Setting the Matter Straight (Sept 9)
Jul 11, 2018 11:55:06 GMT -6
Post by Snick on Jul 11, 2018 11:55:06 GMT -6
The O'Briens stayed and talked with their children and Principal Cook for roughly two hours, basically nodding their heads as the administrator and the Irish twins explained what happened from all sides of the story. Phrixos Pratt sat outside, waiting for his turn. Liliana finally dismissed the parents from the meeting, so they said their goodbyes. Mrs. O'Brien hugged and kissed her children, then asked Siobhan, once more, if she was sure she didn't want to come home for a couple of weeks.
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'Thank you, Mother," Siobhan said, hugging her mom, and relieved to have the potion out of her system so she could lie again. "You know how much I want to be there, but I need to be here. I need to look after Lorccan too. I won't let him get into trouble again, and nothing bad will happen again. The school will be more careful. Daddy's classmate, Llewellyn, will see to it." Not that she trusted him or any of the faculty but Castilla. "I love you, Mom."
She turned to her father. "Goodbye, Daddy. Take care of Mother."
"Good bye, Little Siobhan, you keep that brother of yours in line and call me if he's not, and you keep being a good girl yourself. I couldn't bear to lose you." He gave her a scratchy kiss to the forehead.
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Though the entire talk with Principal Cook and his parents, Lorccan said very little. All he volunteered was he had gone fishing after leaving the dance. Simply lost track of time and by the time he left Wight Town, it was dawn. His father didn't really believe him and yelled about responsibilities and how he should have been there to help his sister.
Lorccan meekly nodded, agreeing he should have been there. In truth he felt he did fail her, he also felt the staff let them all down. He had far more trust in that glowing lighthouse now than the living and breathing wizards and witches. At least IT saved his sister.
"Bye Mom...don't worry I will not let anything else bad happen to Siobhan, even if I have to follow her around everywhere." Lorccan assured her as he hugged her tight. His father simply glared at him and refused to shake hands or hug Lorccan. Lorccan didn't care, but he knew that look. If Siobhan gets hurt or anything happens to her, he'll be the one blamed. He will be the one beaten for it.
"You better stay out of trouble, Lorccan. I don't want to receive a single note about your antics this year." Lorccan nods and waits till his ass of a father is gone. If he wasn't as kind as he was to Siobhan, rarely doing anything more than just yelling at her and that was rarely done, Lorccan would seriously hate the man.
Once both parents left, Lorccan put his arm around his sister, not caring the Principal was still there. "I am sorry Shi..I should never have done anything to leave you alone at that Dance...never going to leave you alone again."
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"Lorccan, I love you, but you are not going to turn into my creepy stalker. I have three keepers and friends and a lighthouse to be with me along with you. And some things a girl needs a little privacy for."
She turned and looked at the principal. "I won't go out at night without an escort. It will be a fellow keeper, or Mr. Castilla, or Lorccan, or a close friend, like Esther Black. I don't feel comfortable in the dark by myself anymore anyway. I don't know if I ever will again. So I wouldn't worry."
She had felt her breathing get slightly more rapid, but not to freak out level; still, she didn't want to cause anyone alarm. She forced herself to breath slower and relax, making her hands, which seemed to have balled up on their own, unfold and stretch. She should practice her violin when she got back, she thought, looking at her fingers and trying to get her mind off her nerves. "Will that be all, Principal Cook?" She knew Pratt was waiting outside the door to walk her back to the Lighthouse. She was fine with holing up there for the weekend and not facing her fellow students just yet--as long as the lighthouse would keep providing food.
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"Not quite," she wasn't sure whether to smile reassuringly or to frown sympathetically, so she tried to go for something in the middle. "Lorccan, it is impossible for you to be with her every second of every day. Besides, they took her from an extremely crowded room. Are you confident that you can protect her any better that anyone that was there?"
She looked to Siobhan. "We need to discuss what we will and will not tell the council," she explained. "And would you like to attend the meeting?"
