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The Christmas break was over and the second term had begun. After a long and laboured campaign season, the results of the school elections would be announced tonight at the Headmistress’s Welcome Speech.
Election results however, were the last thing on Samuel’s mind. He paced up and down his dormitory the shared with Paul mumbling to himself.
‘It doesn’t make sense. I have a feeling I’m missing something, but what?’
He had just filled Paul in on everything that had gone on during the Christmas break and as he had recounted the story, he realized that something was off about the entire thing.
‘You also think it’s odd. Don’t you, Paul?’
Paul hesitated. ‘I guess so.’
‘No matter what he says, it can’t have been a lie. Everything we went through together, what we felt, it was all real.’
‘Er…’
‘You don’t think I’m being crazy, do you?’
‘Erm…’
Samuel stopped and stared at his best friend. ‘You think I’m crazy.’
‘I don’t…’
Samuel let out a frustrated cry and slumped to the ground. ‘Is Jayden right? Do I just don’t want to believe the truth so much that I’m becoming delusional?’
The look of raw heartbreak on Samuel’s face was enough to drive Paul to the edge. He couldn’t hold it back any longer. ‘You’re not being delusional. You know what you felt and what you felt was real.’
Samuel looked up with a tear-strewn face. ‘Then why would he do that? Why would he say that? It doesn’t make any sense.’
Paul bit his lip. ‘I don’t know.’
Samuel’s eyes narrowed. ‘You know something.’
Paul panicked. ‘What do you mean? I don’t know anything.’
Samuel stood. ‘What is it? Tell me what you know.’
‘I don’t know what you are talking about. Why do you think I know anything? I just found out what happened today.’
Samuel regarded his best friend closely. ‘You are a terrible liar, do you know that? For someone who is expected to lead his kingdom in the future, you have zero ability to hide what you’re thinking from your friends, and honestly, I would be more worried about that if I wasn’t so concerned with what I’m going through now. Spill.’
Paul felt offended. ‘I’m not a terrible liar, and in case you’ve forgotten, I’ve hidden stuff from you before. Anyway, I’m not lying. I really don’t know what you mean.’
Samuel gave him a long look then slumped back down in defeat. Paul came forward and rubbed his shoulder sympathetically.
‘Hey, don’t be like that. It’s going to be alright. Let’s say you’re right, and I’m hiding something. I wouldn’t be keeping it from you if I didn’t think Jayden had his reasons for wanting it to be kept secret.’
Samuel shot to his feet. ‘Aha! So there is something.’
Paul groaned exasperatedly. ‘Haven’t you been paying attention to a word I’ve been saying? Even if I am -which I’m not. But even if I am, why don’t you just trust Jayden to handle it.’
Samuel scoffed. ‘Oh, I trust him alright. I trust him to do whatever would be best for me. The only problem is, I don’t trust him to do what’s best for himself.’
Paul opened his mouth but realized he couldn’t really argue against that. He glanced at Samuel. ‘Hold on, where are you going?’
‘To see that stupid idiot.’
‘But I didn’t say anything.’
‘Oh, you said enough.’
The door closed behind him and Paul sat by himself in the middle of their living room. He looked sheepishly down at the rag. Jayden was not going to like this.
~
‘So, this is where you live?’
Jayden rolled his eyes exasperatedly as Azrael walked around his room, interestedly poking through his things. Being with him for days on end, Jayden had grown to realize that dealing with him was like dealing with a hyperactive toddler, minus the occasional homicidal tendencies. And like a toddler, the best way to distract him was to give him bright colourful things to play with.
‘Put that down,’ he snapped, walking over to snatch his collector’s globe from Azrael’s inquisitive fingers.
If only the bright colourful things did not belong to his precious collection. He followed him around the dormitory as he rummaged through the cabinets. Sometimes, he wondered who was keeping an eye on whom.
‘This is boring,’ Azrael complained, turning to him with a pout. ‘Let’s find something fun to do.’
Jayden wasn’t in the mood to humour him. ‘I’m afraid there are no puppies in the immediate vicinity for you to terrorize.’
