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Floating Sea
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Albert said that Jonah’s story was the example that explained why I was a candidate, but it isn’t about grades. He said just as much already, and yours aren’t great or terrible. It probably wasn’t about grades with Jonah either. Or well, it was grades, but if he was falling short of high expectations then it doesn’t sound like he was failing his classes. He was probably just doing fine. If you think about it like that, then what you have in common with him is…
Roger: “I’m not... what my Parents want me to be.”
The thought had simply come to you, you aren’t sure how. After it did however, you just couldn’t think of anything else Albert could mean. He nods in response.
Albert: “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”
Enid: “What do you mean? What do they want from you?”
Roger: “To stop ‘wasting my time’ drawing and take up a sport where I can use my ‘talents’. Because why do something that I didn’t happen to be Born good at?”
Your mind goes back to all the ways they’ve tried to convince you to give up your passion for theirs. The thought that you might graduate early for not giving in to their wishes… It made you mad.
Ugh, you hope you don’t have to talk to them today. You don’t think you have the Patience to handle it well right now.
Enid: “Ah, that’s right. You’re the fastest kid in school, Lillian said that.”
Franklin: “Do our parents have anything to do with school though?”
Franklin: “...Shouldn’t it be the teachers who decide which kids graduate? They grade us, it makes more sense.”
Albert: “That doesn’t fit with the examples we’ve already heard though.”
Albert: “To start with the obvious, Jonah failed to meet the lofty expectations of his parents, and eventually became an early graduate.”
Roger: “Calvin’s parents probably didn’t understand him, just like the rest of his classmates couldn’t. His actual grades probably didn’t matter.”
Lillian: “What about Cassidy? What’s her example mean?”
Albert: “Well… who gave her the black eye?”
Lillian: “...Uh, I’m pretty sure you want me to say her parents, but that doesn’t make sense.”
Albert: “Why not?”
Lillian: “Because that’s stupid. She went to a nurse, and she would have just told Mrs. Wheatley. Her parents would have gone to jail, she wouldn’t get sent up to high school.”
Her logic made sense, but there was one assumption that could clear it up for her. What was a good way of explaining it though…?
Enid finds an answer before you do.
Enid: “The school has to be in on it too, right? I-If they weren’t, then why would they be letting in kids for Bad Reasons. Right?”
Enid: “A-And the people who run the school are Parents too, aren’t they? That means they have to know it’s an option.”
Albert: “...I don’t like the idea that the faculty would overlook clear evidence of abuse, but it seems likely.”
Franklin: “...Oh, I think I get it. Jacob’s parents probably weren’t happy with him for beating up Riley.”
Franklin: “Dad tells me all the time not to get into fights or else he’ll rip my legs off and beat me to death with them.”
Franklin: “His parents probably just told him that they’d send him to high school early, which I think sounds worse.”
You all take a minute to stare at Franklin, before silently agreeing to ignore the non-sequitur and move on.
Roger: “R-Right… Jacob got into a fight, and was described as having anger issues. Breaking another student’s arm was probably the last straw.”
Albert: “If you think about early graduation as a decision made by the parents, then there are reasonable explanations for all of the examples we’ve been given.”
You bring a hand to your chin at that summary, debating on whether to accept his response or speak up. In the end, you decide to make your objections known.
Roger: “Hold on, I don’t disagree with the idea, but I don’t think that makes perfect sense either. At least, not with the three kids that just graduated.”
He lets out a small sigh, indicating he also knew the flaws you were about to point out. He says nothing though, allowing you to continue.
Roger: “I think there are three… yeah, three issues with that. The first is obvious, isn’t it?”
Lill snorts.
Lillian: “Uh, yeah, do we even have to say it? No way mom and dad would have sent Phillip to high school, he was great!”
That wasn’t the one you were thinking of, but it seemed this was what you were talking about now. That’s what you get for asking an open-ended question.
Enid: “So, he got along perfectly well with your parents?”
Her tone made it obvious that she didn’t fully believe Lill.
Lillian: “...Y-Yeah. I mean… Look, there was nothing wrong with Phillip so that wouldn’t have happened. End of story.”
Albert: “Are you sure about that? Wasn’t there-”
Lillian: “You want the other leg to match? Watch what you say about my brother.”
Albert: “...Fine. For now, let’s agree to put Phillip off to the side. What were your other two issues, Roger?”
