Could have more chapters if anyone shows interest; I've been extremely busy lately (ergo the lack of work on other stories!) but I might find time.

Takes place post-movie, so don't read before you've actually watched it.

His parents had kept him home from school the day after everything happened. Jim wished they hadn't—it just made things harder. Still, he could see things starting to change at home. His dad was really trying now. Trying to hold his own in the conversations Jim overheard when he was pretending to be asleep. Conversations about Jim and school and not moving and Judy and... Plato.

Jim half expected to see that dark, curly-haired face when he closed his locker. He knew everyone was watching him and thinking about Plato, the kid the cops had shot. Shot because they saw him carrying an empty gun.

"Hey, I got the bullets!"

Jim closed his eyes and leaned on his locker a moment. Just a moment; then he could face all those classmates and teachers and other people who would never understand.

He felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Judy beside him. "Hi," he said.

"Hi."

"You didn't wait for me this morning." He wasn't angry - not now that he could see her.

"I woke up early and... didn't want to hang around."

He nodded. He hated waiting, especially for things he didn't want to do anyway. He took her hand and they walked to class together.

One of the kids moved away from his desk beside Jim's when they entered the classroom. Again, Jim wasn't angry. He knew he wasn't being shunned—the kid was giving up his desk for Judy.

They couldn't be together in every class, of course. A few people hadn't heard the details of the story yet; a few didn't know how badly he and Judy needed to be together. They also had separate P.E. and health and fitness classes, and Judy had Home Economics while Jim had Wood Shop. At first it seemed impossible to get through a class without her, but midway through P. E. he started to realize he was going to make it all right.

When he actually looked around at the other kids jogging on the small school track, he thought about how their lives might be very similar or different. You couldn't tell much by looking.

But he could tell exactly what was going on when one boy deliberately tripped another.

The coach hadn't seen it, of course. It was a carefully timed move. Jim didn't bother trying to blow the whistle on him; he knew that wasn't how things were done. Instead he jogged up to the fallen boy and offered him a hand.

For a second, this kid reminded him of Plato. But his hair wasn't as dark or curly... he was thinner, too.

"You OK?"

"Yeah... thanks, Jim."

Jim jogged beside him after that. "How come you know my name?" he asked, his tone accusing, but his expression friendly.

The other boy looked chagrined. "I... heard somebody else say it."

That was no surprise; everyone would probably know his name by the end of the week.

"So, what's your name?"

"Mud, mostly... but really it's Tommy."

Jim giggled. He couldn't help it. It really wasn't funny... but when a person feels as bad as Jim had lately, he needs to laugh. Anything will do. "OK, Tommy Mud. Make sure you watch where you're going, huh? So you don't trip anymore."

"I will."

He saw Judy at lunch. They sat together and ate in silence until Tommy approached their table.

"Hi... would you mind if I sat here?"

Jim looked lazily at Judy. "Should we lettim?"

"I don't mind," Judy said.

"This is Tommy. We met in P. E."

"Nice to meet you, Judy," Tommy said.

Jim looked at Tommy's tray. His chocolate chip cookie was a crumbled mess in its compartment. "What happened there?" he asked, pointing.

"Uh... Mike Albright happened to it. It's no big deal. He always crushes my cookies."

For some reason the wording of that statement cracked Jim up. He couldn't help laughing again, when again, it wasn't really funny.

"You can have mine," Judy offered.

"Nah. It's OK."

A couple of days ago, Judy wouldn't have been so generous. Jim thought she had always wanted to be a nice girl - it had been the company she kept that brought out the less kind side he had met first. He held her hand a moment under the table and went back to eating.

"Can I ask you something?" Tommy asked, keeping his eyes on the ham steak he was cutting up.

"Sure," said Jim.

"How come you were hanging around with John Crawford? John was like me... had to keep his head down." Tommy stole a glance up at them. "Don't you know if you help kids like us, you'll get your head knocked in?"

This time Jim managed to keep the laugh down, but he still smiled. Judy answered before he thought of anything to say.

"Thinking that way never helped anyone. When I was with the popular kids, what happened? My boy friend died."

Tommy looked down again. "I heard about that. I'm really sorry."

"So am I. It was a stupid accident. But Plato... I wish we'd stayed with him every minute. Leaving him alone was the worst thing we could have done."

Jim could hear her voice changing. She was going to cry if she kept on like this. If she cried, he might crack, too. "We're not going to make the same mistakes," he said. "We'll be friends with who we wanna be friends with. And we'll do what we wanna do. I don't see why anyone has to be bothered by us."

Tommy was very different from Plato, but his expression was similar: wonder, admiration with a hint of nervousness. "I wish I could be like that," he said, and it seemed like maybe he hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"You can," said Judy.

"Sure, you can," Jim agreed. "Don't let anyone tell you what you can't do." He leaned over the table. "Just, uh... keep to well-lit areas, huh?"

Tommy smiled a little. He understood. "Yeah."

They finished eating and Tommy pushed away from the table. "Thanks for letting me sit here," he said.

Jim nodded to him and Judy said, "Come again tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Sure," said Jim. "Just—you know—don't tell anyone. Or everyone else will wanna come."

Tommy laughed. "OK. See you tomorrow, then."

They lingered a little longer. Jim wanted to tell Judy not to worry, that Tommy wouldn't end up like Plato. That he wouldn't let Tommy become that important, that he wouldn't become their responsibility. But when he looked over to say something relaxed and cool, he saw her face and completely forgot what he had been going to say.

There were tears standing in her eyes. She was looking right at him, not accusingly, but mournfully. She wanted this kid. She didn't want to replace Plato, but she wanted something to fill the horrible gash where his enthusiasm used to bubble out. She wanted Tommy to be theirs.

Jim silently took her hand again. Whatever she wanted, he wanted it, too. "Come on," he said. "History next, right?"

She nodded. "You remembered."

"I'm getting the hang of this."

They didn't talk about Tommy, or much of anything, the rest of the day. Jim took each class one moment at a time, looking forward to the moment when he could drive Judy home.

So that's my first RWaC fic. Hope you enjoyed. If you want more, let me know. Comprehensive reviews definitely give me motivation to write.