Chapter 107 - Team Dreamer's Drama

The library was empty when Team Dreamer arrived. Danny told Jean that he managed to negotiate with the librarian about special room usage for the team until the exams. Jean had a letter from Danny that she was to pass to the librarian. They had to register themselves and wear some collar pin badge whenever they entered the library so that the librarian knew who they were.

However, there was nobody at the counter.

"Split up and search for the librarian," Jean told her team. "I'll wait at the counter."

Before Alex could go, Jean held the girl back. "Please help me keep an eye on Rowan and Farid, we don't need them fighting here and getting us kicked out."

The artist smiled. "Don't worry, I'll look after them."

Assured, Jean let Alex go. The Wilde heiress thought that being close to Farid, she could stop the boy from causing trouble. Unfortunately, she underestimated the amount of rivalry both boys had. The search for the librarian turned competitive and Alex quickly lost sight of the small boy.

Alex became frantic when she heard scuffles and some hissing from a few bookshelves away. Were they fighting already?

As it turned out, both boys were glaring at each other but did nothing more because somebody else had beat Alex into restraining them. Issac pinned both boys down effectively with his naturally scary face.

"No running in the library," he told them and Farid gulped. Rowan didn't look too apologetic because he was more familiar with Issac but Alex didn't let him off the hook so easily.

"Rowan, you're coming with me. Issac, I'll leave Farid in your care," the heiress smiled. The inventor wanted to protest but Alex's stern glare made him become quiet again as he followed the scary-looking boy to look for the librarian.

Jean was waiting patiently at the counter when Reggie came running.

"What's wrong? Did Rowan and Farid end up fighting again?"

The chubby boy shook his head and huffed.

"Li-Librarian found! On the floor... collapsed!"

Jean jumped in shock at the news and shouted for the rest of her team to gather. The librarian turned out to be a granny with white hair and thick plastic glasses. She was found on the floor looking very pale. Benedict offered to carry the lady to one of the sitting couches while Alex dialled for Danny, informing the counsellor about the situation.

Danny was still talking to Elfie about hacking the wifi password in his office when Alex called.

"Yes, Alex?"

"The librarian has fainted. What should we do?"

Almost at once, the counsellor jumped to his feet. "I'll call an ambulance, take care of her. I'm coming up."

"Elfie, come with me."

Without question, the programmer followed. Danny was hardly ever unruffled and his sense of urgency could only mean that something bad has happened.

The library wasn't too far from the counsellor's office but they still had to run up a flight of stairs that made the counsellor slightly out of breath by the time he reached  Jean's team. The linguist was doing her best to keep the team calm but Alex was on the verge of a panic breakdown. None of the boys knew what to do either and simply stood around.

Danny looked over the old lady and decided that she had simply fainted. He dialled for the ambulance to briefly explain the situation while Elfie tried to find out more. Issac and Reggie were the ones who provided the most information while Jean tried to calm Alex down.

As Danny ended the call, he looked over at the children and then to the old lady.

"Can all of you follow Elfie to the computer lab for today? I need to carry her down to the sickbay and wait for the ambulance. Elfie, do you have the key?"

The programmer nodded and Danny carried the old lady.

Seeing that, Rowan offered to accompany Danny to wait for the ambulance and open the doors. "I'll meet you guys later," he told them and left.

The boy's actions made Farid feel shameful for picking a fight. While Rowan was usually annoying, he seemed to be very mature in the moment of need. Farid thought about himself and blushed in embarrassment for not knowing how to react to such a situation. Rowan was very mature and for the first time, Farid felt inferior. Silently, an admiration for Rowan started to blossom within the inventor.

While the rest of his team proceeded to the computer lab, Rowan helped Danny get the old librarian to the sickbay. The ostentatious boy was strangely silent and Danny sensed that something wasn't right.

The ambulance arrived in twenty minutes and the librarian was sent to the hospital. Once everything settled down, Danny turned to Rowan.

"What's bothering you?"

Rowan shook his head, not wanting to talk. He couldn't tell Danny how lame he felt on the inside. As one of the smarter and older boys, he froze up when there was an emergency situation and let the girls do the heavy-lifting. If it weren't for Jean's level-headedness and Alex's quick action, he would still be frozen in shock.

Danny chose to observe Rowan for a while. The boy might act delusional from time to time but the counsellor knew that was all it was. An act. In reality, Rowan was just someone who was in his rebellious phase. He just wanted to stand out, be different and not be bound by the rules he hated. At the same time, he hid his insecurities and wanted somewhere to belong without conforming to the pressure of societal rules.

"You know," Danny started casually and grabbed a packet of cigarettes from his pocket before lighting one. Rowan's eyes widened at the sight. Nobody knew that Danny smoked, not even Elfie. the counsellor kept this close to his heart. He didn't smoke often but sometimes when he was stressed, he did it to remember his childhood.

"Isn't it tiring having to pretend all the time?"

Rowan scowled. "What do you know?"

If they were talking about acting skills, Tom had way better acting skills. Rowan wasn't the only one in class who hid behind masks. Jeff did it too. Why was Danny picking on him?

"You froze up back there, didn't you? How lame."

That hit a sore spot. For Rowan, he became a delinquent by choice because it made him appear tough. He thought that after abandoning his good scholar-like behaviour and attitude, he'd changed. Deep down, nobody knew it better than he did. He was still that scared boy who was too afraid to go against society.

Dany knew about Rowan's history. The boy was transferred from a prestigious school. Due to a mistake on his part during a presentation at a fair, his school lost the top spot for the most innovative ideas. Danny wasn't there during the presentation but he heard the rumours. To think that Rowan was one of the presenters...

"However, you did well. You might not be good at attacking or dealing with the situation immediately as required. However, you have a good follow up. Stop trying to be a warrior on the front line, you're more cut out to be a medic in my eyes."

Finishing his smoke, the counsellor threw it on the ground and stepped on it. "I'll be counting on you to look after those idiots in the lab. It's about time I see the amount of damage the muscle heads have done to the indoor sports hall."

Rowan looked at Danny's retreating figure and played the words over and over in his head. He'd never had anyone recognise his strength in such a way before. A medic was a very important role during the war. They ensured that the army suffered minimal casualties and tried to save as many as they could. Rowan might not be quick-witted or brave but he certainly knew what to do in order to keep the team alive.

Maybe being the main character like James Bond isn't his calling. Was he more like Felix Leiter instead?