"What is he doing here!" Jasper yelled.
Everyone turned to look between Spider and Jasper. Magenta felt weaker than ever. On top of feeling so cold physically, her heart constricted as if the organ itself became an ice chip. How could he be back? She didn't know how long correctional institute programs were, but she thought they would take longer than a mere few months.
Spider looked different. Clean. Calm. Collected.
Mrs. Gouges didn't look surprised. She simply nodded at the entrance and she walked up to Spider and the police officers.
"Everyone, as you were." Mrs. Gouges commanded.
"Thank you for escorting this student back to campus." She turned to the officers once everyone tried to avert their eyes and conversation resumed in the hall.
"We are releasing Spider Wells, under certain pre-requirements mentioned previously and understanding that he will be supervised at all times, starting from now until Christmas Day. He is being released due to significant improvement shown in behavior and actions and mental health diagnosis." The policeman tried to speak subtly but the hall had an echoing effect so Blue, Magenta, Shelby, and Jasper who were all close to the entrance overheard what the officer said to Mrs. Gouges.
When the handcuffs went off, the group flinched, expecting Spider to attack one of them. But Spider simply shook his hair out which had grown longer. No longer a buzz cut, and somehow his glasses were gone too, he looked different. He turned to them, walking over, flanked by two guards.
He said, "I want to apologize for my past actions, Magenta. And to all of you in this group. Please consider forgiving me. I have been diagnosed with a mental illness, and am working with a doctor to improve. I get it if you guys won't forgive me. But I hope you can one day."
With that, Spider turned and asked his guards whether he could get some water. They escorted him to the water station, marching in tandem.
The quartet sat down, discussing in hushed tones. Both boys kept their arms around their girlfriends' shoulders.
"I don't think so," Shelby said.
"Why do you say that?" Magenta asked.
"He seemed to be sorry..." Magenta observed.
"Yeah, he 'seemed' to be. Did you see that same creepy Spider smile when he was coming up the driveway? No, you didn't," Shelby said.
"I'm gonna have to agree with Shel on this one. Just because he says he's sorry and looks different doesn't mean anything until he proves it over time," Jasper said.
Blue said nothing, tracking Spider's movements, his arm protectively wrapped around Magenta. Spider sipped on his water, talking quietly with his guards.
"Well, I think we should give him a chance," Magenta muttered, turning her head against Blue's side.
Having just gone through framing by Reese, Magenta knew what it was like for everyone to think you were guilty when you were not. And maybe it was the same for Spider. Everyone looked at him disgusted, turning up their noses and turning their faces away. But he didn't seem to look at people or girls with that perverted look of longing anymore. Of course, her friends were right in that a person didn't always just change overnight. So they had to be more cautious.
--
Eventually, the hailstorm stopped and the students could exit the sanctuary hall. Now Magenta needed to figure out what to do about her and Shelby's flooded room. Their dorm parents said to stay out of the flooded rooms for now in case of electric shocks, and material collapses.
They were temporarily relocated to one of the younger girls' dorm parents' flats. Magenta fluffed the spare pillows in the room, as Shelby dried her hair. They lay in bed afterward, just having a girl talk.
"Midterm results are coming out tomorrow," Magenta said.
"Oh my god, I forgot about that," Shelby said.
"I'm still feeling kind of scared," Shelby was talking about Spider.
"I haven't been thinking or being able to focus on much else. I just want us all to be safe and protected. But especially with our lives in danger, I don't know."
Magenta thought about that, and she agreed. That afternoon, she was almost gravely hurt by a flying shot put the ball. Who were these mystery twins anyways? Why did they keep showing up? They weren't from Oakstone, so how did they know about the school and know about the whole situation to be helping Reese? Maybe Spider did have something to do with it, the timing was so remarkable.
"You're right. It's hard to be okay if we don't feel safe. And midterms don't feel important as much when we think, what if we're gone by tomorrow?" Magenta said.
"Ah, don't say that! You're freaking me out," Shelby said.
"But actually, Shel. Can you teach me self-defense sometime? I don't want to be so weak if anything ever happens again." Magenta said.
Shelby said, "Of course, I will, Mag."
"When could we start sessions?" Magenta asked.
"Whenever you want," Shelby offered.
"ASAP, please," Magenta said.
"Sure, how about tomorrow?" Shelby suggested. They went to the bathroom to brush their teeth, and get ready to sleep.
They agreed on practicing for half an hour per session.
Magenta felt a hope that she wouldn't be entirely defenseless. That time with Reese, she felt so helpless, unable to do anything but let him hurt her and Blue too.
Now was the time to stand up for herself. To stop letting things fall in place or just happen. She would take control of the places where she could take control. She would be strong where she could be strong. She would be focused as much as possible. Even though Magenta would probably find it hard to balance being nice to her enemies and being protective of her friends. Just seeing Spider being apologetic had softened her, but maybe her heart needed to be hardened against all the soft things.
So that she could form that protective shell over herself so that she could learn to protect the people she loved.
Magenta fell asleep, dreaming of ninjas and dinosaurs.