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Peach Petal
27e140
Giovanni needs to be dealt with before you move on. You just need some level of certainty that he won’t sell you out. Sure, there are more permanent ways he could be dealt with, but going down that line of thought would just psyche you out of doing anything. For now, you just need to delay him. The others can figure out what to do with him later, if you can just buy them some time now.
It crosses your mind that you could appeal to him using your own feelings on Frederick Anderson. After all, you and Rodney have only gotten by as long as you have due to his charity in not demanding what he’s owed. The few times you spoke, he was always concerned for you and your parents.
The idea is discarded as quickly as it’s formed. When you think about it, there doesn’t seem to be any good way to mention your family missing rent payments without raising questions you’d rather not answer. You don’t know if Giovanni would ask them, but the other kids are nosey enough that they definitely would.
Enid: “Don’t act like you care about me. You only care about daddy! You’re only here because you want to feel better for what you did to him.”
Giovanni: “I-I’m not! I care– I really do care, but I can only do so much. I’m trying to do what little I can, and you just aren’t letting me.”
Enid: “Because you aren’t listening! I already said I don’t want to leave the others behind, so why are you still acting like there’s no other way?”
Still, it feels like you’re on the right track. Anderson clearly matters a lot to Giovanni, so any appeal you make should involve him. What do you know? What can you say about him?
Giovanni: “And let them keep digging, getting deeper into things they shouldn’t know? Dragging you with them?”
Giovanni: “They are going to get caught, and they will graduate early when they do.”
Until his death, he was keeping Enid out of the town’s public school system. He didn’t want her to Graduate, and that’s apparently the reason he was killed. Frederick Anderson tried to Protect his daughter…
Giovanni: “When that happens, their friends are going to be suspected as well, but you’re still new. If you aren’t in the initial wave, I can protect you. I-I’ll find a way.”
Graduation. That’s what’ll happen if Giovanni tattles on you. Everyone but Enid would graduate… Which is something Frederick Anderson wouldn’t have stood for! He actively stood against it, and lost his life in the process!
It’s a theory… no, hardly even that. It’s a guess. You don’t know what was going through Frederick Anderson’s head, or what he might have talked to Giovanni about in the past. Even if you’re right, Giovanni may have no knowledge about this topic.
Clive: “Is that really what Frederick would have wanted?”
He turns to look at you.
Clive: “That wasn’t the kind of man he was, right?”
Clive: “He was caring. Charitable. Kind. Would someone like that really be okay with… any of this?”
Giovanni: “Any of what?”
Clive: “This system. Graduation.”
Clive: “That’s why he kept Enid a secret from the others, isn’t it? He didn’t want to support the way this town does things.”
You understood it was a risk. There was a chance you’d be wrong, and your argument wouldn’t convince him. What hadn’t crossed your mind, however, was the idea that your words would draw out a response you didn’t want. Anger
Giovanni: “...Hypocrite.”
Giovanni: “Right, he doesn’t think Graduation is a good idea now. He gets blessed with a little miracle, and suddenly everything we’re doing is wrong.”
Enid: “G-Giovanni?”
Giovanni: “He never cared before! He’s just as guilty as the rest of us, so why should his little bit of luck change anything?”
You flinch back. This isn’t how it was supposed to go.
Giovanni: “...But I supported him. He was my friend, and I supported him, because he’d always support me. It didn’t matter that he was being selfish and hypocritical.”
Giovanni: “It still doesn’t. None of that matters. He wanted Enid to be kept safe, because she’s special.”
‘Special’. ‘Little Miracle’. You’d only just caught it, but the way he talks about Enid makes it seem like she’s not like the rest of you. There’s something different about her.
Giovanni: “That’s right… That’s all that matters. I promised I’d honor his will.”
Giovanni: “That much… Even I can do that much…”
There was a slightly unstable edge to his voice, sending alarm bells through your head. You already knew you’d messed up, but the degree of failure was only just setting in. This conversation was well and truly over.
The others seem to catch it too. Enid hides behind Roger, who raises his arms protectively. You try to join them, adding another layer of defense, but you can’t move. Your limbs disobey you, as the sheer fear and stress pounding through your mind leaves you unable to move.
There’s nothing you can do. He’s an adult. If he wants to take Enid then he will. You’ve already done enough, just opening your mouth and making things worse.
Giovanni marches forward and, with a single shove, pushes Roger to the ground. That he could topple Roger isn’t surprising, but seeing him actually do it feels so wrong, almost taboo. Some unspoken rule you’d all accepted over the course of living had been broken, and by such a gentle man…
Enid: “N-No!”
Giovanni: “We’re going now.”
He clamps a hand around her wrist, and yanks her forward harshly. Whether out of terror or pain, she screams.
Time freezes, leaving you to soak in the moment. Enid is going to be taken away, and you were powerless to stop it. Roger was on the ground, and feeble Albert would shatter if he stepped in. You needed to act, and you couldn’t.
Enid is going to be taken away.
You’re all going to graduate, or be killed by Sheppard.
You’ll never see Rodney again.
And it’s all your fault. You missed your swing and ruined the ambush, you opened your mouth and ruined the conversation, and you froze up when you were the only one left who could act. Calling yourself useless would be giving you too much credit. You only made everything worse.
Your fears… your weakness… your Emotions… Those were the things holding you back. If you could just deal with those, then maybe… you could still do something.
…That’s right. Those feelings aren’t actually real, they’re just thoughts in your head. They only have power if you act like they do. If you really wanted to, you could just… turn them off, right? Stop thinking so much, and just do what you need to do?
Just for a little while… Just until Enid is safe… For her sake. For Rodney’s sake.
Stop feeling.
[ Trauma Response: “Calm” ]
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