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The courtyard of Lumière International High School was bristling with staff and students, both new and old. The new students were staring wide-eyed at the school which would now be their home for most of the year.
A sleek black stretch limo pulled up and a well-dressed chauffeur stepped out. He walked to the other side of the limo and pulled open the door.
A pair of black sneakers stepped out and walked a few steps away from the car. The teenaged boy took in his new surroundings with a scowl. He put on his earpiece and stuck his hands into his oversized hoodie.
A red stiletto soon appeared and his mother stepped out of the car, coming to stand beside him. The resemblance between them was uncanny. She looked prim and proper in her well-tailored suit and was wearing a matching scowl on her beautiful face.
‘Remember, always conduct yourself properly and try your best to keep out of trouble.’
‘Mhm.’
She frowned and pulled the earpiece out of his ears. ‘Are you listening to me?!’
The boy rolled his eyes. ‘Yes, mother. I’ll be sure to keep my gay ass out of trouble and not embarrass you with any filthy homosexual acts.’
His mother’s eyes softened a little. She reached out her hand but pulled it back after a second thought.
‘Jayden-,’ she began but was cut off by the arrival of a student.
‘Hey there, good afternoon and welcome to Lumière International High School. If you’ll please follow me, first years are supposed to sign in at the registration desk.’
She glanced at him and nodded, following the bubbling student towards the registration desk.
They passed by other students and a family huddled in front of a van. A teenager’s loud voice rose out from within the huddled group, protesting quite loudly.
‘Hey! That’s enough hugs and tears mom, I’m going to boarding school not joining the fricking army!’
A deep mature voice chuckled. ‘That’s enough son, allow your mother to let it out. You may be going to school, but she won’t be seeing you for a while.’
‘But dad!’ the teenager protested. ‘I can’t breathe, she’s squeezing me too tight. If she goes on like this, you don’t have to worry about her not seeing me for a while cause at this rate she’s only going to see my cold corpse.’
His father let out a chuckle and his mum sniffled, hugging him even tighter.
‘C’mon Dad, do something, she’s ruining my reputation! My new friends will think I’m some sort of momma’s boy.’
An older teenaged girl chuckled by his side and poked him in the ribs. ‘But you are a momma’s boy, aren’t you?’
‘DAD!’
‘That’s enough Cissy, stop teasing your brother. You know how he gets.’
The girl, Cissy, pouted. The boy wriggled himself out of his mother’s arms. ‘Look what you did mom, one of my mates is staring at us. God knows what he thinks of me now!’
He broke away from his family and jogged up to Jayden who had been staring at them the entire time. He stuck out his hand and introduced himself with a bright smile plastered on his face.
‘Hi, I’m Samuel Kwabena Asamoah but you can call me S.K. What’s your name?’
Jayden glanced down at his outstretched hand and stared at it for a few seconds before simply walking away, his hands still firmly tucked into his hoodie.
Samuel stared after his retreating figure, his arm still hanging in the air. He put it down and turned back to his family.
‘AHH! SAMMY! What do you mean jumping unto my back like that! Do you want to kill me?!’
‘Oh, shut up Jake, you know you’ll miss your little bro…’
The sounds of arguing faded into the distance as he turned the corner. He caught up to his mother after a few quick steps.
She glanced at him. ‘Where were you?’
He simply shrugged and stuck the earpiece back into his ears. His mom shook her head and led them to the registration desk.
He stood behind while his mother signed him in and got everything settled. The guy at the desk handed her a piece of paper and shot him a friendly smile.
He ignored him and turned enquiringly to his mother as she approached. She said nothing, simply handing the paper to him. He took it silently and followed her back towards the car.
On their way, they passed by the same family. This time the boy, Samuel, was rolling playfully on the ground with who appeared to be his older brother. His sister was cheering them on while their parents stared amused.
He caught sight of Jayden and waved cheerfully at him but was once again, ignored. His brother took that moment of distraction to pin him to the ground, exclaiming victoriously.
They left the scene behind and arrived at the car, entering after the chauffeur held the door open for them.
He sat behind the wheel and waited patiently for his next orders.
‘Take us up the hill, Henry.’
Henry nodded and started the car, pulling into the road.
