Chereads / Where the Earth Stands Still / Chapter 30 - Brody’s Story: Part One

Chapter 30 - Brody’s Story: Part One

Brody glares at the back of Greyson Stone's head a moment more before clicking his tongue. He can't seem to get away from that ridiculous town and the people in it no matter where he goes.

The first day of the fall semester. Why had he dragged his feet so much? He could be graduated already, but he changed his major three times, failed two classes, and just doesn't care anymore, to be honest. Now he's stuck in this class full of idiots.

"I'll only do this once," bellows out the voice of his professor from the front of the room. "You are all adults and are responsible for yourselves. That includes your decision to come to my lectures."

Without any further explanation, he looks down at a clipboard and calls out,

"Anderson, Robert?"

"Present."

"Arellano, Maria?"

Blah, blah, blah.

Do I really have to sit through this? he wonders. Just get to the lecture, already.

"Cole, Kaius?"

A boy in the front of the classroom waves his fingers at the professor in reply.

"A simple 'present' will do, Mr. Cole." He pushes his glasses up his face to look at the boy in front of him.

"Everything about me has presence. And please, darling, call me Kai. This isn't our first time, after all."

Is he seriously causing a scene in the first five minutes?

"Mr. Cole, must I count your attitude present while the rest of you marches out of my lecture? I will not do this another semester."

So he says. But Brody can see his flushed face from the back of the lecture hall. Just another person on the list of idiots wrapped around that kid's finger. Still, he commends the man for his composure.

"Present," Kaius nods with a wink.

"Disgusting," mutters Brody under his breath. He looks out the window, wishing he could just go back to bed. Couldn't it at least be raining outside? This blinding morning filled with chirping birds and slow-moving clouds doesn't match his mood at all. It's so annoying.

"Brody," someone hisses, nudging his arm.

Do I know you? he thinks with a scowl before realizing the lecture hall is waiting silently as the professor looks around.

"No Miller, Brody?" the man asks, lifting pen to paper.

"Present!" He stands without thinking. No one else stood when their name was called.

"Ah, in the top row. I do hope I can count on your attention in the future."

Brody sits stiffly. He had managed to not only draw attention to himself but make a fool of himself in the process. He glares at a few people until they look away.

Still feeling the eyes of someone at the front of the class, he looks down to see the curious smirk of Kaius observing his every move. The kid's gaze doesn't falter, even as Brody's eyes bore into him. In fact, his smile only broadens the longer he stares.

Damn it. Just ignore him.

One week later

He'd said to get on with it, but did that menace of a professor really have to go and give them an assignment the first week? Why did he have to take humanities when he wanted nothing to do with it? He just wants to be successful. But he has to graduate before doing that.

He looks down at his crumpled handout.

Write a 5000 word essay on how a local legend shaped a land and how it affects the people today.

What a bunch of nonsense. But he knew the moment it was passed to him what he'd write about. Shanan has a good legend behind it. He remembers hearing it over and over as a kid. Unfortunately, no section in the university's library had the book he was looking for. He'd had to ask his uncle to send him a copy of the printed book from his childhood.

He sits down at an empty desk in the nonfiction section to refresh his memory:

The town of Shanan was founded by a man named Gilbert Shannon. The legend revolves around his story as his travels led him to what are now the boundaries of the town. He supposedly found in its forest the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

The creature was neither woman nor man, neither beast nor spirit—simply beauty in its truest form. It asked the traveler what he wanted most in the world, promising to help him find his dream.

This was where the idiot made his first mistake. He told the breathtaking creature that his greatest wish was to find true love. He should have said lots of money or power over his enemies. But love...

The creature seemed pleased with his response. It told the man that if he came back every day for an entire moon's cycle, it could grant his wish.

And this is where it gets interesting. Everyone always says the man was betrayed by the beautiful creature. But it did just what it said it would.

The man came back every day and eventually fell for the being—and the being for the man. He named the creature Shan'an after his own namesake. It supposedly meant 'forever'.

So the idiot found the love he was looking for. The only trouble was, Shan'an failed to mention that the man's imperfection would slowly taint the creature's beauty, corroding it away bit by bit every rising of the moon until there was nothing left.

When the man came back one day, it was simply gone. And so he cursed the creature for leaving him alone and vowed to never let its soul leave the land behind. It would be stuck there, keeping the country pure and unchanged 'forever'.

Brody flicks the pages with an annoyed finger. How is he supposed to write an essay about how that shaped a land and people?

It was all a metaphor, anyway. He used to believe it meant that beauty was only so important. And that for humans, unlike the creature who was made of nothing but, when beauty fades away, there is still so much left over to love. Flaws and weaknesses, even ugliness remained. He loved that story. It made him believe he could find someone who would not just see past his weakness but see his ugliness as beauty instead.

Now he knows better. What it's saying is your ideal doesn't exist, so don't bother chasing after it. Even when beauty is placed in front of you, it doesn't matter, it won't last. Because you yourself are too ugly and unworthy to deserve it. Just like he didn't deserve it with Shane. It will fade away before you get a chance to change.

But it's just a legend, after all. A stupid one. He can't accept it as anything more than folklore. As much as he wishes he could—he just can't. He would never find anything close to true love.

His girlfriend of two years found him on the first day of the semester to promptly break off their relationship. Said she could deal with a lot of things but being ignored all summer was not one of them. So much for all that effort. But at least now he can fool around and find distractions without being yelled at.

"Whatcha reading there?" calls out a confident and too-loud voice beside him.

Brody removes his hand from under his chin to glare at the person interrupting his studies. Though, he had no way of knowing he was distracted already.

Immediately, he regrets his actions. It's him. Why did he know his name? Kaius Cole. Everyone knows his name, that's why.

"Is that any of your business?"

"I'm Kai. We're in the same humanities class," he swings a chair around without even asking first and sits as though he's the queen of the campus.

"Are we?" He turns back to his books.

"And you're Brody," he continues, unphased, touching the edge of Brody's childhood book.

Brody slams the book closed and pulls another toward him, sending the obvious message that he isn't interested in the conversation.

"Now that the important stuff is out of the way..." He wants him to look at him, Brody can tell. He tries blocking him out, instead.

"I may stop by the infirmary later. Care to escort me?" Without meaning to, Brody looks up. Kai's smile is too wicked, too intentional.

"Why the hell would I do that? You sick or something?"

The boy looks shocked for a moment then amused as though he's missing the whole point of the question. His laughter isn't forced at all and is both loud and...not unpleasant. Brody turns away again, refusing to play along.

The feel of a hand on his arm and breath in his ear is shocking enough. But the words spoken in a terribly executed whisper blow it all out of the water.

"The school nurse gives out condoms."

Brody shoves the boy away from his face. "Have fun," he spits in disgust. He can't help but look around and wonders if anyone saw them. But Kaius stands, carefully placing the chair back where he found it.

"I'll see you around. Unless you find me first." He winks. Then with a flourish, he's gone.

Some invitation.

He'd already been fooled by the fantasies and stories of these dumb university guys he called his friends. And when he believed he could have what they advertised, he found out it was a lie. Just like the story.

The memory of Shane turning him away still stung. More so than the memory of his punch. He reaches for his jaw and distractedly touches his lips instead.

He was entranced once, but he would not be enticed by that kind of promiscuity. By that type.

Shane was perfect because he didn't act like a damn moron. He didn't dress like a girl or talk like everything was sweet as roses. This boy, Kaius, is not someone he can be seen with. He's dangerous. He's obvious. And there is absolutely nothing the kid could do to attract his desire.