Forgotten Ties (Ties, Book 3.5) | ✓

Chapter 7

After that, the man had escorted Skye back to his classroom and told his teacher about the detention. She actually didn't seem too angry at Skye about it. He showed her the red spot on his stomach and she told him to keep his clothes on, but Skye was pretty sure she sympathised.

The teacher stood up in front of the class and wrote on the board about days of the week and asked questions about what day came before or after another day. It went on for far too long, and Skye didn't care, so he learnt nothing. He borrowed some of Ethan's pencils and held them between his fingers, which was sort of like bear claws. Bears didn't know about days of the week.

By the time their next break came around, Skye was more than ready to eat. He headed over to the cafeteria with Ethan.

He'd barely gotten inside the doors when someone grabbed him by the arm, but when he spun around, he found himself face to face with Nim. "Oh! Hi, Nim!"

"You know, I was just starting to think that you weren't so stupid after all, but then you went and got yourself detention with the guy who punched you," Nim said, still gripping Skye firmly by his arm.

"Well, it's not fair if I'm the only one who gets in trouble," Skye said. "What he did was worse than what I did."

"Nothing's fair here, Skye!" Nim all but shouted, finally letting go of Skye's arm. "You can't expect it to be, so forget about that. All you can do is try to stay safe and out of trouble, and getting shut in a room with someone who has it out for you doesn't help with that."

Skye folded his arms across his chest. "I can take care of myself, you know. I'm not a baby. I know you don't understand me because nobody ever does, and that's fine, but if I was actually just dumb, don't you think I'd be dead by now?"

"Maybe you're lying about being as old as you are."

"Maybe you could show that you care about me in less angry ways."

The expression shifted on Nim's face and after a moment he sighed and looked away. "Well, it'll be what it is. Nothing we can do to change things now. Let's just go eat our lunch."

As they headed over to an empty table, Ethan gave Skye a comforting pat on his arm. It went on much longer than any arm pat Skye had ever experienced, but that just made it extra comforting. Ethan was a good friend.

"He came and found me when you were in trouble, you know," Nim told Skye as they sat down. "I guess he can't talk, but he got his point across well enough."

"Yeah, Ethan's really good at not being able to say words," Skye said. "Sometimes I wish I couldn't talk."

"You could just... not talk?"

Skye chewed and swallowed a grape. "It's just not the same."

"If you say so," Nim said. "Anyway, I guess I'll stay after school until your detention is done, because it's not like you can get home on your own. Just try to stay safe, okay? If something happens, I can't defend you. If I lay one hand on that human, I'm going to prison, and at this point I'm not sure that doesn't actually just mean a bullet in my brain."

"I can take care of myself, but if you want to help, you can give me one of the boiled eggs from your lunch box," Skye said.

"How will that help?"

"Well, I want it, so if I have it I will be happier as a person."

Nim rolled his eyes and handed Skye one of the eggs. "Your logic tracks in strange ways, you know."

"I do know, but I like it that way, so I'm not going to stop."

"That's fair. Enjoy the egg."

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