Chiron Academy

Chapter 19: Getting Out of Hand Pt. 2

"Think about it this way, Wyatt," Amy said," watching a movie with other people is the closest you can get to doing something by yourself while still a group activity. We'll all sit quietly for a few hours and then at the end, we all get to pretend we did something together."

"No, yeah," Wyatt replied nodding, "I think that sounds pre-"

"Hey guys," Todd said. " How are you doing?"

Wyatt spun around to see Todd behind him, holding his empty breakfast tray in his hands. Judging from the crumpled napkin, Wyatt assumed he was on his way to the garbage.

"I just wanted to ask," Todd said," how you were feeling after that kidney shot you took. Are you feeling any better?"

It had been a few days since the sparring in class and the pain in Wyatt's side had greatly subsided by now. He really only felt it sometimes when he twisted his torso wrong.

"Yeah, it's fine now," Wyatt said. " I"m doing okay."

"Nice," Todd said with a smile.

"It is nice," Wyatt replied. 

The words sounded awkward even as they left his mouth. He poured over Todd's face, studying his expression, his body language. Was he still mad?

"Do you," Wyatt said as confidently as he dared," want to sit down?"

"Yeah," Todd said quickly. "Yeah, totally."

"How are things, man?" Wyatt asked as Todd sat down next to him.

"Pretty good. My classes are challenging, but I'm learning a lot. The squad is doing good. I'm keeping up on my homework."

He rubbed his hand against his forehead.

"Sorry, that's the sort of thing I'd say to my mom," Todd groaned. "What's something that's cool going on?- Oh, I know. So I had to wake up early for a meeting, and when I was getting out of bed this morning, I felt some fabric on my face and looked and it was a pair of Ryan's underwear."

Wyatt's and Amy's faces immediately descended into a cringe.

"He claims that they were clean and they'd gotten tossed around when he was looking for something. I choose to believe him because I really don't want to know if they weren't."

"That's... disturbing," Wyatt responded.

"Teenage boys," Amy added, shaking her head. "For as much as things change, teenage boys never do."

"Yeah, fun stuff, right?" Todd said with a shrug. "Anyway, that's pretty much everything going on for me right now? What are you guys up to?"

Wyatt tried his best to hide his excitement at how chill Todd seemed to be taking this. They were joking back and forth. It was like nothing had changed.

"Oh, Amy's having a movie night tonight," Wyatt said excitedly, the words flowing out his mouth before he could stop them. He looked worriedly back Amy in a panic. He had only barely been invited himself. It certainly wasn't his place to mention it to Todd if Amy didn't want him there.

Luckily, she didn't seem to care.

"Yeah," she replied in a nonchalant tone. "I was going to do it in my room but Wyatt reminded me that boys aren't allowed in the girl's side of the dormitory so the location's sort of up in the air at the moment."

"Why don't you do it in the reception room?" Todd interjected. "The big room where we all met the first day before the tour."

Wyatt vaguely remembered the room Todd was talking about. It was a pretty large room with couches and tables taking most of it, thought the day of it had had enough space to hold the admittedly small student body plus al of their luggage. He'd only been in there a few times since she'd arrived. It wasn't centrally-located, it was right near the main entrance. Closer to the faculty areas than anything else, across the building from the cafeteria and the dormitories. The distance from the student areas was enough that there rarely were more than a few students in there at a time.

"In the meeting I was at this morning," Todd continued, "they were talking about how they were thinking about holding more activities in there because hardly anyone ever uses it. I bet it would be quiet enough in there for you guys to do it."

"It's at least worth a try," Amy responded, nodding. "Especially since I have no other ideas.

"Do you want to come as well?" she asked Todd. "It's just us and my roommate huddling around a DVD player but you're more than welcome. The more, the merrier."

"Yeah," Todd said," Yeah, sure. That sounds like fun. What time are you guys starting?"

"Haven't really decided yet," Amy said. "Sometime after dinner. Maybe 8, 8:30."

"Okay, I'll make sure to be there," Todd said, flashing with his trademark grin. "What are you guys going to wat-"

"Hey, Todd," Gary Ghoul's voice cut in. "Do you know if our squad is one of the squads meeting with Achilles today?"

Wyatt spotted Gary's diminutive form approaching over Todd's shoulder. Even though it had been some time since the intersquad competition, he still appeared quite ill. Whatever his sickness was, it had stuck with him in the intervening. His sunken eyes and wan skin were fast becoming familiar sights.

"Oh, sorry, guys, I don't mean to interrupt you," he said, noticing the others at the table.

"It's cool," Todd said. "We were just talking about Amy's movie night."

"Woah, a movie night!" Gary said, the excitement evident in his voice. "No way. I'd kill to see a movie. I can't stream anything here. The wifi is crap."

"Yeah, we're gonna watch a DVD in the reception room by the front of the school."

He turned to Amy.

"Is it okay if Gary comes too?"

Amy's face adopted a wavering smile.

"It's... fine," she responded, with a weak laugh, her voice less confident than before. "The more, the merrier, right?"

Todd didn't seem to notice her hesitance.

"Cool," Todd said, turning back to Gary. " We're going to start around 8. Feel free to bring any snacks if you got 'em."

"Okay," Gary said, nodding feverishly, excitement plastered on his face," I can do that. My mom sends me a big bag of fun sized candy bars like every week. I've got a couple of those I can bring. Is anyone else bringing anything?"

The only thing even close to a snack that Wyatt had in his room was a mayonnaise packet he'd gotten at a fast food place in town.

"I don't think so," Amy said with a frown.

"I've got some granola bars in my bag I could bring," Todd pondered aloud.

Gary shook his head.

"If there's one thing," he said, his voice gaining steely determination," that I've learned from Fighting Force, it's that a movie night needs plentiful snacks. We need to send someone into town for some supplies."

"Ryan!" Gary called out across the dwindling crowd in the cafeteria. "Hey, Ryan."

Amy's became a mass of frustration, her hands clenching into fists on the table. Her eyes were boring holes into the dark wood of the lunch table.

"What?" Ryan shouted back. He was seated a few tables away, lifting a girl in one hand, making a show of carrying the girl to the garbage to dump her food tray.

"Come 'ere!" Gary exclaimed. "We need to rescue a party."

Ryan set the girl down (much to the girl's apparent dismay) and joined the group at Wyatt's table.

"Amy's having a movie night tonight," Gary explained," and we are facing a severe lack of munchies. Can you fly into town after dinner and grab some chips and stuff?"

"Heck yeah, man," Ryan said, bumping his meaty fist into Gary's much smaller fist. "What times the party?"

"Great, man. It's going to start around 8."

"Yeah, I can do that easy," Ryan said, nodding rapidly. "Can I bring anybody else with me to the party?"

"Of course," Gary beamed, locking eyes innocently with Amy. "The more, the merrier."

"Yeah," she repeated.  "The more, the merrier."