Debate Exposes Doubt

[Solitair†]

Roland didn't know if Abigail had meant to whisper to Ilario or not, but nevertheless she didn't, and everyone still in the room could hear the ensuing conversation. He winced as Ilario shakily declined Abby's offer; the dialogue had become more awkward and painful than trying to catch an angry, airborne cat with one's elbows. Ilario beat a hasty retreat, leaving a shellshocked Abby to occupy his old seat.

He was glad Max missed this. The guy didn't need to see his friend suffer like this.

If any gossiping vultures made her life hard, he'd punch their faces until their eyes popped out, see if he wouldn't. He'd like to say that thoughts of prom hadn't yet entered his mind, being that he was so busy with school and blogging and all, but sadly no man could escape the endless whispers of the halls, more disconcerting than any ghostly whispers he'd ever heard in movies or video games. 'Did you see who Jill talked to?' 'Oh, Jack totally broke her heart!' Roland would be hard-pressed to find a more decadent activity.

Soon his mind turned from contempt for the idle hands of the devil to concern for his fallen friend. Poor girl had her heart set on Ilario and crashed headlong into disappointment. He was surprised to hear that she'd fallen for him badly enough to be hurt by his rejection, though he guessed he could see the reason for it. He was attractive enough, had a great speaking voice, and had the modesty that comes from being groomed into a leader with just a bit too much forcefulness. A Charisma score of at least 18, his dad would say.

Apparently the subject of dating was not on Ilario's lesson plan.

Roland sighed and ambled over to the chair nearest Abby. He parked his carriage on the seat and turned to look at her. "You alright, girl?" he asked, gently tossing the ball into her court.

[Sunnybunny]

I've got other plans? Really?

Samya was so pissed by the fact that Ilario had no tact in rejecting Abgail that she could barely even be mad at the fact that he had declined to take Abigail to prom. After all, you can't help who you like (or don't like, as the case was here). However, you can completely control how you treat people. And Abigail did not deserve to be rejected like that. It just wasn't right.

Out of all the things he could have said, he uses that tired line. I mean, this is a fuc, I mean freaking debate meeting for goodness sake. Surely he could have thought up something better than that.

Ilario knew full well that this was not the last debate meeting for the year. And now it was going to be so awkward. They had a meet in two weeks and . . . wait, why was she thinking of this now?

Abigail looked as if it was all that she could do to sit in the chair. Sammy found herself wanting to cry on her behalf. She also found herself wanting to punch Ilario in the face. He dismissed her friend as if she were . . . a leper in the bible or something like that. How crude.

"You alright, girl?"

What a stupid question. Why do people ask that when they know someone isn't okay? Calm down girl, Roland didn't do anything.

It was one of those moments they don't make a Hallmark card for. Samya really had no idea what to say to even try to make Abigail feel better. That made her more upset than she already was. Tears welled up in her eyes. She wished someone would try to crack a joke at her friend's expense. She put her head down and sighed.

She leaned down and gave Abigail a big bear hug. She knew it wasn't much, but it was better than than nothing. She whispered, "Do you want to come over my house later, girl? I'll have Mama cook something and we can just hang out, or talk, or whatever." She sighed again again and smiled sadly at Roland. She figured they were on the same page as far as protecting Abigail from being hurt even more by this. At least if she saw Ilario at the prom and went rabid and tried to hurt him, she might not get kicked out by herself.

[Wash†]

"I...uh.... I've...already got plans."

"You alright, girl?"

Drama. Awesome.

Of course he'd heard the whole thing. They all had. Christ, if the girl was that set on getting herself brutally crushed, she could have at least gone somewhere a little more private. Now she was just squatting on everyone's smile like a massive slug made of awkward. What a bitch.

Eh. Gossip was gossip. And Ilario-related gossip, no less, which was always fun. Vincent glanced at his companions, Roland's soft-spoken earnestness and Samya's righteous indignation, already the comfort circle was forming around Abigail. Soothing platitudes, oh-so-understanding squeezes of the hand and, naturally, tears before bedtime, soon they would all be out in force. Vincent could do without it.

Oh, be nice, ya fucker.

Vincent sighed. Ah, what the hell. Do a good deed, score some brownie points. He strolled over to Abigail with his sympathy face on, crouched down and placed a reassuring hand on the small patch of her shoulder that wasn't currently enveloped in Sammy.

"You know what, sweetie? You're better off. Pretty he may be, but mentally sound he is not. I have it on good authority that he can't get it up unless he slams a chemistry textbook shut on his balls".

Is it too soon for joking? There are already jokes about Heath Ledger for fuck's sake.

He gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze, then cleared his throat.

"Now", Vincent placed his hand on his heart, "I am not one to advocate wanton truancy, but I feel that a great deal of stress and tension could be allowed to dissipate if we were to wave sayonara to this oppressive institution for the afternoon and get some sushi at the mall." He glanced at Sammy, "Our treat", he added as an afterthought.

Fuck, I hope Sammy can pay.

[Solitair†]

(OOC: It's about time I got Roland out of this train wreck.)

Roland tried to decide if a sarcastic response to Vincent's suggestion was in order. In his own stupid, flippant way, the man seemed to genuinely care about Abigail's feelings. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to indulge him this one time.

Unfortunately, Roland wouldn't make that decision. He felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket; he let it vibrate five times before finally deigning to answer it. The word "Mom" flashed on the front of the phone.

