Chapter Text
Adaine’s skin was slowly being taken over by a legion of tiny spiders. At least, that’s how it felt when she opened her eyes and glanced over at her alarm clock. The creeping, crawling sensation was near unbearable, and Adaine grimaced, wishing that they were real spiders, because then at least Boggy could eat them, or surely there would be some spell to take care of a freak infestation of skin spiders.
Sitting up in bed, Adaine slowly brushed her hands over her arms, trying to settle the feeling of unease and nausea that had been an unwelcome visitor since last night. However, her moment of desperate searching for quiet was interrupted by a soft knocking on her door.
“Adaine, we have to leave in five minutes. Are you…” Sandralynn’s voice tapered off, unsure of how to continue. “Come on down, Fig and Kristen are finishing up breakfast.”
Adaine’s stomach lurched. Fuck. How had she overslept? She never overslept. Goddamm, goddamn, goddamn, goddammit. She bolted out of bed, glancing at her alarm clock, which she could have sworn said 6:02 am only five minutes ago, but somehow it was 7:47 am and she was late. The spiders crawled furiously as she pulled on whatever clothes were closest, even though she had worn the same outfit earlier this week and now the sweater felt so wrong on her body. I am going to make everyone late, and they are going to be annoyed, and I know Kristen has a big test today that she was stressing about, fuck, and now I’m making her late.
Grabbing her textbooks and shoving them into her bag, muttering a chorus of “Shit, fuck, goddamn,” Adaine practically ran out of her room, taking the stairs two at a time. If there was one thing her god awful parents had impressed on her that was even somewhat useful, it was the importance of punctuality, and the idea of being late was making her skin spiders crawl faster and her breath come quicker with every step. Stumbling over the final step, Adaine made it into the dining room, where Jawbone, Fig, and Kristen were laughing over something Kristen had said, and Sandralynn was sipping from her “Number 1 Ranger & Mom” coffee mug that Fig had gotten her. Sandralynn used the mug every morning, and Jawbone had painstakingly glued it back together after it was knocked over during a night of ‘intense cookie making’ as Kristen described it.
Sandralynn met Adaine’s eyes, and for a minute Adaine was looking not into the deep brown eyes of the ranger, but instead into the piercing grey eyes of Arianwen Abernant. Adaine bit back a sharp statement in defense of herself, catching herself in a moment of anger and instead tried to focus on the conversation happening around the breakfast table. God, Adaine. Sandralynn is not Moth-- Arianwen. Are you really going to be rude to her? How ungrateful, just go ahead and throw her hospitality back in her face. Adaine was used to the anxious voice that resided in her mind, but today it was taking on a Fallinel accent and sounded eerily familiar to comments her parents had made throughout the years. She maintained eye contact with Sandralynn, trying to decipher her emotions, trying desperately to see what the woman was thinking. The slight cock of Sandralynn’s head sent Adaine’s mind into pure fear. Oh god. Why was I late? Why did I have to cause trouble? If I could just wake up on time this wouldn’t be an issue.
Trying to diffuse the situation, Adaine gave a small smile to Sandralynn and wracked her brain for a compliment to offer, something to express her appreciation and hopefully tone down the anger she had inspired.
“Thanks for making sure I got down here on time, Sandralynn. Guess I was up a little too late studying last night.” Internally berating herself for coming up with such a flimsy lie, Adaine stood a little straighter, bracing herself for Sandralynn’s response.
“No problem, Adaine. Just making sure we get you girls to school on time, don’t want to leave anyone behind.” The ranger continued looking far too closely at Adaine for her own comfort, and a slight amount of tension lifted when Sandralynn spoke to Jawbone, “The girls have to get to school, Kristen has her exam today. And you work there, Jawbone.” Adaine could have sworn that her voice softened when Sandralynn addressed Jawbone.
“C’mon kiddos,” Jawbone’s deep voice was littered with chuckles at whatever joke Kristen and Fig had created. “Halfway through the week! Kristen, you can choose the music in the car today.” This was a generous offer, since deciding what to listen to on the way to school every morning was the source of many light-hearted bickerings between the three teenagers.
Fig and Kristen got up from the table, and Fig ran over to Adaine to give her a massive hug. The moment Fig touched Adaine, her skin erupted in fire, and it took all of her willpower not to recoil away from her friend. Every inch of her skin was now covered in spiders, Fig’s arms were pushing Adaine’s sweater deeper into her skin, and the pressure of feeling another person against her made Adaine want to scream or cry. Somehow, Adaine managed to hug Fig back, trying desperately to ignore the way her body and mind were rejecting the affection from one of her best friends.
“Morning Fig,” Adaine internally cursed herself for her voice wavering. “Your outfit is extra punk today.” Fig was wearing a ripped shirt that looked like it had previously belonged to Gorgug from the first leg of the Fig and the Cig Figs tour, fish nets, tall boots with pink and yellow laces, and a skirt that Adaine is pretty sure used to be one of her own Hudol uniform skirts.
“Hey Adaine! I’m meeting up with Ayda later today to talk about some badass pirate myths that I think I can write a song about. You should definitely join us!” Fig’s enthusiasm, while normally a great way to start a morning, made Adaine want to run and hide back in the safety of her room.
“I, um, appreciate the offer but I told Aelwyn I would hang out with her.” Somehow managing to keep her voice steady this time, Adaine avoided eye contact with Fig, hoping that without looking into her eyes, Fig wouldn’t realize that this was another lie.
“No worries! Kristen! You’re gonna kick Buddy Dawn’s ass today! I can give you a Bardic before you go into class, or I can disguise myself as Buddy and then let you win!”
