Broken Bones & Friendships PV Finished

This was it. When Eris picked what side to be on. She could say no to Kagen. She was not his friend anymore. She could turn away, and try to rebuild her friendship with Adam. Or she could say yes to Kaegen, and risk losing Adam's trust forever, and risk being hurt by the half-wild boy from the Fens. She knew the right choice was to say no to Kaegen. They weren't friends anymore. But she couldn't, not after all that the two of them had been through together.

Kaegen was the physical embodiment of the wizarding world. Wild, new, dangerous, and incredible. Then there was Adam. The embodiment of the kids at the playground that used to play together. Funny, kind, trustworthy, and safe. Both were people that represented the things Eris had always so desperately wanted in her life. How was she going to pick which one to be friends with?

"I, uh, I think so. But you hurt Adam. I don't-" She broke off, eyes watering again. Words were so hard. How could she explain everything she was feeling about a simple question, without making Adam or Kaegen mad? She didn't want to hurt anybody any more.

Was there anyway to come back, to repair any of their friendships after the battle in the hallway? "uh, but I punched Eri Windstone in the face." There. That was a solid way to change the conversation.Maybe it would prove to the two boys that she cared about them. She had punched the person who had started the whole thing, as an act of revenge for Kaegen and Adam. That seemed fair enough.

Kaegen hadn't wanted Eris to choose, he honestly didn't care.
He just wanted her to choose if she wanted Kaegen as a friend or not. Adam could even have been a better friend, that wasn't what this was about.
Well, that was it, she had decided. For the crime of retaliating to a attack that had come from behind, Kaegen had been sentenced. Sentenced to no longer be the friend of Eris, the little red head.
He should expected this, after everything that had already happened. He had asked the question, but he hadn't been prepared for the answer.
The lifeless eyes hardened, he stood up surprisingly quickly, threw on the scarf, picked up the knives and slingshot on the table. He wobbled for a brief moment, unsure of his strength to continue, but he finally got his balance, walked over to Eris, wordlessly took the knife, leaving the crudely made sheath behind. There was nothing left for him here.
He would probably never understand why these things had happened, why they had happened to him. Why he had been judged so harshly for doing nothing wrong.
Taking the now sheathless knife, he ran a finger over it's blade. This knife was the one, the one that was supposed to be given to his first friend. For a moment, his eyes softened as he remembered how glad he had been that the little red head had been alive.
But the moment passes sooner than it should have, and taking all of his possessions, he crawled back onto the bed. He needed to heal, after all. Leaving could wait.

Eris stared at Kaegen as he took the knife back, eyes filling with more tears. It was then the tiny red-head finally broke down. She had vowed not to break down when her friends woke up, but the second Kaegen pulled the knife away from her hands, she broke down sobbing. Not the girlish sobs Hollywood actresses always had in dramatic parts of movies, but ugly end-of-the-world crying. She wrapped herself up in a ball, her small body allowing her to curl up in the chair.

Kaegen wasn't her friend anymore. Eris had felt many emotions while at Hogwarts. Awe, excitement, anger, sadness, but never had seen felt so miserable that she would of preferred to be at home. Now empty sheath clattered out of her robe pocket, and her arms wrapped around herself. Like any child in a horrible situation, Eris craved her house. Even if it was horrible back at home, and nobody loved her. It would be better than this. "I want to go home!" Eris said in between sobs. "I'm sorry Kaegen!" She said afterwards, wanting nothing more than to run out of the hospital wing and out of the school. She wanted to never see anybody again. In fact, it sounded amazing to never talk to another human again in her life. "I'm your friend, I swear, I swear." She repeated over and over again, muttering it more like chant to herself, to calm herself down. It wasn't clear if she was talking to Adam or Kaegen at this point.

If people didn't make any sense before, they sure didn't make any sense now.
He had just resolved himself, hardened himself. He had been going to make sure to not be mean about it, make sure that Eris wouldn't be hurt. He didn't think she would be, if she wasn't his friend, but thought it best to treat the matter more lightly.
He took the knife, because that was for a friend. He was still planning on giving it to one, but he had left the sheath to try and let her know that he still remembered.
But now this, she had broken down and he had no idea what to do. And she said that she was his friend? What? She said sorry? For what? What was she sorry for? Why did she not want to be his friend a second ago, and change her mind now? Why was any of this happening?
Kaegen looked across at the little girl on the floor. He couldn't live like this, he wanted the world to be black and white, but it was grey. He looked down on his scarf. Sickly, sickly grey.
But then he thought. And his ravenclaw mind decided that there was a way to decide this. Hold his own trial, in his mind. He had no idea what was going on, but he was going to find out.
"Why are you my friend?"
There had to a reason, right?

