The Elusive Prince

Chapter 28: Talks and Realizations

Merideth

Well that message has officially messed up my thoughts because now all I can think off is who could be the sender. It could be anyone ranging from a concerned schoolmate who for some reason has my number or some creep who raided my phone and took my number without my permission or that ghost of a guy or Cloud whatever, because he had all the time in the world getting my phone number even though I had a password? No matter, I'm just going to leave the number alone for a while to see if they try anything and if they did then it's easy to just let the police track them for me.

Sinking down on the the bed I sighed as I calm myself down. Well that little text has managed to let my mind off things so now I was calmer than I was before. Sighing one last time I sent Hailey a text so she can come in. She must've been worried sick for a few days now because of the onslaught of things that happened to me and to all of us. I'll definitely give her a long break once school is over for this semester and let her rest for a while.

Speaking of Hailey, not a minute later after I sent her that text, she was already at the door along with a little entourage of all our classmates trailing behind her looking glad but at the same time worried. They all surrounded my bed as if I was in a ritual. There was silence for a few minutes as no one dared to open their mouth.

"Are you guys not going to say anything?" I said before all of them burst into loud noise as everybody talked at the same time, each overlapping the other. Covering my ears as a joke, I laughed a bit which made them stop for while and look at me with amusement.

"Seriously guys, one at a time. I know you're worried but please I can't answer all of you if you talk like that." I teased which made them laugh a little before settling down.

"You scared the heck out of us Mori. When you didn't show up in the morning we all got so worried." Kairo said which made the others nod a bit.

"Why? You didn't get you're daily dose of my face so now you're not energized?" I said teasingly which made everyone laugh under their breath except for Kairo who had a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Of course Mori. What did you think I thought when I didn't see you? I was like 'Man I haven't seen the ugly face of Mori this morning. How am I supposed to feel better about myself now?'" he teased and if I wasn't in an IV I would've throttled him but since I was unable to move I just sent him a glare which made him laugh.

"But in all seriousness Mori, we really were very worried of you." Amity said softly which made everyone quiet down. Sighing, I stayed silent for a while before sending them a very genuine soft smile.

"I know. I'm sorry for making you guys worry." they just shook their heads disagreeing.

"No need to be sorry. We should be the one to say sorry. We should've talked to you or within ourselves about the whole thing instead of trying to shrug it off like it didn't happen." Amity said and this time they nodded in agreement. I would've pointed out to them that the nightmare that I have has been bothering me for years now but well it did intensify after that event so I just kept my mouth shut.

At the lack of my reply, the room fell into heavy silence as we let ourselves get lost in the memory of that event wash over us. Well they are because they all had this look and I didn't know how to lift the mood back up again but thankfully I didn't have to do it because someone did it for me.

"Hey how about we have a movie night you know? We haven't had it for months now and what better way to bond than over crappy, funny, and cheesy movies?" Luna, bless her heart, offered noticing the heavy atmosphere that surrounded the room. Sneakily, I sent her a little wink which she got because she grinned. At that the whole mood shifted from gloomy to excited as everyone talked about which movies we should watch. I glanced at Amity who sent Luna and me a smile because I know she was feeling down by the atmosphere too.

Their chatter occupied the room as they discuss which film we should be watching, which made the whole mood a lot better. At some point, there were some arguments that lead to a very heated discussion but that was easily solved with Amity getting in the way. I just laughed at their antics but the noise suddenly stopped when the door opened to reveal Sir Hexford looking surprised to see the whole class cramped in the infirmary.

"Well it seems this is where you went. You guys just escaped dinner. I suggest you go on ahead, it's Lillibeth's turn to check on you." Sir Hexford teased and I can feel all of them pale a bit. I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"But sir..." Sumire tried to propose but was instantly shut down when he shook his head. They all looked at their feet dejected.

"Well...I know you're all concerned over Merideth but rules are rules. However..." he added and I can feel him sigh heavily, like he was going to regret what he was about to say, while we all perked up. "I heard you wanted a movie night, so I'm giving you guys permission to sleep late tonight and skip the first half of your activity tomorrow." and with that the whole class cheered but quietened down not a moment after when he put a finger to his lips.

"Although, you still need to write me a reflection about your chosen movie by Monday." he added with a smirk which made some of us groan because of course, there was homework. Sir Hexford just laughed and dismissed the rest of them who were giving him a stink eye (Luna in particular) and he just smirked at them and told them to hurry up to dinner. Right now it was just him and me, with the addition of the nurse, in the infirmary. Hailey went to grab dinner but promised to come back with dessert.

