Wear - Chapter 6

On Sunday, Wyatt and Emma spent most of the day just relaxing and talking. Before they knew it, it was already Monday again. They both head to class in the morning and get ready for the day to begin. Eventually, Refus enters the classroom. His eyes looked tired and he seemed like he didn’t get any sleep last night. “Good morning” Refus says in a low voice. “Sorry I was almost late. I’m just a little tired”.

The students that sat in the front row didn’t start with their usual mumbling this time. It was a surprise, but the class was silent. “Mr. Maloney?” Jackson asks, “aren’t you supposed to make sure you get enough rest before coming to class? I thought we were all supposed to take better care of ourselves”. Some of the students started giggling at what Jackson had said. “What are you laughing about?” Jackson asks, “that wasn’t a joke. The poor guy looks like he can barely stand!”.

“My job is too important for that” Refus responds. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine”.

“Damn!” One of the students say, “we were so close to getting out of this class!”.

“Once again…” Refus says as he begins to write on the whiteboard, “you don’t have to come if you don’t want to”.

“The same could go for you” another student speaks up.

Refus thinks to himself for a second, then says “That’s the difference between you and I. I do want to be here, and I worked hard to be here”.

“But no one wants you to be here!” A different student chants.

“Can you guys stop it already!?” Wyatt shouts. “What’s wrong with having Mr. Maloney as a teacher!?”.

“Uh… he’s a laibah” a student responds.

“Yeah” Wyatt says. “Yeah he is… and?”. The class didn’t respond. “Is that it? Really? So what if he’s a laibah? I don’t think it’s bad having a laibah teacher, and I don’t see why any of you have a problem with it! It’s not like any of them did anything to you… and if a laibah did do something to you before, I’m willing to bet it wasn’t Mr. Maloney who did it. So what actual problem do you have with the teacher!?”. No one answered Wyatt’s question. Instead, everyone was rather silent. After waiting for a few seconds, Wyatt continues to say “I personally think laibah are cool. None of the ones I’ve ever met were bad people! But you guys?… you guys are terrible people!”.

“So typical of a Reject to say something so weird like that” a student scoffs.

“So that’s how it is, huh?” Wyatt asks himself. “Give other people a label to justify your refusal to listen to reason…”.

As Wyatt sat down, someone began clapping. As the class looks over, Jessica was clapping alone. Her clapping began to slow down once she realized that no one else was joining in, and that everyone was now staring at her. “The Rejects are so weird…” another student says.

“Are you just going to let one of those losers have an outburst like that?” A different student asks. “Throw them out of class”.

“No” Refus replies calmly.

“Why not? They’re disrupting class!” The same student yells.

“The only one I hear disrupting class right now, is you” Refus says.

“Throw them out!” The student chants. A few other students join in, chanting “Throw them out!” Over and over.

Slowly, Refus makes his way from the whiteboard to the podium. He clears his throat and says “I see nothing wrong with the students who actually want to be here. So with all due respect… make me”. The students fell silent again. “Now, if you’re done” Refus continues, “if you’ll take a look at the board, rather than your own personal problems, you’ll see the materials we’ll be going over today. Bring out your text books, and open to the page listed on the board”.

After a while, when the tension in the class finally settled, Jackson looks over at Wyatt and says “Nice”. Jackson looked a little impressed and proud.

Eventually, the time for lunch came. The Rejects meet at their usual spot, on the roof. When they all sat down and began eating, Jessica says “I thought I could get a hype train going, with the clapping. I just thought that if maybe some people in class could be sure that at least one student will support them, that they too will also show that they agree”.

Jackson laughs and says “But instead, all that you accomplished was looking like an idiot in front of everybody”.

“Hey!” Jessica says, “it was worth a shot!”.

“By the way” Aeris asks, “do you not hate laibah?”.

“I’ve never met one, besides Mr. Maloney” Jessica says, “so I don’t know any that I personally hate”.

Aeris and Jackson look at each other in confusion. “You’ve met some” Aeris says. “I’m a laibah”.

“Me too” Jackson says.

Jessica fell silent for a moment. Eventually, she says “I guess that explains a lot, actually. Like, why Aeris seemed like kind of a loner at first, and why Jackson doesn’t like talking to people”.

“Hey!” Aeris complains, “I resent that!”.

Jessica laughs and says “I didn’t mean anything bad by it… although, now I can honestly say, I actually kind of like you guys”.

Aeris and Jackson look at each other in confusion again. “You mean…” Jackson asks, “you don’t hate us?”.

“Do I hang out with anyone else?” Jessica asks. “By the way, what about Wyatt? Is he laibah too? He seems like he would be”.

“No, I’m human” Wyatt says. As Wyatt talks, Jackson looks over at Emma, suspicion in his eyes, as Emma seemed to be refusing to talk.

“One thing” Jackson says as he looks back over at Jessica.

“What?” She asks.

“You must never tell the other student about us” Jackson says. “They’ll create more problems for us while we’re in school… hell, maybe even outside of school”.

