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Thaddeus nodded a little."
"Lead the way," Dexter told her, pushing the door open and holding it so she could go through it first. |
North nodded, then headed out into the parking lot, finding her mother's well-loved Honda Civic right where she left it, "It's not much to look at, but at least Mom keeps it clean on the inside."
She chuckled to herself, opening the driver's side door and hopping in, dropping her backpack into the floorboard behind her. |
"It's not like either of us can complain, we generally just ride the bus," Dexter told her, getting into the backseat with Thaddeus. Thaddeus sighed and leaned back in the seat for a few moments, breathing slowly in an attempt to calm himself a bit more. After a minute, he reached for the seatbelt and buckled himself in, Dexter doing the same.
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North nodded, "I sometimes take the bus, but usually my mom's on her way to work anyway, and she can drop me off a block or two from the school on her way. Today she's working late, so she let me take her to work early and I'll have the car until tonight when I go to pick her up."
She smiled and glanced back at the two boys, before facing forward again and pulling out of the parking space, and the parking lot soon after, "So where's this place we were going to go Dexter?" |
"Nearing the outskirts, by Madison Park," Dexter told her, glancing over at Thaddeus before looking out the window. "Do you know where it is?"
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North nodded, "Yeah sure! I have some cousins that used to live near there. We used to hang out with them all the time."
Because she knew the area pretty well, it wasn't long before they were arriving in the general area that Dexter had been talking about. After a few minutes, North spotted the soda bar and pulled into a parking spot, "Alrighty! Here we are! And all in on piece!" |
"Their main attraction is their soda bar," Dexter said, getting out of the car. "But they also have some good fries, too."
Thaddeus got out of the car as well, following a few steps behind Dexter. |
North smiled, "Fries sound great, actually."
She went into the soda bar and ordered a soda and a jumbo order of fries before finding a place to sit, fully intending to share with the boys. |
After they both got their sodas, they went to go sit with North. Dexter was sporting a cherry-grape-coca cola, Thaddeus with a raspberry-watermelon pepsi.
"Just to be clear," Dexter began, taking a small sip of his flavored drink, "you can't blame us for you ditching the rest of school today. We didn't make you." "I'm sorry for causing such a scene earlier..." Thaddeus mumbled. "In class yesterday... And at lunch today..." Dexter looked at Thaddeus with a concerned expression, then signed something to him. Thaddeus half-heartedly signed a reply to him. |
North raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, "I wasn't going to blame anyone. I haven't missed school hardly at all this semester, so I should be fine anyway."
She sipped her drink for a moment, watching Thaddeus, before speaking up again, "I'm still not really sure what happened... Those boys were being terrible, but what happened to you?" |
"I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you," Thaddeus answered, taking another drink of his soda while watching Dexter sign to him. "And if you did believe me, what would you think?"
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North tilted her head, eyebrows raised, "Well I can't know whether or not I believe you unless you tell me, can I?"
She slid the french fries over to Thaddeus, offering him one as she sipped her soda again, "Isn't it worth a shot, at least?" |
Thaddeus remained silent for a moment, glancing over at Dexter while his friend signed something. He sighed lightly, signing something in response - clearly going against Dexter's wishes by the look of the other's face.
"Well... I'm cursed..." Thaddeus said quietly, then took another drink of his soda. "If someone tells me I'm something, I become it, even if I wasn't originally that way. That's... That's why I freaked out in English yesterday..." He hung his head and stared at the fries, but didn't take one. "That's the main reason why we use sign language so much... If it's written or signed it doesn't effect him. If it's someone on television it doesn't do anything because it's impossible for it to be properly directed at him..." |
North's eyes went wide, and she blinked at the two boys, "A curse? Really? I didn't think curses were real... but you did seem to get really upset when the teacher called you those things yesterday... and those boys today..."
She knit her eyebrows together and sipped at her soda some more, "So it only works if someone says it to you directly, and verbally?" |
Thaddeus nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's how it works..."
"Your fingernails are painted blue," Dexter told Thaddeus, watching as his friend's fingernails became blue. Thadeus winced a little and made fists, hiding his thumbs inside them and keeping his nails unseen. |
North stared for a moment, "Oh! It even works on physical things? That's... wow... that's got to be rough... So... if someone claimed he was a giraffe or something?..."
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"Then he'd become one," Dexter sighed. "Your nails aren't painted," he told Thaddeus. Thaddeus bit his lip and slowly unclenched his hands.
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"Oh my... that's... incredible... and pretty awful at the same time..."
She sipped her drink, thinking for a moment, "Does it hurt, Thaddeus? I mean... when someone tells you you're something, and you have to be it?" |
"Yeah... It feels like someone's grabbing my heart and slowly trying to pull it out through my throat. Like if they do it slow enough everything will just stretch and still stay connected. But then when someone changes who I am - my personality, the way I think... My head feels like it's splitting in two and my entire body feels like there's acid in my veins."
He looked like he might cry just thinking about it. "That's why you'll rarely see us apart... He can't tell himself that he isn't what others make him. He needs someone else to tell him what he really is." |
North bit her lip softly, then reached over and gently touched Thaddeus on the shoulder, "That's awful... no wonder you reacted the way you did..."
She glanced over at Dexter and knit her eyebrows together, "It's really good of you to look out for him like that..." |
"We're best friends, of course I look out for him. I can't let others hurt him."
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North smiled, nodding, 'Yes of course... It's still good to see. I mean, lots of people don't look out even for their friends these days..."
She shook her head a little, "Don't worry, though... I won't tell anybody about this." |
"Please be careful what you say to me," Thaddeus said, looking up at her. "If you're not sure if it'll change me or not, turn it into a question. Or if you have the chance, write it down instead."
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North nodded, "Sure, I can do that. Don't worry... it's going to be fine."
The next day at lunch, North trotted over to the table where Thaddeus and Dexter had settled and sat down, placing an Uno deck on the table in front of them, "I challenge you both!" She giggled a bit, then tilted her head, "How are you guys doing today?" |
Thaddeus sneezed into a handkerchief, then lowered it from his nose and mouth. "Hi North," he said, his voice a bit nasally.
"Thad might've caught a cold, and I've got detention for the next three days because of that asshole yesterday. I managed to talk the principal out of punishing you and Thad for skipping classes yesterday. Told him I convinced you guys to do it." Dexter seemed a bit grumpy, taking a drink from a cup of soda. Thaddeus sneezed again, groaning quietly in his misery. |
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