Humans are fragile beings. A simple emotional scene can break even the most hard boiled. But getting back up is a sign of true strength.
Don't you love it when the principal with throat problems tries to yell at you? Even if you don't agree, I have to answer yes to that question. It's almost always a free ticket out of trouble. Just pop a little bag of pepper in her lunch and you'll be free to do whatever you want. Well, within reason of course.
I don't get how she hasn't noticed my pranks on her yet, but she accuses me of causing my homeroom teacher's hand injury. I actually liked her classes unlike you, Miss Constancly-nagging.
I only target the people who deserve it. Unfortunately I can't say the same for the other students. My class is ruthless, especially with substitutes. I might have to have a talk with a certain group of students about Luna. If I find out someone tries to hurt her, whether it be mentally, physically, or emotionally, I can assure you they won't be able to taste anything for a week and a half.
"Skye, did you do s-something to your homeroom teacher?" Luna asks as we step into the cafeteria area. Her long curly hair has been freshly dyed a light purple, and I can barely smell the subtle sweet perfume she's wearing through the remnants of dinner in the kitchen. Her eyes are usually way more focused and vibrant but since she checked her phone they seem to have dulled.
"Nah that wasn't me. But more importantly, are you okay? Did you get a bad text or something?" I ask as I stop walking and stand staring up at her from a couple steps towards our destination.
"I… d-don't k-know…" Her lips quiver into a frown and I hear her voice crack with sadness. I instantly know what's wrong and hug her tightly. She bends down and buries her face in my chest, tears streaming from her eyes and trailing down her face.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay. Don't worry I'm here for you." I frown trying to keep my own mind from wandering. This is worse than how I reacted when my parents died. I was very little then, but even so I don't remember how it happened. I only remember the bitter empty feeling I felt and afterwards.
"Talk to me Luna, what's wrong?" I whisper as I bring my hand up to the top of her head. I can feel my own emotions raging inside me. Sadness resonating with her sobbing cries, Anger for whoever made her feel this way, even a sense of wanting to protect her bobs up and down atop the raging seas of my beating heart.
"M-my Mother and Father…" She wails. I look down at her sniffling and dropping tears onto the floor. "T-They both p-passed this morning, they've been t-trying everything they can to stabilize them… but… they can't… there's nothing." Her voice trails off and even if she doesn't finish her sentence, I know what she means. Her parents have died.
I feel my own heart ache in response to Luna's grief. She's usually so cheery when she's with me. Seeing her in this state and knowing that I can't help her breaks me. I hate this feeling of helplessness, but I know that the best thing I can do for her is to offer my shoulder to cry on. I tighten my hug slightly and rub her back with my hand.
"Luna… I'm so sorry." I say in a tone laced with forlorn. I'm not good at comforting people with words. I know the feeling of losing someone you love and I can't help but hide my own frustration. I want to help Luna. I want to shield her from the rain that's currently washing over her world, but I don't know what to do that will help.
"I c-can't, they were all I had. And now they aren't here. I don't wanna-" I know exactly what she's about to say and I break the hug by tugging on her shoulders. She looks up at me and I can feel the brokenheartedness oozing from her face.
"Luna don't. I'm here for you…" My voice cracks and I always shed a tear of my own. Then I remember something my step father said to me the last time I saw him. I know what I can do at this moment. I lock eyes with Luna, her shoulders are shrugged down so far that my eye level is inches above her head. It's definitely a strange feeling but I can't be worried about the little things right now.
"Luna, hey. Even if your parents aren't around they will always be with you right here." I say as I nudge her heart area. I know I probably shouldn't say this. But this isn't the time to be worried about myself.
"Don't worry, I will protect you in their place!" I declare as I unclip my faded golden necklace. I slide the lightning bolt pendant off of the chain, sliding it in my pocket and clipping the chain around her neck.
I see her expression waver from sadness to surprise for a small moment. Tears are still streaming from her eyes but I know that she's felt the sincerity in my declaration. I smile warmly and I help her walk from the cafeteria towards the break room. She sits down on the couch and I cover her with a nearby blanket. Within minutes she's sleeping, her chest rising and falling with each breath.
I guess she was emotionally exhausted. I sit in a chair nearby and watch her intently. I can't help but feel I acted out of character. I usually don't try that hard for people, but something about her situation feels so familiar. It's like I was called to help her. Although even if I wasn't guided I feel like I did the right thing. I smile and watch her calmly sleep for a moment more before eventually falling asleep too.
—The Next Morning—
"So you're really gonna be the chaperone Luna?" I ask, realizing the hopeful gleam in my eyes is probably blinding her. I look away and while I'm waiting for her response, I notice a couple students fighting over a book with a white mountainous cover near the bookshelf. This happens so often that I don't usually notice them until it becomes a fist fight, and then I jump in and stop them. It's not like I hate fighting, it's more like I can't focus on my own book when they fight over another one.
"Y-yeah I don't know." Luna says meekly and I guess she's probably still thinking about last night. She did wake up all teary eyed. I assumed it was because of my decision to cover her with a blanket but now that I think about it, that can't be right. She's probably just not used to being treated kindly.
"Hey now, don't worry it's gonna be so much fun! And I don't know about you, but the Mountain View for the field trip is gonna make me wanna relax all day long." I exclaim this and then see the students in the background get into classic fighting stances. Students begin to gather around them and cheer.
I sigh and roll my eyes, before taking a step towards them. But just before I reach the crowd Principal Constance walks into the room. Luckily I noticed her before I jumped in, because she probably would have told me I have detention or something even though I wasn't even involved.
"Excuse me." Principal Constance coughs. A student yells "the principal's here" and the crowd of students scramble. I can't help but wonder why they listen to her so easily. It's not like she can tell our parents, we're all orphans after all.
"Luna, are you ready to give your answer?" Miss Constance asks as she walks over towards us. She notices me and grimaces as if I did more to help her wake up than the coffee in her snow colored cup.
"Umm. Yes, I've d-decided I'll go." Luna stutters on the word "decided" as if she didn't have to think about it for very long at all. I can't help but wonder if she's ever gonna get over her shyness. I know she has major anxiety about pretty much everything, (and I get that because my ADHD gets me all the time), but still she's seventeen and she doesn't have a shred of confidence in herself. I hope that one day I can help her overcome that struggle.
"That's good to hear." The principal sighs a little too relieved of a sound and hands her a stack of papers. "Skye's class is going to start in about thirty minutes. So take this stack of papers, and tell the students who got permission from their parents that the date for the field trip is this upcoming weekend." Luna smiles and the principal walks away.
"Well I guess this means y-you're going to have to introduce me to your c-class." Luna smiles at me. Her mood seems to have changed a little but I don't know what caused it. Maybe it was the surprisingly light amount of stress from Miss Constance?
Wait. If she's going to chaperone then that means she's gonna meet the rest of my class.
"Wait, Luna, are you sure you don't want me to take the papers to them?" I ask, feeling a nervous sensation crack my voice. I've been putting on a whole persona of a protector, but what will she think when she sees the real me? I don't know if I'm ready.