy… Énna looked so uncomfortable just having to talk to him. Riker visibly flinched when it was suggested he would act like a jerk after school.
“It’s not like that,” he quickly tried to explain, but he knew that Énna probably didn’t care about that, either. “I want to--”
Oh, but Ms. Tyndall was talking again, and he sighed and turned to listen. Okay, that was something they could do.
“Well, I mean… we could at least split the work. You’re good with art, and uh… I’m probably not. It’ll look pretty weird if I did it. But I can figure out some songs and write up the reasoning,” he suggested, hoping that Énna would at least give him a chance to help with the project, even if he wanted nothing to do with him outside of that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:46 pm
Énna faced the front, listening to Ms. Tyndall while trying to ignore Riker’s presence in the chair beside him. Énna knew he was being moody, and difficult, and mean. If it had been anyone else he could have at least pretended to be nice even if he was uncomfortable about having to work with someone who wasn’t a friend, but Riker had been mean first. Even after the apology at the fair, Énna still expected him to turn mean again. Once they were alone, maybe. Out in the hallway, or at Énna’s locker.
“Fine, pick which play we’re doing,” Énna said.
If Riker wanted to split the work, Énna wouldn’t argue. They could do their halves separately.
Then again, he didn’t trust Riker not to do a poor job. In Énna’s experience, bullies tended to slack off and only do the bare minimum.
“But I’ll want to read over your work before we turn it in,” Énna continued. “I’m not taking a bad grade if you decide you have better things to do.”
-
Most of her students seemed pleased with the project. Good. Maren tried to keep things fun and relaxed in her class, but she did have to assign some work.
“If anyone has any trouble—” The bell rang. Students began rising immediately, scrambling to throw their things into bags so they could shuffle out of the room. This being the last class of the day, they were probably all anxious to leave. Maren raised her voice to be heard over the din, rushing to finish the thought. “—come see me after class and I can help! I’ll see you all on Monday!”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:46 pm
Riker immediately perked up a bit when Énna suggested he pick what play they should do.
“Oh! Yeah, uh… What about Macbeth? We could throw in some heavy metal music, maybe. Or, I mean, I bet everyone else will do Romeo and Juliet since there’s a bunch of songs specifically for that, but we could probably do it in a satirical way!”
Somehow he didn’t think Énna really cared what he had to say, as long as they got a good grade on the project.
He opened his mouth to suggest something else, but the bell rang. Oh!
“Did you want to have lunch together and we can talk about what we can do for the project?” he asked, his ears burning red because he was pretty sure it was obvious how desperate he was, but not wanting to make it obvious.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:46 pm
Énna did not want to have lunch. He didn’t want to spend any more time around Riker than he absolutely had to. He wanted to work on their project by himself and not worry about Riker’s part until Riker was done with it. They didn’t even have to speak to one another. Riker could do his part first, then Énna could look over it and fix it if needed before doing the rest.
“Macbeth is fine,” Énna said. “I don’t know any heavy metal, but if you already have some ideas you can put them together and I’ll add anything I think of when I look over it.”
He started packing his things, slipping notebooks and pencils into his bag, refusing to look at Riker again. Énna couldn’t ignore the feeling that people were staring, probably waiting for Riker to say something rude and then for Énna to cry about it, or whatever they thought he might do.
“I can’t have lunch, I’m meeting friends,” he added—which wasn’t necessarily true; sometimes he found an empty classroom somewhere and ate by himself when he needed alone time in the midst of a busy school day, but he was sure he could find Atticus if he needed to make things look convincing. “Just do your part and then let me see it. We don’t have to make this a whole thing.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:46 pm
Okay, that was fair. Énna was meeting friends. It would be weird if he just showed up to have lunch with him and talk about schoolwork.
“Oh, I mean… I don’t really know much either but I can look up some stuff!” Maybe he could ask Julian if he had any suggestions for good music. Maybe Evan knew some, too.
Still, it felt strange to just… not say anything else. Riker noisily inched his chair back towards his desk so he could start packing up as well.
“I am sorry. About before. I was a jerk for no reason. I get that you’d rather not have anything to do with me, but I just want you to know that I know I ******** up,” he blurted out before he could change his mind. His ears were burning and he was pretty sure there were other kids staring at them or talking about them. It would probably get back to his brother that he was being nice to the kid who wore his hair long and painted his nails with flowers--
That didn’t matter. He knew what he did had been wrong, and Énna was someone he really liked talking to and being around. Well… maybe not like this, but as knights. Not that he could tell him that…
“So… yeah, I’ll get you what you need for the project. We don’t have to do more than necessary.” It hurt him to say it, because he wanted to beg for a chance to make it up to Énna, but if he needed his space, then Riker would just have to give it to him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:47 pm
Énna told himself he wasn’t interested in apologies, that it wasn’t enough. Maybe if he wasn’t often harassed by other people Riker’s pathetic teasing wouldn’t have bothered him as much. Maybe he could’ve gotten over it and let Riker off the hook.
“I told you we don’t have to make this a whole thing,” Énna insisted. “You said what you said and you can’t take it back, so… It’s whatever.”
He wouldn’t feel bad for shooting him down. He wouldn’t. He didn’t have to play nice. He didn’t have to forgive and forget. He didn’t have to pretend as if it didn’t hurt to be taunted and teased and stared at and whispered about and confronted and made fun of—certainly not for Riker’s benefit. Riker could be sorry all he wanted. What difference did it make?
(It was more than he got from other people who teased him. It was more than he’d expected when Riker first approached him at his locker. But it didn’t matter, because Énna didn’t want it to.)
Standing from his chair in a rush, Énna hoisted his bag onto his shoulder.
“See you,” he said, then made his escape.
He didn’t look back.
He didn’t let himself feel guilty for it either.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 7:47 pm
He knew Énna had no reason to forgive him. He had no reason to give him the time of day.
And yet, he kept thinking about that kiss on his cheek. About how he held Yvoire’s hand as they carefully stepped over rubble. How they kept each other company when navigating through whatever creepy things their Wonders had in store for them.
Riker could feel his heart breaking. But that was what he deserved. His shoulders slumped, defeated, as he stared after Énna as he left the room.
One day, he knew he would have to tell Yvoire that he was the guy who bullied him about his locker, all because he thought he wanted to look cool to people who probably weren’t even paying attention. And he certainly didn’t matter.
He didn’t look at Ms. Tyndall as he collected the rest of his things and left, but he made sure he let Énna have plenty of time to get far away from him first, just in case.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
