Not even an hour later, Jabari was knocking at her door. He came in, book in hand, sitting on the opposite bed from the one on which her and Iv sat. She had updated her about everything as soon as she came into the room and Iv promptly decided that they wouldn’t talk about it until Jabari came. Instead, she distracted her with mindless gossip from the ball that she had heard while roaming around the living area. She could tell she hated the insignificant chatter but Svea had told her a few days ago that she found such trivial things amusing. She couldn’t help but appreciate the gesture.
There was an awkward silence at first with all three in the room. Nobody knew where to start. Eventually Jabari cleared his throat.
“So as unlikely as that sounds, it’s the only explanation I can think of. Which would be either confirmed or infirmed by whether or not…your back resembles a tree trunk.”
“You can’t be serious,” said Iv in disbelief.
“Well…”
Both turned in shock at her.
“My skin looks a bit different, but my mother always said it’s a genetic skin disease. It’s nothing like what the drawing in the book shows,” she hurried to explain horrified that they would look weirdly at her, “and I’ve been taught how to cover it, so I never really paid attention to the fact that some patches of skin look brownish and have the texture of wood.”
She now wondered whether she should have questioned it more, but how could she when she grew up thinking it wasn’t a big deal because her mother had it, too. Hers was a lot more prominent and she never allowed her to see her back. Was it perhaps because it looked similar to the drawing, as if the back was actually made of a tree’s skin?
She decided to show them. It may not have been wise - her mother would have certainly scolded her for it - but something told her that she could trust them. She turned and lifted her shirt, along with the wraps that she wore, so that only a small patch of skin was visible. Still enough to drive them both out of the room in terror. However, they were still there when she turned back to face them.
“You don’t have to hide it anymore from us. No matter how different it may look.”
She saw Jabari nod, agreeing to what Iv said. Just like last night, she wondered why exactly these almost strangers were being so kind to her, but she would rather be grateful than dwell on different theories.
Just then, someone else knocked at the door. It was surprising to her how they could deal with all of this, her most of all, with relative calmness, yet one unexpected knock seemed to bring paranoia in all three of them. Iv made as if to shield her, even if she was fully covered.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Hendrick. I have news.”
They gave a sigh of relief that Svea could predict would be short lived, then Iv went to open the door and invite Hendrick in. He mumbled a “hi” as he stood in the middle of the room, looking like he didn’t know how to approach the subject.
“Just spit it out, it’s alright,” she eventually said so as to kill the tension.
Hendrick looked at her as if to check if she meant it, then finally broke the news.
“They are going to have a student meeting Monday before class to discuss what happened. I tried talking with Kyle to see if there was any way we could make this less…drastic, but he wouldn’t back down. I waited for him to get out of the principal’s office to tell me what was decided and came straight here, but there will be an official announcement at tonight’s dinner.”
There were a few seconds of silence filled with dread, not because they weren’t expecting it, but precisely because they had planned for such situations and no one really wanted to see the plan through. Especially not Svea, who should have been the only one involved.
“We know what to do then.”
Svea wanted to argue with Iv and she could see could see that the boys were hesitant, too, but as if reading their mind her roommate objected with a determined expression on her face.
“It’s the best solution we’ve got and we’ll stick to it. Now let’s talk about something else and forget about this until Monday.”
Hendrick sat down on the bed next to Jabari, but no one really felt like making conversation. That is until Jabari decided to breach the other topic Svea desperately wanted to avoid.
“So…are you and Tyler going to be a thing? Since you’ve been spending quite some time with him.”
Both Hendrick and Iv turned to her raising their eyebrows in a clear question. She couldn’t help but notice just how in sync they did it.
“I mean, I like spending time with him and he’s really nice. And I guess…” She just told them her biggest secret, so why was getting the words out so hard? “I guess…I just want to be loved and to love without fearing that I’ll hurt someone. He survived once, so maybe, now that I know how to be more careful, there might be a chance.”
“Do you feel like you can tell him the truth?” asked Hendrick.
