[@Xikari chan]
Almost as soon as Ari had come, she had left because she 'didn't feel well'. He wondered what had happened to her. Glancing at his scraped and bloody forearms, he wondered if he could leave, too. Nah. Drake would ask how he got those, and he couldn't think of a reasonable explanation at the moment.

He found it hard to pay attention for the rest of class.

Orion walked home, the other silent for once. His heavy backpack was slung over his shoulder. Its weight paled in comparison to his heavy heart.

Over the weekend, there were a few crimes, none of them super. He hated normal crimes, as all the humans were so fragile. Shadowbird didn't appear at any of them, which exacerbated his worry.

On Sunday night, he lay on his bed, headphones in his ears. His phone pinged: there was some crime going on. Glaring at the screen, he swiped the notification aside. 

[I]The police need to earn their pay,[/I] he thought.

Monday morning, he stepped inside the classroom. 

He had distilled what had happened to Shadowbird into three possibilities: she was severely injured, she was dead, or she had not forgiven him.

The last one made his stomach lurch.

Mr. Drake announced something about a partner project. He frowned. Just what he needed today. He preferred to work alone. Perhaps he could convince Drake to let him do so? What would be his excuse, though?

Hannah turned around and gave Orion a brilliant smile with her bleached teeth. "Hi," she mouthed.

Orion held in a groan and pretended to not see her. 

Ivy, Hannah's crony, stared diligently ahead. However, she snuck glances when she thought that Orion couldn't see.

"Ari Gray, you're with Orion."

Hannah's smile vanished, and she slid back down into her seat. 

Orion looked down at Ari, who looked at her friend Cali. At least this was a chance to find out why she had left earlier.

Drake called that the students could begin. Cali left her seat and skipped over to Greg. Orion walked down the stairs and slid in next to Ari. He gave her a curt nod, then read the assignment written on the board.

"Film a short movie that has a plot, story elements, and a set of developed characters. You will show your project to the class and will be graded by your peers."

"Sounds fun," he said to her.