Chapter Text
It was another foggy morning in Deadwood as William kicked a rock across the pavement on his trek to school, Isaac stumbling along behind him.
“Will you just…” Isaac yawned, “let me wake up a bit first?” He attempted to stand up straight while William was rambling on again, journal open and resting in his splayed fingers, the cracked spine finding itself in his palm once again.
“But- But you’re not listening!” William wrapped an arm around his friend’s shoulder and dragged him closer, the pair now cheek-to-cheek. “Look.” His black nail polish stood out against his pale fingers as Isaac blinked and attempted to read the chicken scratch that was his friend’s handwriting.
“William, what the fuck does this say?”
William sighed, shutting his book with a gentle slam. “Ugh, nevermind.” He pouted. “Maybe I should wait until Lui and Norah are here anyway, that way I won’t have to explain it twice.”
“Good idea.” Isaac nodded, adjusting his loose grip on the faded red backpack he kept despite the holes and broken zipper. He could just ask Mrs. Wisp to teach him how to patch them up, if he remembered.
“I just…” William clutched the journal to his chest before he swivelled his satchel around and stuffed it in the front pocket, clipping the magnetic buttons together easily, swinging it back again, “I just wanted to let you know about the new evidence I found, maybe we’ll get an actual mystery this weekend!”
“Sure man, sure.”
William pouted, staring down at the ground as his hands wrung together, feeling the cold wind blowing his hair around, the white streak getting in his eyes before he flung his head to the side, freeing his vision once again. Isaac’s yawns were contagious, and William found himself copying his friend as they entered into the gates of their high school. William curled in on himself and zipped up his black hoodie, the stitched on-ribcage being on full display now, covering the fading band shirt underneath. Isaac kept his head high next to him, glaring at anyone who dared to gossip about or scorn his friend as they walked up the steps.
“Thanks, Isaac,” he mumbled.
“Yeah, no worries.”
William grumbled and made his way through the congregation of other teenagers chatting and taking up space in front of lockers. His blue eyes flitting around in hopes of locating his other two friends; to no avail.
Isaac stopped first, standing in front of his tall locker, grabbing out books for the first period and stuffing them in his bag ungainly, and zipping it back up again, kicking the door shut and wading through the hallway next to William again.
“What have you got?” He asked, slinging his backpack on again, keeping it stable on one shoulder.
“Uhh, I got my Honors class.” William paused behind a group of friends, waiting for them to move along to access his locker, “you?”
“Computer basics.”
“Ah, cool.”
“You’re with Norah, right?”
“Yeah, yeah… Norah’s in that class with me.”
“Alright.”
Isaac stopped right beside William and sighed, slumping where he stood before he stormed towards the friendgroup.
“Hey, we need to get to a locker.” His voice was more annoyed than stern, and the group shuffled away easily, continuing their conversation. “There.”
“Thanks man.” William turned the lock and opened it up, revealing the interior covered in posters, polaroids, random sketches ripped out of journals and the logo he’d drawn up for their mystery group. He leant down and grabbed the English textbook, resting on a shelf, holding it to his chest and shutting the door, spinning the lock to keep everything inside safe and sound.
The two began walking down the hall and to the stairs, following the stream of students making their way to their first class of the day.
“Well, I gotta go to my—”
“Yeah, no… I’m upstairs.”
Isaac nodded and dapped William up easily, starting to walk to the right. “See you at first break!”
“Yeah… see you.” William held a weak hand up, fingers curling in on his palm before he sighed and began to head upstairs. He sighed to himself and clutched the textbook to his chest, head down eyes trailed on his boots, letting them lead him towards his English class.
He flicked his eyes up, watching as groups of girls glanced at him, scowling or moving away from his pre-destined path. William grumbled and frowned, heading to his class hushedly.
“William!” He whipped his head up and stumbled to a halt, almost dropping his book before he caught himself and smiled meekly at Norah.
“Hi, Norah,” he muttered, shuffling forward, “uh- morning.”
“Ready for class?” She bounced on her heels.
“Yeah.”