“Absolutely not!”
“Then I don’t think he’s the right guy for you,” concluded Iv, to which both of the boys nodded. “You deserve someone that will love you exactly for who you are, and you are a supernatural being. You need someone who won’t run away from you, but treat you as their equal, and from what I can tell, Tyler may be a nice guy, but he is not THAT guy.”
“Unfortunately I don’t think there is that someone for me. And I’d rather hide than be alone.”
“I think you’re wrong. You just have to wait for the right moment.”
“She’s right,” said Hendrick without taking his eyes off of Iv. “It’s all about the moment.”
She thought about her mom, who she now knew to be something other than human, and how much her dad, a normal person as far as Svea was concerned, loved her. And that love was returned. She didn’t know how much of her mother’s genes she got, but there was still something very human about her, from the less odd appearance to the simple fact that she craved for things most humans would. If her mom was capable of such domestic love, then why wouldn’t she wish for the same?
“Ugh, it feels so cliché talking about…feelings,” grimaced Iv despite her previous words.
“Then do you want to talk about what you, Hendrick and Shiro were doing outside last night?”, asked Jabari with a smirk.
“Actually, I think I have to go.”
“Yeah, and I’ll walk you out.”
The two went out and Jabari and her started laughing. It was probably wrong of her, but she felt that almost killing a boy was worth it if it meant bringing all of them together.
***
They were all gathered in the conference room on Monday morning. Hendrick was trying to keep the crowd under control from where he was on the stage before Kyle would come. Svea, Jabari and Shiro all sat in one of the rows further back, while Nik, Jacy and Iv were in one of the front rows. The seat next to her was quickly occupied by Tyler and he looked like he wanted to start a conversation, but at that moment Kyle came and the room fell into silence. It was better that way. All her words would have been drowned by panic.
“We are gathered here to discuss the events of Friday night. As you all already know, one of your classmates, Tyler Hannagam, was found unconscious in the forest during the ball.”
All eyes turned to him, but Svea felt as if the attention was on her. They know what you did. She saw Shiro from the corner of her eye glaring at her, as if telling her to control her emotions. Easier said than done.
“Nikolaus, the chairman of the Opening Ball, found him and reported the incident. Now,” Kyle paused and looked carefully around the room, “I suggest that whoever had anything to do with this speak up, otherwise we will be forced to carry out an investigation and when I do find the truth, which I will, the consequences will be much, much worse.”
There was a minute of silence in which Svea held her breath. She could tell that Tyler was looking around curiously, but there was no trace of the murderous gaze in his eyes that his step-brother seemed to be sporting. Maybe she could…
Before she could do anything she felt Jabari catch her wrist and give an imperceptible shake of his head. She wanted to protest, but just then, Iv stood up, holding a silver flask high up in her hand.
“I was outside, drinking,” she started, just like reciting a script, which wasn’t so far from the truth. All of this was an act. An act to cover for her. “Tyler came up to me and asked if he could join in. I said yes, so we walked towards the forest while sipping from this.”
Svea could see Tyler looking confused, but since he remembered nothing, he couldn’t really object. Still, both Shiro and Jabari seemed to be paying close attention to his every reaction.
“At one point, he got really drunk. I was afraid he was going to go back inside and then everyone would now.”
“That’s when I came in.”
To everyone’s shock, Jacy stood up. No one expected him to be involved, since he was pretty popular around school, and even Kyle seemed taken aback.
“Tyler was indeed drunk,” Jacy continued despite the commotion, “and I could see Iv panicking. I didn’t want either of them to get in trouble, so I made him drink up the rest until he blacked out. That way he wouldn’t remember and maybe no punishment would have come out of it.”
It took Kyle a few minutes to process the whole story, trying to school his face at the same time. Jacy and Iv remained standing, avoiding questions from those in the audience brave enough to disrupt the silence which Hendrick was uselessly trying to maintain until Kyle would have regained his composure. Tyler himself, while still frowning in disbelief, seemed to be equally ashamed of something Svea knew he didn’t do. Her heart was breaking for him, but it was also close to jumping out of her chest with anxiety.
