Rei is terrified.
The boy was currently sitting in the passenger seat of Xavier's obviously very expensive car. He forgot what it was called, but he knew he should not attempt or do touch anything.
He might break something more expensive than all of his organs combined.
The boy on the driver's seat noticed his companion's discomfort and immediately stopped the car just a few meters away from their university. Rei knew this could result in him gaining his first-ever late attendance but at that moment, he barely thought of giving a single fuck.
"Are you alright?" Xavier asked, his tone laced with concern as he was about to touch the cheek of the boy beside him. Rei reluctantly pulled away, afraid of anyone passing by and seeing them in that position.
Said nosy people might tell his sworn enemy and of course, she would definitely find all sorts of ways to humiliate him again.
The taller of the two saw the anxiety in Rei's eyes and pulled his hand back. He did not want to push it, afraid of worsening the other boy's worries.
Rei took it as an opportunity to answer Xavier's question earlier before awkwardness took over them. "Yeah," He unconsciously played with his hands. "I'm alright, just a bit nauseous that's all,"
The pale-skinned boy was lying but he hoped that Xavier would not notice.
Unfortunately, the latter did. However, he made sure that Rei would not know that he knew since it would only worsen what the other boy was currently feeling.
The awkward silence continued until somebody knocked on Rei's window, making him jump in surprise. It was Medea, who was grinning so widely that Rei thought for a minute that she was going cuckoo.
Not that his friend was not a little bit cuckoo in the first place, Rei thinks.
"When do you plan to get out? Classes are about to start, lovebirds!"
Her words made Rei flush which he immediately hid by coughing. He glared at Medea through the glass that separated them but he knew Medea would not be scared of his glare. They were friends, after all.
Since it looked like Medea would not be leaving the two boys inside the car anytime soon, Rei decided to turn to Xavier who was just staring at him.
More like staring at my lips, the perverted side of Rei's mind gushed. Rei chased those thoughts away as he cleared his throat, making the boy beside him look away, embarrassed at being caught.
"I'll be off then," The pale-skinned boy says, his cheeks still warm from remembering how they ate together for breakfast. "Thanks for earlier--"
"Do you want to eat dinner with me later? My treat,"
Xavier's sudden question made Rei's eyes widen and he let out a soft gasp. He regained composure straight away by once again hiding it with a fake cough. "I have work today,"
Liar, the perverted side of his brain once again reprimands him. You don't have work on Tuesdays, you idiot!
His response made Xavier frown but the boy said nothing. Realizing that staying much longer to wait for Xavier's response would only make the situation awkward once again, Rei bid the boy goodbye and jumped out of the car.
Medea grinned at her friend the moment he closed the car's door and slung an arm around his neck, pulling him close. "I thought you would stay there with him for the rest of the day," She teased. "How's the sex?"
Rei choked on his saliva and scowled when Medea laughed again at his pitiful state. "What the fuck Medea?"
"What?" His friend shrugged innocently but Rei knew better than thinking that Medea could be innocent. "Shouldn't best friends tell each other how their first times go? Is he as big as everyone said he would be?"
Her obscene words only made Rei's cheeks warm even more. He knew he wasn't the most innocent of all, or even innocent at all, but Medea was definitely trying to vanish the existence of his remaining innocence once and for all. "Why would you think that we did something like those in your wild daydreams with Mr. Wade?
It was his friend's turn to glare at him, shushing him immediately as she scanned their surroundings for anyone who might have heard. It was because she had a reputation to uphold, she tells Rei when they were sophomores. Rei remembered hitting her with his pencil case that time.
"Don't bring Mr. Wade into this," Her scowl did not last as she grins in a teasing manner at her friend again. "Anyway, I can definitely confirm you did something since you are desperate enough to change the topic,"
Rei was about to deny her claims once again when Medea let out a loud gasp that caught the attention of most of the students in their room, except Enya and Jest who looked like they were arguing.
"Was he that bad at sex that you won't even spare me the deets?!"
Now Rei can confirm his only friend in the entire university is definitely cuckoo.
°
The rest of the day went on as usual. Medea passed time by sleeping on Rei's shoulder without getting caught by their teachers, Rei taking notes like a robot with a very important job, and of course, Enya glaring holes at him the entire period.
Rei still had no idea why Enya hated him. Sometimes he did not want to know at all.
Xavier was talking to Jest about something. It looked like the long-haired boy was making his friend do something but Xavier is reluctant. Rei silently wondered what their conversaton was about.
When reccess came along, Rei decided not to drink his usual vending machine coffee and opt for a granola bar instead. It was cheaper than the coffee but tastes like shit. At least he had something to eat, he thinks.
He stole a glance at Xavier eating a sandwich alongside Jest and Enya who looked like they were arguing again. After a few minutes of two bickering loudly enough for Rei and the rest of those who decided to eat their snacks to hear snippets of their conversation, Enya stands up from her seat and walks out, pulling Jest with him.
Xavier looked at his friends leaving but made no movement to follow them. He continued eating his sandwich in silence as everybody continued on with their business. Regardless, it was obvious that everyone including Rei still wondered what all the fuss was about.
Rei was about to leave his table as he finally finished the granola bar (despite hating it and wishing he did not buy it) when Medea sat beside him bringing a bucket of fries with her. The boy wondered how his best friend (and only friend) could eat the same fries with the same flavor every single day without losing interest.
