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Important author’s note at the end, please read. Bad boy Charles in the picture above. Enjoy 🙂
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Samuel slammed his locker shut very loudly. ‘I’m going to do it today.’
Paul glanced at him as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. ‘You’ve said that for a week now and yet here we are.’
‘Why can’t you be more supporting?’ Samuel grumbled sullenly.
‘Where’s the fun in that?’ Paul responded pleasantly.
Samuel sighed and leaned against his locker. ‘It’s just… I don’t know how to do it without hurting her.’
Paul patted his arm comfortingly as they began to walk out of the school building. ‘Do you want to know the truth? There’s no way to do this without hurting her. Breaking up with someone is like ripping off a bandage, better to just close your eyes and do it quickly.’
Samuel sighed as they arrived at the cafeteria and took their seats. ‘You’re right. The sooner I do it, the quicker she can move on.’
‘Who is moving on?’ Leo asked as he came up from behind with Cam and took a seat next to Samuel. Cam sat down by Paul and frowned at the despondent look on Sam’s face.
‘He’s trying to find a way to break up with Pearl so he can make out with Jayden,’ Paul explained.
Samuel gave him a kick from underneath the table as Cam and Leo shared an understanding look.
‘I feel you man,’ Leo said sympathetically. ‘Break-ups are messy as hell.’
‘He’s right,’ Noel agreed as he came up to the table. ‘I know you don’t want to hurt her but putting it off is just as worse because she doesn’t know where the both of you stand now.’
Samuel sighed heavily before getting to his feet. ‘You’re right. I’m going to talk to her now.’
A minute after he was gone, Jayden walked up and took his seat beside Noel. Noel stared curiously at him. ‘Where have you been?’
Jayden gave a non-committal shrug and Noel opened his mouth, ready to pry further when he took a quick glance at his watch and immediately shot to his feet.
‘Oh no, I’m late for cello practice.’
‘What? Now?’ Cam asked incredulously.
Noel nodded absently as he quickly stuffed his books back into his bag. ‘I’m sorry. I’ll catch up with you guys later. Sorry.’ And without a backward glance, he was gone.
Cam shook his head and went back to watching amusedly as Paul and Leo arm wrestled on the table. Jayden continued to sit in silence with a thoughtful look on his face as he gazed in the direction Noel disappeared in.
He silently stood up, causing Cam to raise his head at him enquiringly. ‘Where are you also off to?’
Jayden didn’t respond as he left the table, soon disappearing in the opposite direction. Cam frowned as he muttered quietly to himself. ‘What’s up with them?’
Leo looked up questioningly and Paul took that opportunity to slam his hand on the table, exclaiming victoriously.
Leo let out a stream of curses as Paul snickered at him, pulling Cam’s attention back to them. The loud yells drew the stares of several neighbouring tables which caused him to shove his elbow painfully into Leo’s side.
‘Ouch, what did I do?’
‘Shut up, Leo.’ Cam ordered.
‘But…’
‘Shut up.’
Leo sputtered but shut his mouth as he glared at Paul who continued to snicker loudly behind his fingers.
Whiles Paul continued to taunt Leo at the cafeteria, Noel had arrived before the door to the music room. The room was dark when he entered and as he reached out for the light switch, he was suddenly pinned against the wall as a pair of lips attacked his own.
His chest was rising rapidly when he finally pulled away to meet Charles’ smirking face.
‘You’re late.’
Noel looked away nervously as he pulled himself away from him. ‘I had to meet my friends at the cafeteria.’
Charles made a cute pout with his lips. ‘Then you have to make it up to me.’
Noel blushed furiously and bent to pick up the sheet music that lay scattered on the floor. ‘I’m supposed to be tutoring you not making out with you.’
‘You like making out with me.’ Charles pointed out with a smirk.
Noel blushed. ‘That… that’s beside the point.’
Charles sighed as he watched Noel move to set up the instruments. ‘Nice ass.’
Noel stumbled, sending a few of the instruments clattering to the ground. ‘Stop that,’ he mumbled. ‘We are supposed to be quiet. What if someone finds us?’
Charles moved to stand beside him. ‘So, what if they do? This is just a tutoring lesson as you so firmly put it. Unless…’ he trailed off with a suggestive wink.
Noel shuffled nervously. ‘I… erm… I…’
Charles looked at him curiously, patiently waiting for him to finish.
‘Iwanttotellmyfriends,’ Noel muttered quickly in one breath that the words jumbled into each other.