Jayden glanced down at the paper, scanning its contents. His mother leaned back and muttered to herself.
‘I didn’t know the Asamoahs were sending their youngest here. Then again, they did send the rest of their kids so it’s only to be expected.’
Jayden looked up. ‘The Asamoahs?’
‘Yes,’ his mother answered, looking startled that he had willingly spoken to her. ‘The Asamoahs are a well-known upper-class family who made their fortune in pharmaceuticals. You’ve heard of them, haven’t you?’
He nodded thoughtfully. He had heard the name sometime back but couldn’t recall where.
‘They don’t seem upper-class to me.’
His mother humphed disapprovingly. ‘That’s because they insist on acting otherwise. They have this insane idea that behaving like a middle-class family would make them a perfectly normal happy family. Wonder how that’s working for them. Their parties are famous for being all informal and no class. Of course, we’ve never attended, that could be why you don’t recognize them.’
He said nothing, turning to stare contemplatively out the window as the luxurious scenery rushed past.
The car soon entered a gravelled driveway. It drove by a row of buildings and limos before rolling to a stop beside a crimson Rolls Royce.
Students roamed about with their drivers behind them, lugging their suitcases for them. Henry got out and held the door open once more as Jayden and his mother alighted.
They followed a group of students towards a large desk set up in the middle of the courtyard. A large rapidly balding man sat behind the desk, sweating profusely and giving directions to the students.
‘Alright lad, you will be staying in Aquila. That’s the building right there. Don’t worry sir, your son is in good hands. How about you, young fellow? Ah yes, a Lepus I see. You will be over there. Don’t you worry ma’am, your son will be just fine.’
They stood in line and waited patiently until their turn.
‘And who is this handsome fellow?’ he addressed Jayden.
Jayden just stared at him. His mother cleared her throat and stepped forward.
‘This is my son, Jayden Mills.’
She handed the paper she was given at the registration desk to him.
‘Fine boy you got there, ma’am. Fine boy. Spitting image of you if I may say. Now let’s see.’
Jayden rolled his eyes at him whiles he scanned the paper.
‘There it is! Seems like you are in Scorpius, young man. Great house Scorpius, great house. You’ll do great things there I can see. That’s the building right behind you. Don’t you worry ma’am your son is in fine hands. Very fine, he’ll be perfectly safe. No better and safer school than Lumière I can assure you. There’s-‘
‘Alright, thank you very much. We’ll be on our way now.’
‘Hold on, ma’am. You forgot your paper.’
Jayden’s mother turned to look at the paper which had been crinkled in his beefy hands and stained with his sweat. The corner of her lips turned down slightly.
‘Keep it.’
She turned away and they followed the man’s direction towards the Scorpius building. She nodded to Henry who was already standing by the open trunk of the car. At her signal, he reached into the trunk, pulled out two heavy suitcases, and followed them into the building.
They entered an air-conditioned lounge. It was a plush, well-decorated lounge with several velvet sofas tastefully arranged around the room. A bar stood at the corner and a huge flat-screen TV dominated the south wall.
His mother turned to him. ‘Do you remember your floor and room number?’
He nodded silently and led them into the elevators situated by the small musical fountain.
They rode up the elevator in silence and stepped out on the sixth floor. Students and parents walked about trying to locate their dorms. A senior was present, trying to bring some semblance of order but his voice was drowned out in the ruckus.
Jayden’s face was blank as his eyes searched for his dorm number. They walked by open dormitory doors whose occupants were either settling in or having tearful farewells with their family.
He finally stopped before a closed door. Etched in cursive gold lettering above it were the words, DORMITORY 12. He turned the door handle and walked in.
Dormitory is not an appropriate word to describe such a place. It resembled a small apartment than a dormitory. The dormitory was split into rooms; two bedrooms located on opposite sides and a sitting area with two desks, three couches and an armchair.
A marble kitchen counter partitioned the kitchenette from the sitting area and the bathroom was located directly opposite the door they had just entered.
Henry carried the suitcases inside and looked enquiringly at Jayden.
‘Which room would you be taking, sir?’
Jayden shrugged and went to stand beside the window. His mother sighed in frustration and pointed to the room on the left.
‘That one would do, thank you Henry.’
She moved to stand beside her son at the window.
