Prodigies Are Made

>8<

School on Monday had a different atmosphere.

Everyone knew what had happened at the party by now. Well, what they were told at least.

Brittany came up to me with a worried look on her face, "I'm so sorry that I didn't drop you off yesterday. I don't know what came over me, I was just so tired, I-"

"It's alright," I said, smiling, "I found my way home."

"Okay... I'm sorry again." She paused for a moment before continuing, "So, you saw that fight, right?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Apparently, the Ark kid was picking on John beforehand." She told me as we started walking.

It was free period so we had 50 minutes to do whatever we wanted.

"Really?" Simeon was the one who started it? It didn't seem that way when we walked in.

"Yeah. Poor John. He didn't even want to come to school today."

This was a big deal around school because fights never happened. Not until Simeon showed up at least.

"I can't say I'm surprised though," Brittany said, "I feel bad saying this but he is from Ark. It's a shame, he seemed nice when I invited him."

He was nice. So why would he randomly pick on John?

"Yeah."

A loud beeping noise interrupted our conversation. Brittany looked down at her wristband, "Sorry, I have to go. I'll see you around, yeah?"

"Of course." I put on another smile for her before continuing on my own.

Many thoughts rushed through my head. Was it insensitive for people to talk about him behind his back? I mean, maybe something was actually wrong with him. Not that that's a bad thing or it's his fault.

But what if he's just angry, like a normal human? Then it doesn't excuse his behavior. He hit another kid, for crying out loud!

Still, John didn't need to take his sunglasses.

Rounding the corner, I found myself in front of the office. The glass windows revealed John, Simeon, and Brittany sitting in a room along with Principal Figs.

Simeon was wearing an annoyed look on his face while John looked dejected. As soon as Simeon saw me, I averted my gaze and picked up my pace. It was none of my business.

But Simeon wasn't even mad about whatever punishment he got, just annoyed. It was kind of scary since disciplinary actions for hurting another student were probably severe. Actually, I didn't know. No one had ever been in a fight during my whole school career.

Whatever it is, they deserved it, both of them. John threw punches back, that was something I was sure of.

Shaking my head, my course reset to the library for some quiet homework time, away from all of these unnecessary thoughts.

~

After school, I decided to stay late. This time, it was to hear the musical practice. The cast list had just gone up today.

"Feel free to walk around a little, feel the song, gesture. Whatever feels natural." The voice of Mr. Bero, our drama teacher, rang out.

They were only doing a read-through of the script, but the actors were acting through their voices. These people had passion, it would be unfair for me to take it away from them.

My presence wasn't needed here. Grinning, I made my way to the bus stop.

When I arrived, however, a realization occurred to me. There was a tiny detail that passed my thought process: Simeon.

He stood there, flipping a small box over in his left hand. His right hand stayed in his pocket and occasionally left to mess with his hair.

As soon as he sensed me, he rolled his eyes and looked away. Maybe I angered him? But what action could have caused that?

Because of my inability to figure it out, we sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"I sold your jacket, by the way." Simeon said.

"Um, okay."

Seriously? He started talking to you and the best thing you can do is 'okay'?

Was it a good idea to ask him about the fight? He might start a fight with me then. But I really wanted to know and the silence was deafening.

"Did you... Were you picking on John before... you know?" I asked.

Simeon finally looked at me, his eyes narrowed, "No. John said the same thing in the principal's office."

So either he was lying or John was.

"Okay." Again, words were spoken without the consent of my brain. 

An annoyed Simeon looked at me, and I could almost see through his sunglasses. Then he turned back toward the school, "Isn't your precious rep being damaged? Why are you still talking to me?"

It was true. The only reason that I am making conversation right now was because people weren't around.

"Sorry."

He laughed, just like when Christy had apologized, "Why? You're not the first and you're certainly not going to be the last."

I didn't even want to be anywhere in the middle.

Sighing, my right hand pulled my hat down and my left hand took out an ear bud to listen to some music as the bus approached.

~

I sat at my piano but wasn't playing. There were many things to perform for tonight's concert but I couldn't choose. Well, it was more of a lack of focus.

There was a debate in my head, MYC or Going Over.

Both were pretty modern songs.

But why does Simeon hate me now? Maybe he just hates everyone now. Or I misread him and he's exactly what John and Brittany said.

And then there was that thought nagging at the back of my mind constantly. What if he's mad at me because I couldn't look at him in the office?

I guess I could have smiled at him or something.

But if I had, then Brittany or John could have easily seen me and know that I hung out with him. That would spread like wildfire and then everyone would know that I was with 'the Ark kid'.

My heart felt weird just thinking that. It wasn't cool. So what if he was from Ark Academy?

But if my parents found out...

That was my stopping point. My parents can't find out that I even talked to him.

But I want to talk to him, which is the confusing part. It was a lot of fun.

How can I tell him that?

Well, I mean, he least I could do is try.