The door to the dormitory opened and Noel walked in with his suitcase, causing Azrael to immediately brighten up.
‘And who is this?’ he asked excitedly.
‘I… er….,’ Noel stuttered in surprise, looking from Jayden to this newcomer. ‘I’m Noel, nice to meet you.’
Azrael cocked his head to the side curiously. ‘If I kill you, would Jayden be distraught?’
Noel was taken aback by the suddenness and randomness of the question. ‘I… well, I damn sure hope he will be. I’m his best friend after all.’
‘I see. So you’re another, Damocles.’
Noel turned to Jayden in confusion. ‘What…’
But Azrael had already lost interest in him. He wandered off into the bathroom, and soon they heard the sound of shelves opening.
Noel looked to Jayden for an explanation but Jayden had already walked into the bathroom after Azrael. A moment later, he walked back out, dragging him behind him.
‘We’ll see you later,’ he said to Noel before marching out.
‘What?’ Azrael asked as soon as they were out of the dormitory. ‘I was on my best behaviour. I didn’t even threaten him.’
‘Aren’t you supposed to be in the auditorium by now? You are a member of staff, or have you forgotten that you have an actual job that doesn’t involve following me around?’
‘Oh…’
Azrael, it appeared, had very much forgotten this information. He waved away the concern. ‘Nevermind about that, when were you going to tell me about this lovely other weakness of yours?’
‘Why are you talking as if you didn’t about him already?’ Jayden replied, stepping into the elevator as it pinged open.
Azrael stepped in beside him. ‘I knew he was your friend. However, I was unaware just of how deep this friendship run. You really ought to have known better Jayden.’
‘It won’t matter soon anyway,’ Jayden answered, getting off the elevator as it opened on the ground floor.
‘Oh? And why is that?’
‘The situation over the past few days has taught me something. One, I do not like having strangers in my home. Two, I definitely do not like being watched. And three, I absolutely despise being dictated to.’ There was something cold and unfeeling in Jayden’s expression as he turned to look directly at Azrael. ‘All three were able to happen because I allowed myself to be weak. Not anymore.’
Azrael’s interest was piqued. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I am done with you. You no longer have any power over me. From now, I shall do as I please.’
Azrael’s eyes glinted. ‘What about Samuel?’
‘He was a weakness. That is a mistake I shall not repeat. Do what you want with him, it matters not.’
Azrael leaned closer to him. ‘I can kill him just to call your bluff.’
Jayden shrugged. ‘Then I will forever be free of him, won’t I?’
‘And Valentina?’
‘As much as I loathe how she was able to trap me, the fact that she was able to shows she has promise. I’ll keep her close for now. I might be able to work with her.’
‘What about me?’
‘Do as you please, just begone with you. I’m not going to tolerate your presence now that I have no reason to.’
Azrael beamed proudly. ‘I knew you’d come around. You were always very logical, that’s what I liked so much about you.’
Jayden gave him a look. ‘Why are you still here?’
Azrael grinned. ‘No hurries, no hurries. There’s still the question of what’s to be done with your old beau. Despite your new dispassionate feelings about him, I’ve decided to keep him alive. He is an object of interest to me, and I shall study him further.’
Jayden shrugged. ‘It’s your choice. Now, go away. You sicken me.’
Azrael laughed good-naturedly. ‘Seems like my watch has ended. I expect we’ll meet again soon, so I shall not be saying my goodbyes just yet.’
He waved at Jayden and placed his hands into his pockets, whistling a tune of some silly nursery rhyme as he strolled away.
Jayden waited outside the Scorpius building and minutes later, Noel stepped out. He walked up to Jayden, and together, they made their way toward the auditorium for the Welcome Speech.
‘The guy who was in our apartment just now,’ Noel started. ‘He was our former head prefect, wasn’t he.’
Jayden nodded. ‘He was.’
‘I thought I recognized him from somewhere. I didn’t know he was so….’
‘Crazy?’