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"Shi..I know there's sometimes I can't be with you...not all our classes are the same for one...but." He fell silent realizing that Lighthouse he hated a week ago for making Siobhan one of its Keepers and not him, did more to protect his sister than anybody else at school, including himself.
"She's my sister..I would have held onto her no matter what anybody did to take her from me." Lorccan though the faculty was full of useless twits if they couldn't even keep strangers from coming on the grounds uninvited. "I actually trust that Lighthouse to protect her far better than you or anybody else in this school."
"Council?" Lorccan could only think of the Dance committee...but there were other councils... "Which Council? No, that' don't matter, but if she goes to it, I will go to."
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"If I answer the Student Council's questions, is it going to keep the students from asking me later?" she asked the principal.
She turned to Lorccan. "Lor, you weren't really part of all this. If anyone is there to be with me, it should probably be one of the keepers. I know that hurts your feelings, but the Lighthouse sent me to them for protection, and they are better suited for helping me explain, if that's what I need to do. Besides, you hate meetings, and I don't want you there as my personal stalker."
Lorccan had cut out of the dance committee meeting, the dance, the other meetings . . . he hated them. She saw no point in him getting involved with the school activities now just because he wanted to shadow her.
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"I am sure you would have, Lorccan." Liliana smiled kindly, despite his remarks. Though she imagined, from what she'd been told, the person that wrestled Siobhan from the arms of Phrixos would have easily snapped him like a twig. "And I am glad you have such confidence in the lighthouse, considering she will be spending much of her time there. The meeting will be with the student and legacy councils."
The principal turned her attention to Siobhan again. "That is what we are hoping - If they get some answers, they won't be bothering you and we can put a stop to rumors before they start," she nodded. "You're sure you do not want your brother there with you? If you don't want to go, that's alright. Mrs. Bell and I will try to answer their questions, though they may not accept secondhand accounts as well as they would yours."
After meeting with these two, then Phrixos to get his account of her kidnap and return, she would hold a faculty meeting to fill them in on everything. Then she and Anna would meet with the student council to have a press conference of sorts. They could ask their questions and hopefully be satisfied with the answers they get so the student body wouldn't hound Siobhan. She was sure other faculty members would want to attend, but until she was absolutely certain no one on the staff had anything to do with the events of the previous night, only the bare minimum would be in the meeting. The only other faculty member allowed may be Mr. Castilla.
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"If he wants to be there, he can; but he wasn't there, and Pratt was. If Pratt will be there with me, I'll be safe enough." She hated hurting Lorccan's feelings, but he hadn't been there, and no, he wouldn't be able to hold her.
She sighed. "I'll go to the meeting. May I leave now? Or is there more?" She was feeling a little anxious, and she wanted to go back to the lighthouse with her friends and her violin and the only faculty member she really trusted.
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It kept coming down to fucking Pratt. What was this sudden need to have Pratt around and not him? Lorccan just glared at his sister, trying to figure it out. Pratt was at the dance sure, but so were all the other Lighthouse Keepers and half the fucking school. Yet she wanted HIM around instead of her own brother? Did she have a crush on him or something? No way, the guy was such a loser and took things even less seriously than he did.
"Like Pratt can protect you any better then I can." Lorccan huffed. "He's totally useless..."
"I don't give a shit about the meeting itself, that's not why I want to go be there." Lorccan was getting angry and he was feeling hurt. His sister didn't want him around, that much was obvious. "Since I am not really needed as you have your new fucking Lighthouse defender, PRATT to be there for you...I guess I will find something else to do." He stood up and turned to head for the door.
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"Please, watch your language," she warned politely, but sternly. "Phrixos Pratt may not be any more capable of protecting her than you, but the lighthouse returned her directly to him. Not a faculty member, not one of the other keepers, and not you. That the lighthouse trusts him means more than you seem to realize, Lorccan. Either you trust the lighthouse or you do not. You can't pick and choose what you do and don't trust about the lighthouse. You are dismissed, Mr. O'Brien."