“Fig, maybe you shouldn’t make plans where a school employee can hear them.” Jawbone interrupted any response Kristen might have given, humor evident in his voice. “Plus, Kristen is more than capable of ‘slaying’ this exam.”
Fig and Kristen looked over at Jawbone, a mixture of shock, horror, and amusement at Jawbone’s attempt to use slang to motivate the cleric. Kristen doubled over, her laugh echoing through the hallway as the group moved toward the entryway to get to the car. Adaine hung back, staring at the pictures of the Bad Kids that Fig entitled “mandatory family pictures” that every house now had. She must have zoned out for longer than she realized, because Sandralynn was able to walk up behind her and put her hand on the elf’s shoulder. Adaine whipped around, almost flinging her glasses off of her face.
“Adaine, are you okay?” Dammit. Adaine blinked, furiously trying to come up with a statement that wasn’t yet another lie, but would convince the ranger to leave her be.
“I’m fine, just tired! Don’t want to be late, see you later, bye!” Adaine quickly turned back around and made her way towards the door. So much for being nonchalant and making Sandralynn not worried. She dug her nails into her palms, knowing that she would have to actually explain herself and apologize for her behavior this morning.
Everyone else was already in the car, and Adaine internally grimaced when she remembered that they had to transport a bunch of band equipment for Fig’s bard class, which meant that she had to sit directly next to Fig to make room for the bass and sound equipment piled in the trunk and backseat. Adaine tucked herself in between Fig and the car door, pulling out a book to attempt to block out the conversations that would be happening among all of the occupants of the car.
While the others continued talking (and singing), Adaine tried to read the random book she had grabbed. She was pretty sure this was a book about abjurative magic she had borrowed from Aelwyn, and on any other day, probably would have been incredibly interesting. However, the words started swimming in front of Adaine’s eyes as she realized that she was fighting back tears. Pull it together, Adaine. There is literally no reason to be crying right now. Can you not handle being a little late? Biting the inside of her cheek, Adaine concentrated on naming all the spells that she knew, trying desperately to bring herself back to the present moment. As she started thinking about her second-level spells, Adaine became more aware of the sweater, this shitty sweater that was rubbing against her skin, and steel wool would have been more comfortable. God, Adaine. It’s just a piece of clothing, and you wore it only two days ago and were fine. You are just being dramatic, stop freaking out.
The rest of the ride went by without anyone engaging Adaine in conversation, which she was incredibly thankful for, because there was no way she could have responded without crying or making up yet another lie.
As they arrived, Adaine saw Riz scribbling furiously away in a notebook, his hair askew and brow furrowed. Biting her lip, Adaine considered her options, trying to figure out how she could not tip off Riz to the fact that she was having a bad morning, at least until she felt better and could laugh about it later. Don’t make everything about you, Adaine. Your friends have other things going on in their lives, and Kristen has her exam today, and you haven’t even wished her good luck. Are you really going to ruin all of their mornings by being in a bad mood for no reason? Taking a deep breath, Adaine decided to go to class early, wish Kristen good luck on her exam, and avoid the rest of her friends so they do not have to worry about her.
Saying goodbye to Jawbone, Kristen, and Fig, Adaine grabbed some sound equipment with her physical hands, and some cords with her Mage Hand to bring into Aguefort.
“Hey Riz.” Her voice was rougher than she expected, but now Adaine was determined to get into school without breaking down or screaming at the next person that spoke to her. “I’ve got some work I have to do before my history of divination class, so I’m gonna go there early, but I’ll see you later.” She had trouble meeting Riz’s eyes, knowing that the detective knew her well and if he wasn’t too engrossed in the case he was currently working, he would be the one to see through her in an instant.
“Oh okay. Well I’ve got some theories that I want to throw at you, so let’s talk later.” Riz’s feet were bouncing, and Adaine couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or from the likely empty massive travel mug of coffee that was by his side.
Adaine nodded, internally crossing her fingers that she would be able to participate in the case that Riz was working on, knowing that he was working on asking for help if necessary. Don’t let him down, Adaine. You have to get it together.
After dropping off the sounds equipment for Fig in the recording studio for the AV club, and rushed through the halls, not even noticing if there was anyone else in the school at this point in time. Finding her classroom, Adaine slipped inside, finding her seat in the front of the classroom, by the windows. She pulled out her crystal, seeing that the Bad Kids had been texting all morning in their group chat. With a sigh, she placed the chat on silent, not even bothering to read the messages. As she went to put her crystal away, Aelwyn texted her, the buzz of the notification echoing in the empty room.
Have to cancel plans this weekend. Will be in Bastion City instead.
If she wouldn’t have to explain to Jawbone why her phone was broken, Adaine would have thrown her phone across the room. She and Aelwyn had been planning on watching the newest season of the trashy cooking show that Aelwyn had gotten into this weekend. It had been a few weeks since they had been able to hang out, and even though Adaine wouldn’t admit it to Aelwyn directly, she had been looking forward to spending this time with her sister.
Tears pricking the corners of her eyes, Adaine texted Aelwyn back just a simple:
Okay. Can we reschedule soon? Don’t want to waste all the ice cream I bought from Basrar’s. :)
Aelwyn simply responded with a thumbs up and Adaine felt her stomach sink. She hates you. You did something to piss her off, and now she does not want to even be around you. And who is surprised? You cannot even handle a bad morning without being insufferable. No wonder Aelwyn does not want to spend time with you anymore.
As the other students began coming into the classroom, Adaine wished she had prepared Calm Emotions, because the spiders had returned in full force. They began to fill her throat, climbing down into her stomach and eating her from the inside out. Gulping down her feelings, Adaine turned her attention to the blackboard, hoping that by the end of class she would feel okay.