#uei7

[i-am-not-anon]

Under the eye of an institution

Part 7

Summary: Logan and Patton (both 16), the older students, are expected to look after two groups of freshmen in Watersouth boarding school for boys. Both of them despise the tradition of bullying that is subjected to the newcomers by older students. The two respectively get a student in their groups who is a little different from the ordinary crowd: Roman and Virgil (both 15).

Author’s note: I'm just going to update this shorter part for y'all to get back on track with writing. I've been super busy and it seems like I'm going to be busy soon again, so please be patient with the slow updates! Message me for getting into the taglist, please.

Triggers: Bullying, abuse, violence, violent punishments, panic attacks, self-deprecation, name-calling, i n s t i t u t i o n 

Other parts here

...

”No I’m not!” Roman stared at Logan as if his tutor had just said the most disgusting thing.

”Well that is what the results suggest,” Logan cleared his throat. ”You have 74% probability to have Combined type of a disorder called ADHD, which is short of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.” 

*”No, I do not!!”* Roman cried, tears forming at the corners of his eyes as he clenched his fists in frustration. ”Don’t call me that!”

Logan straightened his tie. ”I was not insulting you, Roman. I was simply stating what your results were from the tests you completed last night.” 

”SHUT UP!!!” Roman screamed, bolting to the door and slamming it behind him. Logan heard the footsteps disappear further to the hall, wanting to remind the boy about running inside, but understood he was too far to hear the reminder anymore. 

Logan felt quite bemused at the incident. What had he done wrong to cause Roman get so upset? Logan hoped Patton wasn’t busy as he stood up and walked to the hall, to find his friend who was way better at understanding emotions. 

….

”I think Roman doesn’t really understand what having ADHD means,” Patton pondered. ”Kids often call each other names that aren’t supposed to be offensive in the first place. Maybe Roman has been called ’the adhd kid’ as much as ’crazy’ or ’stupid’. And it really is scary to find out you have a disorder, don’t you think?” Patton turned to look at Logan, who adjusted his glasses.

”In fact, I would have felt relieved if I had been diagnosed with autism when I had to overgo all those examinations,” Logan argued. ”It would have explained my behavior and I would have gotten help for it.” 

Patton smiled. ”That’s how you reacted to it, but as you hopefully have realized by now, Roman and you are like polar opposites. I think that’s exactly what happened, he got the opposite kind of reaction than you would have so you have hard time understanding him.” Patton rubbed his hands together. ”Now I think we should find the poor kid and try to explain to him that this isn’t the apocalypse.” 

”He’s only one year younger than us,” Logan argued.

”Exactly,” Patton emphasized, leaving confused Logan to follow him at their quest to find one special, upset student.

…

Logan and Patton found Roman in the bathroom, hearing sobs coming from one of the stalls. 

”Roman? Is that you?” Patton asked gently, turning his ear toward the stall. 

”Who’s there?” Roman asked with confusion in his voice, forgetting about crying for a second. 

”Logan and his friend Patton,” Patton answered. 

”Tell him to go away,” Roman growled. He was not going to apologize to Logan for running off. Logan was stupid.

”I think there has been a misunderstanding, kiddo,” Patton patiently explained. ”Would you care to come out and discuss it with us?” 

The bathroom filled with awkward silence. Logan was about to comment something, but Patton dismissed his friend with a hand gesture, and continued himself. ”I will make sure Logan doesn’t offend you again during our discussion. Please come out Roman, it doesn’t solve anything to stay there any longer since I feel like you have already calmed down. Now it’s time to solve this problem so we can continue as normal. Would that sound good?” 

Roman wondered if anything could ”continue as normal” after what he had just been told, but he wiped his face and unlocked the door, stepping outside.

”I suppose I need to apologize,” Logan stepped forward and straightened his tie nervously. ”So, apologies.”

”It’s fine,” Roman muttered. He really wanted to just go have some fun and forget about the whole thing, but the other tutor wanted them to talk through this. Ugh.

”I’m glad you came out,” Patton smiled. ”We could go to the library to talk, it’s always peaceful over there.”

…

”How is being mentally ill not bad??” Roman questioned, sitting at the table with the two tutors, gesturing towards them.

”It’s not a mental illness, Roman," Logan corrected. "It’s a disorder, probably even congenital one. Now it’s just been diagnosed, maybe unofficially, but still.” 

Roman gripped his hands in despair. ”I don’t even understand what you’re saying!”

”Logan means that you have had this your entire life, and it’s not entirely a bad thing either. It’s just some of your characteristics that have a common name now, which is ADHD.” Patton glanced at Logan for confirmation.

”What are those characteristics, then?” Roman asked, leaning his head on the table.

”The correct term is ADHD combined,” Logan quickly corrected before answering Roman’s question. ”The characteristics, or symptoms can be divided to inattentiveness, and hyperactivity and impulsiveness. 

Inattentive behaviors are for example being easily distracted, appearing forgetful and having hard time following through or listening to instructions. 

Hyperactive and impulsive behaviors are for example difficulty to sit still, constant fidgeting, acting without thinking and excessive talking.” 

Roman had been listening to Logan’s explanation very closely. As the older student had finished, the boy let out a breath. Logan didn’t just throw a random insult at him earlier. It seemed like the older student actually tried to understand who Roman was inside. ”Okay, you just explained me in a nutshell. But how did you know it? Why did that test tell you I have that thing called ADHD? Am I not normal?” Roman continued. Patton let out a hearty laugh. ”I think we’re going to get to all of that in a minute, kiddo.” 

…

Roman took his time when walking out of the library, waiting for Logan who had to check a few books before going. He watched Patton walk around a corner and went back to find his tutor again. Roman was looking at everything but Logan as he approached him between the shelves of math and physics books. 

”Um, sir, I’m sorry that I shouted at you and ran off,” he mumbled. Logan was probably going to give him another essay to write about patience or something, and Roman tried to mentally prepare for it. 

”I forgive you,” Logan answered, looking slightly awkward himself. ”I didn’t really understand your emotions at that moment and approached the topic in a way that was not the most sufficient.” He glanced around, and after seeing there was no one nearby, he leaned forward slightly and continued with a quiet tone. ”I’m sorry.” 

”It’s fine,” Roman smiled, completely missing how groundbreaking it was from Logan to apologize for him, a younger student. ”I’m pretty glad we got it sorted out. See you!” He waved, jogging outside. 

Logan stared after the boy, letting out a quiet huff. *What a peculiar kid.* He went back to searching for his book.

....

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