Chapter Text
Ava looked up from where they were slumped in the corner with Ela as Zyaire came back over, stealing Joell’s hoodie from under his head once again. This time, the short man ran over and threw it in the white bucket labeled “Trash”.
Theo quickly rose from their spot, walking over and grabbing the green hoodie for Joell. Ava simply ducked their head back down, continuing to scroll.
Ela shifted next to her once, still pressed against their side. They had their head on the other person’s shoulder, watching their screen rather than working on their edit.
Ava heard Joell sit down first, yelling at Zyaire over whatever they had been talking about. Then Theo sat down, and they were quiet.
It wasn’t unusual for Theo to be quiet. They had ran out of energy earlier (Her words, not Ava’s) and were fine, so Ava thought they were fine then.
After about five minutes, however, Ava felt a tap on their boot, and looked up from their and Ela’s spot to see a worried Joell. He pointed over to Theo, and Ava realized something was wrong instantly.
Theo was simply.. Staring at the ground. Her face was motionless, like they were deep in thought. But their hands betrayed them. She had her hands on her arms, hugging herself, holding the cloak she had on closer on her arms. Her hair was over her face, blocking Ava from seeing the most of her face.
Ava looked over to Ela, and the two of them sat up. Ava was closer to Theo, so they nudged her. “Theo? What’s wrong?”
She shook her head.
Ava could tell she was bullshitting.
“Theo, don’t lie to me. What happened?”
Another shake of her head.
Hell no.
“Theo, look at me.” Ava replied, a bit more forceful. When she didn’t, they reached forward, grabbing their chin and forcing her to look up.
“That’s fucking bullshit. I can tell something is wrong. What the fuck happened?” Theo seemed a bit taken aback, but they didn’t pull away.
Theo felt like she couldn’t speak.
It felt like their thoughts clogged their throat, refusing to allow them to speak. Tears were starting to spill from their eyes, and they looked down again.
Those words…
Those damn few words…
Her hand found Ava’s, holding on tightly.
Ava seemed to understand immediately. “Do you need to write it down?” They asked, voice softer this time as they pulled one of their hands away. Theo nodded urgently, and Ava grabbed their phone, pulling up notes and handing it over to Theo.
She tried typing with one hand, but eventually gave up, pulling her hand away from Ava’s to type better. Ava sat there for a moment, before the phone was handed back to them.
‘When I was walking back over here from giving Joell his jacket, the kids over there with Josiah and them started pointing at him and saying he called me the fat one. I get I joke like that about myself around you guys, but hearing it from someone else is so, so much worse.’
Ava stopped, a sudden anger filling them.
But they had a friend who needed their help right now, not their anger.
Instead of shouting at Josiah or getting up to protect their friend, they put their phone down, putting their hand on Theo’s knee. “Theo, you aren’t fat. You’re beautiful. Who were the ones who were saying Josiah was saying that?” They asked.
Theo seemed to have found their voice again, because they could actually start forming words through her tears.
“It was Kaiden’s brother-”
“The one in the blue jacket?”
“Mhm..”
“That is Kaiden.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Who else?”
“The bald guy over there by the sub and-”
“Zayveon?” Joell interrupted, looking over to where the kid was suddenly coming over to them, sensing drama.
“Joell, shut the fuck up. Okay, Kaiden, Zayveon, and someone else?”
Theo nodded, fidgeting with her hands.
“Yeah, the one who’s deaf.”
Ava’s stomach dropped.
“Kay?!” They asked, surprised. Kay was a nice kid, he wasn’t like that.
“I didn’t know his name, I’m sorry.” Theo apologized, and Ava immediately back tracked.
“Hey, hey, Theo, it’s fine. Do you want me to go up with you to tell the sub?” Ava nodded over towards the sub, who was currently on her phone.
Theo nodded, moving to get up with Ava. They walked over there together, and Ava went to talk to Kay’s translator.
While talking to her, Theo suddenly passed behind them and went out the door, cloak flowing behind her. Ava looked over to Kay, who was signing to his translator, before excusing themself and walking outside.
Theo had her back to the wall, and two other girls were by her. Ava didn’t know either of them, but Theo had seemed to, as she was letting one of them touch her hair and hug her.
As Ava walked closer, they could hear what the girl was saying to Theo.
“Oh, Rian, you aren’t fat. You are beautiful. You are very beautiful. People get surgery to look how you do. Don’t let some stupid kids let you think any different.”
The girl behind the first handed the first some tissues, and they reached up, pushing up Theo’s glasses and wiping her eyes. “Who were the kids who said it?” The second girl asked, looking over at Ms. Jackson’s door as Ava walked to the side opposite of the first girl.
“Josiah-” Theo hiccuped out.
The first girl handed Theo the tissues, hugging her again and glancing back to her friend.
“And you came out of Ms. Jackson’s class, right?” The first girl asked, pulling away. Theo nodded, and both of the girls started walking towards that door.
“Stay right there, Rian! We’ll be right back!” She called, disappearing into the classroom.
Ava took this chance not to crowd Theo again, but to give them space. She knew that Theo might need some space, and allowed them that.
Theo seemed grateful. Ava had done the right thing.
“Do you need a moment alone?”
Theo shook her head, looking over at Ava. “No, but I have to use the bathroom. I just don’t want to be alone with my thoughts again…”
Ava nodded, tilting her head towards the open doorway into the women’s bathroom. Theo nodded, heading inside.
The two girls came out a moment later, just as Theo was washing her hands and putting back on her ring. Another girl– Krystal– had decided she wanted to skip class, and was hanging out in the bathroom with Theo.
Ava wanted to punch someone.
Instead, they walked Theo back to class as they waved goodbye to the girls who were helping her. Theo had said their names while they were walking away– Maya and Kaitlyn. They seemed nice enough.
The two of them walked back into class together, going back and sitting back in their spots. Ela asked if Theo wanted a hug, and she agreed, pulling the smaller person into a tight hug.
And if Theo played with Ela’s clip on tail from the renfaire? Well, Ava didn’t see that, and neither did Joell. Asher was too focused on his dog-boy tiktoks to notice.