The rumours surrounding Wolfe and Nova skyrocketed due to their absence during the lectures. Ray was slowly reeled into the story since he was the last one who had spoken to both of them.
Ray sat stone-faced in his seat as everyone around him falsely incriminated him of being involved with Nova and Wolfe. Nobody, including Ray, knew of the injuries the two had faced, and the mystery behind their disappearance was of great interest to the general student body.
"Is it true?" A cheeky voice asked from behind Ray. Turning around, Ray came face to face with Desmond Harcos, his slick black hair falling onto Ray's face. The boy's pale complexion made him look like a vampire from Ray's perspective.
A light stream of air left Ray's palm and swatted away Desmond's hair, slightly pushing the boy back as well. Desmond sat in his seat, laughing as he readjusted his hairstyle.
"So? Are the rumours true or not?" Desmond asked, his demeanour demanding an answer immediately.
"You think I'll listen to you just cos your granddad's the king?" Ray thought as he scorned Desmond's mocking gaze. He turned back to face the front of the class instead of saying anything.
This seemed to tug at Desmond's pride, making the boy double down on his questioning. "Are you too embarrassed to answer?" He mocked, hoping that would hurt Ray's ego enough for him to make a fool of himself.
The old Ray would have fallen for the obvious bait, but he had changed over the last month. Schelo's death had struck an emotional cord in Ray, one that he didn't know he had. Seeing his teacher's life end at his hands had taught him to tread carefully with every action he took. He didn't want to rush into anything unprepared anymore to avoid causing any more damage to himself and those he cared about.
His goal in life at the moment was to find the identity of the person who was in the room with Ray and Schelo that day. The one who had run away and left Ray alone to fight Schelo. But he had no leads on their identity. He had no way of identifying them since he hadn't had a chance to notice anything unique about them that would make them stand out.
His goal was un-achievable at this point, so the best thing he could do was become strong enough, both mentally and physically, to make sure he would have the resources to find the person later on in life.
Desmond's face twisted as Ray continued to ignore his questions. The students who had followed Desmond were beginning to drift away after his inability to mock Ray. Desmond was making a fool out of himself, and everyone could see it.
"Time to switch strategies." Desmond thought as he jumped out of his seat and sat next to Ray. He nudged Ray softly with his elbow as if they were childhood friends and asked. "How much longer are you going to ignore me, Ray? Aren't you bored of all this silence?"
Ray was indeed bored, but watching Desmond fall into disappointment and frustration was more entertaining than striking up a conversation with him. Ray was laughing inside as Desmond lost his cool. Desmond had always had his way because of his blue blood, but Ray wasn't going to budge his pride to suck up to Desmond.
For a moment Ray wondered if this was how Wolfe felt when opposing him, but the thought soon faded away, leaving a bitter taste in Ray's mouth. The thought would return to him later that night while he lay in his bed after a heartful dinner.
The crowd around Desmond thinned even further and the boy could feel his grasp over the other students fade away slowly. He was very close to walking away too, but the thought of walking away defeated by a guy who hadn't spoken a word embarrassed him.
He was the king's grandson, but in the end he was still a student at Zychs. His blood could only get him that far in life, so he had to make sure all the students here respected him enough to do whatever he asked them to.
"It's time to double down." He thought as he looked at Ray.
"So what's up with you and Nova? Haven't seen her around lately."
Desmond smiled as he saw Ray's face twitch a little. Gasps flew around the room as the students who had walked away returned with an excited look on their faces. A few scattered laughs and whispers sounded around Ray as his stone-faced demeanour slowly began shattering.
Nova was one of the few people Ray cared about since she had always stuck by his side, no matter what. His social life had been cut off by his parents at a young age and Nova was the only one out of a whole bunch of other kids who still visited after he was all alone.
He suspected that his parents had stopped the other kids from coming over to the mansion since most of them were barely from Noble families. The thought of having their son hang around people of lower birth irked them, and they did everything in their power to stop that from ever happening again. Nova obviously had been an exception since she too was a royal child and was deemed worthy of being friends with Ray by his parents.
Though the two had drifted apart recently, Ray still cared deeply about her. "It's all that servant's fault," Ray told himself, blaming Wolfe for the drift between him and Nova instead of taking into account his own terrible attitude.
"Oooo. Looks like I finally struck a chord." Desmond mocked as Ray's face darkened. "I bet you felt terrible when she grabbed that low-class boy and ran out of the classroom. Did you feel betrayed? How long have you even known her for? 10 years? 12?
"Did it hurt when your friend rushed out of the room with someone you hate?" Desmond's face was only an inch away from Ray's, and Ray could feel his ridiculing warm breath hit his cheekbones. Desmond's eyes glared into Ray's as he smiled connivingly.
Ray turned to Desmond in anger. He wanted to punch Desmond, but held himself back. The fact that Nova had rushed out with Wolfe still annoyed him, but he understood that it was his comment that led to her actions. The way he spoke about Wolfe clearly disgusted her, but he still stuck by his words.
He didn't know what exactly had transpired between the two of them that made Nova return with a saddened expression, but he knew for sure that nothing was going on between her and Wolfe. He was sure it was purely platonic. At Least he hoped it was.
Desmond smiled cheekily at Ray's disgusted face as he walked back to his seat.
The bell indicating the start of the next class broke the unbearable silence that had taken over the class.