Meliora - Extricate - 17

[lady_mab]

Jun Zhou

Glen can't stop rubbing at his eyes as he stares at the textbook. He might not even be staring at the book so much as it seems to be in the direction that his face is pointed.

I nudge his shoulder with my own, and he jumps at the sudden touch. "Are you alright?"

He tries to answer, but instead his voice cracks and he has to clear his throat. "I think I'm just coming down with a cold." He definitely sounds like a cold is on the way.

"Have you been sleeping well? Should I make you something for your health?" I don't reach for him. He definitely hasn't improved since last week. In fact, he looks worse.

A crooked smile works its way onto his lips and he shakes his head. "No, I'll be fine. It's just work. And this weather."

As far as I can tell, the weather hasn't shifted too dramatically, but some people might be more sensitive to changes in temperature. "Alright, but I am going to keep an eye on you. I do not want to see you having to skip class."

"Aw man, and here I was hoping that I could get the chance to stay in bed one day without doing anything." He meets my gaze, holds it even, and his expression shifts just a little. He looks like he is about to add something when the bell rings to signal the end of the day.

We both look up, and then around at our classmates packing up their bags.

"Whelp, guess we're finally free for the day!" Glen follows suit with our classmates, standing up and shouldering his bag. "You want me to walk you to the bus stop today?"

"That would be nice! I have to stop by the office first -- transfer student things." I make a face, and he mimics it. "Meet me out front?"

He grins and slips out the door before me. I watch him go, telling myself that I'm checking to make sure that nothing happens to him. Not that anything could.

Asides from Zoné, I talk to Glen the most because we share our Biology class at the end of the day. He was a little taken aback at first to learn that someone younger than him was in the same class, but I also tried to write it off that I can understand science better than I can English. It's not that he's behind like Mal and Robbie tease him for.

When we are gathered together in a group, he is very quiet. He doesn't talk unless someone addresses a question to him, but I've started to notice the way that his expressions hold a conversation on their own when no one else is looking.

The fact that his expressions aren't as vivid as they usually are worries me.

I grab my bag and drag my feet in the direction of the Headmaster's office. While I know the sooner I get this meeting over with, the sooner I'll be able to go home, I still don't want to talk to him. He's tall and glares and has a very loud voice. A different sort of intimidating from my uncle, who is short and smiles and speaks very softly.

Halfway to the office, I spot a familiar blond head from behind. There are three girls walking around him, who I don't recognize, but Lio is easy enough to pick out of a crowd thanks to his posture and shaggy haircut.

"Lionel?" I haven't spoken to him since the first meeting, but I do want to try and make sure that he is safe after those missing two hours. While Zoné and I are pretty certain that we found him during our trip out to the foggy tower, I still remember the slew of text messages from Lysander. People had been very worried about him, and we just let him go.

He doesn't turn around, though I see him hesitate. One of the girls looks at him, waiting to see what he's going to do.

They must be his friends, though by the way Zoné talks about him, the rumors are not too kind in regards to his ability to make friends. "Lionel!"

He starts to turn around, and as soon as I catch the expression on his face, I realize my mistake.

Not Lionel, but his twin.

From behind, wearing baggy uniform pants and blazer, they look identical.

I pull up short with a soft gasp. " a'm sorry," I say as soon as our gazes meet. "I thought you were Lionel."

To her credit, she doesn't react. "It's an easy mistake."

"You must be Liala."

She smiles and some of the tension leaves her shoulders. "I am. Is there something I can help you with? I can let him know that you were looking for him...?"

I feel the shame heat up my cheeks and I dismiss her offer with a wave of my hand. "Oh, no, it is not a thing. I was just--" I just wanted to ask him about Meliora.

I don't know if she is aware of his missing two hours. I don't know if the three other girls know about the game.

Her expression shifts, and I think she must understand what I want to talk about. Does she even know who I am, or that I am participating?

"Jun!" I hear Zoné's voice ring forth from one of the classrooms. "Hey, I was just about to call you--" His words stop mid-sentence as he realizes who I'm talking to. His smile remains as bright as it was when spotting me. "Lia, nice to see you! How you've been?"

She tilts her head to the side, a crease coming to her forehead in confusion.

"I haven't really had the chance to talk to you since before summer break. Lio doesn't answer whenever I ask how you've been," he says, casually.

This takes her off guard. Another thing I have come to understand from Zoné's brief tales of the Darcy twins: They are very close to one another, and tend not to talk to others. "Oh," Liala says, and one of her friends makes a small sound in the back of her throat.

Zoné waves a hand in my direction and I know before he starts speaking what he's about to say. "This is Jun! She just moved here from China!"

I roll my eyes, unable to help it. I've been here for about five months. "It is very nice to meet you."

Liala nods. "It's nice to meet you too." She steps aside to reveal the three girls with her. "This is Trisha, Bri, and Catalina. We're in calc together."