"I assume you're okay now Merideth?" he said while sitting on the chair beside the bed. I nodded and he sighed before seemingly sinking down the seat located near my bed. Confused, I looked at him before he started speaking.

"I knew it was a bad choice not letting the others talk to you about what happened. I should've realized that you probably didn't want to be treated like that." he said while pinching his eyebrows together which made my eyebrows raise. So I was right, they were the one's to tell the others to treat me like that. It was not his fault but I couldn't help but narrow my eyes at his direction in a glare. As if sensing my glare, he looked at me and scowled a bit before sitting up straight on the chair.

"Hey don't look at me like that. It was the headmaster's idea. I told him you won't like it but he insisted." he defended and I couldn't help but want to storm to the headmaster's office right now and shake him. Well maybe not right now because that would be going against authority, and even if he was my cousin, strangling the headmaster can warrant to detention. But that doesn't mean I won't strangle him when I get the chance to when I see him during family meetings.

Sir Hexford must've realized that I was planning murder, specifically the headmaster's, because he laughed a little. I glanced at him and he calmed himself down.

"Well I'm glad to see you like usual Merideth. Seeing you like that that night had me worried." he said and sighed again. "When Amity came bursting into my room saying you had an intense nightmare, I just knew that I shouldn't have agreed to not mentioning anything to you that day or even telling your friends not to mention anything at all."

I looked at him and couldn't help but feel a little guilty for even feeling anything against my friends that day. I should've known that they would have wanted to talk to me but since they were told not to, they had to force themselves to suppress their feelings about the whole thing too. It was just not me feeling uncomfortable that day but also everyone around me. It was selfish of me to even feel that way and I couldn't help but feel guilty for all of this because throughout this whole thing, I was not the one affected the most but it was those around me who were. My family, Hailey, my classmates and heck even Sir Hexford got dragged because of my problems.

Spiraling in self-blame now, I didn't notice Sir Hexford lookin at me that is until I felt a small pat on my head and I finally saw Sir Hexford with a scowl on his face.

"What the heck is going through that mind of yours Merideth? Whatever it is, stop it because it can't be good for you." his scowl remained before he withdrew his hand from my head. I don't know why but I felt frustrated by the amount of people seeing through me. Thinking that I was good at controlling my emotions seems to be a big joke today.

"Okay...Merideth...as your teacher I'm just going to tell you this. It is not your fault that people worry over you. The reason people worry over you is because they care about you and you're damn lucky you have a lot of those people in your life. So don't feel burdened with this whole thing. And don't even try to deny it, I can recognize that look anywhere."

"Everyone that has worried about you during this whole thing, did so wllingly. They were not forced to worry about you. They weren't just worried because you are the Princess but also because you are their friend, even their role model. So don't you dare even blame yourself for feeling and showing emotions." he said one last time before finally standing up. Concealing my surprise, I looked at his retreating figure. It seems that no matter how much I try to hide he still saw right through me because he gave me one those rare smiles he gives us when we do something good, which in his standards, were rare.

"Also Merideth, talk with your friends okay? I'm sure you're both going to benefit from it." he added before walking out and leaving me alone inside the infirmary.

For the nth time this day alone, I sunk down on the bed again as I dwell on what he said. What Sir Hexford said was right. What was I even thinking? Blaming myself like that. This whole thing must've messed up with my brain because I was never pessimistic in any given situation. I always tried to see the bright side to everything and for me to result to self-blame because people were worried about me is stupid and irrational. I can't help but sigh as the nurse approached me and took the IV out and bandaged my hand. She also told me I could go after I finish eating dinner because I was fine anyways and besides we have movie night.

I thanked her and she gave me small smile before dropping off a piece of candy in my lap to "cheer me up." I took the candy gratefully and began chewing it.

Maybe I really need to talk to someone about this because if this continues, who knows where my thoughts would bring me. Maybe I should ask Sir Hexford for advice or maybe pick someone from class, but I really can't burden them that much, but that also goes against what Cassian told me to do. Sighing again, I let my thoughts wander, trying to think of how I should go about this. One thing is for sure though, I'd have a talk with Hailey first, my parents, Sir Hexford, and Cassian. They were all a big part in this whole thing and they were the most affected one's during the series of events that happened. I owe it to them and really as Cassian said earlier, baring my emotions to people I trust isn't necessarily a bad thing. Maybe in the long run this will help me.