Cobweb Head

t w e n t y - f i v e

One thing I realised about the phobia transformation process: it left me starved. No one had come to confront me yet, so I sat at the dining hall during dinner, inhaling the food in front of me.

Leo was chewing against his lip anxiously, scanning the room. Mae hadn't shown up yet and Effie refused to meet my eye, sitting at Oliver's table.

Everyone was on edge.

"I didn't think canteen food could taste this good." I spoke through a mouthful of stew, the words coming out muffled.

I didn't think I'd seen Leo so worked up since the night I'd tried to steal his ring, which he kept twisting on his finger and drawing in my involuntary attention. He watched the room closely, his eyes hard-rimmed and hair in tousled curls across his forehead.

"I hope Mae's alright." His voice was quiet.

I fought the urge to glower at the comment, instead blinking as if something had caught in my eye as light danced off the silver ring. I licked my lips and found them chapped. "There's not many people here, huh?"

Leo released a breath. "A lot of people are still a little shaken up about the party."

I looked down at the empty bowl clasped in my hands with a hardened frown. "I'm still shaken up about the party..." The hall was quiet, unnervingly so, and I tilted my head to the side. "I can't hear them here – the phobias."

"That's weird," he continued to twist the ring. I gnawed at my lip. "The dining hall was made as a sort of safe zone in case of an emergency. No nightmares can form in here."

I blinked rapidly, drawing my hands out in front of my face and waving him off. "Can you stop doing that?"

"What?"

"Playing with your ring." I wrinkled my nose. "It's distracting."

Leo grinned and lifted his hand up airily. "What, like this?" Light blinked across the silver surface and I struggled to look away. "That's also weird."

"What is?" I scowled and batted his hand away.

"Have you ever wondered why you hear what you hear?" His smile was lopsided. "I swear you get stranger and stranger every day."

I leaned back into my seat. "Is that supposed to be an insult? I'm disappointed."

He laughed. I bit down a shaky smile. I didn't know how we could be laughing at such a anxious time, when I could feel the Frights breathing down my neck and Leo was stressing about everything else, but here we were. A pair of absolute idiots.

"Maybe the Frights won't find out about me – maybe I'm just being paranoid." I scoffed dryly, shoving a hand through ruffled hair.

Leo searched my face. "Why are you afraid to tell them? They'd probably help. My teas aren't the only thing that could help with the sickness."

"Look, I've tried to tell people before and it's all turned to shit." I looked down at my open palm.

Leo only seemed more curious, a soft line creasing his brows. "You can talk to me about it, if you want."

I thought back to Effie, begging me to open up to her in her dorm room. She'd been so concerned, she'd told me personal things I would never of had the courage to open up about, and I'd turned her down. I grimaced at the memory – I would be braver this time round.

I wrung my hands absentmindedly. "I had this friend, Trish. She was new and smart and spontaneous, and we dated for a little while. She said that when we graduated, she'd help me find my mum, and I'd help her get away from her home." I pressed my lip between my teeth. "We broke into the gym..."

Leo nodded slowly as my voice drifted.

I continued. "It was just for fun – she liked doing stuff like that, and we'd only known each other for a little while. But I wanted to tell her. I think I needed to." My ears burned. "But I panicked and it went wrong. She hated fire, and that's how the gym burnt down. I made her phobia real."

My eyes burned. Shit – I wasn't going to start crying now, was I?

When Leo didn't recoil or jump back, the air went sweet with relief. He reached his hand out and clasped it over my shoulder. I could feel the warmth of his skin through the thin fabric of my sweater.

"At least you're going to have an awesome superhero origin story – rise up from the ashes and all that. Literally." He grinned, but his brows were still creased in concern.

I scoffed and played with a loose thread that'd come apart from the sleeve of my sweater, blinking back the warmth that'd formed in my eyes. "Sounds more like a villain origin story to me."

"No way," he leaned back into his seat and drew his hand away. "The misunderstood hero is always the best one."

I cocked my head to the side. "I'm pretty sure that's not true."

"What? Of course it is, I read it on Wikipedia--"

A hand fell against my shoulder, cutting him off. Ms Marlowe stood behind me, an eyebrow raised and lips pulled into a tight line. Her glasses were perched at the edge of her nose. "Moore? Headmaster Grimm would like to see you."

I gulped down something hard and shrugged her hand off, letting my gaze fall on Leo's face again. I sent a silent plea, to which he nodded forward as if to say it'll be good for you. I glowered and stood up.

Ms Marlowe pushed her glasses up. She looked very unimpressed, but by what I didn't know. I could see both Oliver and Effie perk their heads up at me as I started to stalk up to headmaster Grimm's office.