Noel shook his head. ‘I was going to say eccentric.’ He furrowed his brows thoughtfully. ‘There’s something about him. Even though he appears so absentminded and laidback, I have this strange feeling that he’s always… aware of everything going on around him. Like nothing, not even the most unexpected thing, would be able to catch him by surprise.’
Jayden gave him an appreciative look. ‘Sometimes, I forget just how smart you are.’
Noel blinked in surprise at this sudden compliment. They had arrived at the auditorium which was slowly beginning to fill up with students.
Jayden was about to follow Noel to take a seat in one of the chairs in the middle of the room when he was stopped by Valentina.
‘I have already saved us a seat, Jayden. We are over there with my friends.’
Jayden glanced behind her to where a group of girls were sitting and giggling at one another. ‘Yeah, that’s not going to happen.’
Valentina’s smile remained in place, though her voice grew hard. ‘We have an agreement Jayden. Remember?’
‘And it will stand. However, I am not about to spend every waking moment with you and your troupe of airhead giggling idiots. I have the rest of my life to look forward to that singular pleasure.’
‘You are not being very obedient right now.’
There was a threatening edge to her tone, but Jayden was not about to back down.
‘I have been very agreeable of late but I advise you not to push your luck. You’ll get what you want, all I ask is to spend the last few moments I have left with my friends.’
Valentina frowned hesitantly, causing Jayden to roll his eyes impatiently. ‘What are you worried about? You still have that watchdog of yours keeping an eye on me, so you can be assured I won’t “misbehave”.’
‘Fine. But if you put one toe out of line, if I hear just even the slightest whisper, I’ll revoke those privileges. Are we clear?’
‘Trust me, the threat of your company is enough to strike terror into the most battle-hardened warriors.’
Valentina smiled and reached up to place a kiss on his cheek. ‘Good boy.’
She walked back to her friends and Jayden turned to come face-to-face with Leo. Leo wore a puzzled look on his face as he stared at the spot Valentina had just been standing in.
‘I don’t get it,’ he stated finally, looking up at Jayden. ‘Why are you with her at all? It’s obvious you can’t stand her.’
Jayden shrugged. ‘I can’t stand a lot of people. If I were to avoid everyone I didn’t like, I would virtually become a recluse.’
Leo’s frown deepened. ‘I still don’t get it.’
‘You don’t have to. Is there something you wanted?’
Leo snapped out of it. ‘Yes, right. Paul said he had to tell you something important. He said it has to do with what you wanted him to keep secret.’
Jayden frowned. ‘Where is he?’
‘The storage room on the next floor. He wanted me to tell you to hurry.’
‘Thanks,’ Jayden said, leaving quickly in the direction Leo had indicated.
He walked with urgent steps up the flight of stairs, heart thumping as a dozen possibilities raced through his head.
He barged into the storage room and looked around, but there was no Paul in sight. It was empty.
He frowned and walked around, wondering if he had gotten the right room. The door swung shut, and he looked up to see Samuel standing before him. He quickly rearranged his features into a neutral expression as Samuel walked up to him.
‘Paul isn’t coming.’
‘I figured. I suppose you’re the one who sent Leo.’
‘You wouldn’t have come if you knew it was me.’
‘With good reason.’ Jayden sighed impatiently. ‘Do we have to go through this again, or are you here to take me up on my offer to occasionally keep you company at night?
‘No,’ Samuel stated firmly. ‘We are not doing that again. It took a while for me to come out of my pain to think about it, but when I finally did I realized something.’
Jayden gave him a wary look. ‘What?’
‘You love me. Our relationship wasn’t a trick, and it’s not my imagination. We loved each other. We still do, and no matter how much you try to tell me otherwise, I know what we had. Something that strong, something that pure can’t be faked.’
‘You’re being delusional again.’
‘No, I’m not. I know I wasn’t, so I talked to Paul, and he told me everything so you can cut the crap now.’
Jayden’s eyes narrowed dangerously. ‘I’m going to kill him.’
Samuel’s eyes filled with relief and he walked up to wrap his arms around him. ‘I knew I wasn’t crazy.’ His arms wrapped tighter around him. ‘Please don’t do that again. I don’t think I would be able to handle it.’