Adam felt his head spinning. Too much was happening around him; Eris and Kaegen seemed to be splintering at their cores, Eris was pleading to no one, Kaegen had another knife with him and was asking a ridiculous question. The pressure of it all built up inside of him, swarming and spinning as Eris apologized too much for things that weren't her fault, and as Kaegen plunged forward on this stupid course he seemed set in taking. Finally, he felt that he couldn't take it anymore. Adam needed to say something, or he would implode.

"Both of you just shut up!" he ordered as loudly as he could without drawing attention to their small meeting. Adam was fully awake now, and he realized that he was more irritated by what was going on than upset. Relishing in the surprised silence that followed, he took a minute to collect himself and first turned to the small girl breaking down next to him. "Eris. You know we both care about you. So don't take this the wrong way, but you need to stop saying sorry. Not everything is your fault, you know. It's the two of us that are being idiots. And another thing -- you punched Eri in the face? You know she didn't do anything wrong, at least not on purpose. I'm sure it's too late to apologize now, but could you at least try? Maybe that's the one thing you really can say sorry for." He took a deep breath, and wondered if he should smile, just to make sure Eris knew that he meant this all in the friendliest way possible. He supposed, though, that it would just come off as cruel. He'd have to settle for asking for his own forgiveness later. For now, he turned on Kaegen.

"And you. Are you determined to drive us all away? Why is she your friend? Maybe because she bloody cares about you, Kaegen. Did you think about that when you were bleeding out in the corridors? No, I didn't think so. I get it that you're this wild-born hunter fellow or whatever, but sometimes you need to act like a human. Half the time I'm not sure whether you even know my name!" Adam took a deep breath, but made sure not to wait long enough to give the other boy time to reply. "We're all not really sure where we stand right now. That doesn't give you an excuse to torture her, or me, even. Give her the knife or don't. Be her friend or don't. But bloody hell, Kaegen, don't be an idiot."

Sighing, Adam dropped dramatically back down to his resting position. It felt good to remind the two of them that he was still there, and that he had a say in the matter. Seeing that Eris was still on the verge of tears, faced with an impossible decision, he leaned in closer to her and lowered his voice in hopes that Kaegen wouldn't hear it. "Listen, Eris, I know this is a choice you don't want to make. And I promise that I won't make you live with it for long. But for right now, you need to help Kaegen. He needs it. I've got other people I can hang out with, and I'm sure we'll be back like we were soon. But I just can't....I just can't face all three of us together right now. We're due for a little break. So take care of him for a while, make sure he's alright, and we'll go from there, yeah?"

Swinging his feet down off the bed, he looked back at the two of them before getting up. "I'll see you around the castle, then?" Not waiting for an answer, he called for a nurse and explained that he needed to use the bathroom. He got permission to make his way to the lavatory a few doors down, and nodded to his friends -- well, no, not anymore -- before he left. He was sure he'd be talking with them within hours, if not arguing outright. But for now it was good to catch a break.

The little-red head froze, as Adam yelled at her. The final little edge of sanity and hope snapped. There was nothing left in this stupid hospital wing. Who cared about the two boys anyways? They certainly didn't care about her. Adam had other friends. He didn't need her. Kaegen had his creatures. He didn't need her. Nobody needed Eris. They didn't need her at home, they didn't need her at school. Feeling sick and weak, Eris pulled herself out of the small ball she was curled up in, and staggered towards the door of the hospital wing.

She felt weak, sick, and unable to do anything. The lack of food for hours on end, and the horrible sobbing she had just experienced lead to the girl taking a few steps towards the door, before collapsing in a heap by one of the empty beds. She didn't cry though, just sat there curled up in a ball. No emotion. She didn't notice the nurses gathering around her, prodding at the red-head curled up on the floor.

Her thoughts were elsewhere. Why did she want to be friends with Kaegen? Why did she want friends at all? What had anybody ever done for her? Her mother hated her, her sister didn't love her, and her dad hadn't ever been in her life. When Eris had finally found friends, she had been so happy to be wanted that she had clung onto the feeling of happiness. Of course, she hadn't stopped to ask if the people she was hanging out with were as happy as her. Naturally they weren't. Who would ever like Eris. She was unworthy, unlovable, untrustworthy. All her friends at school, they probably didn't like her. They must think Eris was stupid, and want to get rid of her. Just like Adam and Kaegen did. If her two best friends didn't want her, why would anybody else want to be her friend.

