"How'd you mess things up already?" Axel questioned as him and Wolfe returned to their room. Wolfe looked over in confusion, asking Axel what he meant.
"What do you mean what do I mean? The whole school knows something happened between Nova and you. I mean, it's only the second day so it's a pretty big deal."
Wolfe sighed as he recalled the events that took place earlier that day.
He had left Nova in the gardens all alone and returned to the classroom. In hindsight, he found that his actions were rather drastic. He had begun regretting the way he went about things and already wanted to clear up things with Nova, but feared that she wouldn't accept his apology.
"Ugh!" Wolfe grunted at his own stupidity. "I need your help Axel. We barely know each other, but I really need you to help me. I have to fix things."
"You know, I can't really help you if I don't know why the two of you are the way you are. So how about you tell me everything and we figure it out along the way?"
Wolfe was conflicted on whether to tell Axel everything about himself along with his barely formed relationship with Nova. He had learned from his interaction with Nova that trying to hide the truth would only make it worse for him. But he was unsure if he could trust Axel. "Will you tell me a little about yourself if I tell you what's going on?" Wolfe asked, hoping to gain some insight on whether Axel was trustworthy.
"Alright then. It's a deal." Axel delightfully replied.
And so Wolfe explained how he tried his best to fight off the 3 boys but was inevitably saved by Nova. He went over how they had met at the Kitchen after the event in the Arena, and that today was only the third time they had spoken.
Axel, throughout the conversation, sat with an intrigued posture, leaning forward so much so that he nearly slipped off his bed twice. His hands were cupped, the right over the left, and placed on his knees as he continued listening to Wolfe explain how sudden and convenient his meeting with Nova was.
Axel stopped Wolfe from continuing any further, since the boy's words had just devolved into possible reasons why Nova was so interested in him and why she would have approached him.
"It's time to hold up my part of the deal i guess. Since you didn't react the first time I told you my name, I'm guessing you are oblivious to many things. The Fulgur family is a Noble family branching from the royal Filgor family."
Wolfe immediately had a question for Axel. "If you're from a noble family then you could have easily afforded your private room. So why'd you choose a shared one?"
"What's the fun in living alone?" Axel began. "I've been living with my cousins and siblings for all my life, so living alone seems rather foreign to me. Isn't it always better to have people to talk to?"
Wolfe smiled at Axel's reasoning. Unlike Axel, Wolfe had no choice but to opt for a shared room, so he was glad someone like Axel had such an untainted approach to it all. Under normal circumstances, he would have recoiled at the fact that Axel hailed from a nearly-royal family, but these circumstances were far from normal. Axel was far from normal.
Axel and Wolfe went on talking about something and nothing until dinner time. Wolfe spoke about his fairly uneventful life without disclosing much about his origins, while Axel went on and on about the different members of his joint family and how odd most of them were. Wolfe, who had never had any friends his age in the servants quarters, was rather dumbfounded at how much fun he was having.
The longer they spoke, the closer Wolfe got to believing that Axel was some long lost brother of his. For the first time in his life he felt like he had a friend he could trust.
On their way to dinner, Wolfe got the usual disgusted looks, along with some mocking ones, thrown at him. The gazes got worse at the Kitchen, so much so that the students seated at Wolfe's table had their eyes stuck on him rather than their food.
Meanwhile, Axel looked around for Nova in order to work things out with her regarding Wolfe. Despite his laid-back attitude, Axel was very observant and skilled in noticing the slightest change in a person's behaviour. He had taken an interest in behavioural psychology from a young age and using the resources of the Fulgur family he was able to learn a lot about the subject.
He had obviously noticed the shift in Wolfe's demeanour when he spoke about Ray. It told him that Wolfe clearly had some foul history with Ray and maybe didn't want to reveal that side of himself to Nova, thereby causing the rift between them.
But despite his efforts, he could not find Nova anywhere in the vast Kitchen. He could only imagine what she must be feeling after receiving everyone's mocking gazes throughout the day when she had done nothing to trigger them.
Wolfe got out of his seat immediately as he finished dinner, rushing out of the Kitchen instead of waiting for Axel because he couldn't handle the ridiculing looks anymore. Axel chewed faster, hoping to catch up to Wolfe before he locked himself in the dorm room.
Wolfe walked out into the cool, windy night, creeping through the shadow of the massive trees and only stepping into the light when necessary. There was no one walking outside at this time but Wolfe stuck to the shadows just in case someone popped out of nowhere.
He stared at the ground as he walked alone in the darkness, not a soul behind him or ahead. In this brief moment of isolation Wolfe felt serenity. The soundless night was perfect for him to explore his emotions, but detrimental as well since the only emotion in his head was that of frustration.
He was frustrated at how he had ruined things with Nova.
He was frustrated at the way people were looking at him.
He was frustrated at...everything.
The only good thing he had going today was his developed friendship with Axel. He knew Axel cared. He knew Axel would understand.
As Wolfe was about to turn around to head back to Kitchen, a hand tapped at his shoulder. "Oh, Axel. Sorry for leaving you behind, I was just about to go bac-"
The hand swivelled Wolfe around aggressively, throwing him off balance for a second. Before Wolfe had a chance to recognise the face of the person behind him, their fist rushed towards him. It hit him hard in the nose, so hard that it bent out of shape.
Another fist slammed into the side of his head before Wolfe could shout, sending him into a short period of unconsciousness.