The student president finally ordered silence in the room and all complied quickly.
“I have decided, after previously having discussed with our principal, that the two who have just declared their involvement will be punished, along with the chairman of the ball, who, despite being of major help to the victim, ought to comply with the rules of the event that state that if anything should go wrong, the one in charge will also be deemed responsible.”
This is what they were expecting, but all seven of them had perhaps hoped for a different outcome. However, Kyle was not done.
“Tyler Hannagam, despite being partially to blame based on the given accounts, will be absolved of punishment, as he has already suffered the consequences of his actions.”
Kyle didn’t look once at his brother, but as soon as he said that, Svea felt Tyler next to her give a sigh of relief. She felt unexplicably angry at that moment. She knew Tyler was not to blame and they weren’t trying to point the finger at him. The fact that it worked, that Kyle showed his favoritism, while innocent people were being punished, made her blood boil. She wanted to say the anger was all directed at Kyle, who some students were already bad-mouthing for his obviously biased decision, but she knew she was truly angry at herself.
“Let me remind you of our school’s policy. If a student’s behavior results in the harm of any other student, the punishment will not be expulsion, as Elysium never wastes potential. Instead, at the discretion of the teaching staff, they will be made to perform the equivalent of community service on the school grounds for three days.”
This is where it should have stopped. This was what was written in the policy, which Kyle seemed to have memorized by hart. Yet, with a grin that felt out of place, as if he was finally getting something out of this, Kyle went on.
“Let us hope that these three fellow students will fare off better than the last person who had to be punished.”
This is what they were afraid of.
“With that, I will end this meeting. The punishment is in effect from today. The three shall remain here. All other students should now head to class.”
Among all the commotion, Svea stood rooted to the spot. She saw both Shiro and Jabari make their way hastily towards the three, while Hendrick watched everything unfold from the stage looking as helpless as Svea felt. When the people in front started lessening, she dared to move slowly towards the group. She watched Shiro take Iv’s hands in his. Even if she heard what he said, she felt like the words weren’t sinking in.
“It’s not too late. There is still plan B, just like we’ve discussed it. I can still take all the blame.”
“But it is too late. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”
She also saw Jabari hesitantly reach to hug Jacy and he whispered in his ear “I forgive you”. What for, she didn’t now.
She was getting closer. Would they hate her, even if it had been their choice entirely?
She reached them at the same time as Hendrick did, who went behind Nik and gently squeezed his shoulder in a comforting manner.
“Guys, I…” she didn’t know what to say to them. Sorry? It wouldn’t be enough.
“Nothing bad will happen,” said Jacy.
“Yeah, it could just be a stupid rumor,” agreed Nik.
“But what if it isn’t? How do you know nothing bad will happen?”
All three looked at each other. It was Iv who replied:
“Because we’re different.”
***
The hallways were almost empty. She was so in her head that she didn’t even notice Tyler approaching her.
“Hey, I just wanted to talk to you.” She nodded.
“I don’t know why I ever laid eyes on that girl, because the only way I can imagine myself getting so drunk is if I was trying to impress her or something. But that was a mistake. It should have been you. You should have been my first choice.”
The thing is, she was. She loved all those romantic films where the lead would say something so heart-warming, and all she ever wanted was to hear something like that being said to her. Now that she was in the female lead’s shoes, she couldn’t feel the butterflies she had been expecting. Maybe it was all the other feelings in her drowning them, or maybe Iv was right. He was not the right guy. As nice as he was, she didn’t think he would accept her for who she was. A skogsrå. Not like the others did.
“Thank you, but I don’t think anything more than a friendship can bloom between us and I don’t want to waste your time.”
He was disappointed, she could see, but still accepted to remain friends. They walked to class together, and on their way, Svea thought about how there might indeed be someone for her. She’d just have to wait for the right moment.
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