They enter into the class together, the morning sun filtering in through the rectangular windows and casting its rays onto the wooden desks. Norah finds her spot in the third row, right up against the wall, sun hitting the top of her head and lighting the strands in her messy ponytail. She got her textbook out, as well as her bound book, dropping her pencil case between the two, unzipping it to take out her highlighters and pens. William sank into the seat next to her, pulling out his textbook —which was in much worse condition than Norah’s— and letting it drop onto his desk. He took his bound book out, flipping the pages to the first blank one he saw, letting his pen rest in the middle of the page for a moment while he cast a glance over to Norah setting everything up.
Class was mostly boring for William; Norah was good company, but she was focused on her work more often than not, so she didn’t make for much interesting conversation during the confusing classwork he had been presented with. But luckily, she was always happy to help him out when he got confused.
“Hey, so,” William began, standing up straighter and walking with Norah downstairs, “I found some more evidence yesterday, uh- after school. I think we could all check it out and… I dunno, maybe get started on a new mystery?”
“More evidence? Where did you go last night, William?”
“Uh, to the skate park.”
“...What time?”
William shrunk into himself as he shrugged and headed downstairs.
“Like… midnight?”
“Midnight?! William, you know you shouldn’t go out that late, it could be dangerous.”
“Well- okay, but… I found some evidence! And no one was even there, it was just me anyways.”
Norah frowned at him and stopped at her locker, right near the bottom of the stairs as she unlocked it easily, swapping her English textbook for her lunch box and gently nudging the door shut, twirling the lock around before she once again fell into step with William.
“That still doesn’t mean you should’ve been out there.”
“Why don’t we ask Lui!?” William bounded over to meet his friend, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
“Ah!” Lui startled, almost dropping his books before he grumbled a whimper and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “William! You… uh, you scared me.”
“Oh, sorry Lui.” William pulled back for a moment and looked at Lui’s scared expression before he tugged Norah into the arm-hug, bringing his notebook in front of both of them, pointing out the evidence he’d gathered last night while the trio began walking towards the Computing class where Isaac would be.
“Look here! I was showing Isaac this this morning.” William flicked through the pages, almost choking Norah as he kept them close. “I drew up this weird thing I saw right near the skate park, we should totally go check it out right after school!”
“Wh- what? William, why were you at the skate park?” Lui asked, his cheek pressed right up against his friend’s, “you know who hangs out there…”
“I was there because I was looking for mysteries!” He beamed, dropping his arms from around his friends as he rushed over to Isaac when he left the computer room, the heavy door pushing against him to shut itself.
Norah turned to Lui, the two of them subtly rubbing their necks where William’s arms had been recently. “Don’t worry, William said it was just him when he went, so I’m sure we won’t run into anyone today.”
He nodded apprehensively, messing with the straps on his overalls. “Oh- okay… I trust you guys.” His voice was quiet as he stared down at the linoleum floors, the scuffed shoes he wore moving against its surface to take him along with his friends.
“Yeah!” William jumped between Lui and Isaac, the group making their way outside, the chill of the air startling them. “I went there super late at night, so no one was gonna be there. We can do the same!”
“Uhm, I- I don’t know, William, my- my Ma doesn’t really like me going out late at night…”
“Then we’ll have a sleepover! My Mum doesn’t really control me, you know? I can sort of do whatever I want.” William puffed out his chest before he heard snickers from some group of girls and he slouched down into Isaac’s shadow. “Uh, I mean… As long as I leave a note, I can head out for late night walks, y’know?”
“Oh! Well… then, yeah, sure! I’ll have to ask, of course, but—”
“Great.” William beamed, “we’re having a sleepover tonight.”
“Uh- No! No, I’m… Sorry, William… I’m not really allowed to have sleepovers on school nights.”
“Uh, alright, then- how about you stay over really really late, but you- go home and go to bed at your place!?”
“Uhm, I don’t- I don’t know how my Ma would- uhm, is gonna feel about that either.”
William frowned, letting his feet drag in the dirt while Isaac led the group towards the fence at the edge of the school, meandering over to the corner as he leant against the chainlink fence.
