Back to MLHS…
As the sophomore lunch ended, Principal Ian Andrews waited patiently to see Arthur Curtis’ head in the crowd. Arthur had cut the beginning of his class to confront Eric during the freshman lunch. And then, according to spectators, looked like he was about to punch Eric any second. Very unusual behavior for a student like Arthur.
Andrews spotted the boy walking in with some friends. Everyone was abuzz about what happened earlier. Out of the corner of his eye, Principal Andrews saw Nate Anderson entering with his pack-mates. The older Anderson looked a bit concerned to see the principal standing in the cafeteria.
“He must think I’m here for him on account of his brother.” Andrews thought. Luckily for Nate, that wasn’t the case.
As soon as Arthur was close enough, Andrews called him over. There were a number of “ooo” sounds from his classmates as Arthur strode up to the principal. Andrews took the boy into the hallway so they could talk in private.
“I trust you know why I want to talk to you.” Principal Andrews began. Arthur nodded his head, currently bent over so he didn’t have to look the man in the eye.
“I’ll give you a chance to explain yourself before I say anything else.” Andrews said slowly. Arthur looked up very briefly, and instantly wished he hadn’t.
The older red haired werelion stared him down with stoney, hazel eyes. Even though he had no reason to, Arthur felt threatened. Like he was a fish in a barrel, and the lion in front of him was planning on making Arthur his lunch. Arthur swallowed his fears, and finally spoke after a long silence.
“I… I just wanted to hear it from him. Why he did those things to Julie, why he didn’t seem to care. Everyone kept saying he was strutting around school with some other girl on his arm like he owned the damn place.” Arthur felt his own anger start to boil over again. He struggled to keep it at bay before he said something stupid to the principal. That would really put a nat in his coffin.
“As I’m given to understand, Eric didn’t DO anything to Julie.” Andrews said.
“He was the one who put her in that hospital.” Arthur grumbled. Andrews sighed, and softened his expression some. It was obvious Arthur liked Julie.
“Love makes us do crazy things.” Andrews thought.
“That does not give you an excuse to cut a class, and confront another student. Again, as I’m given to understand, you spent the majority of that scene looking like you wanted to start a fight. Am I correct?”
“I don’t know. I was just really angry.” said Arthur. He still was, though not as angry as he had been before.
“I understand that Mr. Curtis, I do. However, I suggest that you use that bright head of yours in the future for more than just academics. I’m going to give you two days of after school detention. That’s it, no stain on the record, no call to your parents. But if you pull something like this again, I won’t be so generous. And I expect you to apologize to Eric.”
“Yes sir.” Arthur nodded, relieved his parents wouldn’t find out. He stayed after school all the time. And if his mom and dad found out, he’d be grounded until he was old enough to have a midlife crisis.
“Alright. You can go back to lunch. And try to keep a low profile. This school’s seen enough excitement for one day.”
Arthur nodded and quickly walked back into the cafeteria. As Principal Andrews watched the boy’s figure retreating, he couldn’t help but wonder if things between those three (Eric, Julie and Arthur) would work themselves out.
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Back to Claire and Barbara
Claire and Barbara passed the time they spent walking back to the apartment building getting to know each other better. Barbara of course still left out the parts about her other relationship with Ryan, but even that the two had in common. Aside from the fact they both found Ryan quite the catch, they both had loud, overbearing, older brothers, and were into photography.
“I do lots of stuff. Photography for real estate, restaurants, some photojournalism when I can get the work.” she said.
“Is the field very competitive?” Claire asked in regard to the photojournalism.
“It’s tricky. I try to stay local, because the big news stations and papers want you to travel all over and I can’t afford to spend weeks hiking up mountains in Argentina. Aside from the local paper here, I sometimes do work for the Times.”
“So the college here has a good program for photography?”
“It’s certainly better than when I was in school. I can give you a few pointers if you’re going to stay in town.” Barbara offered.
Claire nodded, and would have started to jump up and down excitedly if it had not been for the handful of things in her arms. She was liking Barbara more and more by the minute.
From his apartment window, Ryan could see the two approaching the building. Claire had a smile on her face, which relieved Ryan immensely.
“I owe Barbara big time.” he thought. He didn’t know what she’d said to Claire to make her calm down, but it worked. And that’s what mattered.
As Claire neared the apartment complex her thoughts drifted back to Ryan. Barbara noticed this, and had only one other thing to say on the subject.
“Ryan really does care about you. Trust me when I say that nine times out of ten, sex between weres is just recreational. Very few times does it have anything to do with romance. And Ryan’s been on the market for years.” Barbara said.
That last bit was especially good news to Claire. She had wondered if, seeing as Ryan was so handsome, he had his wagon hitched. But Barbara just made it obviously clear, Ryan was a free agent. For now.