little bird // r.keene

xiv. the show part one.

"Common, little bird, Valley fest only happens once a year. It will be fun!" Mr James told Wren as she stood behind the counter, taking down notes for orders.
"You go ahead, I'll catch you up." She told him, not even looking up as she scribbled down her notes. Her handwriting was messier and more scrawled than usual.

Mr James finished tugging on his coat and leaned over from the other side of the counter, plucking the black biro out of her hand.
"In case you couldn't tell, I was using that." She uttered, finally looking up at him.

"Oh I know, I just wanted you to look at me when you tell me what's wrong." Mr James told her flatly, picking up his walking stick from where it hand been resting on the side.
"Nothing is wrong Mr James." Wren told him and Mr James let out a stifled laugh. "What's so funny?" She asked him, leaning to rest her elbows on the counter.

"I've known you since you learned how to ride a bike, Wren, that means I know you pretty well. I can tell when you lie to me too, perks of being as old as me, you pick up on the little things." He told her and Wren cocked her head.

"What little things?"

"Your handwriting is hardly legible, your right eye twitches and you bite your lip. Not noticeable for all but I feel like I have an advantage." Mr James tried to joke with her but Wren didn't smile.

"It's just a few little things, nothing worth stressing about."
"And the big thing you're stressing about?" He pressed, walking around the counter to face her.

Wren took a small deep breath, running a hand through her hair which tumbled in waves down her back, she pressed a cold palm to her cheek before giving in.
"William's been given an extra three months." She told him and Mr James's shoulders softened at the news. "I went to see him after training today and he's got a black eye. He got in a fight with one of the older boys called Sean, when the guards tried to pull them apart he spat in one of their faces. They had to put him in an isolation room to cool off."

It felt good to tell someone, it bothered her because when Will told her bout it earlier that day, his eye dark and purple, he had seemed proud. Will had mentioned Sean before, how he always made life tough for the new kids for some weird, twisted reason. Wren knew he wasn't a nice boy, but Will wasn't a new kid. He had diverted the question of how it started which told Wren all she needed to know... Will had started the fight.

"Oh, little bird, that's terrible." Mr James told her, stretching out an arm to place it on her shoulder.
"I don't know what happened but I'm just really not in the mood to go to Valley Fest, the idea of being around so many people right now..." She trailed off but also the last thing she wanted to do was run into Miguel or Hawk, or anyone from Cobra Kai for that matter. She was sure by now, the news that Robby was Johnny's son had probably spread to the others and why would Hawk or Miguel spare the detail that Wren knew about it? Wren was sure none of them wanted to see her at the moment and with the news about Will, Wren was happy to comply.

"I'm sorry but no." Mr James said abruptly, and Wren looked him dead in the eye, suddenly afraid. "I won't allow you to be alone right now so you're coming with me, I promise, little bird, life will seem a lot better with some Cotten candy and a show. I promise we can stand by the edge and leave as soon as it's over. But please, I refuse to leave you behind, especially now. No one will even know we are there." Mr James had wandered over to where Wren's jacket hung on a hook by the stairs and threw it over to her, she caught it with surprise but shook her head.