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They hadn’t meant to make a habit of it, but soon it became rote. They asked Normal every time they were going to hang out after school to come, but every time he always had an excuse.
He was much more ingrained in the D.A.D.D.A.D.I.E.S. operations then the rest of the kids, going so far as to call it the family business. This, of course, meant that he was spending a lot of time at headquarters, practicing his fighting and magic skills.
That is why more than anything, it never occurred to Linc not to say, “Hey Taylor, Scary, Hermie don’t forget the snacks for tonight.”
Normal blinked, tilted his head in confusion, and looked between his friends at the lunch table.
“Are…You guys meeting up tonight?”
It occurred to Linc in that very moment that maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. Normal’s tone and the daggers being shot his way by both Scary and Taylor.
“Oh, Uh, well,” he floundered, “we just, you know, meet up sometimes… after school to…ya know, hang out and watch a movie or something.”
“Yeah Norm, we just kind of got used to you saying you couldn’t go so we stopped asking,” Scary said, trying to sound slightly apologetic, but not quite pulling it off.
“Oh, yeah,” Normal’s laugh was forced and his smile split his cheeks unpleasantly. “No, totally, I get it! That makes a lot of sense! I am busy a lot of the time! I wouldn’t even be able to make it tonight anyway, because my Uncle Lark is taking me for shooting lessons. Plus I have to study for that Math exam next week.”
Scary moaned dramatically, “Ughhhhh yeah, don’t remind me, I don’t want to. When are we ever going to use that shit anyway?”
Normal seemed grateful for the distraction and jumped into complaining about how pointless math was. Linc, however was still stuck on the look of abject hurt on Normal’s face even as he tried to smile through it. The bell for lunch’s end sounded and with a sigh they all got up and went to get ready for their next class. All problems, Normal or otherwise temporarily forgotten in the face of Economics.
It came back to him later, however, in the awkward ride home. He and his dad were on tentative ground, an understanding. Grant had agreed to start going back to therapy and Lincoln had agreed to start speaking with his father again, though it wasn’t much. Slowly they were working towards a new status quo.
“Dad?”
Grant jumped and instantly turned down the music, turning his body to Linc as much as he could without crashing his car.
“Yeah, son, what’s up?”
Linc chewed on his lip a bit and sighed. “I’m kind of worried about one of my friends.”
Grant blinked a bit and hummed, “Oh?”
“Yeah, they’re… I don’t know. Something just seems really off with them. They’ve been getting kind of distant and quiet. Every time someone asks about how their doing they don’t really answer, they just deflect and turn it back on us,” Linc said hesitantly, as if he was realizing it as he said it.
Grant hummed again and was silent for a moment, “Can I ask who you’re talking about?”
Linc hesitated again, “It’s Normal.”
“Ah,” was all Grant said.
Linc looked at his dad expectantly and waited for some kind of words of wisdom or an answer. His father was silent for a moment before he finally spoke.
“It sounds like he’s getting in his own head a lot. I think you should just make sure he knows that you’re there for him if he wants or needs to talk about anything. I had noticed that out of you kids he wasn’t coming around as often.”
“Yeah he says he has a lot to do at D.A.D.D.A.D.I.E.S. and that he’s been training with his dad or uncle a lot or something,” Linc answered crossing his arms.
Grant looked at him strangely out of the corner of his eye.
“Is that what he’s been saying?”
Lincoln turned more fully to his dad, unsure about the tone he was using.
“Yeah, that’s what he says. Why?”
Grant turned to face the road and shrugged. “I would just try to keep an eye on him. Let him know you’re there for him if he needs you, that kind of thing. Sometimes you can only wait for someone to come to you with their problems and you can only help someone who wants to be helped. Trust me, I know.”
Linc sat with that for a moment and nodded, “Thanks, dad.”
Grant seemed pleased and smiled, “Of course, son. You can talk to me about anything.”
“Uh huh,” Linc rolled his eyes and went back to looking out at the passing buildings.
Maybe he could talk to the others and see what they thought or if they even noticed anything weird lately. Who knows, maybe its all in his head.