𝑷𝑨𝑷𝑬𝑹 𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺 • 𝐫𝐡𝐲𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧. 𝐦 (wolfblood)

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

After the whole... incident, Lia had made sure that Shannon was okay, which she was. She had cheered up as the day dragged on, but everyone could tell she was still down about her audition. Needless to say, they barely spoke to Jana for the rest of the day - they were all furious with her. Now it was the next day, and after a morning of double maths, break was more than welcomed. Lia had been in the dining hall with her friends, but Rhydian hadn't yet made an appearance. He said something about having to check something in the darkroom, but it had been quite a while, so Lia went to check up on him.

She went in, the door already unlocked. She tucked the key she was going to use back into her pocket and crossed over the floor to greet Rhydian. He was sitting at one of the desks, his face lit up by the glaring white screen of the computer in front of him. She walked over to him, "What are you working on?" she asked.

He turned to smile at her, then turned back to the screen which displayed a long written document, "Just something for History."

"Is Jeffries on your back again?" She asked him gently. She didn't think so. He had been a lot more committed to his school work since his return, which she assumed was his way of showing people that he was not the messed up, reckless kid everyone saw him as.

He shook his head, "No, I started working on this a couple of days ago, but it completely slipped my mind. It's due in tomorrow, and this eclipse isn't helping either, I can't focus." he sighed, letting his hands fall from the keyboard and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. She gave him a sad smile, walking over to squeeze his shoulders. Letting her hands rest there, she tried to make him feel a little better, "Don't stress. With the chaos of the Lunar Fayre, he's probably forgotten all about it."

"Yeah, maybe..." he sniffed, rolling his head back on the headrest to look up at her, "Speaking of the Lunar Fayre and stuff, Jana suggested that we all spend tonight up on the moors. What do you think?"

She could see the hope sparkling in his eyes. She genuinely would love to. All day she had been feeling the usual buzz, but with the eclipse, it intensified everything she usually felt on a full moon. She could run for miles and it would not shake off the energy she had inside of her. But, she twisted her mouth, "I wish I could say yes. I really do, but Mam and Dad would never let that happen, Rhyd."

He grabbed her hands, probably hoping for some sympathy marks, "But you want to go to the Fayre, right? We'll be able to see it from the woods."

She laughed, "It's too risky-"

"We could use Eolas then! Come on, petal. Imagine how great it would be - spending the night up on the moors, in the snow - yes, I checked the weather - surrounded by nothing but nature. Just you, me, Mads and Jana."

She sighed, tipping her head back, debating with herself inside her head. It was probably the most stupid idea she'd ever heard. Wolfing out up on the moors when the whole town was outside in the town square. Just one person glancing over at the woods could out them. He squeezed her hands. She looked down at him. He was pouting, "Do not underestimate me, Smith, I will get on my knees and beg you."

Darn Morris.

"Fine. But we pitch the idea to Mads first. Agreed?"

He grinned, "I knew I always liked you."

☾︎

Their next class was science, which basically consisted of the class standing around not-very-well-set-up experiments while they waited for their new science teacher to figure out what to do next. The group had spent the lesson betting on how long he would last. Given the record of how long new teachers usually lasted at Bradlington High, Lia didn't have much hope and voted for two days.