A frown came upon Charles’ features. ‘Why?’
Noel bit his lips and looked down. ‘I… I don’t like lying to them.’
Charles shook his head. ‘No.’
‘But…’
‘Leave it.’
A crestfallen look fell upon Noel’s features. Charles sighed and stepped closer, lifting his chin to look into his eyes. ‘If you want us to continue to see each other then no one must know. Not even your friends.’
‘I’m afraid it’s a bit too late for that,’ a lazy voice drawled.
Charles sprung back from Noel as if he had been scorched and turned in the direction of the voice to see Jayden sitting on the ground at the far corner of the room. In the darkness of the shadows, his sharp intelligent black eyes seemed even darker as he studied them from over the top of his arm which rested languorously on the kneecap of his drawn up right leg.
‘It’s not what it looks like,’ Charles stated hurriedly.
A perfectly shaped eyebrow rose on Jayden’s face. ‘Oh?’
A panicked look came upon Charles’ features. ‘He came on to me!’ he turned and roughly shoved Noel aside. ‘I told you to get away from me you disgusting fag!’
Noel stumbled back and watched with hurt flashing across his face as Charles picked up his backpack and stormed from the room.
Jayden watched him go with an unreadable look on his face before turning to Noel. ‘You really know how to pick them, don’t you?’
Noel flinched under his penetrating stare. ‘How long have you been here?’
‘Long enough.’
Noel shuffled his feet as the room descended into silence until he couldn’t take it anymore. ‘Aren’t you going to say anything?’ he blurted out.
‘What do you want me to say?’
‘Anything! Just stop looking at me like that.’
‘Alright.’ Jayden got to his feet and made his way over to him. ‘How long has it been going on?’
‘Since the games,’ Noel answered quietly. ‘I was putting things away in the volunteers’ room when he came in with an injury. The medic wasn’t present, so I dressed his wound for him and we ended up talking. Before I knew it, he reached over and kissed me. We didn’t talk about it after and pretended nothing had happened until…’
Jayden, who had been listening in silence, glanced at him. ‘Until?’
‘Until after the play. I was practicing in the music room when the director came in with Charles, she wanted me to tutor him on the piano. I tried to get out of it but she insisted and no one else was available. At our first lesson, we had an argument which ended up with us making out…’
‘And you’ve been making out ever since,’ Jayden finished with a tinge of dry humour in his voice. ‘The perfect cringey ending to the perfect cringey Wattpad romance novel.’
‘I wasn’t…’
‘Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?’
Noel looked down at his feet. ‘I always knew you would figure it out eventually. You would have figured it out sooner if…’
Noel bit his lips as he trailed off but Jayden nodded in understanding. ‘If I hadn’t been caught up in my own drama you mean.’
Jayden shook his head as he continued to stare at Noel.
‘Stop.’
Jayden frowned. ‘Stop what?’
‘Stop looking at me as if I’m a disappointment.’
Jayden sighed and placed his hand on his shoulder. ‘You’re not a disappointment. Your taste in men is disappointing but you’re not. I mean of all the people in this school did it have to be him.’ He shook his head to himself. ‘It doesn’t matter now anyway cause you’re not seeing him again.’
Noel frowned and shrugged Jayden’s hand off his shoulder. ‘What?’
Jayden shook his head. ‘I can’t let you see him again.’
‘I don’t see how that is your decision to make.’
Jayden heard the anger that had begun to seep into his best friend’s voice. ‘Calm down, it’s for your own good. Trust me, he is bad news.’
‘And how would you know? You never took the time to know him. You never take the time to know anyone, all you do is walk around with a glare complaining about how miserable your life is. Well news flash, not everything is about you and forgive me for not feeling sorry for you in your so called “gilded cage”.’
Jayden took a step back. ‘Okay, where is all this coming from? I only want what’s best for you.’
‘And how do you know what that is? How would you know what that is when for the past few weeks, you have been a shitty friend? You disappear for hours and when I try to talk to you your mind is somewhere else.’
Jayden blinked in surprise. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know…’
Noel shook his head. ‘You’ve lost the right to tell me what to do. I am going to keep seeing him if I want.’
Jayden grabbed his hand. ‘Listen to me, I know you think I say this because I hate him, but I care about you more than I despise him, and I’ve known him much longer than you have. He is used to getting whatever he wants and what you won’t give he will take. Trust me, your boyfriend is nothing but trouble.’