He flipped it open and sighed. "Hey mom."

"Roland, honey, are you still at school?" she asked him.

"Yeah, something's come up. Sorry. I'll be home later tonight, probably after dinner."

"Roland, I need you to come-"

Roland scowled. "Mom, I'm busy! Can't you get Lily to do it?"

His mother's voice began to sound a bit more frantic. "I tried calling Lily, but she left her cell phone at home today. Besides, I'd prefer that the both of you went to the hospital."

A look of annoyance replaced with one of concern. "Who's at the hospital?" he asked.

"...it's your father. He's had an accident. He fell down the stairs and broke his leg."

Roland blinked once and stared past everything in the room. It took him a few seconds to try and wrap his mind around the accident. But soon he realized something: his father was going to pull through. It hurt, but he wouldn't die anytime soon.

"Alright. I'll be there," he replied, relieved.

"See if you can find Lily, too. I'd like for you both to show up tonight."

"Alright. I love you."

"Love you too."

Roland snapped his phone shut and looked back up at the debaters. Well, shit.

"Look, I'm sorry guys, but I think I'm going to have to miss this thing. My dad's probably in traction right now, and if I don't show up, my mom's going to let me have it. Abigail, it wasn't your fault. Don't let it get you down."

He grabbed his backpack and slung it around his shoulder, turning away from the room. Without looking back, he walked out of the room and into the hall. Lily could be anywhere by now. It might take a while for him to find her.

((Roland Hayes continued in Closing In))

[Sunnybunny]

When did this classroom become a wasteland?

More important, when did the debate team become disappointment city?

Sammy didn't know for the life for her. She also had no clue what to do about Abigail, who was currently catatonic. Even Vincent's ribbing, which Abigail normally would have at least reacted to, brought nothing but that same dead look on her face. Heck, she wasn't even crying. Samya admired Abigail so much, it was down right disturing to see her friend like this.

Remind me to never ask Ilario any potentially embarrasing questions. EVER.

Maybe Abigail just wanted to be left alone. It seemed like a sensible thing to want. Sammy still just wanted to punch Ilario in the arm. Just once. Maybe then she could be cool with again. (Okay, maybe she wanted to punch him in the face once, but that just wouldn't be right.)

I've got other plans is still the WORST LINE EVER, though.

Mr. Kwong gave them a look. Sammy knew that look well, as she would always hang out after the actual practice. It was that getoutoftheclassroomnowineedtogohome look, and Kwong was scary when he looked like that. Kwong was scary nearly all the time, but Samya still lik-no apreciated him. Four years of the debate team and Mr. Kwong hadn't let them down once. He was grumpy and strict, but he was also fatihful to his mixed bag of a debate team.

She held up her hand and said, "Give us five more minutes, Mr. Kwong. We might need even less than that."

He frowned, but nodded. "Very well, Ms. Franklin. In five minutes, I expect you to be out of here."

Good. That gave Sammy enough time to make sure Abby got home (or to the mall) okay. Speaking of the mall . . . "Vincent, do you plan on paying today?" If he didn't have any money (And he should, he just had a pizza for Pete's sake.) she didn't want to be surprised at the cashier. It had happened before.

[SOTF_Help]

Abigail sat motionless, slumped, drained of all energy. Why had she asked him? Why? It had seemed like a good idea, but in retrospect...

She'd told Ilario that there were no hard feelings, and she wasn't mad at him, but still... it hurt.

Some of the other members of debate club came over and tried to comfort her, but that didn't really help. She didn't even respond to Roland's inquiries. Sammy came over and gave a huge hug, and that made things a bit better. At least Sammy was there for her, offering to spend some time with her, to take her mind off... this. Abigail nodded a little, pretty noncommittally. She didn't want to say anything. She wasn't sure she'd be able to without breaking down.

Then came Vincent, with his jokes. His crude, lewd jokes. That didn't help. The last thing she needed was to be picturing... that. Before she could really rouse herself to make some acknowledgment, though, Roland received a phone call, and then came over to say goodbye. He told her it wasn't her fault, and not to let it get her down. Well, small chance on the second part. The first, though... It really wasn't anyones fault. Just bad luck all around. He had plans, so he said no. There wasn't really any blame to be distributed.

Then Sammy was talking to Mr. Kwong, asking him for a few more minutes. Abigail realized all of a sudden how long she had just been sitting there, doing nothing. The meeting had ended, and she didn't really want to keep anyone around. Besides, they couldn't do much to help...

Abigail roused herself a little, and looked at Sammy and Vincent. Finally, swallowing the lump in her throat, she was able to say something.

"Th-thanks Sammy... and... and you too, Vincent.

"I-I think I'd better just go home now. I'll, uh, I'll be alright. I just... I just need some time to... to myself."

That said, Abigail gathered up her belongings and departed the room, for once at a subdued pace. She was just glad she'd managed to avoid crying in front of everyone.

((Abigail Atkins continued in Decisions, Decisions))

[Sunnybunny]

Mr. Kwong had given them enough time(have to thank him one of these days) and Abigail took her leave. As much as she wanted to go to the mall, it just wouldn't feel right without Abigail. She sighed.

"Vincent, honey, I'm gonna go home, okay? Call me, or text me, or something." She gave him a quick hug, told Mr. Kwong goodbye, and rushed out of the classroom.

She just couldn't stand being here anymore.

((Samya Franklin continued in Decisions, Decisions))