The Dark of the Night More Inviting Than the Sunlight

Dawn's Point of View

"... so Bert got into another fight with a couple of students? Damn, he really needs to show some improvement if he doesn't want to go back to the reformatory. I really need to talk to the damn bloke, do you know where he's at?" I heard a dull male's voice, that I didn't recognize, say from the other side of the door that parted my home classroom from the hallway. I was just passing by, but when I heard Bert's name being mentioned, the curiosity took over.

"It's lunch time now, so he could be pretty much anywhere, and Mr. Mellow, don't be too hard on the kid it's not all his fault. Some of the students here really give him a hard time for being different, unfortunately that's how high school works..." I heard Jeph's response through the white painted door.

What was going on? What about Bert going back to a reformatory? Why would he even be there in the first place?! And who the hell was Mr. Mellow? All those questions popped up inside of my head at once and it made me frustrated because there was obviously a lot that I didn't know about Bert's past. What had he done? Who was he? I needed to find him and demand some answers.

Maybe I could make him promise not to tell anyone about what he saw through my kitchen window a few nights earlier. It was quite obvious that he knew. The way he acted, spoke to me and looked at me, was different from before. He acted as if he wanted to talk to me, but couldn't bring himself into it, and I tried to avoid being alone with him, because I didn't want to talk about it. I tried to let him know that it was nothing, that everything was alright, that it was only a one-off event, by looking him in the eyes and smile assuringly at him.

Now I finally had an advantage on him, if he didn't promise to forget about what he saw, I'd tell Sky about what I heard about him and a reformatory. If he had done something criminal in his past, he would probably not want Sky to hear about it, unless he told her himself.

I got interrupted in my thinking when I noticed that the door was being opened next to me. I panicked and started running down the hallway as fast as my legs could possibly carry me. I could hear my name being called out, confirming that Jeph had seen me. Damn. He probably wanted to confront me for eavesdropping and I didn't have time for that, I needed to find Bert.

"Hey Dawn, there's something I need to talk to you about," Sky said when she sighted me. My heart skipped a beat. Did she know? Had Bert told her already?

"I'm sorry Sky, but I'm in a hurry. Have you seen Bert?" I asked heatedly and didn't notice how her face fell when I asked for Bert.

"No," she snorted and snapped Quinn's lollipop out of his hand, just when he was about to put it in his mouth. I made my way up to the second floor, where I knew Dan and Bert had their lockers. If I were lucky I'd find him there.

"Hey Bert!" I called as I finally sighted him where he stood by his locker. He looked up at me with a puzzled expression painted on his square face.

"What do you want?" he asked sighing deeply as he leaned his forehead against the locker.

"Who's Mr. Mellow?" I asked and witnessed how his bright blue eyes widened.

"Where did you hear that name?" Bert asked, staring at me in horror.

"It doesn't matter, who is he?" I asked and right then students that was supposedly getting ready for next class after lunch break, filled the hall.

"Not here," he said in a low voice, placed his hand on my shoulder and dragged him with me into the janitor's closet. "Now, where did you hear that name?"

"Just tell me who he is," I demanded and he shook his head, saying that I had to tell him where I heard that name first. "Alright! I overheard a conversation between him and Jeph, satisfied?"

"No. What exactly did you hear?" he asked seeming really upset, frustrated and worried.

"Something about taking you back to the reformatory... what did he mean by that? What have you done?"

"What?! But they can't do that! I do everything they tell me to do!" Bert groaned and punched the wall with a clenched fist.

"What the hell's happening, Bert? Who's Mr. Mellow?" I asked, the curiosity was making me go insane.

"Why the hell would I tell you?" he asked and glared at me.

"Because otherwise I'll tell Sky about what I heard," I retaliated.

"Dawn, why are you doing this to me?" Bert asked with a frown.

"I know you saw what happened through the window, it was only a one-off event, anyway Sky is my friend and I won't let you hurt her. Now tell me Bert, please," I said whilst biting my lip.

"I don't believe you Dawn, it wasn't a one-off event, I'm not stupid. But sure, I won't tell anyone, if you promise that what I'm about to tell you stays between the two of us," he said in a very serious tone. "I love Sky more than anything in this world, more than life itself, and I don't want anything to come in between us." I nodded slowly to confirm that I understood.

"Damn... Okay, so Mr. Mellow is my probation officer. I got accused of dealing drugs at my old school, something I'd never do, I'd never force something like that onto others. But of course no one believed me, because of the way I look and the fact that some stupid motherfucking bastard put drugs inside of my motherfucking locker. Do they really think I'm be that stupid that I'd bring the fucking drugs into the school if I were selling them? Anyhow, I got kicked out of the school and they put me in a bloody reform school. I got offered the opportunity to start a new high school for my senior year and here I am. Mr. Mellow is watching over my school attendance. It's all so fucking frustrating because I didn't even do anything to begin with."

I just stood there with my mouth hanging slightly open as my brain was slowly taking in the information.

"I'm sorry to hear that Bert. Fuck, that must be really frustrating. I'm sorry for pushing you like this, I had no idea..." I could hear myself say incoherently.

"So you believe me then?" he asked and looked at me with serious eyes.

"Of course I do," I smiled briefly. He returned the smile and looked down on his fist, which was swollen from hitting the wall.

"It feels so good to hear that, because no one else does," he muttered.

"I'm convinced that Dan, Quinn and Sky, especially, would believe you if you told them. I think you should tell Sky about it, she really trusts you. She loves you, she'd understand and she'd want you to be honest with her," I said honestly.

"I really think that you should tell someone about what you're father is doing to you," Bert responded in a serious tone, looking at me with sympathetic blue eyes. I shook my head quickly and swallowed the lump in my throat. I was about to rush out from the closet when his held me back and made me look into his eyes. "Your secret is safe with me, I won't tell anyone. Don't worry about it, okay? Dawn, you can trust me."