[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/SxoaK9n.png[/img][/center][hr]The bell sounded out with the usual clatter of chairs and rustling of bags. “Bye Mrs. Grey!” “Byeeee!” “Goodbye Mrs. Grey.” It warmed her heart to have even a handful of her students offer farewells. She liked it even better when they weren’t so rambunctious or forgetful, but what could you do? [color=e7745b]“Who forgot their shoe?!”[/color] she called down the hall, a pair of feet running back to grab it, roughly putting it on before taking off without a word of thanks or apology.

Sitting down, there was one student left, having taken advantage of Jean’s means of lending an ear. Antonio sat in his tank top, head bowed. Jean took her seat and turned her chair, leaning slightly forward with her forearms on her legs and hands loosely clasped. In the silence she glanced at the drawer she kept her phone in, heart pulsing as fears and anxieties reared up, but she kept her cool and resisted the urge to check it.

“You said that if we tell you something bad we wanted to do we wouldn’t get in trouble?” Antonio finally spoke, his words weak.

A light sense of dread crept in. [color=e7745b]“I said that, and no one’s gotten in trouble for talking to me.”[/color]

Antonio was still uneasy, but after he was quiet for a minute or so he went to his backpack. He returned with a kitchen knife about eight inches long. Jean kept neutral. Easier done than said when she’d been lightly aware of it all day. [color=e7745b]“Is that from your kitchen?”[/color]

Fear spread on Antonio’s face. “Are you gonna tell my mom and dad?”

[color=e7745b]“If they don’t know you have it then you just need to put it back and there won’t be a problem. But that’s only if they don’t know.”[/color] Antonio normally tried to be tough in class, dismissing assignments and not putting any effort in. The scared boy in front of her was almost unrecognizable in a way. Reaching into her desk, she pulled out half a pack of Nutter Butters, her intended sugar break for the rest of her post-school work. He let out a low whine, taking them with shaking hands before devouring them as fast as he could. Halfway through the last one, he stopped to break down. It took all of Jean’s effort to hold back her own tears.

He spoke through his sobs. “M-May c-c-called me sk-skinny d-during PE yesterday a-and I was mad s-so I b-brought the knife t-t-to stab her.”

Taking a breath to steady herself, Jean reached out and put her hand on his knee. She wasn’t sure if it was for his sake or hers. “A-and I’m o-only sk-skinny because my p-parents don’t feed me!”

That was the cry of help Jean had been looking for. She’d known. How could she not? She didn’t give him a snack on a whim. But to randomly give him food usually would have been an odd look, and Jean didn’t want to be on the receiving end of suspicions she couldn’t easily dispel or invite unwanted claims of favoritism or 'getting to close'. Mind reading was something even she felt was off putting, more so than her mutanthood. But now, in this case, it was no longer a concern.

Jean’s stomach was mixed with relief at the weight starting to lift and anxiety at what was coming next, a scenario she’d spent more than a few bus rides grappling with. When Antonio started to calm just a little bit, Jean said, her voice wet, [color=e7745b]“We’re going to get you help, okay? I’m going to get Mr. Grant and Mr. Satou, okay?”[/color] The former the most veteran teacher of the school, the latter the Vice-Principal. Even if Jean knew what to do, deferring to her seniors as a the most junior was the smart play. [color=f02f54][i]You can’t do everything yourself,[/i][/color] Scott had told her some time ago when they were still figuring out their domestic situation. She’d been trying to take it to heart. [color=e7745b]You’re not in trouble.”[/color]

A quick call on the school lines had the two older men at her door in minutes. Jean stood back as they took over the situation. Sadly it wasn’t the first time either of them had dealt with abuse cases. Wouldn’t be the last for any of them either. Thanks offered to Jean, they took control of the situation and moved Antonio to a different office, and hopefully had something a little more substantial to offer food wise. Jean was left at her desk, leaning back and taking a moment in the empty class to just...unpack everything a little. Some time later, there was a knock on the door with a soft voice following. “You okay in there?” Mrs. Herb was always the strictest and firmest with Jean, which was why this soft tone rendered her nearly unrecognizable.

Wiping at her eye and finding a bit of errant moisture, Jean insisted, [color=e7745b]“Yeah, I’m okay. Gimme five more minutes.”[/color] There were some footsteps as she took her up on that. Not sure if she’d return, Jean blew her nose before daring to check her phone, her source of anxiety for the past school day. She’d been seen this morning when she lifted the truck, and she’d spent the whole day waiting for her life to crash down around her. It was a risk she’d been prepared for, but at this point she thought it might be better for the other shoe to just drop, no matter what else came down with it. The lack of service was a funny coincidence that would stem the movement of that knowledge, but it was only a matter of time. It wasn’t as though [i]everything[/i] was down. She still had wifi. And a fresh kind of anxiety as she saw a message from the last person she expected. The contents struck a special kind of fear in her.

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[color=e7745b][i]Can you be more vague?![/i][/color] She leaned back in her chair and let out a shrill groan through her teeth. Her mind first jumped to Firebird, her heart leaping the same distance out of her body, but that wording didn’t feel right it that’s what she was asking about.

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If Jean wasn’t so mentally tired then she’d have rolled her eyes, a state away from whatever was going on. Her mom was closer to the whatever it was then her, probably, but in that small town the big cities felt closer, Jean guessed. But as she checked the link she watched a wave smash into Liberty island, bodies hitting the water. The unnatural occurrence led to discussion and postulation that it wasn’t going to be the first time either. Jean put her phone down and tried to push it from her mind but the images kept coming in flashes to her brain. A quick search and she found it was only 170 miles straight to New York, so if she…

[color=f02f54][i]You can’t do everything yourself.[/i][/color] She heard in her head again. Leaning back in her chair she massaged her temple. It was stupid: even if she went there’d be nothing she’d be able to do, right? But if the situation got worse and she wasn’t there...was she really going to make an interstate flight on a whim?

“Jean?” Mrs. Herb was back, concern evident on her face as she poked her head in. “What’s the matter with you?”

[color=e7745b]“O-oh, it’s just, uh, there’s something going on in New York and i-it’s a little...much, right now, after, you know, everything.”[/color] Her breath was shaky as she exhaled, rubbing her fingers back and forth on her forehead.

Herb’s firmness seemed to regrow itself as she straightened her back, the small woman with curly white hair standing over Jean in her chair. “Yeah, I saw. I saw more than you’d want me to see.” Those words knocked Jean out of her daze, her mind going in other directions. “I didn’t come here for that, I came here to check on you. You did the right thing, and Antonio’s going to get the help he needs. But if there’s something else you should be doing, or somewhere else you should be, then that’s up to you to figure out. No one else.”

Jean stared, picking up exactly what she’d feared from surface thoughts. She hadn’t recognized Mrs. Herb in traffic earlier, but she’d recognized her. Jean gaped, stammering out nothings until she finally committed. No half arsing it. [color=e7745b]“Y-yeah, yeah. Thank you!”[/color] Reaching under the desk she pulled out an extra satchel before sliding open the window and hopping out. Mrs. Herb looked around carefully, nearly swearing before shaking her head and starting for the door. Just as she moved to leave, there was a rush from the window. Jean plucked her phone and a half empty plastic water bottle from her desk, poking around in a drawer for a missing snack before locking eyes with Mrs. Herb. [color=e7745b]“Sorry, forgot...”[/color] Trailing off, she went back to the window. [color=e7745b]“Sorry!”[/color] Jean went off into the sky once again.

Herb shook her head. “What are we gonna do with you?”