Exhausted (Steve)

I woke up in the middle of the night feeling downright drained. Caitlin slept soundly next to me and seemed to involuntarily search for me. Her emotional state declined rapidly with each day that passed. I could see it on her arms, hear it in her music, and just overall feel this lingering numbness in the air. No, Caitlin. I don't want one of your students to find you half dead from an overdose. You mean too much to me for that.

Deciding to further research the rescue wife phenomenon, I found that self-injury actually has little connection with the phenomenon. Declining health, however, had a definite connection. I looked down at Caitlin's slight frame. She can't afford to lose any weight. Her face was even more pale than it usually is. I pulled out my phone to leave a message for Farkas.

Sorry for the awkward time, but I need to unload. 

To my surprise, he replied.

No problem. I can't sleep myself. What do you need?

I told him the whole story, or at least what I could muster with a keyboard and predictor app.

Caitlin isn't doing very well. She lost a lot of weight and is very lethargic. She's been cutting more and deeper. I need help. I didn't go into detail about how she nearly passed out from blood loss from self-injury alone.

I understand. Anna's been in low states before, but nothing like what you describe. Go take a break and fight some monsters to clear your head.

Let's face it. Armor is one of the most awkward things ever to get on and off, but the feeling is so worth it. I had a full diamond set that one of the AP Mining students gave to me for slaying the dragon. Being a hero has its perks.

I went outside, sword in hand. The chill of the night air seemed to welcome me. I spotted a zombie and my body knew the rest of the steps. Every breath and swing of my sword cleansed my soul, like a kind of music that cannot be heard, but felt. The tune to World's End Dancehall played through my mind. I danced a terrible kind of stumbling dance through my combat, but I could tell it was graceful in its own right. The weight of the armor allowed me to feel every step.

Other people fought alongside me, though not with me. They varied greatly in age. I found a creeper, kicked off a tree to charge, and took it out in one hit. About three kids asked if they could take the spoils for themselves. I consented. Seeing their happy faces brought joy to my heart. I realized that Carmen, Caitlin's clarinet student, was among them. She twirled her sword and continued fighting alongside her friends.

When my energy ran out, I collapsed near a tree, caught my breath, and realized that I had been gone for three hours. I made my way home thinking of Caitlin. She usually slept soundly next to me, but when I so much as shifted, she stirred looking for me. Knowing that she was probably awake looking for me, a wave of guilt washed over me. Thank you, Farkas, for that terrible advice. I feel even worse now!

Caitlin was still asleep, but was tossing and turning. When I got back in, she found my side as if she knew it all her life. Her feeling safe meant the world to me as she rarely ever has the opportunity to feel safe. I, however, could not sleep for the life of me. Caitlin always found a way to sleep. If she could do nothing else on a particular day, she slept. I had no such luxury. Sometimes, it feels like my body propels me into a variety of situations.

The next morning, my head throbbed with pain. It felt like something was striking the inside of my skull with a pickaxe. A plate of bacon and eggs was in front of me, but I couldn't bring myself to eat. I picked at the eggs and spit them out because I couldn't taste them over the pain in my head.
          "I thought you liked bacon and eggs." Caitlin looked confused, hurt even, as she said this. Since my device was being repaired and customized to better suit my needs, I did not have it on me. I had to teach beginning band today. The instruments were held up due to shipping delays (AAAAA!!!!), so I'd take it as an opportunity for my students and I to get to know each other. "You should stay home if you feel sick. I'll take care of you." she said again. I just had a headache. I held my head in my hands and Caitlin finally figured out my problem. She gave me a stalk of nether wart to chew on, which I bit into reluctantly seeing that it was oozing some kind of red-colored secretion. It tasted like a mixture of cough syrup, aspirin, and burnt toast; I almost spit the secretions out. I managed to force everything down my throat with Caitlin's careful encouragement. She rubbed my back during the entire thing. (I'm not sure why, but it felt nice. Her small hands are magic.) When my headache subsided, I ate my bacon and eggs slowly. It was cold, but still good.

The meeting was boring and useless to the fine arts department. It was mostly about how to boost test scores. How about boosting morale? Mindcrack needs some of that. Mindcrack was not meant to be a hardcore academic school and it will never succeed at being so. If parents want that kind of school, they should send their children elsewhere. This is a place where you learn things like compassion and self-awareness, but it's not like that's important. Right? I'm trying to allow students escape that in my band program.

Speaking of the band program, my twelve newest students came through the door. They took their seats. Alex looked excited to start her sixth grade career at Mindcrack Initiate Training Academy. The others looked nervous. Adrian took his seat behind Alex. The others took their places. When Kaito came in, he took his place at the end. I brought out my notes and pointed at the students with my baton to indicate when it was their turn to speak.

Caitlyn-6th Grade-Flute-Is doing cross country and has three Siamese cats.
Nathalie-7th Grade-Flute-Fluent in French and a friend of Alex.

Kiyoshi-6th Grade-Clarinet-Is on a club parkour team.
Stephen-8th Grade-Clarinet-Is on the Mindcrack Middle School parkour team.
Zoie-7th Grade-Clarinet-Is on both a club and the school parkour team.

Felix-6th Grade-Alto Sax-Once killed three creepers with a single arrow.
Aisha-6th Grade-Alto Sax-Hates meatballs and knows how to string a bow.

Adrian-7th Grade-Trumpet-Did not choose clarinet because he doesn't want to be compared to his mom.
Alex-6th Grade-Trumpet-Sang on national TV yesterday. (Girl's got guts.)
Jiro-6th Grade-Trumpet-Does not want to be a sushi chef.

Adrienne-6th Grade-Trombone-Went to the extreme hills once and found an emerald.
Kaito-6th Grade-Euphonium-Enjoys making onigiri and going to his social club.

I followed the Twitter feed regarding Caitlin's television appearance and found these gems:

OnYourMark: hey smol bean!!!!!!!!!!!! *string of random emoticons that make absolutely no sense* #ClarinetCaitlin (Leave it to Mark to insert a complete non-sequitur.)

LandonLakesButter: She's a real person, not some figurehead. Stop bashing her over the head with your words and maybe she'll take your input. #ClarinetCaitlin #angry #hypocrisy #why #stupid #disability

TheRealAlisha: If you have nothing better to do than harass my sister, someone who is NOT ACTIVELY HARMING ANYONE, then your lives are pretty sad. #ClarinetCaitlin #stop #harassment

MinecraftTimes: We will shut down the feed if you guys do not take your discussion elsewhere. They are disrupting the program.

They eventually shut down the feed because no one contributed anything relevant to the discussion and nearly everyone just insisted on throwing verbal rocks at Caitlin (and her students, which is kind of unfair) for a variety of reasons. Nathan's director even went as far as to tell her that she should die. Bad example much? I can't believe that students are stuck with that sorry excuse of a "teacher".