Everything comes back to you -J.MARIANO

[1.06]

𝓦hen Taryn stumbled into her mathematics lesson ten minutes late for second period she found herself rather stunned to not see Tas in his usual seat. She couldn't see him anywhere. Whilst her first immediate thought was worry for his well being, since he'd usually call in the morning and let her dads know that he wouldn't be in school so they could relay the message when he was sick, her second thought was how the hell she would be able to get through this lesson without his help. In mathematics, Tas sat in front of her and signed the words underneath the table for her to see without distracting anyone else. Given it was usually working out calculations with little explanation, the teacher would be facing the board and she would have no chance reading lips. Plus the radiator in that room had a habit of creating racket, lessening her small chance of hearing what was being said anyway.

She managed to struggle through the lesson to a certain standard, just passing rate she thought. But for Taryn, this wasn't enough. She didn't have a complete grip on the subject they were focusing on and knew that Tas would also need to learn from her, as their teacher didn't have a habit for allowing pupils who had been off sick catch up time. So she sought out one of the only other people she talked to in school, Lane Kim. Ever since Rory had left for Chilton, the two often hung out on the study periods that they had together. She found Lane an incredibly interesting person, who didn't mind if she had to repeat herself ever so often when Taryn didn't quite catch what she was talking about. Lane had even made the effort to ask to be taught some sign. "Hey Lane?" she called down the corridor just as she was about to disappear into another classroom.

"Taryn! It's good to see you," Lane grinned as the two of them moved out of the flow of traffic, wanting to talk without being jostled around by moving students. "You seem to disappear whenever I'm looking for you."

"Yeah, sorry. I've been busy keeping up with school work and stuff. Speaking of, do you mind if I borrow your notes to fill in some blanks. I didn't quite catch some of it," she asked with a certain self consciousness sneaking up on her thoughts.

Lane happened to shake away that self consciousness with her instant nod and just the fact that she genuinely looked interested in helping. "Oh of course. Would it be helpful if I took you through some of it at lunch? Or are the notes just enough?"

"It would be incredibly helpful, thank you," she sighed out of pure relief, rocking back on her heels ever so slightly.

"No problem...See you at lunch?" With an agreeing nod, the two disappeared off to their varying lessons and looked forward to the lunch plans where half would be spent on math and the other half would be spent having one of the best catch up conversations Taryn had ever been involved in. They even planned to hang out outside of school, after both agreeing that they should spend more time together.

-

"Afternoon mother, where's Tas?" Taryn called into the kitchen as she entered it, catching the attention of Tas' mother as she worriedly fixed biscuits on a plate. Taryn had hurried to Tas' home straight after school, forgoing her usual ritual, to check on her best friend. She hadn't gotten an explanation all throughout the day and as the hours ticked by, the worry would only increase.

"He's upstairs Taryn ," Tas' mother, Taryn 's honorary motherly figure, smiled reassuringly though it was easy to see the worry lines in the corners of her eyes.

She frowned, stepping further into the kitchen so as to not be overheard by a passerby, "What's wrong with him?"

"He won't tell me," she sighed gently and purposely filled herself with the hope that Taryn would be able to bring the sadness out of her son as she so usually did. "Here take this tray up with you, he won't eat."