Liliana wouldn't give him the satisfaction of stomping out without permission. Besides, she didn't want him in the room for the next discussion, anyway. Hopefully, with his hurt feelings and anger, he wouldn't lash out at the unsuspecting Phrixos in the waiting area.
"However, Siobhan," she furrowed her brow worriedly. "There is something else I wish to discuss with you, if that's alright."
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Siobhan watched her brother leave. He didn't understand. She was trusting the lighthouse. It wanted her to trust Pratt.
"Yes, Mrs. Cook?" Siobhan said tentively. "Is Pratt coming in first?" she asked, glancing nervously at the door. She didn't trust being alone with any of the faculty, save Castilla.
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Lorccan barely glanced back at Principal Cook when she dismissed him. He was too angry and knew better to let his anger get away from him infront of a teacher. So he left and managed not to slam the door behind him.
When he spotted Pratt in the sitting area he just looked at him a moment but didn't say a word as he walked passed. The Lighthouse returned his sister to him...why? Lorccan had always been closer to Siobhan than any of his other siblings, yet the Lighthouse felt his sister was better off with another Lighthouse member. Or maybe Siobhan didn't care about him as much as he did her anymore? It hurt to think that but what else could he assume?
Confused, hurt and angry, Lorccan just wanted to get away from everybody right now.
<exit Lorccan>
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"If his presence would help," she nodded, then rose from her chair and crossed the office. "Phrixos, please come in."
Liliana had opened the door just a little and poked her head out. Looking confused, Pratt came in and sat in the seat Lorccan had abandoned. The principal reclaimed her own seat and folded her hands on top of her desk.
"Siobhan, we would really like for you to get counseling," she tried to approach the topic cautiously. "You don't have to, but we strongly suggest you do. Maybe it would be possible to have group therapy with the other keepers."
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"I don't want to . . . not unless it's Mr. Castilla who is leading it. I think I just need a little time and good friends. If I don't start feeling better in a week or so, I'll reconsider, but I'm an O'Brien, we're made of tough stuff. I'll be all right.''
She looked at Pratt, looking for reassurance that she wasn't crazy. "Do you think I need counseling?"
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'Thank you, Mother," Siobhan said, hugging her mom, and relieved to have the potion out of her system so she could lie again. "You know how much I want to be there, but I need to be here. I need to look after Lorccan too. I won't let him get into trouble again, and nothing bad will happen again. The school will be more careful. Daddy's classmate, Llewellyn, will see to it." Not that she trusted him or any of the faculty but Castilla. "I love you, Mom."
She turned to her father. "Goodbye, Daddy. Take care of Mother."
"Good bye, Little Siobhan, you keep that brother of yours in line and call me if he's not, and you keep being a good girl yourself. I couldn't bear to lose you." He gave her a scratchy kiss to the forehead.
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Though the entire talk with Principal Cook and his parents, Lorccan said very little. All he volunteered was he had gone fishing after leaving the dance. Simply lost track of time and by the time he left Wight Town, it was dawn. His father didn't really believe him and yelled about responsibilities and how he should have been there to help his sister.
Lorccan meekly nodded, agreeing he should have been there. In truth he felt he did fail her, he also felt the staff let them all down. He had far more trust in that glowing lighthouse now than the living and breathing wizards and witches. At least IT saved his sister.
"Bye Mom...don't worry I will not let anything else bad happen to Siobhan, even if I have to follow her around everywhere." Lorccan assured her as he hugged her tight. His father simply glared at him and refused to shake hands or hug Lorccan. Lorccan didn't care, but he knew that look. If Siobhan gets hurt or anything happens to her, he'll be the one blamed. He will be the one beaten for it.
