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The Divine Right of Kings	By : vinsmouse Category: G through L > Hardy Boys Series Views: 5915 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hardy Boys, not making any money, just cheap thrills.

Chapter List
- 33
- 34
- 35
Chapter 34
Frank and Joe arrived at school early that first day. Both had already received their schedules and Joe had learned the layout of the building during freshman orientation at the end of his eighth grade year. The reason for their early arrival was to give Joe a chance to see where the office meant for his refuge was located. This was followed by a short meeting with Principal Wemette and the Guidance Counselor Mr. Lewis.
"Frank, Joe, come on in," Principal Wemette invited. Introductions were made and the two boys sat in a pair of chairs facing the desk. To Joe’s left sat Mr. Lewis.
"Joe I asked for this meeting, I’m sure you’re wondering why." Lewis opened the conversation.
"Yes sir," Joe mumbled. He wondered if they were going to tell him that the arrangements Dr. Saylor had made couldn’t happen after all.
"To begin with you should know that Dr. Saylor didn’t divulge any information aside from what we need to know. I refer of course to your panic attacks. Anything else that any member of staff, myself included, knows comes from news reports alone."
"Okay." Joe appreciated the reassurance but he hadn’t thought Dr. Saylor had told them anything.
"The reason I asked to meet you is to let you know that my office door is always open should you ever need to talk. I realize I am likely a poor substitute for Dr. Saylor but I felt you should be made aware of another resource available to you, if you need it." Paul Lewis hadn’t been a Guidance Counselor for long; this was in fact only his third year working at Bayport High. Never before had he been called upon to help a student with such devastating experiences and it was likely he was almost as nervous as the young teen before him.
Joe nodded. "Is that all?" He blushed. "Sorry, I just, um, we don’t want to be late to homeroom," he stammered an explanation.
Frank reached across the space separating them, giving his brother’s forearm a gentle squeeze. A small smile aimed his way told him the gesture had been appreciated. He only wished there was more he could do to help his brother.
"That’s fine Joe, you boys can run along now," Mr. Wemette smiled reassuringly.
The teens quickly made their way from the office and down the hall towards their lockers. "You gonna be okay Joe?" Frank wasn’t sure he should ask, would it make his brother even more nervous? But neither did he feel like he could just let Joe head off to class without asking.
Joe shrugged; he wasn’t sure what response to give.
"You’ll call me if you need me?"
Joe nodded. "I’ll be okay," he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince.
"Of course you will," Frank smiled. He reached his locker and glanced at his brother’s schedule. He was relieved to see Joe’s locker was only a few down from his own. He wondered if his therapist had arranged that. Whether she had or not it was a good thing as it would guarantee the older brother the chance to check up on the younger throughout the day. "Your’s is just there," he pointed.
"Thanks." Joe checked the combination and managed to open the locker on the second try. Sliding half his notebooks onto the shelf he closed the locker and turned to see Frank doing the same. "Homeroom?" Freshman orientation had been months ago and what was the point of having an older brother if he couldn’t get help from him.
After glancing at Joe’s schedule again Frank gave him directions to his homeroom. He only wished his own was in the same direction but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Reluctantly he watched his brother make his way down the hall before finally turning away. "Please let him be okay," he whispered as he turned away.
Nervously Joe walked into the classroom. A call from the back of the room brought his attention to Biff Hooper. Wearing a relieved smile he moved to the back of the room, sliding into the corner seat Biff had saved for him. He felt an immediate sense of safety being in this back corner, Biff beside him and Chet Morton, he now noticed, in the seat directly in front of him. Here nobody could sneak up from behind and he knew his friends, in spite of the tension between them, would never let anybody who intended harm to get near him.
"So what’s your schedule Joe?" Biff asked.
Joe looked down and after a moment he quickly relayed the information to his friends. The other two boys glanced over their own schedules, comparing them to Joe’s. To his disappointment he shared only two classes with Biff and one with Chet; he would have to face the rest of his day without the comfort of their dependable presences. Focused on his schedule he didn’t notice the concerned glance shared between the other boys.
