Meraki [Scarian Collage AU]

Chapter 7

"Scar?" Over the lunchroom's noise, he barely heard her. "Yeah?" He turned to look at Pearl. "Have you seen Grian? He should be here by now..." She sounded worried. "I'm not sure... but the principal took Grian with him and he didn't come back to other lessons." The girl pulled out her phone. "I'll call him." 

Pearl nervously placed the phone near her ear. After a while, she put it down. "He isn't answering. I'll go search for him, you two stay here. Ren should be here soon." Scar nodded while Mumbo continued eating his food, and Pearl walked off. 

The silence between the two boys was pretty awkward. "Soo... how did you end up with this group?" Scar might not like people that much, but the thing he hated, even more, was awkwardness. Mumbo shrugged, not too eager to talk to Scar. "Childhood friends." Scar nodded knowingly. "Got it... Is there anything you like to do in your free time?" Mumbo continued eating. "I guess I like to make little electronic contraptions." 

Scar looked at him wide-eyed. "Really? That's amazin'! I like to paint and sometimes play Minecraft. Do you like Minecraft?" For the first time, Mumbo looked up. "I- No... no I do not." Mumbo saw Scar trying to think of something else. "I do sometimes paint." A smile bloomed on Scar's lips. "That's great! We could meet up sometime and paint. It would be great!" Mumbo smiled, but the smile quickly disappeared. "We used to have a whole artsy trio. Me, a painter, Grian, a sculptor, and Isk-" Mumbo shut up, a sad atmosphere was surrounding Mumbo. "We definitely should meet up sometime." 

Scar didn't question it. "Anyways... What do you like painting more nature or-" Someone sat next to him. "Hi! Where's Pearl?" Ren looked at Mumbo and Scar. "She went to find Grian because he wouldn't pick up his phone." Ran nodded. "Got it. What were you talking about?" 

"Just chatting 'bout painting. Nothing interesting." Ran took off his backpack and stood up. "I'll go get something to eat. Watch after my bag, will ya?" Scar shrugged. "Sure. I wasn't planning on going anywhere." Ren flashed him a smile and walked off. 

Once again he and Mumbo fell into an awkward silence, but before Scar could continue asking Mumbo questions, Mumbo's phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the called ID. "Sorry. I'll pick this up." Mumbo answered the call. Scar couldn't hear what the caller wanted, but he made out Grian's name. "Okay." With that Mumbo hung up and put the phone in his pocket once again. "Grian is suspended for 2 weeks. He's home now." 

"Oh..."

All four of them were sitting at the table and chatting, except for Mumbo. He preferred to listen instead of talking himself. "How many more classes do you have after this?" Pearl asked. "Two more, I think." Ren looked at Scar. "Only two? Dude... I and Pearl have 3 more!" Pearl turned to look at Mumbo. "What about you?" Mumbo tried to hide his smile, knowing how Ren will probably react. "One." Just as expected Ren stood up out of his seat. "What the hell, dude?! How is that fair?!" 

The bell rang, interrupting Ren's whining. "I have to go. The next class is on the 3rd floor. Bye!" With that Scar ran off to his classes. "We should go to. Come on, Ren. We will be late." Pearl stood up and pulled Ren away from the table. "Bye, Mumbo!" 

Grian wanted to scream so badly. It was so unfair! He needed to do something. Anything! He was laying on his bed for the past hour, just thinking. "Grian! Dinner's ready!" He heard Timmy shouting while walking past his door. "Not hungry!" He was, but the thought of his mother looking at him like that again just wasn't appealing.  

Grian sat up, looking around his room while tapping his fingers against the bed frame. There was nothing that caught his eye. After a while of just sitting there, Grian heard someone coming up the stairs. It was his mom. He felt her presence behind the closed door. Before she could speak Grian answered. "Come in." She opened up the door and walked in. The door closed behind her and she sat down next to him.

Neither of them spoke up. Just sat in silence enjoying each other's presence. Well, at least his mother was. Eventually, Grian spoke up. "What do you need?" He didn't mean to sound so mean, yet he did. "I- Are you okay? Do you want to talk?" He felt tears threatening to spill and he didn't know why. It was just a simple question... God! Why does he have to be such a crybaby!?

"No." His voice cracked, betraying him. "Are you sure? I only want what's best for you and your siblings. You can talk to me... Is it about Iskall?" Grian wiped a tear that escaped. "No." Clara side-hugged him. "It's okay to be sad. I can't say that I understand how you feel, but I try. We can remember them if you want." He shook her hand off of his shoulder. "I don't want to." She looked at him worried. "Are you sure, that you don't want to talk about Iskall? I know that it can help and-" Grian stood up. "No! I'm fine! Get out!" The tears rolling down his face and onto the ground said otherwise, his cracking voice showing how truly broken he is.

Clara slowly stood up. "Are you sure?" He pointed his hand at the door. "Get out! Please..." Clara knew to respect his wishes. "If you get hungry, I left some food for you in the fridge." She walked out and closed the door behind her. 

Grian fell to his bed, scrunching his face in anger and disgust, trying to get rid of this feeling. The feeling of being weak. He wasn't weak! Men don't cry! They don't have these emotions! But was he a real man? He wasn't. He was just a scared little girl, trying to act different. When will he have his breaking point? When will he stop pretending? When will all of this end?

It was getting darker by the second. The late autumn's darkness was eating his room, slowly making its way towards him, eating him alive, savoring every second. Grian looked out through the window and into the sky. It wasn't yet dark enough to make out stars, but it was dark enough to make out the full moon above him. 

The stars and the dark sky above him always made him wonder what was out there. Was there a better life for him?  Was there an escape? Was there someone waiting for him at their house after a long day of work? Was there anything? 

Grian was lost in his mind for so long, that when he came back he was met with the night sky full of blinking stars. He got out of his bed, opened up the window, and took a step out to the darkness. As soon as he stepped out shivers ran down his body and he walked back into his room to grab something warmer to put on. He picked up another sweater and a warm blanket he had for those cold winter nights. He put on the sweater and took the blanket outside. 

He sat down in a rocking chair he had for these moments, wrapped himself up with the blanket, and stared into the sky above him. The sky reminded him of his sister, she was the one who introduced him to these late-night breaks from reality. At times like these everything didn't feel real. 

Living in a small town had its benefits like the small light pollution, making the night sky even more mysterious, and everyone knowing everyone and everything. 

But that could be a bad thing too. They weren't murdered. He was sure of it. Iskall was the best swimmer in town! Heck, he was the best in his region! The things policemen said was bullshit! They never let them see the body.

Out of instinct, Grian turned his head to look at the house that once belonged to his best friend. Now other people were making memories in that house and it felt so unfair. 

GoodTimesWithScar :D 2023-01-14 00:03

hay iskall
Im sorry if I did anything to hurt you
I really didnt mean it 
im sorry
Could you please respond?
Im worried for you
I'm sorry

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1413 words

Hey! This was a pretty heavy chapter lol. Stay safe, love ya!

-Ollie :]