𝑷𝑨𝑷𝑬𝑹 𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺 • 𝐫𝐡𝐲𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧. 𝐦 (wolfblood)

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

The story of Jana's outburst at break was repeated to Maddy in art class (she had spent break time in the dark room, sorting through her recent shots on the camera and printing some for the lesson). Shannon was shaking her head, "After all I've done for her," she began, glaring daggers toward Jana who sat at the back of the room with Rhydian beside her, "Keeping wolfblood secrets, covering for her, and she talks to me like that!"

Tom, Maddy and Lia shared a look. She wasn't exactly wrong, and she did have a right to be angry, but she was still failing to recognise that something was bothering Jana, hence the outburst. If Shannon had just seen this, she may have been more understanding rather than spending almost the entire lesson complaining.

"Maybe... she's just got a lot on her mind." Tom suggested, attempting to reason with her for the millionth time. Shannon just rolled her eyes, "Well, haven't we all?"

Tom blew out a little sigh, "I wouldn't take it personally, okay?"

Shannon shook her head, giving Jana another glare which the girl rightly chose to ignore, "You know what? I am done playing it nice."

Her three friends shared another look, this time one of worry. Not being nice to a wild wolfblood was not going to end well for her. Lia twisted her mouth as she washed her paintbrush, cleaning it for a new colour. If they could just figure out what was bothering Jana, they could help and solve this problem before it got any worse. She hated situations like this that just continued to grow - it was better to figure things out before they got any worse. She tutted, her eyes scanning the paints on the table, the one she wanted nowhere to be seen. She pushed her chair back, standing up, "Back in a sec."

She twiddled her paintbrush between her fingers as she walked over to the counter under the window where all the paint supplies were. She rummaged through the trays of little paint tubes, sighing when she couldn't find what she had come for. About to give up and turn back, she felt a presence at her side, and she looked up to see Rhydian smiling down at her warmly. She reciprocated it, huffing as she decided to look again, "You sure Jana's just feeling off?" she asked quietly. She didn't want to pry, but she found Jana's actions earlier odd. An outburst like that would have been normal a couple of months ago, but now? Jana had gotten so much better at controlling herself, so something heavy must have been weighing on her mind to make her act that way.

He looked at her blankly for a moment, clearly not expecting the question. He blinked, then shrugged casually, "Yeah, she's uh... she's just been mentioning the wild a lot. Homesick, I think."

Lia supposed that might of explained it... if it weren't for the fact that she could easily tell when he was lying. She took a breath, nodding in understanding. She couldn't be mad at him for keeping Jana's worries to himself. It was very understandable if she didn't want her worries exposed to the whole group. She turned back to the table, relieved when the bell sounded. She felt a hand on her back, then a voice next to her ear speaking in a teasing tone, "Stop worrying." She looked up with a pout, watching him walk back to his table. 

She blew out a little sigh, trying to shake off her worries as he suggested and instead focused on the chance that everything would be sorted soon. She really hoped it would, too. She didn't think she could take any more fallings out.

Everyone began cleaning up as she walked back to her table empty-handed, and resisted groaning when Jimi rocked up at their table, "Hey, Tom. I painted you in Judo kit." He held up a piece of paper, with multiple colours of paint splattered all over it. Lia rolled her eyes as Tom frowned, "It's a mess."

"Yeah, that's after I finished with you."

He and his makes snickered as they walked out the door, chucking the now screwed-up painting in the bin on their way out. Maddy scoffed, "You two have a seriously complicated friendship." she commented, just as Jana dashed out the door. Tom made a face and caught Rhydian just before he could chase after the redhead, "Rhydian, I need your help. How do I beat Jimi?"