Noel removed his hand from Jayden’s grasp as he mumbled, ‘He is not my boyfriend.’
Jayden scoffed at that and his voice turned scathing. ‘Of course, he is not. Even after everything he cannot even give you the dignity of calling you, his boyfriend.’
Noel suddenly grew furious. ‘Spare me the self-righteousness. Have you forgotten that Samuel is not your boyfriend either? How can you feel so righteous after you made out with someone’s boyfriend? He cheated on her with you, you bitch!’
Jayden eyes grew wide with surprise before turning livid. ‘Fine, I’m a bitch. But at least I’m not so blinded by love that I’m letting myself get used like a common whore.’
A loud slap rung out across the room before slowly descending into the silence. Noel’s eyes grew horrified as he stared at the reddening mark on Jayden’s face. His hand reached toward Jayden but he thought better of it and without a word, he was gone.
Jayden stood and stared at the space where Noel had stood before slowly leaving the room himself.
Later that night, Jayden was pacing in his dorm. It was almost close to midnight before the door opened and Noel entered. He rushed into his room without sparing Jayden a glance. Jayden stood and stared at his closed bedroom door but it didn’t open again.
He sighed and made his way out of the dormitory and into the night. It wasn’t long before he was climbing the ladder to the roof of the observatory. Samuel was already waiting for him when he arrived.
‘I broke up with Pearl,’ he announced immediately he saw Jayden.
Jayden simply nodded as he sat down beside him. Samuel frowned and peered closer at him. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘It’s nothing.’
‘Jayden…,’ the was a note of warning in his tone.
Jayden sighed and turned to face him. ‘Fine. It’s about Noel.’
Samuel listened in thoughtful silence as Jayden explained the events that had transpired during the day.
‘I see,’ he said simply when Jayden was done.
Jayden sighed and laid down against the roof of the observatory. ‘I don’t know how to get him to stop seeing Charles.’
‘You can’t.’ Samuel laid down beside him and glanced up at the stars twinkling above. ‘He is right. It’s his choice.’
Jayden sat up and stared at him. ‘I need to do something. Charles may be an idiot, but he is a dangerous one and I don’t want him to get hurt.’
Samuel chuckled. ‘You sound like a worried parent.’ His voice then turned serious. ‘I know what kind of person Charles is. I grew up around him too but…,’ here he sighed. ‘We really can’t do anything. You’ve told him the kind of person he is, but he doesn’t believe you. Love is blind and chooses to both ignore and accept our worst faults. Who knows, maybe he really will change.’
‘What if he doesn’t?’
‘Then Noel would have to learn that the hard way. What we need to do, all we can do really, is to be there for him if he gets hurt.’
Jayden sighed heavily. ‘I don’t know if I can just sit back and watch.’
‘You can and you will. Now stop thinking about it, worrying won’t solve the problem it would just take away your peace of mind.’
Jayden nodded hesitantly. ‘Fine.’
‘Good.’ Samuel suddenly pulled Jayden down and climbed on top of him. Jayden gave him a wary look as he smiled brightly down at him.
‘What are you doing?’
‘I broke up with Pearl,’ Samuel announced brightly.
Jayden blinked in surprise. ‘Oh. How did she take it?’
‘Not well,’ Samuel answered, wincing sightly at the memory. ‘I still feel guilty about it but,’ here his smile turned into a smirk. ‘That means I can now do what I’ve been wanting to do for a while.’
Jayden smirked and, in a flash, their positions were reversed. ‘And what exactly is that?’ he asked as he looked down at Samuel.
Samuel blinked in surprise for a moment at the sudden change in their positions. He then smiled as he innocently said, ‘Kiss you until you pass out.’
Jayden arched his brow in amusement. ‘We will see about that.’
Samuel lips quirked slightly as he reached up to pull Jayden closer, capturing his lips in a soft kiss as the night stars twinkled above in that ancient sea of the night.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: When I first planned to take a break from writing, I was not even remotely planning for it to be six months. I went through a lot in those months and a lot has changed but, when I first began this book more a year and some odd months ago, I made a promise to myself, to my characters and most importantly to my readers; that I would stick with this book till the end.
I am pleased to announce, that after a long -and very unforeseen- hiatus, I am now back to fulfill that promise. I still haven’t recovered from what I’ve been through, and the journey ahead is long and wrought with tribulations, but I plan on seeing this to the very end.
Thank you all for your patience and for sticking with me this far.
❤️
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