Room 406, Thursday evening

[izzyalienqueen]

In theory, Thursday was supposed to be her busy day, with a whole two classes. War Theory had been interesting. Ethics had been troubling. Not only were the topics disturbing, it was difficult to look to look at a friend's killer.

After spending some time with Alanna, Isabel returned to her room, booted up the laptop and tried to not think while playing multiple rounds of solitare.

The door was open.

Comments

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

"Jaye and I are going to blow things up!" he said, coming in a bit and then pausing. "Is everything okay?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"You are?" Isabel asked, mildly tempted to ask if it was possible to blow up the Ethics teacher. "Why? Or is this boom for the sake of boom?" She shrugged, "It hasn't been the best week."

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

"Science project," he said, going to sit by her. "Want to talk about it?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Let me know if there's a science fair. I'll come watch." Isabel reached for his hand. "Not much to say. Anakin's son is one of the new students. He didn't bring good news."

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

Greg squeezed her hand. "I thought he wasn't allowed."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, well Luke's here and I don't think a discussion of the finer points of the Jedi code really matters now." It's the first time she's actually had to say the words and they hurt. "Anakin's dead. He was murdered by the Ethics teacher."

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

Greg looked at her for a long moment before moving over and wrapping her in a tight hug.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel leaned against his shoulder and let out a long breath. "Needless to say, it made class very interesting."

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

"I bet," he said mildly, not letting go. "Are you going to be okay?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Do I have a choice?" she asked, slowly feeling the tension she'd felt since walking through the door of the ethics classroom finally start to dissolve.

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

"You always have a choice," he said softly.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"And I'm choosing to keep living and remember my friend," Isabel said. "Since joining up with my classmates to lynch a teacher probably isn't a wise choice."

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

"I could help you blow him up," Greg offered, rubbing circles on her back.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Don't even joke about it," she said, pulling away to look at Greg seriously. "Anakin was powerful. If he could kill Anakin, then he's a scary kind of powerful. I don't want to see you get hurt."

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

Greg kissed her temple. "I know. I'm trying to make you feel better. Why are they letting him teach here?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Okay," she smiled softly. "In that case let's create an elaborate plot that involves setting his cape on fire and then cracking his helmet with a giant nutcracker. As for why? This is the school that let Crazy Squid Lady, who happened to be a vampire, teach psych last Fall."

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

"...he has a cape and a helmet?"

Trust Greg to pick up on the important part.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"And some kind of breathing apparatus that makes him sound like an obscene phone caller," Isabel added, shaking her head. "Trust me, you'd know Lord Vader if you saw him."

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

"...his name is Lord Vader?" Greg repeated. "Wow, pretentious much?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Seriously, the problem is," Isabel pointed out. "I'm pretty sure he has the power to back it all up."

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

"He sounds dumb," Greg said. Which he didn't believe, but he wanted to cheer her up. "Maybe he has really bad acne and that's why he wears the helmet."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"You're going to get me killed," she chuckled, tucking her head under his chin. "Because right now I'm seriously trying to figure out how to leave a jar of Clearasil on his desk."

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

"Or maybe he has unsightly ear hair," Greg tried.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel giggled and wondered how she was going to make it through next week's class without picturing Vader with zits and ear hair. "Thank you," she said. "I needed this."

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

"Any time, honey," he murmured. "And if you need someone around in there and want me to crash the class sometime, I can do that."