Riddle Middle Two

Chapter 38: The Tortoise

Smiley (1st person)

On Friday, at school, Joy came up to me in the hallway. She said nothing, but she held out her hand. She smirked as I handed her the paper. She then walked across the hallway to Lila. She held out her hand, and Lila searched her backpack for the paper. After a minute of searching, she didn't seem to find it and gave up. She looked up at Joy, terrified. Joy pulled her hand back to hit Lila, right as Phred approached her from behind.

Phil (1st person)

"Joy! What are you doing?!" Phred shouted, grabbing her shoulder. Joy hesitated, whipping around and facing him. Phred stared at her, his eyes alone demanding an explanation. Lila shrunk back, then hid behind me. "I- I can explain! I wasn't actually gonna hurt her, I- I was just..." Joy trailed off. "I'm so done with you, Joy! You're such a jerk, and for what!? So you don't have to do your homework?! How could you do something like that?! You were about to hit her, you know you were, over some homework?! You lied to me!" Phred shouted, attracting everyone's attention. Joy shrunk to the ground, her whole body shaking. She began to cry. It looked authentic. Phred offered her no sympathy, he just stared at her like she was a monster. Joy was wailing, but no one offered to help her. Not even her friends. The bell rang, and we all headed for 7th period. Except for Joy, that is, who continued crying on the floor. I suppose she must've gotten up at some point, because I didn't see her anywhere for the rest of the day.

3rd person

After school, Lila was still shaken from her encounter with Joy. 5 came up to her as he did every day. "Hey, Lila. Is everything alright?" He asked, knowing the answer was no. Lila didn't answer, but she pressed against his side, trying to ignore the strong smell of cigarettes that always seemed to follow him. Lila felt her eyes begin to burn, like she was about to cry. 5 led her to a bench shaded by a large tree and sat her down next to him. They sat together for a while, saying nothing. After a while, all of the kids from school had gone home and the sun was starting to sink in the sky, turning it a beautiful mixture of orange and purple. "It's getting late," 5 said. "...Yeah. We should head home," Lila responded. 5 stood and checked the time on his phone. 6:05. He tucked his phone back into his pocket and began to walk down the street, Lila right next to him. 5 noticed a small, slow-moving figure up ahead. An animal, probably. It was in the middle of the street.

"What's that?" Lila asked, following his gaze. "I'm not sure. If it's an animal, it shouldn't be in the road..." 5 said. He picked up his pace, trying to get closer to it so he could see it better. He soon got close enough to realize it was a rather slow tortoise. 5 jumped as he heard the roar of a car motor. A large van was barreling towards them, the driver paying no attention to the road ahead of them. 5 knew instantly that if that van ran over the tortoise, it would surely die. Without thinking, 5 lunged for the tortoise, grabbing it and tumbling out of the way of the van just in time. The driver didn't notice and continued speeding down the road, completely unaware that he'd almost hit 5. 5 panted on the other side of the road, examining the tortoise for any injuries. "5! What were you thinking?! You could have been hit!" Lila shouted, running out in the street next to him.

"I know, I know... But look at him. He definitely wouldn't have made it if I hadn't saved him," 5 said. "I care about your safety more than some turtle. Now get out of the street." Lila ordered. 5 stood, and only then did Lila realize he was hurt. He had quite a few scrapes, several deeper cuts, and his entire body was shaking. "...5..." Lila said as they walked onto the sidewalk, still shocked that he'd risked his life for a tortoise. 5 said nothing as he set the tortoise down in the bushes. They both watched as the tortoise slowly made his way through the bushes. Lila carefully grabbed 5's arm to examine it. He had one deep cut on his hand, and several cuts on his arm that stained his sleeve red. "I'm okay, Lila." 5 said, pulling his hand away. Lila sighed, then turned and began walking towards her house. "...Lila," 5 said, catching up to her. "Yeah?" Lila asked, guessing he wanted to come to her house. "Do you have any bandaids at your house?" 5 asked, his numerous cuts beginning to ache.

"Yeah." Lila said as they crossed the street to get to her house. They walked for a moment until they reached her house, then they walked up to her front door and knocked. "5, what happened?" Lila's mom asked as soon as she opened the door, concerned. "I... I was trying to save a tortoise." 5 answered. "...Okay..." Lila's mom said, deciding not to ask him any more questions in front of Lila. "Come here, 5." Lila's mom said, leading him to the bathroom. She rolled up his sleeve and examined his cuts. "What really happened?" She asked. "I saved a tortoise. I had to jump in front of a car to do it, though..." he said. "You jumped in front of a car for a tortoise?" Lila's mom asked. "Yeah. I suppose the asphalt must've scratched me." 5 said.

5 winced as Lila's mom applied an antibiotic to the cuts on his arm. "I'm sorry, 5." She said. She gently applied bandaids to his cuts, then stroked his hand. "You'll be okay." She assured him. She did the same to the wounds on his other arm, his face, his neck, and his abdomen. "There you go." She said, gently patting his shoulder. She knew he had more scrapes, but they were out of bandaids, and she'd covered all of the deeper cuts. "Thank you." 5 said, feeling much better. She nodded, then stood and walked to the kitchen. "Are you hungry?" She called. "...Yeah..." 5 said. "Okay. Dinner's almost ready. Why don't you go up to Lila's room and I'll let you guys know when it's ready?" She said. "Okay. Thank you." 5 said, heading upstairs to Lila's room.

"Hey, Lila... I really think you should talk to Pico." 5 said, sitting on her bedroom floor. "Why?" She asked. "It was only a dream. You know, when I shoved him into his locker, he was hurt. For real. What he did to me was only in that dream. I'm fine now, and I hardly remember it. You shouldn't hate him for something he did in a dream. He probably didn't even know we all had it." 5 said. Lila nodded. "Yeah... You're probably right. I'll talk to him the next time I see him." Lila said. If after everything that had happened, 5 wasn't mad at Pico, Lila figured she shouldn't be either. After a while, Lila's mom called them back down for dinner, and they ate happily. Once they finished, 5 went back to his house and quickly fell asleep. That night, 5, Phil, Phred, Smiley, Zack, Pico, Lauren, Lila, and Joy woke up, crammed into one cell.