The Modern Four

Chapter 35

Something was off about Violet. Wilbur, Penny, and Hiro could all sense it. She was much quieter, it was almost like she wasn't even there. And she was angry. She lashed out at her teachers, she fought with her friends. She wasn't anything like her normal self. Take now for instance. She was sulking in the corner of the table, not touching her food, as her friends chatted away. Wilbur glanced over at her, and she shot him a glare, then her expression softed a bit, but not enough. He frowned, biting his lip. Penny followed his gaze, glancing back at him and shaking her head. Wilbur sighed, pulling out his phone and quickly texting Penny.

'I don't know what to do about her. She just seems so... mad.' The message read.

Penny glanced at her phone and sighed, quickly texting back.

'Let her be.' She replied. 'She'll be back to normal soon, I'm sure.' Another reply read. Penny figured this whole 'situation' with Violet was just a phase, mood swings, something any normal teenager would go through.

'But what if something is seriously wrong with her?' Wilbur's reply came almost immeditaly. Wilbur thought that is was something much worse. The usual suspects came up, aliens, mind control, etc, etc. He even had a new theroy that this was some strange form of mind control by whatever villian it was who's been attacking them. Silly stuff like that.

'Stop it. If you bother her, than it would be worse. You'll end up like Hiro.'

And Hiro? Well, Hiro was..

"JUST STOP PESTERING ME!" Violet shouted

....curious.

'Good point.' Wilbur texted back, watching what was about to go down.

"S-sorry!" He exclaimed, backing away, smiling nervously, and not sounding too sorry

about it at all. Apparently, when Wilbur and Penny were texting, Hiro was peppering Violet with a million and one questions, all about her strange mood swings. Violet shook her head and stood.

"I'm sick of you asking me all these questions! I'm sick of these sideways glances-" She glared at Penny and Wilbur. "-and I'm sick of all the behind my back talk! Just leave me alone!" She yelled, and the cafeteria quieted. It seemed as though all eyes were on them. Violet seemed to sink back, looking down. "I-I'm just gonna go eat in the library." She whispered, grabbing her backpack and lunch box. She hurried off, and the eyes of the cafetira followed her out. Wilbur slumped back, and Penny sighed.

"...Whoops." Hiro said, sheeepishly.

Violet stormed into the library, signing in and plopping down on one of the seats. She didn't know what was happening. She was pushing away her best friends, basically her only friends. She wanted to stop herself, but she couldn't. She placed her food on the tabled, slowly eating her food. Away from her friends, she felt much calmer. She was confused, and she just wanted to apologize to them. But every time she got near them, she could feel her blood boil. It was almost like she was controled by someone else. She shook her head, sighing and putting her food away. She wasn't hungry. Her phone buzzed, and she glanced down at it. A text from Wilbur was on the screen.

'Hey. Are you okay?' It read. Simple as that. She frowned at the text, already feeling her anger rising. Why did he have to ruin a perfectly calm lunch? Why did her friends have to be so... Annoying? She texted back quickly, a short response.

'Fine.' It said. She turned off her phone and put it in her backpack. She didn't want to deal with them today.

"Violet?" A voice said from behind her. She turned around and jumped when she saw her science teacher, Mr. Pines. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I scare you?" He said, smiling.

Violet's stomach churned. Mr. Pines, was her neighbor, Buddy Pines. He's always creeped her out a little. She slowly let out a breath, and shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Uh, what's up?" She frowned. She thought through her last few days of school. She hadn't forgotten to turn anything in, and she hadn't missed any tests. So why would her teacher be talking to her?

"I was just wondering why you're eating in the library. Don't you usually eat with your friends?"

"They're not being the best of friends right now." She muttered, looking down. Mr. Pines frowned.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that Violet. If you ever need anything, feel free to come talk to me." He smiled, and waved, walking away.

She nodded and watched him go. She sighed. Maybe her teacher was the only friend in the world, right now.

Buddy Pines smirked, glancing back at the student he had just left. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Everything is going exactly as planned." He grinned, and walked back to his classroom.