Roger: “Clive.”
Albert: “*sigh* Well, I suppose this was unavoidable.”
Roger: “Come on, after Jacob’s example you have to think it’s weird too. Jacob broke a kid’s arm, but Clive? He nearly Killed JoJo!”
Enid: “He did what!?”
Her gaze whips to Albert, who nods.
Albert: “I only saw the aftermath, but the story is rather gruesome according to those who witnessed the scene.”
Franklin: “...He just kept hitting her.” Franklin says. “Over and over and over and over again. Everyone around him was screaming, but he just kept doing it. It only stopped when Mrs. Chamberlane dragged him off of her..”
Franklin’s description couldn’t truly capture how horrific a scene it was.
So many kids were there, yourself included, but you were all petrified and unable to stop the scene that was taking place before your eyes. You all just watched as he pulled his arms back and wailed on her, until her face was so battered and broken that you could barely recognize the girl who wore it. JoJo wasn’t a nice person, kind of the opposite, but she didn’t deserve that. Nobody deserved that.
When it had finally ended, and you were all broken from your trance, all you can remember was crying. School ended early for the day, as you and your classmates were inconsolable after witnessing a classmate nearly die in front of you.
Albert: “She spent a few months in the hospital. It took a great deal of surgery and recovery for her to come back to class, but she did manage to pull through.
Enid: “...I didn’t know he was that kind of boy... I feel stupid for feeling bad for him.”
Roger: “Yeah, if you’re gonna feel bad for anyone then it should be Rodney. He had to live with that monster.”
Roger: “But that’s my point. Clive definitely should have graduated after what he did to JoJo, but he didn’t.”
Roger: “Even if his parents don’t care enough, JoJo’s parents should have twisted their arm about getting rid of the kid who broke their daughter’s face. But it’s been two years, and he’s still here.”
Lillian: “Oh yeah, guess it is weird that Killer Clive’s still around after pulling a stunt like that.”
She snaps her fingers.
Lillian: “Oh! I’ve got it! Rodney must not have let them get rid of him. He was his brother’s number one defender, and it’s really hard to say no to that kid.”
Albert: “Unfortunately, that doesn’t mesh with the third issue I believe Roger is going to raise. Namely, why was Rodney the one to graduate between the Schmidt brothers?”
Lillian: “Okay good, we’re talking about that!”
Albert: “Stop shouting! Library, remember?”
Lillian: “Everybody loved that little goober, he was everyone’s friend. Who in their right mind would make him graduate early?”
Franklin: “...His parents? That’s what we were talking about before, right?”
Albert: “The homelife of Rodney and Clive isn’t well known to us, and making assumptions will simply lead to us chasing the wrong path.”
Albert: “Instead, there is something else Clive said earlier that I think goes against our current theory more concretely.”
Roger: “You remember it too then?”
Lillian: "That can't be right. Maybe they talked to your parents-"
Clive: "I know for a Fact they didn't."
Roger: “He seemed really sure that his parents didn’t know anything about it.”
Franklin: “...I’m confused. Then who made Rodney graduate early?”
Enid: “If our guess isn’t right, h-have we been on the wrong track this whole time?”
Albert: “...Do you have any ideas, Roger?”
Honestly, you weren’t sure. It seemed like you didn’t have enough information to really say if you were wrong about everything, or if there was just a small piece you were missing that would fill in this gap. Maybe if you thought about it a bit-
Enid: “What if Rodney Didn’t graduate?”
Roger: “Huh?”
Enid: “...The only reason we think he did is because the teachers say that’s what happened.”
Enid: “But if we can’t trust them, because they’re being suspicious and keeping things from us, then maybe we can’t trust that ‘fact’ either.”
Albert: “...Hm. Any specific reason you think that.”
Enid: “...”
Her eyebrows furrow as she gazes downwards.
Enid: “Adults Lie all the time. Even Giovanni lied to us when we asked him about Jhonen.”
Enid: “Why wouldn’t they lie about this too?”
You get the feeling that this went beyond the matter of early graduation. Sadly, this didn’t seem like the time or place to ask about it. You still had a lot to go over.
Albert: “Well... That’s one possible explanation. We don’t have evidence for or against it, but let’s keep it in mind for now and come back to it later.”
Roger: “Alright, so can we talk about what you and Lill found then?”
Albert: “Yes, I think now would be a good time.”
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