Norah pushes up her glasses and looks to Lui, noting the crestfallen brow he holds. “Uhm, Lui?” He looks up, “Maybe if… If you told your parents that it was for… study then you could come over?”
Lui blinked.
“That’s, well, that’s what I do for my- with my parents.” Norah nodded her head, “They’re overprotective of me.”
“Oh, that’s… that’s sort of like my Ma.”
“Does she talk about getting a crow to watch you on your walks to- keep you safe?”
“...No?” Lui looked even more worried now, “does- does your Ma do that?!”
“Uh- well… she mentioned it once, and- I don’t know if she was joking or not…”
“Oh… okay.”
“...”
“...”
“I would rather a pigeon than a crow, though.” Norah continued, “I like pigeons.”
“That makes sense, crows are kind of scary.”
“I think I’d take the crow,” William chimed in. “Maybe I could train it to become some kind of scout for our mysteries.”
“I dunno,” Isaac joined in, “I’m more of a bird of prey kind of guy myself.”
“Which- which kind?” Norah asked.
“Uh… I'm not... Well, I mean Bald Eagles are pretty cool.”
William caught Lui fidgeting with his overall pockets, pulling at a loose strand.
“What about you Lui, what kind of bird would you want?”
“Uhm…” Lui glanced up, meeting William’s tender gaze, “I- I think I’d want like a… an owl of some kind.”
“Oh, that’s cool. Owls are really quiet, aren’t they?”
“They have the quietest sounding- uhm- wings out of any other avian bird.” Norah provided. “When they fly.”
“Yeah, I can totally see an owl for you, Lui.”
“Thanks, William. I can see a crow for you.”
“Yeah?” A smile made itself shown at the corner of his mouth, crinkling his cheek, “Well, I’ll make sure it’s not mean to you, or your owl.”
“Really? You- you’d train your crow to be nice to me?”
“Of course, man.”
The group heard the first bell ringing as William jumped up from the fence and began to head to class, going to pull his hood over his head. They headed out from their spot and crossed some paths to head back into the building. Isaac jogged to catch up with everyone and nudged William’s shoulder to pass him his journal. William’s expression lit up as he grabbed it and flicked through the pages to reach his most recent scrawlings.
“Thanks man. Hey, you’re more awake now, look at this!” William shoved the book in his face. “I was trying to show you this earlier, I drew up the thingy I found in the skatepark.”
“Effigy?” Norah piped up.
“Yeah, that!” William pointed to the page, “Think we should go check it out?”
Isaac rubbed the back of his neck, “I don’t know, dude, I’ve got track after school today.”
“We’re not going right after school, though,” he glanced at Lui, “it’ll be too busy, so we’re heading there at around 5?”
“Oh, sweet, then I can make it.”
“Yeah! Great! We can wait for you, right guys?”
Norah nodded her head and Lui met William’s eyes, giving him a subtle nod before accentuating it for Isaac’s sake. “Uh, yeah.” Lui spoke up. “We’ll just- hang out around here for a while and wait until you’re done.”
“Thanks, guys.” Isaac beamed, “It finishes at 4.30, so, just get back here a bit after then.”
“Yeah, uh, will do.”
Norah led everyone to her locker as she put away her lunch box to grab out her Entrepreneurship book, as well as her World History book. William stayed by her side as he waved goodbye to the two disappearing towards the gym.
“Uh, what would I have now, Norah?” William asked sheepishly, stuffing his hands in his thin jumper pockets.
“You would have…” She thought for a moment, “your AP class first, and then World History with me next.”
“Alright, thanks Norah.”
“No worries!”
William turned on his heel, repeating over his schedule in his head as he reached his locker to gather up his belongings. His AP Calculus book was unable to fit in his satchel, so he kept it close to his chest as he ascended the stairs the whole way up, panting when he reached the second floor —finally.
He staggered over to his classroom’s open door and made his way in, his dejected gaze flitting across the room of kids chatting or scribbling away. William chewed the inside of his cheek and sat down in the back corner of the room, settling in and flicking open his notebook. He began clicking his pen.