The three girls nod and wave in greeting. Catalina, who is about as tall as Liala with beautiful golden curls, stares at me with wide eyes. "I love your hair."

I reach up to fiddle with some of the stands, nervous as well as embarrassed. "Thank you. I need to get it redone."

"Where do you get it done?"

I have to hold back a laugh. "I did it myself a few months ago before leaving Beijing." I sent my family a picture when I was on the train. My father laughed, my brother loved it, and my mother still hasn't said anything about it. "Ah, but I did just recently meet a hairdresser who offered to redo it for me. I was considering dyeing it back to black, or at least something more natural looking, but..." Despite Jonas' confirmation that my hair looked perfect, and I still got compliments on it while out in Eminence, I know that it pulls a lot of attention to me. A lot more than I am used to.

I don't know what I was expecting when I moved out here, but it certainly wasn't everyone looking so uniform. In Beijing, no one would look twice at pink hair -- or purple, in Jonas' case. But here, it's definitely a conversation topic.

Catalina steps forward to play with the tail end of one of my braids. "I think it's absolutely wonderful!"

"It makes finding her in a crowd considerably easier," Zoné says, and I know that his height advantage makes it easier to see over the heads of a lot of students. "Oh, yeah, did Ayu ever find you?"

Liala straightens her posture as the conversation suddenly swings back in her direction. "Ayumu? Yes, he gave me an autographed headshot of Hideki for some reason..." She blushes as Trisha gasps and puts a hand against her chest. "He said to thank Lio for him, even though we have a class together."

I feel Zoné tense, but when I look back up at him, his expression hasn't shifted. "Lio helped him out with something."

This is the first that I'm hearing about it. And while I wouldn't normally take it into consideration, it's the way that Liala suddenly looks thoughtful. "It's about what he found--"

This time, Zoné's smile drops a few degrees. He ignores my stare. "Yes," he says, to explain everything and nothing at the same time. Then his grin returns and I feel the flow of energy rush back with it. "Well, we'll leave you to your afternoon! Enjoy your Friday. We should all hang out sometime!" He practically slurs all the words together, even though he's not making an immediate attempt at leaving.

"I'd like that," Liala says before I think to add my own parting. "I'll see you in class on Monday."

He touches his fingers to his brow in a playful salute and then finally looks down at me. "Ready to go?"

I give a polite smile to the four. "It was nice meeting you," I say as we walk away. I catch onto Zoné’s arm and pull him down the hallway lined with administration offices. It’s likely that Glen is already outside, waiting for me with the others. They must be wondering what is keeping Zoné.

He yelps at my tug but stumbles along after me. "You're a lot stronger than I thought."

"What was that about?" I ask, whirling about to face him. "The conversation with Liala?"

"What? I was just saying hi. What is it with everyone and getting on my case about saying hi to her?" He ruffles a hand through his hair, trying to look annoyed.

I frown and poke his chest. "No. The bit about Lionel and what he found. What did you ask him to look into beyond ‘Fletcher’?"

Zoné flinches, and I want him to just tell me. I hate that I have to watch him try and decide if it's important enough for me to know.

"Do you not trust me?" I finally ask, and his expression completely crumples.

"It's not that." He rubs the star beneath his eye, which I notice that he tends to do when he is nervous. "I don't have a solid answer yet, and I don't want to run around making you worried when it could be nothing."

I stare up at him, and he has a hard time meeting my gaze. "Should I be worried?"

"If it is A Thing, then yeah, you probably might want to be."

"Then let me be worried. I cannot stop worrying because you tell me that it might not be bad." I reach out and poke him again, and this time he turns his eyes down to me. "You would not tell me if I asked, so I will not ask. But I am one of your friends, too. You do not have to worry about them on your own. I can help."

He watches me with an unreadable expression for a very long time. I can't tell if he's surprised or upset, because I'm starting to feel like I've spoken out of turn.

But then his big, enthusiastic smile takes over and he flashes a thumbs up. "Understood!"

"Good."

"Are you going home now?" He glances over his shoulder, the door to the school right around the corner.

I shake my head, and he raises his eyebrows in surprise. "I have to talk to the Headmaster about how my school is going so far."

"Oooh yes, the good ol' transfer talk." His head bobs in understanding. "I remember that. Well, I'll wait for you outside then!"

"Glen is waiting for me. You can wait with him."

There's a flicker of something behind his eyes, and I wonder if what he won't tell me has to do with Glen. How it also involves Lionel is a mystery, but I suppose I will have to wait just a bit longer before I find out. "I'll see you outside!" Zoné grins and spins around. His long legs carry him quickly towards the exit, and I watch his shadow disappear around the corner.

With a gentle sigh, I hitch my backpack higher up on my shoulders and turn to face the end of the hall where the Headmaster's office awaits.

I hope that Zoné is able to give me a solid answer about his concerns soon, because then I can talk to him about my concerns too.

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