Jessica shrugs and says “Fine by me… it’s none of their business anyways”.

“And Wyatt” Jackson says as he looks over at Wyatt.

“What?” Wyatt asks.

“You said you’re fine with laibah too, right?” Jackson asks with a suspicious look on his face.

“Y-Yeah… why?” Wyatt asks.

Jackson looks over at Emma, without making it obvious that he was looking at Emma. “Just… same goes for you” Jackson says. “I can respect you at least a little bit more now, but… don’t go blabbing your mouth about us”.

“Alright…” Wyatt says, sounding confused, “I didn’t plan on it… but okay”.

“What about Emma?” Jessica asks. Emma pretended to ignore Jessica, as she continued eating.

Jackson noticed Emma was trying hard to not let anyone know about herself. “A-Anyways!” Jackson interrupts, “As long as you all are fine with laibah, I guess I’m fine with being around some humans…”.

“Oh, so she’s human?” Jessica asks.

Emma continues to pretend like she was ignoring Jessica, as she continued eating. “I was beginning to lose faith in humanity!” Jackson interrupts. “But it’s a good thing there’s still people like you guys- ha ha ha!”.

Aeris leans in close and whispers to Jackson “Wait, didn’t you say Emma was a laibah too? What’s wrong with telling us about-“.

Jackson interrupts Aeris by lightly jabbing her in the side with his elbow as he points at Emma. Emma was still trying to pretend like she couldn’t hear anyone, continuing to eat, as her hands began to shake ever so slightly. “I think something is up with her” Jackson whispers back. “I’ll ask her about it later, but for now… try not to bring it up”.

All the while, Wyatt was looking around, seeming confused. “I don’t see why it matters” Wyatt says. “We are who we are, I guess”. Emma looks up in surprise.

“I-I’m just…” Emma begins to say, “a normal… person. There’s nothing really special about me…”.

“Oh, come on” Wyatt says, “you make clothes, and very well at that! That’s pretty special. Not many people can do that at our age!”.

Emma smiles and says “If… you say so. Thanks, Wyatt”.

After everyone was done eating, they all began to leave. Jackson pulls Emma to the side and asks, privately “Why are you being so weird?”.

“What… do you mean?” Emma asks.

“You already know both of those humans won’t hate you if you tell them” Jackson says, “why were you trying to hard to hide it?”.

Emma nervously looks to the side, trying to dodge the question. “I-I… just can’t tell them, okay?” She says.

“Why not?” Jackson asks. “Is it Jessica? Does she bother you or something?”.

“No…” Emma says.

“Then it’s Wyatt, isn’t it?” Jackson asks.

“N-…no” Emma says.

Jackson sighs and says “You’re too easy to read… I can read you like a book. What did Wyatt do?”.

“Wyatt hasn’t done anything!” Emma claims.

“Then what about Wyatt is making you nervous?” Jackson asks.

“Is… is it that easy to tell?” Emma asks.

“God… you’re like an open book” Jackson says as he rubs his face in frustration. “Why can’t you tell him?” Jackson asks.

“I just can’t, okay!?” Emma yells.

“Why not!?” Jackson demands, “is he your boyfriend or something!?”.

Emma hesitates for a second and says “No, he’s just a friend”.

Jackson sighs to himself and says “You’re lucky Wyatt is such an idiot. Anyone with a decent amount of sense could tell when you’re lying or beating around the bush… so if he’s not your boyfriend like you say, then you’re scared to tell him because?”.

“B-because…” Emma says.

“Come on, out with it” Jackson says.

“Because I like him!” Emma says, “happy!?”.

Jackson starts rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Let me get this straight, as I attempt to decode your stupidity” he says. “You like Wyatt? Like… romantically? First off, why? That guy is a blundering idiot… and then, you won’t tell him, because you like him. Doesn’t that seem like the opposite of how it should be? Are you scared that he’ll just turn you down if you let him know?”. Emma nods her head, then Jackson says “Look… you’re an idiot. At this point, tell him or not, I don’t think I actually care… however, how long do you think you can keep up with this charade?”.

“As long as I have to” Emma responds promptly.

“Well, you’re a lost cause” Jackson says. “Good luck, I guess”. Jackson then leaves for class ahead of Emma.

“Rude…” Emma says to herself as she leaves for class as well.

As the next class continues, Refus was once again talking with Quincy. “I’m too tired for this conversation” Refus says.

“I just want you to know” Quincy says, “that the rest of the teachers have their eyes on you”.

“Yeah, I know” Refus says. “You guys and your constant pressuring is getting in the way of my sleep, lately. Can’t you guys just accept that a laibah can do this job too? I’m not giving up, nor will I be taking any days off. I’m seeing this through. You’ll just have to accept that”.

“Some would say no, they can not accept that” Quincy says, “I, however, KNOW that you can’t do the job. It’s only a matter of time before Principal Ryan Schafold fires you, and hopefully bans you from the school”.

