UnOrdinary Short-ish Stories

Elaine's Backstory

Elaine was walking to the roof for her free period to study when Arlo pulled her into an empty room. She was flustered from the sudden touch and was definitely confused. This was unlike Arlo all things considered to pull her into an empty classroom to talk.

"A-Arlo?? What are we doing in an e-empty classroom?" She cursed herself for stuttering but could you blame her? She was planning on studying but Arlo suddenly pulled her to the closest empty classroom with her a blushing mess.

Arlo was leaning on the teacher's desk, his face was one of concentration, he was studying her.

 "Why did you hate cripples so much?"

She took a step back and her eyes widened from the initial surprise, out of everything he could have asked her she didn't expect that. "W-what?" She had to make sure she heard him right the first time.

He glared at her slightly and repeated the question slowly, "why did you hate cripples so much?"

She took another step back until her back hit one of the desks in the room, she needed to gather her thoughts, she wasn't blushing anymore. Elaine wordlessly hopped on the desk she hit and closed her eyes for a moment. Out of everyone that could have asked her, Arlo was the person she expected it the least. Before Joker and EMBER, they both respected and followed the hierarchy without question. In a way, it's what tied them together all the time, the hierarchy. She was the healer for The Royals and that was that. She didn't expect him to question how she used to view things since they both had the same cover that blocked their view.

She opened her eyes, Elaine couldn't look at him directly so she opted to stare at the wall behind him, "why do you want to know now?" she asked him seriously. Technically she wasn't glaring at him, rather the wall. Elaine knew how observant Arlo, she also knew that it was going to bite her in the butt one day. She just didn't expect that day to be today.

Arlo could tell the change in her demeanor immediately; it wasn't hard to tell considering her eyes had darkened, and she was glaring a hole in the wall behind him. He knew the risk of asking her about her past hate of cripples but he needed answers. If there was one thing she wasn't afraid to talk about with him, it was this. He knew she wouldn't back down from this topic.

"You treated them very differently compared to anyone else but one day you go to who knows where and your view of them changed completely. If I weren't paying attention to everyone around me, I would have said that your view changed because of what happened with EMBER and the Joker incident. But, I am not blind. Your view changed because of something else. Your week-long absence is what changed you."

He was entering dangerous territory and they both knew it. She straightened her back and she finally looked him in the eye. He changed his stance as well, instead of leaning on the desk he stood to his full height and looked her dead in the eye. Her green eyes against his icy blue ones. Her once bright green eyes had turned incredibly darker. In normal circumstances, she would never dream of glaring at Arlo but this was not normal. The atmosphere was tense that if anyone were to walk in they would most likely be downright terrified. Elaine wasn't known to be an intimidating person but if she had to she could be frightening.

"That doesn't explain why, you just about said what changed me but you haven't answered my question on why you want to know. Why do you want to know and why do you want to know now?" She asked him, he glared right back.

"I want to know how you started to hate cripples. I want to know what happened that made you change your view on them completely. Also, I've noticed anytime someone mentions anything about 'family' you get uncomfortable. If I'm not mistaken something revolving around your family made you hate cripples." He noticed as soon as mentioned 'family' she stiffened, his hunch was right. His mouth twitched upwards, he won.