The City of Havamon

Chapter 8 - I Bet He's Dead

It was the first day of school, and the whole class was whispering. What were they whispering about? Laine and Helena, of course. Who else, besides the kids who went missing?

"I bet they're both dead!" One spoke.

"You better hope not, they were our classmates! What if they're after us next!?" Another replied, paranoid.

A conversation echoed across the room, reaching the ears of Amelia Grey, who goes by Amy, and Gwen Perry, making their eyes dart to the girls talking.

"They're not dead! You guys don't know anything! Laine will survive, no matter what he's put through!" Amy defended, slamming her hands on her desk and standing up as she did so.

The girls laugh to each other then look back at Amy. "Mhm, sure. Then where is your boyfriend, miss stuck-up?" One of the girls taunted. What a dick.

Amy's hands clenched on the desk, knuckles turning the slightest bit white with the force. "He's NOT my boyfriend, asshole! Just because I care about him doesn't mean I'm in love with him!" Amy snapped.

Gwen then tugged on Amy's arm. "Don't waste your time with prissy show offs, Amy. You've got better things to waste your breath on."

Before the argument could escalate any further, the teacher walked into the room and shushed the class.

"I'm sorry for being late, children, my name is Mrs. Winks! I will be your teacher for this year. I would like to alert you students that earlier I was talking with the counselor and a student who has returned after a... hiatus. I'm warning you all beforehand because, well... he looks a bit different. But no matter what, I don't want you kids to judge him, okay? He's going through a lot right now. So no matter what, don't mention his scars, okay?" Mrs. Winks instructed.

The class began to murmur, not knowing what she meant. Scars? What scars? Who was coming back? How different would they look?

Just as the murmuring started, it stopped. Laine stepped into the room, making the whole class go silent. What the hell happened to this kid? He was covered head to toe in scars. It seems like he tried to cover most of it up, but ultimately failed.

"Hello, Laine! I'm sure many of your classmates from last year missed you very much! Why don't you take a seat?" The teacher suggested, trying not to sound like she was pitying him.

Laine nodded lightly and walked to the closest open seat to him. He just had a very long and uncomfortable talk with the counselor, Mr. King, and now he's facing 31 uncomfortable stares. Today was not gonna be a very good day.

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As lunch time approached, more and more whispers filled the halls, all about Laine. What happened to him? How did he get all those scars? Do they make him look stronger or do they make him look ugly? These debates were the topic of every conversation Laine could hear.

As Laine headed towards the cafeteria, head hanging as he heard the whispers of how freaky his scars were, he heard a familiar voice. Not exactly a pleasantly familiar voice, but he knew that voice.

"Laine? Are... are you okay?" A small voice asked cautiously.

Laine swung his head around to see Theodore Mostyn, just as he predicted. Ugh, what was this kid doing? Playing nice so Laine will trust him, and then once his guard is let down, use him? Wouldn't be too surprising. That seems like something Theo would do.

"Why do you care, it's none of your damn business." Laine snapped. As the harsh words left Laine's mouth, and he saw Theo flinch out of the corner of his eye, he felt somewhat of a guilt forming in his gut. Maybe he shouldn't have said that...