Swell (Complete)

Chapter Thirty-Eight (Part One)

"We've all made mistakes,
We're no different, only by name,
With our own risks to take,
We can trust that we've all felt the same."

....

The first day back at school felt surreal. Adora had come early with Dodge and spent the Thursday morning with him in his office.
Her mother and cousin had decided that was how it would be from now until they figured out who had attacked Brett and sent her the doll.
She knew it was for her safety, but already she felt overcrowded.
Dodge didn't want her to be with any of the Taylors' alone, that was alright for Tom, but she wasn't OK with trying to keep a friendship with Marti when they were constantly going to be guarded.
Or starting some kind of relationship with Will.
It was probably for the better though, if the person who attacked Brett thought the Taylors were replacing him they would be in danger too.
Was she a danger to everyone who wanted to be around her?
Rae and Kurt?
Or just people that the person thought were romantically involved with her?
She bit her bottom lip hard as she walked through the halls to her locker. She wanted to get romantic with Will, she felt safest with him somehow, but was he safe with her?
She rested her head on the cold metal of her locker door and closed her eyes for a few moments, ignoring the students walking behind her.
"Hey." Marti's voice made her jump in fright and she spun around as her friend's hand touched her shoulder. "I'm sorry." Marti withdrew her hand quickly. "I didn't mean to scare you."
Adora laughed at herself and shook her head. "I think everything is scary at the moment. How are you feeling? I didn't know if you'd make it to school today."
"I think it best not to think about it too much. We don't really have answers, so any thinking would just be guessing and I don't want to get lost in guesses when I have a friend here who needs me." Marti gave her a soft smile and Adora leaned her back against the locker.
"I don't want you to skip grieving. It's important."
"I won't, but I don't want to skip our friendship. That's important too. We both need each other right now."
Adora's shoulders sagged for a few moments before she turned around and unlocked her locker. "Thanks, Marti. Is Will going to be here today?"
"As far as I know, we're all here."
"How is he doing?" Adora pulled her psychology textbook from her locker and hesitated as she held it over her bag. How would Will grieve? Would he let their relationship grow slowly as he had wanted to, or would he retreat back into his shell that she thought she'd broken through?
"I dunno. Will kinda deals with things alone. I remember when they had a party and one of his friends had peanuts... It was horrible to see, and the emergency services didn't get there fast enough. We all watched this guy die from his allergy."
"Shit Marti, when was that?" Adora put her textbook into her bag and straightened up.
"It was the twin's 13th birthday. So, five years ago now." Marti shrugged. "Will went through a stage where he didn't talk to anyone after that."
"Oh my..." Adora felt her heart sinking. Will already knew how to grieve; he'd done it with a friend before. He didn't need her help to grieve his ex girlfriend. They'd all seen someone die before, but an accident was very different to murder.
And she needed Will, even if he didn't need her.
"You OK?" Marti's hand moved to her shoulder again.
"Yea, I just... Sorry." She closed her locker and zipped her bag up. "Let's go to form assembly."

Adora sat next to Will in psychology, but he barely acknowledged her. The small smiles and barely existing answers stung him.
Iain sat on the other side of her and he could feel him watching her and Will.
During the class she shifted her desk closer to his and reached a hand out to rest on the table-top near his.
He stared at her fingers for a few minutes before his fingers moved slowly towards her hand.
He thought about what he'd just lost, and what she was going through.
He remembered the feeling of their embrace; such a strange comfort to him, and a safety she said she needed.
He wanted to be there for her so badly, but even as his fingers brushed hers, he had no idea how he could actually help her.
Before he could pull his hand back, Adora's fingers covered it. He felt his body tense as he saw Iain's face look at him through the corner of his eyes. He looked at their hands, her small, white fingers over his darker ones; closing in between his and giving him a supportive squeeze.
He closed his eyes and thought about the funeral. She had come to be there for Marti and him. Had Liss' murderer been watching?
How could they be the same person?
Why would someone follow them but hurt and stalk those around them?
Nobody in his family would do this, he was sure.
He took his hand back and ran his fingers through his hair before busying both hands so Adora couldn't reach out again.
He looked towards the window when he saw her hand start moving off his desk.
His chest felt heavy and it took everything in him not to get up and leave the classroom.
Everyone would see his behaviour as grief, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing; except that it wasn't just grief. Will was afraid, of the doll Adora had received, and whoever had left it at her doorstep.
Had Liss received any cards or letters before she disappeared?
If Will entered the relationship Adora wanted, that he wanted, would he find another goodbye note?
Will was first out of the classroom when the bell for recess ended.
"Will." The collision was his fault; he was toobusy avoiding eye contact with anyone to see the principal in the hallwaybefore him.
"Mr Dodgers." He stumbled a few steps until Adora's cousin caught his shoulderand steadied him. "Sorry, I wasn't looking..."
"I noticed." There was a light chuckle in Mr Dodgers' tone. "It's alright, Iwas coming to get you anyway. Would you mind coming to my office for a chat?"
Will suddenly felt terrified and had to swallow a thick lump before he couldspeak. "That's fine."
Was Dodge going to accuse him of killing Liss? Warn him to stay away fromAdora?
He didn't know whether he was relieved or terrified when they arrived in theprincipal's office. He put his bag down and took the seat that the tall, blondman gestured to.
"I wanted to see how you're coping. Adora's told me what's been happening, ashave your parents. With exams next week I thought I'd check in on you all tosee if you needed any extra help."
Will's shoulders sagged and he closed his eyes. Not another accusation, nopressure, just a principal doing his job. "I don't know about the others, butI'm at least up to date with the classwork, and so long as nothing elsehappens, as ready for exams as I'll ever be."
Dodge smiled gently. "I'm the school's career counsellor as well, if youforgot. That to a certain degree has taught me how to help others during hardtimes. Please, Will, if there's anything I can do to make the grieving processless stressful... Have you considered applying for special consideration yet?"
Will gaped and shook his head. "No, I- I hope I don't need to think about that.I know the work, it's just a matter of sleeping and not over-stressing, thesearen't my first exams, Mr Dodgers."
Dodge's smile became one sided. "You sound much more prepared than Ianticipated, I won't lie, I'm relieved. I hope your brother and sister won'tstruggle too much either. I'll be checking in on them before the exams start,you can let them know if you think it'll be easier for them."
"Uh, yea. OK. Was that all?" Will started to feel as though the headmaster wassizing him up now, it was the first time he had felt that from anybody butIain. Was Dodge trying to figure out if any of them had anything to do withAdora's stalking?
"That's all, Will. Please, don't be afraid to come and see me if you needanything."
"Sure, thanks." Will stood up and carried his bag by the hanging tag until theoffice door closed behind him.
Did Adora know her cousin was trying to judge the Taylors as criminals?