"Hey, what's with the popular kids fighting?" She asked, still watching while eating multiple pieces of fries at once.
"Do you really think that me, out of all people here, would know?" Rei turned to Medea with a raised eyebrow.
Medea shrugged. "Well," Her eyes were still on Xavier who was all alone at the table. "Maybe Xavier told you something big was about to happen when you were having se--"
Rei immediately covered his friend's loud and big mouth with his hands. Without warning, Medea started licking his palm, making Rei grimace and wipe the saliva of his friend on a tissue he had on his pocket for some reason.
"Shut up!" The pale-skinned boy hissed, as he looked around anxiously, worried that anyone with big ears and amazing hearing might hear. He cannot afford to have people spreading false rumors about him being in cahoots with the most popular guy in their university.
Enya would definitely murder him and sell his organs to the black market if the rumors being spread about him and her best friend would reach her!
Rei shivered at the thought of Enya's wrath. He might get all sarcastic and snarky with the girl, but he knew deep down that she should not be crossed.
Upon realizing that nobody was close enough to hear (and paid attention) Rei sighed in relief. Medea did not notice this, as her eyes were still on Xavier, who probably already noticed how everyone's eyes are on him and finally decided to leave.
Of course, not without stealing a glance at Rei, who turned away immediately to avoid anyone from noticing who Xavier looked at.
But since Medea always knew what was going on, she smirked at her friend. "Fishy," Rei turned to her and was about to say something but Medea raised her hands and grinned again. "Shh, child. I already know what you are about to say and I will tell you in advance that I absolutely know you are lying,"
All Rei could do was sigh in defeat. He knew denying would do him no good. However, he still had to clear something up. "Medea, we did not have sex," Medea frowned. "And probably never will."
"Then why is he looking at you like you're a delicious snack?"
Rei rolled his eyes and glared at his friend. The two were already walking towards their next class. It was weird how Medea wanted to go to their next class which is History, but Rei thought it was probably just because she wanted to listen more to what her friend was about to say.
"He's definitely not doing that," He knew he could not say anything else to make Medea believe his words, so the boy only internally hoped that Medea would drop it. "We only ate breakfast together,"
His statement made the girl's eyebrow raise. "Breakfast?"
Rei nods. "Uh-huh," The two were finally at their room. Rei noticed how Xavier was still not in the room alongside Jest and Enya. Medea sat on the last row, and on the nearest chair to the door.
She pats the seat next to her. "So he paid for the breakfast and all that shit?"
The boy sat on the chair and nodded. He was quick to notice how his friend frowned as if she was bothered by how the response that she recently got.
"What's wrong?"
Medea looked worried for once. "It's just," For the first time outside the topic being about Mr. Wade, the girl seemed to have paid attention whether people are listening or not in their conversation. She spoke in an even quieter voice. "I find it suspicious why he's being all nice to you,"
Rei stared at her and was not able to say anything to defend the boy he recently was with. Not that he could, because Medea was.. right.
The girl on his side took his silence as her cue to continue talking. "He never looked twice at your direction when we were still freshmen and sophomores, so why now? What's with the sudden change in behavior?"
Her eyes drifted to the seat where Enya usually sat on. "I just can't help but think that it's the witch's doing," After a moment of silence, her eyes returned to Rei's silent state. "What if she's making him play with you? I mean, she knows you're not into Jest so she makes Xavier do it and since he probably could not refuse, she deems him the perfect tool for her ploy to get rid of you."
Rei could not help himself from exhaling sharply with what he just heard. "What the fuck, honestly," Medea looked at him with a mixture of sympathy and sadness in her eyes. He looked away, not wanting to see pity in his friend's eyes. "Enya should get over herself, it's not like she's the only one around here who's allowed to get good grades. She's not even in a scholarship that requires us "peasants" to get a high as fuck GPA."
Medea leaned towards his ear and whispered, "Well, I heard some rumors saying that she's actually desperate to get a high GPA because she wants to do her father proud, you know, the governor?"
"Her dad's the governor?!"
The girl immediately placed both her hands on her friend's mouth to shut him up. Realizing that some of their classmates started paying attention to their conversation, she glared at them until they moved away and stopped listening openly. She turns back to her friend who was wearing the sheepish grin that she had a few moments earlier. "Are you honestly trying to make the witch know that we're talking shit about her?"
"Not that she doesn't know," Rei shrugs. "Everyone's talking shit about her anyway with the whole fiasco earlier."
Medea rolled her eyes but agreed nonetheless. "Have you honestly been living under a rock?" Their professor suddenly entered the room and started discussing immediately. The two ignored her. "Anyway, I have no idea if the rumors were true but judging by how asshole-like her dad looks on television, there might be some truth in those gossips,"
The pale-skinned boy was undecided on what to do with the information. Sure, everyone had people or themselves to pressure them into doing more than what they are capable of, but is it really enough reason to bully and humiliate innocent people constantly?
His friend was quick to notice how he needed time to dwell regarding the new information he just acquired. She left him to his thoughts and just rested her head on his shoulder, remaining silent.
Between the confusion and the anger he could feel growing inside of him, he lets out a shaky breath and decided to distract himself by taking notes instead.
Rei knew he should take Medea's words of concern into consideration, especially regarding the possibility of Xavier playing with him the entire time, but for some reason, the boy could not help himself from hoping that his friend was lying.
He could only hope.