"You better stay out of trouble, Lorccan. I don't want to receive a single note about your antics this year." Lorccan nods and waits till his ass of a father is gone. If he wasn't as kind as he was to Siobhan, rarely doing anything more than just yelling at her and that was rarely done, Lorccan would seriously hate the man.
Once both parents left, Lorccan put his arm around his sister, not caring the Principal was still there. "I am sorry Shi..I should never have done anything to leave you alone at that Dance...never going to leave you alone again."
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"Lorccan, I love you, but you are not going to turn into my creepy stalker. I have three keepers and friends and a lighthouse to be with me along with you. And some things a girl needs a little privacy for."
She turned and looked at the principal. "I won't go out at night without an escort. It will be a fellow keeper, or Mr. Castilla, or Lorccan, or a close friend, like Esther Black. I don't feel comfortable in the dark by myself anymore anyway. I don't know if I ever will again. So I wouldn't worry."
She had felt her breathing get slightly more rapid, but not to freak out level; still, she didn't want to cause anyone alarm. She forced herself to breath slower and relax, making her hands, which seemed to have balled up on their own, unfold and stretch. She should practice her violin when she got back, she thought, looking at her fingers and trying to get her mind off her nerves. "Will that be all, Principal Cook?" She knew Pratt was waiting outside the door to walk her back to the Lighthouse. She was fine with holing up there for the weekend and not facing her fellow students just yet--as long as the lighthouse would keep providing food.
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"Not quite," she wasn't sure whether to smile reassuringly or to frown sympathetically, so she tried to go for something in the middle. "Lorccan, it is impossible for you to be with her every second of every day. Besides, they took her from an extremely crowded room. Are you confident that you can protect her any better that anyone that was there?"
She looked to Siobhan. "We need to discuss what we will and will not tell the council," she explained. "And would you like to attend the meeting?"
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"Shi..I know there's sometimes I can't be with you...not all our classes are the same for one...but." He fell silent realizing that Lighthouse he hated a week ago for making Siobhan one of its Keepers and not him, did more to protect his sister than anybody else at school, including himself.
"She's my sister..I would have held onto her no matter what anybody did to take her from me." Lorccan though the faculty was full of useless twits if they couldn't even keep strangers from coming on the grounds uninvited. "I actually trust that Lighthouse to protect her far better than you or anybody else in this school."
"Council?" Lorccan could only think of the Dance committee...but there were other councils... "Which Council? No, that' don't matter, but if she goes to it, I will go to."
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"If I answer the Student Council's questions, is it going to keep the students from asking me later?" she asked the principal.
She turned to Lorccan. "Lor, you weren't really part of all this. If anyone is there to be with me, it should probably be one of the keepers. I know that hurts your feelings, but the Lighthouse sent me to them for protection, and they are better suited for helping me explain, if that's what I need to do. Besides, you hate meetings, and I don't want you there as my personal stalker."
Lorccan had cut out of the dance committee meeting, the dance, the other meetings . . . he hated them. She saw no point in him getting involved with the school activities now just because he wanted to shadow her.
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"I am sure you would have, Lorccan." Liliana smiled kindly, despite his remarks. Though she imagined, from what she'd been told, the person that wrestled Siobhan from the arms of Phrixos would have easily snapped him like a twig. "And I am glad you have such confidence in the lighthouse, considering she will be spending much of her time there. The meeting will be with the student and legacy councils."
The principal turned her attention to Siobhan again. "That is what we are hoping - If they get some answers, they won't be bothering you and we can put a stop to rumors before they start," she nodded. "You're sure you do not want your brother there with you? If you don't want to go, that's alright. Mrs. Bell and I will try to answer their questions, though they may not accept secondhand accounts as well as they would yours."
After meeting with these two, then Phrixos to get his account of her kidnap and return, she would hold a faculty meeting to fill them in on everything. Then she and Anna would meet with the student council to have a press conference of sorts. They could ask their questions and hopefully be satisfied with the answers they get so the student body wouldn't hound Siobhan. She was sure other faculty members would want to attend, but until she was absolutely certain no one on the staff had anything to do with the events of the previous night, only the bare minimum would be in the meeting. The only other faculty member allowed may be Mr. Castilla.
