THE JOINING: The Cycle of the Shards Book One
Chapter 13

Shanna walked through the hall quickly, having satisfied herself that Mrs. White was going to be okay. The last that she had seen, she had stood up and was very close to assaulting Brian before Mr. Phelps had got in between the two of them. At that point she decided she would much prefer heading to Computer class than to get caught in whatever that was going to be. And with computers also came Kyle.

She had always had a slight interest in the boy, like Brian and most of the boys that had glanced at her admiringly she always knew when he was looking, yet it was his reaction when he was caught that was the most amusing and a little bit sweet. His face would get red, and he would stammer whatever sentence he was saying, if he had been saying anything. He was a little bit…safe? She guessed at the word for it, but he wasn’t exactly someone that gets caught doing something that he wasn’t supposed to. But he wasn’t a goody two shoes either. He was…Well, if she had to describe him, he was just kinda there, trying to stay out of things, not getting involved in a whole lot. For some reason, that was enough to cause a small attraction, but until yesterday that’s all it was, based on looks and his general ability to not care, as it was a feeling she herself fell into from time to time. She did require some sort of adventure to her life though, so that probably left him out for anything more than a brief flirtation. But then he showed up in the office with Brian, and she started to wonder if she had written him off a little early. Something had changed with him, that’s for sure. When she had caught him today, he had met her gaze, seemingly unafraid, and while she couldn’t really make out what was said, she knew that he had spoke for quite a while. And then just outright embarrassing that jackass without throwing a single punch!

Her feelings were high as she moved through the halls but they dropped as she entered the classroom to take her usual seat right next to Kyle, but Kyle wasn’t there. She looked at Jim, who just shrugged. “No idea. Maybe he got in trouble after all.”

Shanna sighed as she sank into her seat. Even without actually making contact, she worried if Kyle would get thrown out anyway. She had done everything she could to help him, including pretending to call his father. There was no justice among the principal and the teachers, at least she could do something to try and even things out. She knew he should have found a way out of facing off with Brian again, but it seemed so wrong for anything to happen to him, especially when he was just becoming interesting!

As she moped, waiting for the bell to ring so at least she could lose herself in her typing, she heard the students behind her talking. To distract herself, she leaned back and listened.

“…And the guy got tripped by Brian’s guys in Phelps’ class, so he was probably looking for revenge.”

“I know! I was there! He rushes out bleeding, comes waltzing back in like he owns the place, and then ends up spouting some crazy stuff, like Mr. Spock stuff. Phelps didn’t know what to say!”

“I didn’t realize the guy ever talked. Good for him.”

“Good for everyone if Brian’s gone! Talk about taking one for the team!”

Shanna smiled. Word travels fast. Maybe something got shook up when he got knocked down in Science? She hoped that she’d get the chance to talk to him in person instead of just getting everything from the gossip. The teacher started going over the lesson and she leaned forward, brushing a hair out of her eyes. Her fingers splayed over the keyboard, and she began.

Critock had every intention of reaching the class on time. While he hardly was looking forward to ‘learning’, especially with everything weighing on his mind, he was hoping strongly that Shanna would be able to help him. He knew he was making a lot of assumptions, which Tom continuously called him out on.

“All I’m saying, is that you’re putting a lot of eggs in one basket.”

“I don’t even know what that means, Tom.” He made sure to put extra emphasis on Tomkari’s English translation. “She’s our best shot. Unless you know some other way we can get an image of every student in this school, and the teachers just in case, we need to get on their computer system. Unless that machine of yours managed to give you an instructional lesson on medieval technology, she’s our best option. Did it?”

Tom drooped. “No.”

“But I bet it told you how many species of bird are on this planet, didn’t it?”

