SILVERBRANCH
COURT

AUTUMN ✧ SATURDAY MORNING ✧ SUNNY ✧ OUTFIT

[attr="class","brenpost"]Not only had his mother moved to Wisteria but now she had taken up regular volunteer work at Panacea Academy. It was like he was living through a nightmare, unable to escape her. He’d never resented someone so much in his life, never been so repulsed by the sight of someone. And that someone was his own mother.

A heavy and tired sigh parted from his mouth, his hand casting a shadow over his eyes as he lounged back against the sofa, the outdoor patio of the Goldenleaf dorms currently vacant of all but himself and August. Why was she doing this to him? Why wouldn’t she leave him alone?

“I wanted to ask you for a favor.”

A favor? Was she going to start calling begging and pleading favors? Heavy amber eyes lifted to bore into his mother’s features, finding so much exhaustion inside of him from his constant battle to escape her oppression. There was so much negativity within him. So much bitterness.

“Y-You see, it’s that I… I promised my friend.” August circled around the sofa to fully face him, wringing her hands together in worry, an all-too-familiar look of torture cast upon her face. “And she’s a very good friend of mine, Brendon. I really hope that you will agree.”

She knew not to touch him, always keeping that space of just enough distance, keeping him complacent. His gaze narrowed with confusion and skepticism.

“…You want me to do a favor… for a friend of yours?” He echoed, mild surprise in his voice at the realization that she actually had friends.

“Yes, she has a daughter, you see.” August suddenly smiled and sat down beside him on the sofa. There was a genuine happiness in her expression, one that was reminiscent of the weekends when he’d spend time with her.

“And she’s coming to Panacea. She’s a sophomore, just like you.”

The skepticism in Brendon’s expression only grew. “And?”

“She’s coming into the school year late because of an unexpected evacuation. She has no experience with high-end academies like this, and so Lynda — my friend — she asked for your help.” August explained, “She wants to know if you’ll show her around and be a temporary mentor to integrate her into the school.”


And that was how he found himself in his current situation. Because of the strained relationship between him and his mother, he’d found himself agreeing out of some misplaced sense of guilt.

Brendon pounded on the girl’s dorm room door then stepped back to wait. He wasn’t sure what to expect. He wasn’t sure how he’d feel about all of this once he was actually faced with it. He didn’t like people. He certainly didn’t want to be voluntarily putting himself into positions like this.

He sighed, pressing his back against a column jutting out from the wall, and glanced around the halls of Silverbranch; the girls dormitory. Maybe he’d come too quickly, seeing as she’d apparently arrived only yesterday evening. This wasn’t exactly how he’d envisioned himself spending his Saturday.

If he didn’t get this over with now, he’d just be expected to follow up later. Realizing as much, he stepped forward to pound harshly on the door a second time. If he could, he really wanted to get it over with now.