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"If he wants to be there, he can; but he wasn't there, and Pratt was. If Pratt will be there with me, I'll be safe enough." She hated hurting Lorccan's feelings, but he hadn't been there, and no, he wouldn't be able to hold her.
She sighed. "I'll go to the meeting. May I leave now? Or is there more?" She was feeling a little anxious, and she wanted to go back to the lighthouse with her friends and her violin and the only faculty member she really trusted.
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It kept coming down to fucking Pratt. What was this sudden need to have Pratt around and not him? Lorccan just glared at his sister, trying to figure it out. Pratt was at the dance sure, but so were all the other Lighthouse Keepers and half the fucking school. Yet she wanted HIM around instead of her own brother? Did she have a crush on him or something? No way, the guy was such a loser and took things even less seriously than he did.
"Like Pratt can protect you any better then I can." Lorccan huffed. "He's totally useless..."
"I don't give a shit about the meeting itself, that's not why I want to go be there." Lorccan was getting angry and he was feeling hurt. His sister didn't want him around, that much was obvious. "Since I am not really needed as you have your new fucking Lighthouse defender, PRATT to be there for you...I guess I will find something else to do." He stood up and turned to head for the door.
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"Please, watch your language," she warned politely, but sternly. "Phrixos Pratt may not be any more capable of protecting her than you, but the lighthouse returned her directly to him. Not a faculty member, not one of the other keepers, and not you. That the lighthouse trusts him means more than you seem to realize, Lorccan. Either you trust the lighthouse or you do not. You can't pick and choose what you do and don't trust about the lighthouse. You are dismissed, Mr. O'Brien."
Liliana wouldn't give him the satisfaction of stomping out without permission. Besides, she didn't want him in the room for the next discussion, anyway. Hopefully, with his hurt feelings and anger, he wouldn't lash out at the unsuspecting Phrixos in the waiting area.
"However, Siobhan," she furrowed her brow worriedly. "There is something else I wish to discuss with you, if that's alright."
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Siobhan watched her brother leave. He didn't understand. She was trusting the lighthouse. It wanted her to trust Pratt.
"Yes, Mrs. Cook?" Siobhan said tentively. "Is Pratt coming in first?" she asked, glancing nervously at the door. She didn't trust being alone with any of the faculty, save Castilla.
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Lorccan barely glanced back at Principal Cook when she dismissed him. He was too angry and knew better to let his anger get away from him infront of a teacher. So he left and managed not to slam the door behind him.
When he spotted Pratt in the sitting area he just looked at him a moment but didn't say a word as he walked passed. The Lighthouse returned his sister to him...why? Lorccan had always been closer to Siobhan than any of his other siblings, yet the Lighthouse felt his sister was better off with another Lighthouse member. Or maybe Siobhan didn't care about him as much as he did her anymore? It hurt to think that but what else could he assume?
Confused, hurt and angry, Lorccan just wanted to get away from everybody right now.
<exit Lorccan>
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"If his presence would help," she nodded, then rose from her chair and crossed the office. "Phrixos, please come in."
Liliana had opened the door just a little and poked her head out. Looking confused, Pratt came in and sat in the seat Lorccan had abandoned. The principal reclaimed her own seat and folded her hands on top of her desk.
"Siobhan, we would really like for you to get counseling," she tried to approach the topic cautiously. "You don't have to, but we strongly suggest you do. Maybe it would be possible to have group therapy with the other keepers."
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"I don't want to . . . not unless it's Mr. Castilla who is leading it. I think I just need a little time and good friends. If I don't start feeling better in a week or so, I'll reconsider, but I'm an O'Brien, we're made of tough stuff. I'll be all right.''
She looked at Pratt, looking for reassurance that she wasn't crazy. "Do you think I need counseling?"