The first two classes went okay, Biff was in one and Chet in the other so Joe didn’t feel so alone and exposed. Third period brought gym class and a horror Joe hadn’t considered. Walking into the locker room he headed for the farthest corner, the one nearest to the teacher’s office though he hadn’t realized that when choosing it. He had been thinking only of the relative privacy it would provide for changing into his gym clothes.
Staring at the locker Joe wasn’t sure what to do. If he changed with his back to the room it would leave him vulnerable to attack, not to mention everybody would be able to see his scars. But if he faced the room they might think he was trying to check them out or something. Compromising he turned so that he was partially facing the room but not enough that the other boys would get the wrong idea, he hoped.
His hands shaking he began to undress.
"Hey Hardy it true you like old guys?" a voice whispered near him.
Joe jumped, his eyes wide with fear, but the only boys near him were pointedly ignoring him. Blinking his eyes rapidly, Joe just managed to keep the threatening tears at bay. Forcing himself to ignore the others he resumed his task.
"Bet we could have fun," a different voice spoke in low tones.
Joe jerked away, hitting the back of his head on the locker. "Leave me alone," he hissed.
The boys standing nearby flashed their best innocent looks but Joe saw the satisfaction lingering in their eyes. "You okay Hardy?" one asked.
Joe nodded; the last thing he wanted was to provide them with any more satisfaction.
"Better get changed," another suggested. Closing their own lockers the trio left the locker room.
Looking around, Joe suddenly realized he was alone in the room. As quickly as possible he changed into his gym clothes and left the room. It was a good thing the teachers had all been told something about his needs or Joe was sure he would have been yelled at by the P.E. teacher. The man only gave him a sympathetic smile and motioned him to join the class in calisthenics. Gratefully Joe joined the lines of students and following their lead began exercising.
When class ended Joe was faced with another problem he hadn’t considered. Sweaty and smelling every boy in the class was ordered to the showers. The showers, where he would have to remove all of his clothes and even with a towel wrapped around him he would be vulnerable to the stares of the other boys, among other things.
"Mr. Hardy could you come into my office please."
The sound of the teacher’s voice caught Joe off-guard; he jerked in surprise. "Yes sir." Uncertainly he followed Mr. Flishing into the small office at the back of the locker room.
"Are you alright son?" Jeremy Flishing asked.
Joe nodded.
Jeremy frowned, clearly unconvinced. "I only know what I read in the papers and the instructions all of the teachers received concerning you but I’m thinking you’d rather not shower with the rest of the boys?"
"How’d you…I mean…" Joe looked down at his shoes, embarrassed and uncomfortable.
"I didn’t know but it makes sense. I know I wouldn’t want to be around other men, naked and vulnerable, if I’d been through what you had."
"But I can’t go to my next class like this," Joe pointed out.
"No you can’t," Jeremy agreed. "I thought maybe you’d like to use my private shower." Blue eyes looked at him, wide with fear. "That was stupid of me," Jeremy apologized. "I didn’t mean to worry you Joe; I wouldn’t be with you of course and the door locks."
"Is that allowed?"
"It is if I say it is," Jeremy firmly answered.
"But what about you?"
"I don’t usually bother with a shower until after my last class of the day. Well unless I work up an unusual amount of sweat anyway."
"Thank you," Joe smiled gratefully. He hadn’t been looking forward to the shared showers.
"The shower is through that door," Jeremy pointed. "I’ll be doing some paperwork, unless you’d be more comfortable with the office empty too…"
Joe shook his head. He probably would but he couldn’t ask the man to give up his office just so he’d feel a little better. It wasn’t like Mr. Flishing would be in the shower with him and he could lock the door. "That’s okay. Thanks Mr. Flishing."
"Jeremy," came the quiet correction.
"Huh?"
