Reading Between the Lines

Fane was used to being called into a Professor's office by now. He was always being called because of a prank or inappropriate conduct in class or because of homework, but the headmistress' office was an entirely new story. At first, he was absolutely ecstatic about the invitation. It gave him such an adrenaline rush to know that he had finally grasped the attention of the Head Professor at the school and was eager to see what few students ever saw, the inside of her office. He had taken a seat in a plus chair and waited, like he was told, his eyes scanning the walls lined with sleeping portraits of the headmasters and headmistresses of the past. When he heard the door open again, he turned to face it with a full smile. His smile quickly disappeared once he saw who was with the headmistress; his mother.

The lecture had been brief and straight to the point. His last act out of line was pushing him close to being expelled from the school. A knot formed in his throat, which remained for days after. He tried to keep his mischievous, happy-go-lucky grin and act up but it was hard and in the dark concealed chamber of his dorm, Fane worried. What would happen to him if he were to be expelled? He would get shame from the family, of course, with luck, not as much as Osmund received, but would he be transferred to Hogwarts? Or worse, Durmstrang. That school was so strict he'd surely be skinned alive within his first few days there.

However, he still had one more chance and with that second chance, he was going to prove that he wasn't just a rabble-rouser. He could study and do well on tests. Sure, it couldn't be too hard, could it? And that's what lead Fane to the library that day, arms full of books on every subject he was taking. He'd conquer those tests! He just wasn't entirely sure where to start.

Mabel loved a good book, especially a good murder mystery. She was fresh out of them because she had read all the ones she owned and her mother wouldn't buy her another. Her mother thought it would 'make her violent' but Mabel had her own theory about her mother's sudden book ban. Maybe she was scared that the books would give Mabel ideas, didn't anyone trust her? If she wasn't able to get her own copy she was just going to have to borrow a book from the library.

She pulled several books from a shelf and looked for a place to sit. She caught sight of one of her friends and decided to go up to him since some time had passed since they had spoke. She walked up behind him, as quiet as she possibly could. She planned to scare him but then she caught sight of the books in his arms. "Since when do you read?" She had never seen Fane pick up a book, this was an unnatural sight. She looked at the books then back at him. "Are you going to study? Where's my cousin's camera when you need it?" She joked, a smirk formed on her face.

Fane wasn't expecting to see anyone he knew in the library that day. As far as he knew, only nerds hung out in the library and his friends were certainly not nerds. He walked without caution as he tried to find a seat to put down all the books out but was stopped when he heard a familiar voice. The tower of books in his arms swayed and then toppled and Fane fell to his knees as well. "I can read, I just chose not to," Fane replied and started to pick up the books quietly. He hadn't the energy to tease Mabel into helping him or ask her for a kiss in order to pay for the mess she had just created like he usually did. He stood up once again and readjusted the books, continuing to walk.

"Mmmhmm," He replied simply, and because he could not think of any witty comeback to her joke about the camera, he said nothing more. He placed the books down at a table and took a seat. "Are you just going to stare at me? Or do you have something better to do?" He asked, somewhat bitterly.

The Fane that Mabel knew was someone different from the person she was talking to. He was acting not an entirely different person, someone who she didn't like as much as the other Fane. This Fane was calm and didn't make any jokes, what was wrong with him? She knew that something had to be up. "I didn't say you didn't know how to read, Fane. I was just saying that I've never seen you with a book before." Okay, something was wrong with the boy. "I gotta say, Fane, I like this new you," she lied hoping to get a reaction

She followed him, she was determined to figure out what was wrong. "Okay, what's up with you? You're acting differently and I'm not liking it. What happened to make you your opposite?" She sat on the table and looked down at him. "Remember, you can tell me anything. We're friends, friends tell each other things." She grabbed his had and gave it a squeeze.

He gave a weak smile when Mabel announced that she liked the new him. Apparently the new act was more obvious than he thought. He wasn't exactly happy like this, but he supposed it was better this way. This way Mabel liked him and he wouldn't get kicked out of school, if he could pull it off, that was.

He opened up a book and his eyes remained fixed on the page, even though Mabel had just taken a seat on his table. He did his best to read, though he was having a hard time making sense of the words on the page. "Hmm?" He replied as Mabel suddenly spoke. "I'm just studying. I-I just want to pass these tests, alright?" He answered, his voice shaking. He tried his best to make himself sound normal, but he wasn't normal at all. This wasn't him. He felt her hand on his and stared at the connection for a moment, his bottom lip quivering. "It's nothing." He didn't even look up to say it.

Mabel had never seen Fane study, so she knew something had to be up. "Since when do you care about studying and passing tests? This isn't like you." She squeezed his hand once again since he hadn't looked up at her. "'It's nothing' my ass. Tell me what's up." If it was someone else, she would have walked away by now. She wouldn't have cared, but this was Fane and she cared about him. She cared about her friends and if they were unhappy or not.

She moved from the table to the chair beside him so she could get a better look at the book he was reading. "It's probably none of my business," she said softly, her voice was almost never soft and sweet. She was rarely sweet or nice but it seemed like Fane and Stark were the only people that saw the nice side of her. "But I'm a good listener, remember?" She had listened to his life story about his cousin after all, she liked to think that she helped him a bit.

"Well this is the new me, so just deal with it!" He pulled his hand away from her and tried to shove his nose deeper into the book and shut her out. He quivered in a manner that was unnatural and tried to hide it the best he could. "I now study and-and care about grades," He replied, sounding not as confident. Her voice was so sweet and concerned and everything he knew Mabel to not be, which, if he was in his right mind, he'd point out and criticize that she was acting unlike the public Mabel he knew. However, he instead caved.

"I'm gonna fail school," he confessed, quietly. His eyes fixed on the page of the book he held before him but not reading the words. "The Headmistress said so. She brought in Mum and everything and said if I don't pick up my act, I'll be expelled." Tears started to well up in his eyes and he pressed the back of his sleeve to his nose. "I know I may seem like some asshole who's just trying to get kisses out of everyone, but...I'm scared," He admitted.

He was acting like a locked diary and it was like Mabel had lost the key. He was shutting her out and it was a bit annoying. If she didn't care about this boy, she would have walked away. But he was her friend and she cared far too much about him than she would like to admit. "Uh-huh." She took in the information that he was hardly giving her. "I hardly believe you." It was hard to believe he would care about anything but himself and the things he was interested in.

Then the truth came out and it all made sense. She listened quietly and waited til he was finished to start talking. "That explains a lot," she admitted. "Well, Fane, you don't get caught." She rested her hand on his shoulder and sighed. "If you wanna keep up your pranks, don't get caught. But you also gotta study and pay attention in class. You don't have to give up your lifestyle, you just got to alter it a bit so you can also focus on school." She placed a kiss on his cheek and rested her head on his shoulder. "And if you do get caught, I could take the blame. It's not like I'm a perfect angel, it's believable."