Softness In Love

Assurance and Assignments

Amari's POV

When the bell rings, I say goodbye to my friends, Charlie giving them a shy wave, before grabbing ahold of his soft hand and leading him away from the courtyard towards our first class.

"First class of the day is Mental Health with Mrs.Wilson." I tell Charlie with a smile and he turns to frown at me strangely.

"I thought that was just a typo on my schedule. There's actually mental health class here?" He asks me, his voice low and soft, a gentle warm hug that makes my lips pull into a smile when I hear it.

" Yeah, I've head about that. If your school doesn't teach anything about Species or Mental Health, what do they even teach you?" I ask, not understanding how the human school system is setting kids up for life if they don't even teach them common sense courses. Charlie laughs, the sound light, as if not wanting to be heard, his shyness endearing and disheartening all at once, his confidence clearly struggling.

"We'll, they teach us academics mostly. And sometimes things in the Arts like Band and Chorus, but life skills is narrowed down to the one class of Home Economics and Civics & Economics. We don't even know how to do our taxes." He tells me, his comfortability with me making me smile, happy to see him be so relaxed and talking so freely.

"It's okay, you're here now and I would never let that happen to you again." I tell him solemnly and he smiles and shakes his head in amusement.

We finally get to the classroom, and I notice Charlie slow down, his open smiling face becoming tight and anxious as we near the door. I slow down with him, my hand squeezing his softly as I turn to face him. "Hey, what's wrong?" I ask worriedly, not wanting him to be scared of everyone.

His cheeks are red, his face looking down in shake as he goes to answer, his height perfect for me to peek at his face even now. "Are they going to hate me because I'm human? Or treat me differently because of how I look?" He asks, his voice quiet and drained as if it's something he's gone through before and cat bare to go through again. "Will they hate me for being your Mate?" His voice wobbles and tears come to his eyes.

I immediately frown, trying not to laugh so I won't hurt his feelings. I step up to him and prop my head on his shoulder, holding him to me, his head coming down to rest against mine. "You are perfect, okay? This school is full of humans since it's right on the territory line. Mitch is a human, my friend from this morning? And no one is going to care that you're my Mate." I promise him, and though he doesn't seem to completely believe me, he nods and tries to give me a smile which I accept and start tugging him softly towards the classroom. "Besides, your mine. If anyone did have something to say, I'd beat their ass for you." I tell him and he chuckles quietly before nodding his head, his body seeming to relax a little more.

    'I condone violence if it's in the name of Charlie.' Atlas states proudly, and I just snicker, already knowing that he's going to be a lovesick puppy over Charlie.

   When we walk through the door, a few people that are already waiting call our congratulations and cheers. I feel Charlie squeeze my hand nervously, and I hold on tight, nodding at the praise as I quickly get Charlie towards the seats at the back of the room. I place him in the chair closest to the wall, knowing Rico will have a fit, and I snicker before sitting in the middle, leaving my Daemon friend the seat beside me.

   I turn towards Charlie as I pull out my notebook and pen from my book bag and see him looking around carefully, his shoulders drawn up in unease as he holds himself by his torso.

    'I wonder what happened that made him feel so alone and insecure.' Atlas wonders quietly, his heart aching for the human boy we are fated to, the pain hidden deep in his eyes almost familiar.

   I reach my hand out to touch his leg, and jolt when white hot lightning travels up my spine, my cheeks warming at the sensation and the urge to touch him more that follows. I ignore the feeling and instead focus on making Charlie feel better. "It's okay, Charlie." I tell him and he nods, scooting his chair a little closer to mine so that our legs touch, the constant heat distracting as I finish getting myself ready for class.

   Rico finally comes in after another two minutes, his bleak face turning darker as his brows scrunch when he sees his seat occupied.

  He pulls out the chair to the left of me and sits down with a grunt before turning towards me. "Next time you need a sparring partner, ask me so I can beat your ass for giving away my seat." He grumbles but I ignore him, used to his threats and dark demeanor, though Charlie seems a little worried on my behalf.

   Mrs. Wilson walks into the room and closes the door, the bell ringing a few seconds later. She stand at the front of the class, her pencil skirt hiking up by an inch as she leans against her desk. "Good morning class. Since our introduction was interrupted yesterday, I want you guys to welcome Charlie to the class. He's human and this is his first year at an integrated school so make sure to try to be more detailed and open when talking about home life so we don't alienate him, alright, guys?" She announces and the class nods in agreement, a few turning around to wave and smile at Charlie whose face is beet red from all the sudden attention.

   I see him smile back at a few of the quieter kids and I squeeze his leg, proud of him, already knowing just how timid he can be, the trait adorable.

   "You were right. This is a lot different from human school." He tells me and I barely hold in my laugh, the cultural shock written all over his face.

   "So, were you good all day yesterday?" I ask Rico and he looks at me, his face dark and fierce as he goes to answer.

"I was so close. So fucking close to being the best boy in this goddamn world. But no, some asshole just had to sneeze down the back of my neck then laugh about it when I was waiting for her to come and pick me up. When she pulled up to the school, my hand was so red she thought I was bleeding. Stupid bastard ruined my afternoon. She didn't even let me lay on her when we napped. She took away her girls from me." He complained, always whining whenever Rachel doesn't let him use her boobs as pillows. "She said we're not going to the beach!" He adds on, quietly wailing. "I have to wait a whole other week to see her luscious body in her new bathing suit."

    I turn to Charlie with an exasperated expression and he laughs before we turn back towards Mrs. Wilson as she goes to start class. "Okay, guys today is going to be a hard one, I won't lie to you, so let's all take a deep breath together, breath in positivity, openness and acceptance. Breath out all the judgement, the negative self talk, and the anger. One more time." She instructs the class, and I follow along, my body letting go of the tension I was carrying.

   She pulls out a stack of papers before passing them around to each row of tables on both sides of the room, the aisle person passing them down the rows.

   She explains the assignment as we all look it over in curiosity. "Toady we're going to go over some hard topics. Grief. Abandonment. Isolation. Three of the biggest pains to endure and try to heal from. These three pains are the root of so many peoples problems and mental health issues. If people could learn how to acknowledge and accept their feelings before moving on to forgiveness, things would be a lot easier. This is three month long project about Pain and Forgiveness. Every week there's going to be an assignment you have to do for this project, and at the end of the two months you're going to write an essay about what you have learned, what you have accepted, and what/who you have forgiven."

   My heart stops cold in my chest, feelings of anger and resentment rising in me and I can feel the energy in the room change, a mix of sadness, anger and anxiety coursing through the room.

   'This would be good for us, Amari.' Atlas tries to convince me, but I'm not so convinced. And when I look beside me, I see that Charlie doesn't seem to be either, the sadness and loneliness coming off of him in waves.

   "Yeah." Sighs Mrs.Wilson. "That's about what I expected."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Acceptance and Forgiveness have been topics I have been learning a lot about on podcasts and in therapy and in life in general. You guys know my books are all about life lessons. Well, here's this one's.

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