‘When you’re done Henry, you may go for the rest of the luggage.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
She waited until the door closed quietly behind him before turning to her son.
‘It would do you good to make friends. That Asare boy wouldn’t be a bad choice either.’
Jayden turned to stare at her. She smiled knowingly at him.
‘Don’t try to deny it. I know he was the one you were looking at out the window.’
She nodded in the direction he had been gazing at and he turned to see Samuel now running around the courtyard with his brother hot on his heels. He was shouting expletives at him and teasing him making the entire courtyard ring with laughter at their antics.
He turned away from the window. ‘Why are you still here?’
His mother sighed and sat down in the armchair. ‘I know things have been strained between us, but your father and I still love you. This gay business is all in your mind and you can change only if you try. You are just not trying.’
‘We are not going to have this conversation again, mother.’
His mother sighed again. ‘Nevertheless, you must promise me in the name of all you hold dear not to tell, show, or do anything that even remotely relates to homosexuality whiles in this school. It is for your own good. Do you understand?’
Jayden humphed and turned around but his mother reached out and yanked him back, clenching his arm tightly.
‘You may think I say it to preserve my reputation and the reputation of the family, but it is for your own good. I have been to boarding school before and it is the same whether public or private, whether rich or poor. What they do to people who are even suspected of homosexuality is terrible. I have seen people beheaded, burnt, and even stoned to death with my own eyes. You could be killed! So, I am going to ask this one more time, Do. You. Understand?!’
She hissed the last part, enunciating each word carefully. Jayden stared at her in surprise. For a rare moment, his mother’s mask of cold indifference was down, and her eyes blazed with a fiery passion.
The door suddenly swung open and she quickly released his hands and sat up straight, mask sliding firmly back in place.
Henry walked in with the rest of the luggage. A tall muscular freckled-face teen followed behind him with his parents in tow.
His future roommate nodded at him before disappearing into the other room. His parents hung back to admire the dormitory, muttering excitedly. They stopped short when they recognized his mother sitting across the room in the armchair.
They gasped and, Jayden could swear that they almost bowed. He couldn’t fault them for that. His mother was a force to be reckoned with and sitting with her back ramrod straight, legs daintily crossed at the ankles, she looked every inch a queen.
His mother stood up and nodded curtly at them. With a nod to Henry, she left the dormitory. Jayden escorted her down the elevator, rubbing his arm with a wince. For all her dainty looks, his mother was not a weak woman. Her grip was more than enough to prove it.
They stood outside on the front steps for a while without saying anything. Jayden finally whispered softly without looking at her.
‘Don’t pretend you care about me.’
She blinked and turned to him, but he continued.
‘At the end of the day, it all boils down to your reputation, the image you have carved for yourself. You don’t care what happens to me you only care about how that would make you look. That is the truth and we both know it so spare us the lies and false pretences. Don’t worry, though. I promise not to do any ‘gay’ acts that would ruin that for you.’
The black stretch limousine rolled to a stop in front of the building. Henry got down and held the door open patiently.
She turned to her son one final time and nodded. ‘Good luck, Jayden.’
‘Goodbye, Mother.’
She walked down the steps and entered the car. Henry closed the door softly and walked back to his seat.
The limo sped away; kicking gravels into the air as it slowly disappeared from sight.
Jayden sighed softly and turned to head back only to be confronted with a smiling and very dirty-faced Samuel.
‘Hey again! Gosh, I was kinda hoping we would be in the same house but I got Draco. Anyway, our buildings are not far from each other so I can come visit.’
Jayden stared blankly at him. He blinked a few times before walking past him into the building.
Samuel followed him, chattering endlessly behind him causing his ears to ache with the endless stream of words. He let out a heavy sigh and bowed his head.
This was going to be a long term.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Hey there guys. How did you find the first chapter? What was your first impression of Jayden and Samuel?
This is my first time writing a bxb novel so tell me your honest opinions to help me improve.
Before we move on some quick fact. What Jayden’s mom said in this chapter was perfectly true. Sadly in the country where I am and where this story is set, people actually lose their lives for being gay through mob justice and lynching. I’ve seen a few with my own eyes.
If you enjoyed this chapter, don’t forget to click that little cute button below and comment😊. See you in the next chapter 😉.
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