“Look” Refus says, “I’ve got some business to attend to. If you don’t have anything worth my time, then I’ll be going”.

As Refus walks away, Quincy yells “It’s only a matter of time, Refus! It can never work!”.

After school ended, Wyatt and Emma go to the dorm together. Wyatt drops off his school stuff and prepares to leave for work. “Hey, Wyatt?” Emma asks.

“What’s up?” Wyatt asks.

“Sorry we couldn’t do anything else for the last day of the weekend” Emma says, “I just can’t think of what else to do around here. I’ve mostly just been thinking about the festival”.

Wyatt laughs and says “Don’t worry about it, I’m pretty excited too. I’ve never really gone to any big event before, so this will be the first”.

“You’ve gotta go to work now, right?” Emma asks.

“Yeah, unfortunately” Wyatt responds. “Maybe next weekend, if you want to find something to do, we can do whatever. I’ll be back in about 6 hours”.

Emma nods her head and says “Okay! I’ll just work on stitching while you’re gone”.

Wyatt laughs a little and says “Remember what Matilda said about overworking!”.

Emma laughed slightly as Wyatt leaves. Once the door to the dorm closes, and Wyatt is gone, Emma says “You have no idea…”. Emma sighs to herself and says “The Autumn Festival, huh? Well, here goes nothing… Wait a minute, when does the festival start?”. Emma scratches her head, then panics. “How much time do I have left!?” She asks herself.

As Wyatt was at work, his coworker Amelia asks “You seem rather distracted today, Wyatt. Something wrong?”.

“Well, yes and no” Wyatt says as he sits at the front desk, waiting for customers. “You see, there’s this girl-“.

“Ooh, a girl!?” Amelia interrupts, suddenly very interested. “What’s her name!? How’d you guys meet? What’s she like!?”.

“Okay…” Wyatt says with a slightly annoyed face, “that’s too many questions…”.

“But you like her, don’t you?” Amelia asks. “You’ve gotta tell her!”.

“Yeah, that’s the current problem” Wyatt says. “I do like her… a lot. I’m worried about how I’m supposed to tell her. I don’t know how to word that without ruining… well, everything!”.

“Oh come on!” Amelia jokes, “you’re over exaggerating. If she likes you back, she’ll accept it no matter what!”.

“Really?” Wyatt asks sarcastically. “I’m pretty sure there are wrong ways to ask someone out…”.

“There’s no wrong way to ask a question” Amelia says. “If you sound confused while asking a question, then it’ll be easier to understand how confused you are, leading people to give you an honest answer”.

“There are several ways to ask a question wrong” Wyatt scoffs.

“Name one…” Amelia challenges.

“Well, for starters” Wyatt says, “asking several questions without giving people enough time to answer any of those”.

“… Who does that?” Amelia asks.

“You… you did that” Wyatt says.

“Oh…” Amelia responds. “Then… then name two ways to ask a question wrong”.

“How about this?” Wyatt replies, “I’ve been meaning to ask you, hammah mamma needer mammen verfer?”.

“Okay, now you’re just being ridiculous” Amelia says.

“Yes! Exactly!” Wyatt says. “I’m ridiculous when it comes to stuff like this! This whole situation is ridiculous!”.

“Well, try starting with a setting to ask her out” Amelia says.

“There’s… the festival” Wyatt says.

“That’s a great start!” Amelia applauds. “Try asking if she wants to go with you”.

“Thing is…” Wyatt continues, “she already kinda asked… me… if I wanna go with her”.

“Aw, see?” Amelia says, “she does like you”.

“I would like to tell her how I feel” Wyatt says, “and I figured that’d probably be the place to do it… but I just don’t know how I’m going to get through this mess”.

“Better start thinking on your toes” Amelia says. “Festival is coming up soon”.

“Yeah, yeah” Wyatt says, “I know”.

“Let me know how it goes when you finally pop the question” Amelia says.

“You’re making it sound like I’m proposing already” Wyatt says.

Amelia nearly shrieks with excitement, and says “Already? As in, you’re already considering proposing eventually!?”.

“T-that’s… not what I said” Wyatt says.

“Well, she sounds like a lucky girl” Amelia says.

“You’re creeping me out…” Wyatt complains.

After Wyatt gets back from work, Emma was already sitting up on her bed. Wyatt takes a sigh of relief as he sits down on his bed. Before long, Emma asks “Hey Wyatt? When is The Autumn Festival?”.

“Oh, it’s on the 18th of next month” Wyatt says.

“The 18th!? Next month!?” Emma asks. “That’s so close though! It’s already almost the end of the month!”.

“You’re telling me” Wyatt says with a laugh, “time is moving too fast. I need more time to be mentally prepared”.

“Mentally prepared for what?” Emma asks.

“A-ah, just… the festival” Wyatt replies.

“Yeah… It’s the first time I’ve ever been to one” Emma says, “it’s kind of making me nervous”.

“Me too” Wyatt agrees.