She paused and a small light came into her eyes. "We can," she began. "But don't you want to eat with everyone?"
"Oh! Right." She cleared her throat. "I might avoid going to the lunchroom, actually. You can go, but I think I'm just going to head to the lab or something."
She gave him a warm smile before turning to walk down the hall, her hair bouncing slightly as she turned the corner and disappeared.
Poppy got to the lab and pulled out a set of beakers. It wasn't until she heard his voice that she froze. "Hey baby." She gripped the beaker tightly in her hand and turned around slowly. "I'm am not your baby," she said, hearing her voice shake and hating it. "Oh, come on, Pops. Is this about the other day? You know it was an accident." "Accidents don't happen this frequently, Evan. I swear to God if you take one step closer to me, I'll smash this beaker over your head. I'll do it. I swear I will." Evan's face darkened and he cocked his head. "What's gotten into you? You were never like this before."
"Go away," she said fiercely, her voice jumping. "I mean it. I'll scream." "Everyone is at lunch, Pops," he said smoothly, stepping forward. "I told my dad! I told him about what you did, and he's going to know it was you if anything happens to me!" This made Evan stop short. "You... did what?" "I told my dad," she said, clenching the beaker so hard that her knuckles turned white. "I told him everything."
Evan backed up. "You're a psychopath, you know that?" he said to her, his voice dangerously quiet. "Go away," she replied, her chest heaving. "Leave me alone." "You'd better watch your back, Poppy," he said. "Your dad can't protect you forever." With that, he disappeared. Poppy waited until she was sure he was gone before putting down the beaker. She leaned against the wall and slid down, burying her head in her knees, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
Francis stopped and sighed, excusing himself from the field. He couldn't play this distracted, and decided to find her at the lab.
As Francis approached the lab, he would hear silence from the room. Normally he'd be able to hear her footsteps or the clinking of brakes, but this time there was nothing.