The bell rang and William gathered everything up, holding it close to his chest when he slunk out of the room, following the crowd downstairs. Numbers, symbols and letters were jumbling around in his head. He had just enough time to store the ridiculous book in his locker before he traversed down the halls to get to his next class, World History book tucked safely under his arm.
“Hey, guys…” he panted, slowing to a stop when he saw Lui and Norah hovering outside the classroom. “How uhm… ready?”
Lui nodded and glanced at William, clutching his textbook right to his chest. “Sure… Well, I mean… I just had P.E with Isaac, so, I’m a little- out of breath,” he panted.
“Well, you can sit for an hour now.” William smiled at him.
“Yeah.”
The teacher came and opened the door with his lanyard, letting everyone in to find their seats.
“And, you know,” Norah chimed in, “Lui, I can help you out with the questions if you can’t focus right now.”
“Oh,” Lui almost blushed, “thanks Norah.”
“And, I can- you know, I can always help you too.” William made his way into the classroom with the rest of the peers filing in.
The trio left the room altogether, books clutched tightly or resting in satchels as they ambled towards their lockers, splitting off for a moment before regrouping at the doors, Norah leading as she unwrapped her lunch and began chewing on the meal her parents had made for her.
“What have you got today, Norah?” Lui asks.
“Oh, my dad made me a salad wrap.”
“No- chicken or anything in it?” William asks, leaning over, munching on a granola bar.
“No, my- my dad doesn’t eat chicken.”
“Sorry, I didn’t know-”
“No, he just doesn’t like it.”
“Oh.”
Lui clicks open his lunchbox and pulls out an aluminium square, unwrapping it easily.
“What about you Lui?” William asked.
“Huh?”
William gestured to the foil with his bar, a few loose oats falling to the ground. “For lunch.”
“My- my grandma made us a meatloaf last night, I’ve got the leftovers.”
“Oh, nice, can I try some?”
“Sure, just, it’s a little weird because- well- because it’s my grandma and I don’t know if she was wearing her glasses while reading the recipe or–”
“Dude, you know I don’t mind.” William smiled at him, “besides, I’m sure your grandma cooks great.”
“Thanks, William.” Lui grabbed out his fork and cut a piece for William to try, pushing the side of it down into the meaty square. “Uh, here.”
William reached for the utensil, taking it from his friend’s hand, trying the piece offered to him and subsequently handing the fork back. “Mmm.” He nodded in response.
“Good?” Lui’s eyes gleamed radiantly.
“Yeah!” William spoke with his mouth full.
“Gross, William.” Norah winced.
He swallowed, “Sorry Norah.”
They continued walking together before they caught sight of Isaac leaning back against the fence and chucking almonds up and into his mouth, head tilted back. One hit the apple of his cheek and he sighed, sitting up normally and noticing his friends approaching.
“Hey guys!” he waved them over.
“Isaac!” William grinned. “What did you just have?”
“Chemistry.”
“Did you blow anything up?!”
“Nah, we’re still just talking about reactions instead of doing them.”
“That’s boring, you should be blowing stuff up.”
Isaac nodded with a wide grin.
“I think-” Norah jumped in, “you should be uhm, be looking into diagnostics…”
William turned to her, “you need chemistry for that?” He sounded genuinely interested.
“Mhm.” She nodded, “to detect diseases.”
“That’s really cool, Norah, why- why don’t you do chemistry?”
“Oh, I’m… my schedule’s pretty full and I don’t really- want to do experiments.”
“Experiments seem pretty scary,” Lui piped up.
“Nah, we get protective gear and everything, it’s pretty safe.” Isaac reassured him.
“Okay, that’s good then.” Lui looked down at his meatloaf and cut into it again, taking another bite off his fork.
William finished his granola bar with one final bite and scrunched the wrapped up, stuffing it in the pocket of his hoodie. “Okay, so,” he chanced a glance over at Norah and swallowed his mouthful. “Sorry- uhm… Tonight! After Isaac’s track training, we’re gonna head to the skatepark to find that–”
He clicked his fingers and pointed at Norah.
“Oh! an effigy!”
“Yes!” he clapped, enunciating every word, “to find that effigy!”