Jayden hesitated but he had held back for so long that his arms automatically closed around Samuel and pulled him closer.
‘Me too,’ he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. ‘I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.’
He pulled away and looked into Samuel’s eyes. ‘I’m going to make this right, I promise. Paul shouldn’t have told you.’
Samuel grinned. ‘Don’t blame Paul. He didn’t say anything, you did.’
‘Huh?’
‘I had a feeling he was hiding something, so I pestered him, but he refused to tell me. I decided to just trick you instead, and it turns out I was right.’
Jayden cursed. ‘When did you become so conniving?’
Samuel smirked and kissed him softly on the lips. ‘I’ve been spending too much time with my calculating boyfriend,’ he said after he pulled away.
Jayden grinned despite himself, but the grin soon disappeared when a painful punch landed on the side of his arm.
‘Ow, what was that for?’ he complained, rubbing his side in pain.
‘That was for keeping me in the dark. What did you think I was going to let you off that easily? Now, tell me everything and don’t you dare hold anything back, else a punch would be the least of your worries.’
Jayden wavered, but the glare on Samuel’s face had him relenting. He might as well know everything now, he reasoned to himself and spent the next few minutes recounting the events that had transpired.
Samuel listened with an imperturbable expression, and as soon he was done recounting his tale, he was rewarded with another punch to his arm.
‘Ow! That hurts you know.’
‘Good. You, Jayden Mills, are an idiot. You are the most selfish, idiotic, self-serving, thoughtless creature known to mankind. How could you have kept something so important from me?’
Jayden started to protest, but Samuel cut him off sharply.
‘If you dare say that you were trying to protect me I’m going to hit you in the face.’
Jayden shut his mouth instantly but Samuel wasn’t done yet.
‘I wear if I ever hear you call Draco a house of self-sacrificing dimwits I would smack you on the mouth.’
Jayden was starting to grow perturbed by the increasing number of threats. ‘There’s no need to be so violent.’
That was the wrong thing to say, for the second the words were out of his mouth, Samuel’s eyes blazed with fury.
‘Then why in God’s name would you do something so stupid? With such noble intentions, did you stop for one second to think about how I would feel? Did it occur to you that maybe you didn’t need to solve it on your own?’
‘I-‘
‘Because you’re not alone, you blasted moron. When are you going to realize that as soon as you agreed to be in a relationship, it stopped being “I” and turned to “us”? We are a team. Whatever happens; highs or lows, trials or triumphs, we are supposed to face them together! If you can’t understand that then what’s the point?’
Jayden was sufficiently chastened. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘I don’t want to hear it. I’m so mad at you right now, you can’t even imagine.’ He paused and took a deep breath. ‘Luckily for you, now is not the time for that but make no mistake we would be picking this up again after this whole shitshow is done.’
Jayden nodded numbly. ‘I know I can’t make it up to you, but I promise to try.’
Samuel didn’t acknowledge his statement. ‘So, what’s the plan?’ he asked instead. ‘How are we going to deal with this mess?’
Jayden stared despondently at his shoes. ‘I’m still working on it. The first thing is to get rid of Azrael. Just a few hours ago, I feigned heartlessness toward him. I told him I was over you because I can’t handle having a weakness.’
Samuel looked hopeful. ‘Do you think he bought it?’
Jayden looked up and scoffed. ‘I couldn’t even convince you our relationship was a lie, how much more him?’
Samuel stamped his feet in frustration. ‘Then what are we going to do?’
‘For now, we have to keep pretending that everything is over between us. We can’t be seen together, not even among the others.’
‘That sucks.’
Jayden smiled bravely. ‘I know. I want to promise that it would all be over soon, but it won’t. It’s going to suck for a long while.’
Samuel smiled back at him. ‘I like it better when you are honest with me.’
Jayden grinned. ‘Does that mean I can get a kiss?’
‘Steady on, soldier. You are not out of the woods yet,’ Samuel said, but he reached up to place a small kiss on his cheek. ‘That’s all you’re going to get for now.’
Jayden’s grin widened. ‘I’ll take it.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘We should head back now before anyone notices we are missing.’
