They Rely On Hope. What Do I Rely On? - Tommyinnit Adoption AU

Chapter 39

TW: Mentions of abuse and medication

Tommy was out of the room within a second, closing the door quickly behind him and slipping out the hallway towards the nurses office.

"Don't forget to come back after school Tommy," Kristin reminded him as he left. He nodded, having no intention to follow through on that. He would not risk Dream's wrath by being late just for painkillers. It wasn't worth it.

He found his way to the class he hadn't been to before, his other elective, music. Tommy had no clue how to play any instruments. He had never even been allowed to before, and now he was going to be graded on it, and if he did poorly he'd be punished. He was fucked.

The teacher arrived and, to Tommy's relief, no one he knew was in his class. That lessoned the danger. No one would be trying to talk to him, and therefore he wouldn't say anything that would risk their fury. Alone was safer. Always safer.

He slipped into the class, and the teacher easily directed him to his seat. The class was instructed to do some theory work from their notebook. Tommy didn't even know what that was. Then the teacher walked over to Tommy.

"Hi, I'm Mr. CG5, I hear your new to the school? The other music teacher, Ms. Dervikat said Wilbur showed you around on Wednesday."

Tommy nodded quietly, not sure if he was expected to speak. Quiet was safer. Always safer.

"OK, well do you have any experience with music? Have you played any instruments?"

Tommy shook his head, looking down. Foster parents rarely permitted any noise at all. Even without that rule, he had never had access to an instrument.

"Do you sing?" The teacher asked and Tommy shook his head again, not meeting the man's eyes. He could see Mr. CG5 nod slightly in his peripheral vision, "Well, that's what I'm here for, to teach you."

Tommy breathed a sigh of relief, glad he wasn't angry. He had to admit he'd expected fury from the man.

"Well, the next assignment is a theory test, which I know isn't the most exciting, but it is important, do you know much about music theory?" Again, Tommy shook his head. Mr. CG5 nodded and began to explain the basics, how to read what note was on the music sheet, what different symbols mean, and so forth. Tommy was baffled by the amount of information but he wrote it all down, knowing he'd have to study hard.

By the time the lesson had finished, Tommy's mind was filled with names of symbols, and sayings like "FACE in the spaces" and "Every Great Band Drinks Fanta". It was crazy and Tommy didn't know if he'd ever be able to understand, but he knew he needed to.

As soon as he could, Tommy was out the class, rushing towards the exit. He needed to get home quickly. He wasn't going to let himself go through what Dream had done to him last time. Not again. Not when it was so easy to avoid. He got outside and started to run. He heard Techno call his name as he got to the gates, but he ignored it, hopefully Techno wouldn't chase after him. He couldn't risk being late. He just had to get out fast enough, lose Techno and get to the shops. That's all he had to do.

"Tommy!" Techno was closer this time, but Tommy didn't stop. If Techno did catch up, Tommy would insist he hadn't heard Techno.

That decision was far too quickly followed with Techno catching up. Either Techno was a fast runner or he hadn't been far behind. Tommy pulled to a stop, knowing Techno would catch him if he didn't.

"Tommy?" Techno asked, as he stopped.

"Sorry, did you want something?"

"I just wanted to check you got the painkillers."