Tom floated back up happily. “Roughly 10,000! With 22,000 subspecies…”

“You are incredibly useful.” Critock walked faster to get out of earshot. As he walked, he noticed he had attention. People were stopping to clap him on the back, and more than once he saw one or two girls looking at him a little longer than he was comfortable with, and giggling. As the halls began to empty and he neared the Computer Lab, he heard feet running up to him, he turned and once again, there was Mr. Phelps, breathing slightly heavily from the unexpected exercise both out in the courtyard and running to catch up with him.

“Kyle! Hold up.” Phelps slowed to a stop as Critock appraised him.

“Hi, uh, again, Mr. Phelps. Can I help you?”

“Can you join me for a couple minutes? I’ll write you a pass, just want to talk to you real quick.”

Critock looked at Tom, who happily whispered to him. “We can use him just like we were going to! See if you can get anything out of him!”

Critock nodded almost imperceptibly, then tuned to Phelps. “Yeah, all right.” Phelps started walking again, leading Critock and Tom to his classroom. He flipped the lights back on, and Critock found the idea of being in a classroom alone to be slightly eerie. This didn’t seem like a place that was suited to a one on one (or one on two, as it was) conversation.

Phelps sat behind his desk, and he motioned to Critock to sit at a front table. As Critock sat, still uncomfortable in the student’s seats, Tom explored the room, looking at books and different displays that were left out. He took particular joy in zooming around the model of the Solar System. Oblivious to the actions of the wisp, Phelps began. “So, busy lunch for you.”

Critock sighed, and looked deep in Kyle’s memories for anything that would help him. He didn’t replace much. “You know, that guy’s been a thorn in people’s sides for a long time. I’m surprised I was the first one to face off with him.” Might as well be straight with the guy, or at least as straight as he could be without letting his true self slip. It seemed that Phelps was always going to be around for some reason, maybe Tom was right and he could still help.

“Oh, you’re not the first. Every other time, it’s been off school grounds, or some place where there was no evidence. You must’ve really made him mad.”

The bell rang, and Critock felt a sudden guilt that he wasn’t in the right classroom. He realized it was Kyle, wanting to be with Shanna. Twenty-Five-hundred years old, and I’m having teenage love pains. He thought, and then grimaced that he was using Earth time periods without thinking about it. He tried to shake it off and answer Phelps. “He’s been on my case for a long time, and he came after me, what was I supposed to do?”

Phelps sighed. “Kyle, I don’t know if I can keep this from Principal Tompkins. You know what zero tolerance means. This fight may have been a bridge too far.”

Critock saw a loophole, and he took it. “Doesn’t the definition of a fight require some kind of contact? I mean, he punched me, but I never struck him. I only pushed him against the wall to try and calm him down. Even then, I barely touched him.”

Phelps nodded. “Earlier today I had you pegged as a future astronaut. Now I think you could go into law. I think I can sell that. But I want a deal.”

“A deal?” Critock tried not to notice Tom excitedly moving around near a particular book that he had come across.

Phelps stood up, and walked to Critock. “We let today slide. Brian’s out of school after this, I think everybody in the office has been waiting for him to slip up. But that’s end of this. No more fights, whether you touch them or not. I won’t be able to protect you next time.” He reached out his hand.

Critock stood, taking his hand, and shaking it, mentally accessing what that meant. “You don’t have to worry, Mr. Phelps. I don’t need protection. Not any more.” He released the teachers hand, and then walked around the room over to where Tom was swooping around. As Phelps watched, he picked up the book the wisp seemed to be motioning towards. It was a yearbook, and as he opened it, he noticed pictures. Lots of pictures. Every picture of every student from the previous year. Critock snapped his head up, almost unable to contain himself. “Can I borrow this?” He raised the yearbook. “It’s for a project I’m doing.”

Phelps shrugged, not understanding but it wasn’t like he needed it for anything. “Sure. Is this project the reason for your sudden change? It’s like you’re a different person, Kyle.”

“Well…” He looked at the yearbook. “You might say it’s woken me up.” With that, Phelps wrote out a slip of paper explaining why he was late, and Critock left the room. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but at least now he had a direction, and now all he needed was help.