Six of Crows in Middle School

Monsieur Kaz (Middle Name) Brekker

Does Kaz have a middle name? I guess the world will never know...

Kudos to ShadowWolf_42 for recommending the following scene. Thx so much!

Kaz caught sight of Wylan sitting at a window inside the diner. The only diner the crows ate at. It was called the Slat. Kaz pushed open the door with his free hand. The other one was holding his cane, of course, and that arm had a backpack strap slung over it as well. 

Wylan's face was smushed against the table next to a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a pile of loose-leaf papers and spiral notebooks. Kaz slid into the booth in front of Wylan without an invitation. He startled the smaller boy as he tapped him on hand.

"Kaz!" Wylan said, a bit too loudly.

Kaz ignored Wylan for a bit as he tried to flag a waiter down. "Coffee. Black," He rasped, as one came over with an open notepad. 

"No sweetener, honey?" The waiter asked, smacking her gum.

"No. No sugar, no cream." Kaz placed his cane next to him on the seat and threw his backpack onto the table. He was completely aware that that was bad manners, but Kaz didn't care. Besides, it was only Wylan, not some rich mercher.

Oh wait...

"Kaz?" Wylan said again, this time as a question. Kaz realized his mistake too late. He quickly composed himself and wiped all emotion from his eyes and mouth.

"Hello, Wylan," Kaz said, finally. "How are you?" He inwardly cringed. Kaz was not prone to small talk, and he knew that Wylan sensed something was off.

Wylan's eyebrows drew together, just as Kaz guessed they would. "Fine... Where did you go last night? After you left Nina's house?"

Kaz cringed again. He didn't exactly want to talk about what happened Friday night. It's been four days since (It's Tuesday when this takes place), and the events that occurred still haunted Kaz.  He didn't want to think about it.

But something about Wylan, his babyish curls, his innocent blue eyes... something about him made Kaz say something he would never have told anyone else. Including Inej, his closest friend. 

"Wylan, I had a meeting with Pekka Rollins Friday night."

Wylan's face was the essence of shock. Kaz knew he didn't expect him to answer the question. Kaz never did. 

"I was there by myself," Kaz continued, "And I was ambushed. By the Dime Lions," Kaz continued, almost too quietly to be heard. "I wasn't expecting it. I should've been, but I was... distracted. I got hurt. A few bruises, but nothing too major."

Wylan's mouth was agape throughout the story, but he spoke here. "Pekka Rollins would force his men to hurt a twelve year old?!"

Kaz chuckled. "Age doesn't matter in the Barrel. You'll learn this sooner than later."

The two boys sat in silence for a few minutes. Kaz was just thankful that Wylan didn't ask why he was meeting with Pekka Rollins in the first place.

Wylan spoke first. "Actually... I'm not very fine right now."

Kaz snapped to attention. He was honestly starting to fall asleep when Wylan said that. "What's wrong?"

Wylan blushed. "I uh... I need help with my English homework."

"Lemme see." Wylan pushed his notebook in front of Kaz and opened it to the right page. 

"We need to write a page about A Midsummer Night's Dream. Can you help me? Please?"

Kaz didn't even think to say no. "Alright Wylan. What character do you want to write about? I have my notebook here. Maybe you can get some ideas."

(Camera zooms out)

Kaz and Wylan kept talking. They didn't even notice a girl, with binoculars up to her eyes, squealing as she reviewed the scene going on in the little booth by the window. 

Thank you soooo much for reading this! If you have any ideas about what I should do for the next part, please don't hesitate to tell me. 

I'm tired. I'm going to sleep now. Bye!

<3 Devon