"Yeah, I guess so… a lot of those kids' parents plan their lives out for them, though. They might end up doing something they hate because it's what their parents want." Lucas shrugged, still fidgeting uncomfortably until Melissa took his hands. He hadn't even really noticed that he'd been scratching himself until just then. "Oh… s-sorry." He murmured. He squeezed her hands tightly to keep his own from shaking and sighed softly. "I try not to think about it a whole lot, to be honest. But I guess I should probably start so I'm not overwhelmed when I actually need to know…"
"I guess you're right." Looking up at him, she gently squeezed his hands back. It felt so… natural. They had been friends for a long time, though. It should feel natural, right? They were best friends, after all, it wasn't that strange. "You don't have to start right this second though. I mean there's no point adding to your worries right now, right?"
As she finished her sentence, there was a knock on the door. The principal and Melissa's father stepped into the room when given permission to come in. The second her father spotted where she was, he quickly made his way over next to her. He seemed nervous- anxious even- from how he fidgeted with his car keys.
"Are you okay?" He asked as Melissa pulled herself away from Lucas to greet her father.
"I'm okay." Her response was short and to the point, but that was typically how their conversations went. It was a strange sight to see a father and a daughter treat each other as if they were business partners, but that's what they were used to. So when he went in for an awkward hug, Melissa didn't really know what to do with herself.
"Oh- are you alright Lucas? Physically at least, I mean." He asked after the brief hug.
"Yeah… definitely don't need any more stress right now." Lucas chuckled dryly and squeezed Melissa's hands again. They seemed so soft compared to his own. His hands were rough and calloused from baseball; nothing like Melissa's. Hers seemed… delicate, almost, but he knew she was anything but. He flinched at the knock, pulled out of his thoughts by the sudden sound, and looked over to see Melissa's father come in.
When Melissa headed over to greet him, consequently letting go of Lucas' hands, he felt a slight emptiness in his chest. His hands tingled a bit, longing for Melissa's touch to return. He shook his head and his hands, grabbing onto his sketchbook so the empty feeling wasn't so noticeable.
He watched Melissa with her father quietly. He didn't quite catch onto the awkwardness all that much, only really noting that she was able to have an interaction with her own father that was even remotely positive. Even if it was a bit stiff, the man did seem to care. For some reason, he seemed surprised to be addressed.
"Mm? Oh, u-uh… you know. My heart's still kinda in my throat, and I'm… a bit nauseous, but overall I'm fine." He assured with a shaky smile, gripping his sketchbook a bit more tightly. "Just… caught me off guard. He was really mad… I never thought he'd go after me in public, y'know?" He sighed, getting to his feet, which seemed to be a bit of a struggle at first. His legs were less functional than he would've liked them to be; they were pretty shaky, but he could still walk unassisted if he was determined, and he certainly wasn't going to ask for help if he could avoid it. "Sorry for having to call you in the middle of the day, sir… I hate to bother you. I-I know you're very busy."
Mr. Brenahan's face softened with a frown as he stood up. It was difficult to read his expression. The only thing that could be determined, was that he was a bit… troubled. Whether the other accent was empathy or irritation was too vague to determine at a first glance. Hesitating before reaching over, he gently rested his hand on Lucas's arm.
"You don't have to apologize. This was an emergency- I completely understand. Even if it wasn't an emergency, I would have done my best to be here." The honesty and gentleness in his tone were heavily emphasized as he spoke. Almost as if to make up for the lack of clarity in his expression. "I care about Melissa— she's my daughter after all— and who she cares about, I care about too."
Melissa watched from behind, trying not to let her confusion display on her face. This part of him was completely foreign to her. Sure, she blamed herself in part for not reaching out further to ever reach this part of him. However, she was under the impression that he had no interest in anything that she was a part of. More often than not, her brother got the attention. If they weren't giving it to him, work took precedence. So watching him treat Lucas with such kindness… was bizarre.
Lucas jumped slightly when Mr. Brenahan touched him, evidently not expecting it, and blinked up at the man with a confused, curious expression. He couldn't remember the last time his own father had spoken to him that gently, or cared enough about him to do anything like this really. He glanced over at Melissa, almost as though he was asking her for help on how to react, but quickly looked back up at Mr. Brenahan. Eye contact certainly made him uncomfortable, but he really didn't want to be rude.
"Ah… r-right, sir. Well, um… thank you for coming, either way." He replied awkwardly, still unsure what to do. "I appreciate it, sir." He dipped his head politely, thankful for the brief break in eye contact, and grabbed the few things he had with him after hesitating for several seconds. "I've got some spare clothes in my bag… I'd, um… rather not get my stuff from my dad's house right now, if that's okay with you sir."
"That's completely alright," He smiled, stepping away from him to give him some space, and to talk to the counselor and principal. When they made their way over to the desk, Melissa shuffled toward Lucas. She was still mulling everything over but wanted to push it aside long enough to focus on Lucas's needs. Her own confusion wasn't that important right now. At least not to her.
"You doing okay?" She asked quietly. She began to reach for her bag, pulling it up over her shoulders before sitting on the edge of the couch. She kept her eyes on him, leg bouncing as she watched him.
Lucas fidgeted with the strap of his bag while he waited for Mr. Brennahan to sort everything out with the counselor. He looked pretty jittery and on edge still, understandably, but he was definitely more present than before. He looked over when Melissa addressed him, blinking a couple times as he took a second or two to process what she'd said.
"Oh, y-yeah… I'm okay. Glad to be leaving, I guess…" He replied with a weak smile in an attempt to reassure Melissa. He was looking forward to leaving, but not looking forward to having to change pretty much everything about his life all of a sudden. He also wasn't looking forward to coming back to school after this whole ordeal. Surely people would mess with him for it. "I'll be fine. How are you doing?"
How was she doing? Honestly, she wasn't sure. Her best friend had just been nearly attacked, forget about the mental toll it would take on him. Just the thought made her jaw clench. How could he do something like this?
"I'm fine… it's just been a weird day." She muttered, running her hands down her face.
Her wording didn't describe the half of it. This was probably the worst day in the history of first-day-back-at-school that could have played out. Of course, besides someone getting hurt, or potentially dying. But this was going to impact him for the rest of the year- whether it was his ability to come to school, or the people around him who would mock him for it. It wasn't fair that he had a crappy example of a father, but now for others to have to see it, and get to mock him for it. This was beyond unfair- it was cruel, and quite simply, wrong.
"Can I do anything to help?" It felt futile, but she asked anyway. "I can't do much, but I can try."
(there's never any rush, but I just want to make sure you're okay, and this went through aha)
