In The Eye of the Beholder | Jonathan Crane

October 1991

Don't understand it blood on your hands

And still you insist on repeatedly trying

To tell me lies

And I just don't know why, oh

-Stupid In Love (Rihanna)

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"Hey, Connery! Hold up a second!" Sherry Squires called to me. I shouldn't have stopped. But I did. For some stupid reason, I did.

"What, Sherry?" I sighed, waiting for her to catch up with me.

"What'd your boyfriend do to Bo?" Sherry all but screamed in my face.

"Jonathan?"

"Who else? What'd the scarecrow do to Bo?"

What did she mean? I had no idea anything had even happened to him. What could Jonathan have done to Bo? Sure, Jonathan was tall, but he was also incredibly skinny. Bo could kill Jonathan had they fought.

"I've got no idea what you're talking about. We both know that Bo would kill Jonathan in a fight."

"Bo was attacked by birds and I know Crane had something to do with it," Sherry said. I snickered. Bo being attacked by birds was quite the funny visual.

"He was attacked. By birds," I repeated, making sure I had heard Sherry correctly.

"Yes!"

"And you think Jonathan has magical powers to make birds do his bidding?"

"You're the witch, you tell me. Does he?" Sherry asked in all seriousness.

Sherry was asking me if Jonathan had magic. Why was, I a redhead who didn't believe in God, considered a witch? I mean, I didn't even have green eyes. Hazel wasn't technically green, right?

"No, Jonathan is not from the depths of hell like I am," I said slowly.

"Then tell me what happened!"

"Look, Sherry, I don't even know what you're talking about! I haven't seen Jonathan since he walked me home Friday afternoon. When did this even happen?"

"It happened Friday night when Bo was walking home from football practice. He was alone."

"Then how do you know Bo's not making this up just so you can hate Jonathan even more than you already do?" I asked her.

"I trust Bo," Sherry said.

"Of course you do. Sorry, but I don't want to be late for school. We can continue this discussion later if you really want."

"No, you don't know anything anyway. This was pointless," she said before walking away from me.

What the hell was she talking about?

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Jonathan hadn't let me walk home alone since the incident with Bo and his friends. He always stayed glued to my side. But because Jonathan was so lanky, I didn't feel much safer. I appreciated the thought though.

I'd been telling Jonathan about my conversation with Sherry this morning. He listened without saying anything.

"She thinks you did something to him."

This comment seemed to catch his attention.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"She thinks you have some kind of magic you can control birds with. Or something. Isn't that crazy?"

He didn't answer. He didn't even look at me as he continued walking. I stopped. Something was wrong.

"Jonathan? Tell me what she said was crazy. Tell me you didn't do something to Bo," I almost pleaded. Jonathan stopped ahead of me.

"He should have got worse for what he did to you."

I stayed where I was. So did he. I could feel myself start to tremble.

"Jonathan?"

"Of course, it was also a bit of revenge for what he's done to me. But when he decided to hurt you, I knew I couldn't let him get off without punishment," Jonathan continued.

"What did you do?" I pressed. I hated the tremble I could hear in my voice. I'm sure Jonathan could hear it too.

"You know, I'd never thought I'd have something to thank my grandmother for," was Jonathan's answer.

I didn't have to ask him for clarification. I knew Jonathan would be put into a church and attacked by birds as a punishment. I was no expert, but I knew birds didn't attack without reason. Jonathan must have figured out what his grandmother did.

I felt his long fingers grasp my shoulders. I hadn't even noticed he'd come this close to me. I knew he could feel me trembling. I looked at the ground.

"Amber, please look at me."

I raised my head slightly.

"Are you afraid?" he asked.

Was I afraid of my best friend? The answer was yes.

"Yes," I whispered.

"Look at me, Amber."

I raised my head to look into cold blue eyes.

"You know I would never hurt you. You mean more to me than anything," he said, brushing his knuckles across my cheek. I hadn't even realized I'd been crying.

"Promise me you won't do something like this again," I said. "Swear to me that this will never happen again."

"All right."

"Say it, Jonathan."

"I swear, Amber. This won't happen again."

I nodded. This was already a huge secret I was keeping for him. I didn't need another one to hold onto.

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A/N: So, it's been a while. Again, I've really for no excuse except that I've been stressed. So here's a longer chapter as an apology.