Time Passages (Queen or Freddie Mercury Fanfic)

53. The Last Straw

Danny

As I enter Ms. Yamaguchi's classroom, I notice that her desk is empty, and there's no music playing.  My brows press together a little.  Wonder where she is? I ask myself. 

Then I notice the projector screen is pulled down and showing a computer's desktop background- and there's a copy of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms sitting next to the mouse. 

I roll my eyes.  Baka.  So much for finishing the picture I've been working on all week.

I never thought I would say this, but dang, I am not excited about art class today.  Maybe it's because we won't really be working on any projects; it's the last day of school before Christmas break, so all we're doing really in what classes we have is sitting around and watching Disney movies.  It's always either Disney or superhero stuff (and sometimes both at the same time), I remember even from last year and the year before, that's all teachers want to show us kids on free days.  Then again, maybe that's partly because basically the only movies being made anymore are by Disney.

And oh, sure,  the teacher might say they will play a DVD if we bring one from home that's school appropriate ("What's a DVD?" I remember some kid asking once), but that's a total rip-off, too.  One time, I think in third grade, my social studies teacher made that same old offer, with the added condition that it involved some important, real-life historical happening- so I brought 1776, a musical from the seventies. 

And what happened?  My teacher looks at it, shakes her head, says it's "too old," and pops in Frozen.

When I told Mom, she just shook her head and sighed.  "It doesn't get more historical than a talking snowman.  No, sir."

Come on, guys!  If it's gotta be one or the other, let's see some earlier stuff for once! I huff to myself grouchily, plopping down in my usual seat.  Like the old Marvel movies- the first X-Men, or the first Spider-Man films!  Heck, even the first Superman is great!  But no.  Can't do that, those movies are too ooooooold....

Lauren waves to me when she bounds in, but all I do is kind of smile with closed lips for two seconds, then turn my head down again.

"By the way, I was gonna tell you: Dad believes me now," she croons happily, sitting down real close- closer than usual in fact.  "You know, the picture of John Deacon?"

"Uh-huh."  I don't care, Lauren.  Sorry.  I just don't.

"He even apologized to me for thinking I was just imagining stuff; he looked so freaked, it was so funny!"

"Yeah," I nod.  "Great."

Lauren frowns.  "You okay?"

I shrug. "Sure."

I'm not, of course, but I don't want to talk about it. Well, it's not that I don't want to tell her, it's that I can't. Lauren can't know why I'm sad, and neither can basically anyone else. I'm in enough trouble as is.  Actually, I've been pretty bummed since before breakfast this morning- and not only because Mom is probably going to kill me pretty soon. 

Mostly, it's because Freddie's going home.

I guess I ought to be glad for him, since he's finally going back to his house and the band and friends like that Mario dude on the cover of that book.  I should be very happy, because he will be happy.  But I'm not, no matter how hard I try to be.

I just can't stop thinking about the way Freddie and Mom were acting in the kitchen.  Just-friends don't hold each other around the waist, just-friends don't dance together or Eskimo-kiss for no reason.  There's something more going on between them, I'm just now starting to realize- something that usually would make me gag and act like that kid at the beginning of The Princess Bride.  But instead, there I was, and here I am, thinking how cool it would be if they kissed again like they did at that creepy party- only longer, and more gently.