 ½ of Lauralie | Koala | The being in Ern's pocket | Baby Smurf | Prouf member of The Flock
Faith was very sure she'd stopped breathing when Derf defended himself -- she was proud of him, of course, but was this really the time? Was this the place? How was it fair that a Hufflepuff was so much braver than she was, could stand up for people when she was sitting here petrified and hugging her knees, not close enough to her best friend to hold her hand.
She smiled weakly back at Lucas, but she decided then there was nothing she wouldn't give to have Zoryn next to her right now as she looked up at last and locked eyes with her. And it was a testament to their friendship that she understood everything Zor was saying without words. And in return, she glanced furtively at Zoryn's seat, begging her to sit down. Please please please sit down, please don't get into trouble, please not today. Not today. She was so tired.
So tired she barely managed to crack a smile at the joke Zoryn made, more nervous than amused. If the new professor caught the jab, if he punished Zoryn, Faith couldn't possibly let her go through detention alone.
Relief! There was no detention for Zoryn, he'd missed the jab. There was hope yet!
Except, not really. Not with Derf being forced to hand over his badge, not with him being silenced for doing nothing but defend himself. Her hands shook as she took the packet of salt, and she had to wrap her arms back around her knees tighter to still them.
She closed her eyes, sure, to keep them from watering more than they already were. No fidgeting was possible anyway, not with her hands threatening to quiver if she unhugged her knees and pulled them away from her shoulders. Focus, yes. She could do that. Breathing in, out. Inout. Inoutinoutinout. And it was almost like not breathing.
Was it just her? Or was it the smoke?
All Faith knew was that her heart was threatening to burst out her ribcage and she was going to cry and she needed to calm down and she just couldn't. |