‘You’re probably right,’ Samuel agreed, but he didn’t look happy about it.
Jayden reached over to grab his hand, squeezing it comfortingly. ‘We’ll be alright.’
Samuel smiled at him and squeezed back. ‘I know.’
They reluctantly let go and walked to the door. Samuel stepped out first and Jayden followed, closing the door behind him.
Azrael had been waiting for them. He was sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the door. His back was against the wall and his legs were crossed loosely underneath him.
He smiled. ‘The two star-crossed lovers. I would like to say I am surprised, but I am not, despite the quite logical speech you gave earlier Jayden. You see while I may not be experienced in love, I am acquainted enough with its vagrancies to understand that it is no respecter of logic.’
He got to his feet and clapped his hands excitedly. ‘I can see that we are all up to speed, so I’m sure I don’t need to explain what is going to happen next.’
Jayden pulled Samuel behind him. ‘Enough foreplay. We both know the real reason you’re here so let’s cut to the chase.’
‘Oh?’
Jayden’s gaze was firm. ‘I will play with you.’
Azrael’s eyes blazed to life. ‘Finally.’
Samuel glanced from one to the other in confusion. The air crackled with electricity and it seemed as if they were having a conversation with their eyes. He was suddenly reminded of a nature documentary he had seen where two predators circled each other, each sizing the other up as they prowled silently on the savannah.
‘The first move is yours,’ Azrael spoke, his features dancing with anticipation.
Jayden’s jaw clenched. He knew what he had to do, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. However, if he was to stand any chance of winning, he had no choice but to make that move and Azrael knew it as well.
He stared directly into Azrael’s eyes. ‘Queen to E8.’
A slow smile snaked its way across Azrael’s face. ‘Very well.’
Jayden grabbed Samuel’s hand and dragged him away without another word. They strode down the stairs, stopping only after they had arrived at the entrance of the auditorium.
‘Hold on,’ Samuel said, pulling away. ‘We can’t go in together.’
‘You’re right. But first,’ he leaned in and captured Samuel’s lips in a long kiss. ‘Good luck out there.’
Samuel was still dazed from the kiss. ‘What?’
Jayden sent him a quizzical look. ‘The result of the school election. It’s being announced today.’
Samuel’s eyes widened. ‘Oh my, God.’
‘Don’t tell me you forgot.’
‘I was supposed to be there two hours ago! I got to go. I will talk to you later, I promise.’
He rushed off, and Jayden watched him go with a fond smile. He waited for a while before walking in himself.
The auditorium was bursting with students, and the meeting was just about to start. The prefects crowded around Francesca on the dais as she gave them some last-minute instructions.
Jayden cast a quick glance around the sea of students and after catching sight of his friends, walked up to them.
Paul looked up as he slid into the seat beside him. ‘What kept you?’
‘Funny you should ask that,’ Jayden replied dryly.
Paul’s expression turned sheepish. ‘Samuel told you?’
‘That you are useless? Yes, he might have mentioned it, and it’s a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with.’
‘It’s not my fault,’ Paul stated defensively. ‘I didn’t tell him anything. He figured it out on his own. What was I supposed to do? Gaslight him into thinking he was crazy?’
‘Yes.’
Paul stared at him in shock. ‘You are not serious.’
‘I’m as serious as a heart-attack which is what I’m wishing for you right now.’
Paul was about to protest but a commotion suddenly broke out on the stage. The students immediately got to their feet, a murmur breaking out amongst them as they craned their necks in an attempt to catch what was happening.
‘What happened? What’s going on?’ Leo yelled, jumping on his toes as he tried to see what was happening on the stage.
Paul, who was taller than him, had a clear view. ‘Jayden, you might want to see this. It’s Samuel.’
Author’s Note:
I am an Azrael apologist first and an author second. He wrecked some people’s relationship? He was just trying to have a little bit of fun, it’s their fault for getting his attention😤. He killed some people? They had skill issue 🤷🏽♂️besides there is overpopulation in the world, my little boy just cares about the climate🫶✨
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