Fog Lines

Chapter 4: Maddison.

I sidle along the edge of the lunch room, trying not to draw attention to myself. The large round lunchroom was almost packed, which is a first as most kids spend their lunch outside. The front stage was set up with chairs and a podium. Why did they have to make an entire assembly about the disastrous field trip? Couldn't they have just talked to the teachers? That would've been way easier. I swear to god if they call on me, I'm gonna scream. I continue around the edge of the room before stopping at my usual lunch seat and I sit down. I am soon joined by Mia and Lily, who both sit down to my right, with Mia right beside me.

Mia looks at me with a worried expression and asks, "How are you feeling? I still can't believe they let you come to school today."

"I'm fine. It still hurts a bit, but It's not that bad. And the hospital can only keep me for a day, so I went home late last night at like, 12:30 and went to bed."

"Oh, so you must be pretty tired," Lily stated.

I nod in agreement and say, "Yeah, but it's not that bad. I slept a lot in the hospital. My dad was pushing for me to stay home and rest, but I didn't want to listen to her and mom complained about how I should of just left Hannah."

A dark grey hoodie appears to my left and a familiar, husky voice asks, "What about your parents being assholes?" I look over to see Jack, hiding under his hood and being as mopey as usual.

"My parents wanted me to stay home and rest, but you know that would only lead to them telling me I should've just left Hannah to die and shit," I repeat.

He just shakes his head and mumbles, "That sounds like them."

We are soon joined by Brian and Jay who take their seats by Lily. The lights soon go dim and the room quiets down. Teachers and principles quickly fill the stage. Our main principal Mr. Baxter steps up to the podium and shuffles a small stake of notes.

He begins, "We have called everyone here in light of a recent occurrence. As I'm sure you've all heard, we have lost the life of one of our students and two others have been injured. We wish to honor the life that was taken from us. Thomas Riley Mccloy was taken from us Monday the 26th when he and another student wandered too far from there group during a class field trip. We understand that this death was unnecessary and could've been avoided and we are currently putting together new regulations to keep this from happening. But this assembly was also called to bring up another event that happened at the same time," He pauses to shuffle to another note card. Hoe don't do it. "We'd like to honor and bravery of another student whose actions saved another students life." Oh my god. He shuffles the cards once more and continues, "Mrs. Maddison Keller risked her life to save another and for that, we'd like to thank you."

I slid out of my seat and stand up saying, "And I'm leaving."

Before I can take another step, the principal calls out, "And we'd like to thank her by giving her a certificate of recognition and a restitution for your injuries. A restitution will also be given to Hannah Pinsky, who was involved in this incident as well. We thank you for coming and before we excuse you we'd like to have a moment of silence for Mr. Thomas Mccloy."

Jack pulls my arm and I hit the seat hard. I groan in pain before quickly silencing myself. Fuck that hurt. A lot. The room settles into a silence once more. For being filled with around 1000 students, you could hear a pin drop. It's still strange being in such a small high school. We moved from a school with over 2,000 students to one that's a half of the size. Everyone here seems to know each other and most probably knew Thomas. My arms and legs burn slightly more now. Shit. My pain meds are wearing off. Hitting the chair really hard probably didn't help either. I unintentionally groan again and lean forward. The large cut going across my stomach hurts like hell.

Mia leans towards me and whispers. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." I assure her. That stings. That stings a lot. God, did I bring my medicine with me? I pull my messenger bag off the ground and dig through it. I pull out a small white bottle and put my bag back on the floor.

The principal tales the podium again and says, "Thank you for coming today. You are all dismissed at the bell. Go to your third period."

I shove the bottle in my pocket and grab my bag once more. The bell rings and everyone starts to get up. I stand up only to stumble slightly, the cut burns. I feel a hand grab my arm and look over to see a Jack pulling me along through the crowd. I follow behind him slowly, dodging the other students. Thank god we have class together or I'd probably be trampled.

"Hey!" I call out in shock as he suddenly turns into a spare classroom and yanks me in. He pushes me on a spare desk and shuts the door behind us. I look at him in confusion and ask, "What the hell dude?"

He shuffles away from the door and pulls his hood off, saying, "I'm sorry. I just... I have to talk to you about that thing."

I'm taken back by his appearance. Dark bags sat under his chestnut-colored eyes and his hair was a mess. My expression changes from one of confusion to one of worry as I ask, "What's wrong?"

"I saw that thing last night. The fucking thing tried to kill one of my cats," he exclaims, not moving from his spot. "That for sure is not a bear. That thing had a human head with a wolf snout and fucking razor claws." He takes a few steps towards me and says, "I can't believe that you survived fighting that thing."

"I can't believe it either, but we can't keep worrying about it," I say. I try to get off the desk but stop halfway due to the momentarily forgotten pain. Jack rushes to my side and helps me off the desk.

"Shit. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. The pain meds are wearing off. I feel like an old person with how much people are worried about me," I answer before pointing out, "We have to get to third period."

He shakes his head and suggests, "I think it'd be better if we took you to the nurse's office so you can take your medicine."

"Fine."