The Academy of S.I.D.E.

No. 29: I Wish I Had A River

The first couple weeks of December were both amazing and mind-blowingly stressful.

The "amazing" bit was because the Academy got more and more into the spirit as the month went on, and the teachers were actually going a lot easier on everyone, since there was a break coming up and nobody was really paying attention, anyway. Even the most recent Fantasy Friday was easier---it was a group takedown of Remy, who was playing the role of an Incredibles-style supervillain. Roman and Virgil had teamed up in order to win one for their team.

The "mind-blowingly stressful" bit was in large part due to the Ball coming up. Virgil wasn't barfing every time Roman brought it up, thank god, but his mind was coming up with aaaaaaaaaaaall sorts of horrible things that could happen. Most of them were in the line of "public humiliation" or "finding out Roman thought he was gross."

Oh, and there was also the little matter of there being twice as many people to buy presents for now. And it was a lot more complicated when you didn't even know if some of your friends wanted presents.

So, Virgil turned to the best person to talk about this stuff.

"Hey, Pat!" he called, running up to his friend. "You got a sec?"

Patton looked up from the book he was reading. "Oh, yeah, sure, kiddo. What's up? Other than the sky, obviously."

"Har har." Virgil sat down next to him. "I need advice for Christmas presents."

He gave him a confused look. "For yourself?"

"No, for everyone else. I have no idea what to get you guys."

"Oooooooh." Patton nodded. "Well, Janus doesn't celebrate Christmas, but he still enjoys getting gifts for the holiday season, and I know for a fact that he needs a new vest---probably a designer one. With Remus, I'd say that you really can't go wrong with him---weird is the key word."

"Designer vest for Janus and something weird for Remus," Virgil repeated, tying it into his Notes app. "What about Logan and Roman?"

"Logan's super-duper into science books," Patton said. "I got him We Have No Idea last year---it's all about physics and how the world works, but it's also really funny and there's cartoons in it. He posts his wish list online, and there's lots of different books there to choose from. As for Roman, I'd say that anything Disney or musical-related works."

"Science book for Logan, Disney or musical stuff for Roman, and..." Virgil looked up. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, what do you want for Christmas?"

"Oh." Patton paused. "I dunno, really. I'm happy with whatever. Cookies, sweaters, games---even a card works. It's the thought that counts."

Virgil sighed and put homemade card in for Patton. "What're you doing for the holidays?"

"I'm staying at the Academy this time around," Patton answered. "My sisters are going back home, though. They don't wanna miss Grandma Jean's cranberry lemon bars."

Virgil smiled. "That sounds delish."

"They are."

"So, are your grandparents visiting your hometown for the holidays?"

"Oh, no, me, Pearl, and Pam live with them," Patton explained. "We have since about a month before I started at the Academy."

"Oh." Virgil looked down at his lap. "Did... did your parents die? Or..." He remembered something that Patton had said earlier---about him growing up in a religious environment. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't ask."