[h2]Tuesday Afternoon, just after lunch
[color=007236]Stella Herbalem[/color] and [color=662d91]Tobias Rivenridge[/color][/h2]

[@kittyluna45]

The Art & Design class had been progressing fairly normally, by what Tobias had come to accept as Northwood standards. From an honest standpoint, it was a tad bit mind numbing; given that they were still getting started with the year, the class consisted of a lot of the basics, and he’d figured out most of them on his own back in England. There was some merit to knowing the actual terminology though, and the instructor was nice enough to boot, but review was review. Which was why he was entirely alright with stepping out to the lavatory in the middle of the lesson. And it was just as he was washing his hands afterward that the PA system came to life and an ominous message projected across the grounds.

[b]“Would all students and staff report to the gym for an announcement.”[/b]

[color=662d91]“Well,”[/color] he thought out loud, [color=662d91]“That bodes exactly not well at all.”[/color] Announcements were usually posted in the meal hall or mentioned over the PA, depending on urgency and importance, but they’d never called an assembly to make one. That, along with the Missing Students…

[color=662d91][i]This doesn’t bode well at all[/i][/color], he thought as he made his way out of the bathroom and toward the gym. A few other students who’d had a similar headstart dotted the halls, but most of the school was probably lining up in the classrooms to proceed. The lack of a crowd made it somewhat easy to spot Stella as he rounded a corner. She was walking along with one of the teachers, Mr Johnson as Tobias recalled. And something was clearly wrong. 

[color=662d91]“Stella!”[/color] he called out as he quickened his pace to a light jog toward her, concern spreading more across his face with each step.

Stella turned to look at Tobias, pretty much looking like she was about to start crying at any moment. She leaned up and said something to Mr. Johnson and he nodded and continued on his way. [color=007236]“Hi Tobias,”[/color] she said softly.

[color=662d91]“Hi,”[/color] he replied as he reached her and finally got a good look at her face. Tears were welling in her eyes, and all the color was either gone or draining from her face as she stood there in front of him. Without a moment’s pause, he put both of his hands on her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze, trying to reassure her for something he didn’t know about. Yet. [color=662d91]“You don’t look good at all… are you okay? What happened?”[/color] he asked as he looked down into her eyes and tried to steady her.

[color=007236]“Um…”[/color] Stella looked like she was trying to find the right words. [color=007236]“So you remember those missing girls I mentioned this morning?”[/color] She asked softly. 

He nodded as such.

[color=007236]“I… uh… found one of them,”[/color] she said softly. [color=007236]“However, um… she’s not… with us anymore,”[/color] she said, trailing off at the end. She then sniffled, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. 

It took him a moment to process what she said. Not because he didn’t understand what she meant, but because it took him some time to fully comprehend the gravity of what she’d gone through. What didn’t take any time at all to figure out was that the dam in her eyes had finally broken as she began to softly cry. More sounds from down the hall told him the rest of the student body was beginning to make their way there, and he realized the last thing Stella needed was added attention. With no more delay he took her by the hand and softly tugged her to the side of the walking area. Only when his back was against the wall of the building did he let go of her hand, and he wasted no time in wrapping both of his arms around her and pulling her into his embrace. For a moment, they simply stood there as the tide of students trickled past them, her tears soaking into his shirt as he delicately held her head against his chest. 

[color=662d91]“Shhh,”[/color] he finally said, just barely loud enough for her to hear him, [color=662d91]“It’s okay, Stella. Just stay here for a moment, let it out as much as you need. It’ll be okay, I promise…”[/color]

Tobias could feel Stella’s head nodding against his chest as she continued to cry, her arms wrapping around him and gently grasping the back of his shirt. He could feel his shirt getting more soaked as she started sobbing a bit. After a few minutes, she pulled back a bit and looked up at Tobias. [color=007236]“Thank you,”[/color] she said softly, and let out a soft sniffle. [color=007236]“I just… after that, and seeing you… I couldn’t… I…”[/color] she stammered a bit, obviously still not all there.

He took the stumbling words in stride, and rather than hush her or try to help the coherence he simply reached forward to sweep some of her hair out of her face, gave her as good a smile as he could get on hand, and pulled her back in. [color=662d91]“It’s no problem,”[/color] he intoned, [color=662d91]“Stay out here as long as you need, I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere.”[/color] 

For a brief moment before he pulled her back into the embrace, her cheeks seemed to have a bit of color returning to them. She seemed to move in close. [color=007236]“Thank you, Tobias,”[/color] she muttered after a moment. 

[color=662d91]“Anytime, Stella.”[/color]

They remained stationary for a while, simply holding one another, as the river of bodies coming through the hallway ebbed, flowed, and rose to a peak before diminishing once again. As the hall grew quiet again, Stella looked up at him and nodded that she was ready, or as ready as she was going to be, and they broke apart to walk toward the gym, side by side. Along the way, Tobias extended his arm around to rest on Stella’s opposite shoulder, which she happily accepted as they made their way into the gym with the rest of the school.