Break. Due for a break. Break, break, break, break. Eris's world revolved around those words. It wasn't just their friendship that was breaking. Eris felt her little eleven year old heart break, just like it had that night when her mother came back. Only this time there was no magic school to bring hope back to her life. There was nothing for the little red-head.

Nothing at all. She was worthless.

Kaegen understood almost nothing, so he decided to work this through, one question or answer at a time. And he decided that almost nothing whatsisface said mattered much in the grand scheme of things anyway, so he weakly asked
"Oh, yeah. What is your name?"
And then focused on Eris, this was getting ridiculous. He just needed that answer, and he wanted it to be clear. Did she or did she not want to be his friend? He couldn't very well move forward if he didn't understand that much. He looked at the emotionless ball that was the girl, and tried again. This wasn't fair. How was he supposed to move on if he didn't know if he should? If he didn't know what was happening or why?
Looking over at eris, he tried to explain what was going on as best he could.
"I don't know why thinggumy is mad at you, and I don't know what is going on here, I just need a answer. Are you my friend?"
That was all he cared about at this point. He was feeling dizzy, he was feeling weak, and he wasn't feeling up to the task of deciphering why whatsisface was screaming about something. Why eris was that upset, why any of this even existed.

"Why am I your friend. Why do you care." Eris said vacantly, staring off into the space of the hospital wing behind Kaegen. "I would consider myself your friend. Adam's mad at me because you beat him up, and I couldn't stop you. Not that I blame you." It was true. It wasn't Kaegen's fault he was half-wild. In Eris's mind she said this all coherently, and it made perfect sense. It came out more like "Why I friend? Why Care. Adam, Stop, not Blame." The words coming out at random intervals as the little red head sobbed, and stared off into space, with a look of utmost interest in her surroundings.

Try as she might, Eris couldn't turn off the tears. Once they started, she just kept sobbing and sobbing. If asked what was wrong, she would of blurted out years worth of sadness, anger, and pain. She wasn't even just thinking about the one situation anymore. The hallway battle, her family, everything horrible in the world was all Eris could think about. Inside her mind it was an explosion of emotions, feelings, and confusion and all Eris could do was sit there, trying to process what had just happened with Adam, and also trying to process every bad thing that had happened in her young life.

"Eris, that's not what I--" he began, but Adam knew that it would be useless to protest. He had made up his mind, and so had she. Besides, she had rounded on Kaegen now, and this he had to see. It was Kaegen that he should be arguing with, really. He didn't know where all of this anger was coming from, but it was there nonetheless, and it seemed irreversibly fixed on his fellow Ravenclaw.

"It's Adam, you know. My name. Adam. It's really not that hard to remember, Kaegen. You could at least try." He had to admit, it felt kind of good to fight on his terms, in a place and a form where Kaegen couldn't hurt him too badly. He'd had a lot to stew over during the day, and he kept thinking that maybe his brother was right. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to hold a grudge, to have an argument. Adam had had this intolerable air of excitement and innocence around him since he had arrived at the castle, and only now did he see how frustrating that must have been. Had he expected it to be all flying feathers and unicorn sightings? No. It was battle spells, it was poisons, it was people you didn't know everywhere you turned. At least he had the opportunity to take some power here. Power was an important thing to have in a school like this. "And I'm not mad at her, I just said that. All three of us need some time to cool off. You and I might need much longer, actually, because surprise! I am mad at you. Isn't it going to be grand, just the two of us in here for the next couple of days? I think so. What about you, Kaegen? Do you think so?" Laughing to himself, Adam wondered what kind of medicine he was on. He seemed to be all over the place tonight.

Oh, well. At least he had said what he had meant to say.

"I'm your friend because you decided to be nice. That seemed good enough. I care because if you want to be my friend, then I would be your friend, but if you don't want to, then I should leave you alone."
Kaegen couldn't tell what the rest of it was, it took a lot of effort to just decipher the first two questions.
Adam was laughing about something, saying his name was easy to remember.
"Well, yes it is but I didn't bother to remember it."
Kaegen didn't think he was going to bother to remember it this time either. It was just a boy his age, an unpredictable boy his age, but all humans were that way.
"Oh, thank you! I was actually wondering if you were or not, and I think I'll be napping, but you could have a grand time with the nurse?"
That was all he really had to say. Apple was the least of his concerns, and he was laughing about something, so it could very well just be a joke or something? Oh well, what could you do. Kaegen reached for the water pitcher and drunk deep gulps. The nurse had said drinking water would help. He might stick around for whatever party aidan had planned, but then he was going to leave.
Oh, wait. Adam.