"I never have liked my last name and if you’re going to be using my shower I think you can call me Jeremy, at least in here."
"Oh, okay." Joe left the office long enough to gather his shower things and a change of clothes before walking back through Jeremy’s office to the private shower.
"Look at Hardy," one boy nudged another, "guess now we know why Flishing didn’t say anything about him being late out of the locker room." This witty remark brought a round of laughter from those boys who heard it.
Dr. Saylor’s office: Friday afternoon
"How did the first week of school go?" Diane asked. Unknown to Joe she had already received reports from the school.
"Not very good," Joe admitted.
"What happened?" she quietly asked.
Joe shrugged.
"Joe? We both know you’re aware of what happened."
As he’d done before Joe moved to the fish tank, squatting down to follow the paths of the swimming residents with his finger. "I ended up leaving class at least twice every day. I even had to call Frank a couple of times to come to my refuge," Joe admitted. "I hate making him leave class but I needed him."
"Do you think he minds?"
"No, but school is important to him. I shouldn’t call him out of class just because I need somebody to hold my hand." Joe scowled, tapping the glass and scaring the smallest fish, the one who habitually swam alone. "What are you doing over here? Gonna hide in the corner all your life?" he snarled at the small fish.
Diane hid her smile. It was obvious the teen identified with the small fish. That Joe was becoming angry with the creature could only mean he felt a similar anger towards himself. Anger could be useful in breaking the bindings of fear and depression.
"I’m sorry fishy. I know you can’t help being scared. The world is big and there’s lots of other fish that could hurt you if they want to, and some of them want to."
Diane frowned. "Did somebody hurt you this week Joe?"
Joe shook his head. Sure some kids had given him funny looks and some had said things but nobody had hurt him. "Jeremy helped a lot."
"Jeremy?"
"Sorry, Mr. Flishing," Joe corrected. "He’s my gym teacher. Frank said he’s new this year too."
"I see, and how did Mr. Flishing help?"
"He let me use his shower," Joe innocently replied.
Diane jerked forward, damn! "Joe, tell me about using Mr. Flishing’s shower," she asked, forcing her voice to a calmness she didn’t feel.
"I didn’t think about how hard gym class would be," Joe admitted. "Changing in front of the other boys was hard enough but the thought of showering with them," the teen shuddered. "I knew I couldn’t face that, especially after they…"
"After they?"
"Some of them said things, that first day, every day really," Joe admitted.
"What sort of things?" Diane carefully asked.
"It doesn’t matter," Joe shrugged, though clearly it did. "After class the first day Mr. Flishing called me into his office and we talked for a few minutes. He said he thought I might not like showering with the other boys and could use his private shower if I wanted. I was scared at first," the blond admitted. "I thought maybe he was like Red, but then he told me the door could be locked and he even offered to go somewhere else to do his paperwork if I wanted him to." Joe had been amazed and touched by the offer, the emotions coming through in his voice as clearly as if he’d spoken them.
Diane made a note to have this gym teacher checked out. Hopefully he was only trying to be considerate of Joe’s issues but in this day and age it paid to be careful. The last thing any child, especially one who had already suffered, needed was a teacher taking advantage of them. "That was very kind of him," she offered noncommittally.
Joe nodded. "It was," he smiled. "But that’s just one class."
"It is."
"The ones with Biff or Chet , they’re my friends, in them were okay. It was the other classes that I had the panic attacks in. I tried not to leave, but the longer I stayed the more I could feel them looking at me, whispering behind their hands and I had to get away."
"Did the refuge help?" She wanted to assure him that they probably weren’t talking about him but they were teens and might be. More importantly at this juncture, Joe wouldn’t believe her assurances even if she could offer proof.
"It did. I just wish I didn’t need it," Joe rested his forehead against the glass side of the fish tank. "It will get better won’t it?"
"It will," Diane promised. "But it's going to take time and determination from you."
TBC...
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The Divine Right of Kings