CHAPTER TEN
The morning sunlight spilt in through the slightly open windows. The curtains gently swayed in the morning breeze.
Xerxes eyes fluttered open, revealing red pupils that seemed to dilate in the morning sun that hit his face. He could hear ivy's soft breathing in his ears. He turned to look at her to see she was still asleep. Apparently he had woken up before her which was good for him, how would he explain why he was in her bed to her or anyone for that matter. He gently slipped out of her bed so she wouldn't wake up. Taking his phone out, he realised it was just six am and visiting hours were around eight am.
"…still asleep, huh?" he sighed as he looked at her. Deciding its best to take a bath and change, then maybe get something to eat. Hopefully by the time he was done, she would have been awake.
He stepped out of the room and carefully walked towards the dorms building which wasn't too far from the infirmary. The place was quite, considering it was a Sunday, most students just slept in, which was convenient for xerxes as he didn't have the energy to deal with people right now.
Stopping by his room on the third floor, he grabbed his bath supplies and headed to the bathroom.
"*sigh*" he let the hot water pour down his body, allowing the stress flow down the drain. Taking a handfull of shampoo, he washed massaged it into his scalp.
Once he was all washed up and had a change of clothes he went to the kitchen.
"…hum, we're all out of bread again…damnit…" he cursed whoever ate the last bread without restocking.
He rummaged through the cupboard looking for some flour. He eventually found some and gathered the other ingredients' he would need to make pancakes. He made some for himself, which he ate with some juice and the rest he packed for ivy. With a bottle of berry blast.
On his way back to the infirmary, he bumped into sem or rather the clumsy idiot bumped into him.
"WATCH IT!" he growled at him for almost making him drop the tray and sem laughed awkwardly as he scratched his neck.
"king…ahh, I'm, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there…" he apologized to xerxes as he moved back a bit.
"tch…"
"is that for ivy? Is she up?" sem asked him excitedly and xerxes glared heavily at him.
"no…and QUIT YOUR YELLING DUMBASS!"
"but you're the one yelling…" sem explained it to his hotheaded friend. They had known each other since the first examination into school and since then, they had been inseparable, despite their obvious difference in personality.
"…oh and by the way, congrats man…we heard…" he had a grin on his face as he patted xerxes back who in turn stared it him confused.
"heard….what?"
"you and ivy…when did you guys get together anyways . i mean nobody would have ever guessed it… " sem continued to blab his mouth, totally failing to notice the grim look on xerxes face.
"wow, wow, wow…ivy and I aren't together…" where on earth did he even get the idea that he and Ivy were dating anyways.
"really? But we saw you two holding hands yesterday, coupled with the fact Charlie told us you guys were going on a date?" sem said to his friend. He should be grateful xerxes didn't hold the powers of flames or laser vision, because right now he would have been set aflame by him, along with Charlie.
"Charlie said what…no, ivy and I didn't go on a date, we were just hanging out…"
"…so…a date, besides, you're taking breakfast to her, isn't that what a boyfriend would do for his girlfriend?" sem continued to push xerxes, ignorant of the truth.
Xerxes face continued to heat up by his idiot friends words. Using one hand, he pulled sem by the collar.
"listen, ivy isn't my girlfriend…and this, you never saw this…got that..!" he threatened sem to keep his mouth shut about the pancakes. The last thing he wanted was people thinking he had feelings for the girl. This was just…why was he even taking breakfast to her room.
"tch…get out of my way before I hang you from a flag pole…" he pushed him aside and left before more people came around.
"BE SURE TO TELL US ONCE SHE WAKES UP…" he called out to him, but xerxes didn't say anything "...he totally likes her…poor kid just doesn't know it yet.." he shrugged as he continued on his way to wherever he had been going too.
Xerxes was able to walk to the infirmary without any more trouble. He was just in time to meet the doctor coming out of her room.
"oh, xerxes…I didn't see you this morning.."
"yeah…I thought I'd bring breakfast for her…" his lips pursed as he looked the other way and the doctor looked at him then at the tray, before giving him a smile.
"how thoughtful of you…"
"mm..is she up yet?" inquired xerxes and the doctor gave him a nod, raising the clipboard in her hand she then said,
"…I will discharge her later today after running this by the lab…"
"mmm…" he hummed in response to her words and she took her leave. Letting xerxes step into the room with the food, but once he had entered he met ivy with her eyes shut and her face turned towards the other side making it look as though she were still sleeping.
"…"
"…"
"…I know you're awake you idiot…" he walked closer to her bed, but she didn't respond. Softly snoring, he let out and exhausted sigh.
"…oh well, I guess I'll just take this back to the kitchen…there's no use letting it turn cold…" he instigated her as he popped the lid on the food just enough that the aroma would hit her…
"…or I could just sit here and eat it all by myself…" there was a certain malevolent smile on his face as he whispered into her ears, he noticed how her nose twitched.
Ivy felt her mouth water and her stomach betray her as it growled heavily. A trickle of sweat poured down the side of her forehead as xerxes moved back a bit.
"I'M UP…" her eyes shot open as she sat up instantly.
"…tch, you're a terrible actress…" he scoffed, dropping the tray in her laps.
"…this for me?" her eyes looked at him curiously and he growled.
"…no it's for the doctor…" came his sarcastic remark and she rolled her eyes.
"…would it kill you to be nice to me…I mean after all, I'm a sick patient…cough…cough…" she played the victim card and he flicked her forehead, making her whine…
"heyy.."
"this is me being as nice as I can be, don't push it…" his words made her smile. Even if xerxes appeared to be a bully and scared a lot of people, there were only a handful who could tolerate it and frankly, he didn't scare her.
"…okay, chuckles.."
"DO YOU WANT ME TO TAKE THAT FROM YOU!" yelled xerxes, making ivy shield the tray protectively.
"NUH…" she removed the lid and her mouth watered, but as happy she was to see food, she had questions...
"…chuckles?"
"what?"
"…isn't this a bit…much?" she was referring to the mountain of pancake that sat before her.
"I didn't know how much you could eat …" his voice trailed at the end and she glared at him.
"why would you assume I eat this much, huh?" she hinted at the indirect fact of him calling her a glutton.
"…well considering the way you eat, could you really blame me?" he retorted back and the two of them sat there In a heated starring contest.
"HMPH!! IDIOT.."
"ARE YOU GONNA EAT IT OR NOT.."
"I NEVER SAID I WASN'T GONNA EAT IT…look away…"
"…why? I already know how you eat…"
"…fine don't look away…" she picked up the fork and took a bite from the pancake, letting the flavour sink into her mouth. There was a soft smile on her face…but the next moment she started to dig into the pancakes like a hungry predator. Xerxes jumped back in fear and shock at the speed at which eat pancake disappeared. This was worst than last evening. Once she was done she drank the juice and sighed with a satisfied look.
"..excuse me…" she burped. Xerxes was still lost for words. Was this the reason why she choose to eat away from the company of people most times?
"what..the hell?..no wonder you don't have a boyfriend"
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?...don't judge me okay…I have a very big appetite…" she pouted as she looked way, embarrassed. This was her biggest scandal so far, her poor eating habit. She couldn't control herself whenever she was excessively hungry.
"…you know, I had my doubts, but now I know that you really were a fucking cow in your past life…"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!"
"A COW!"
"TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE! IF IM THE HUNGRY COW, YOU'RE THE MAD COW!"
"EHH! TAKE THAT BACK!"
"I DON'T MAKE TRASH, I BURN IT!"
And so the two continued to bicker back and forth with each other, again, like grade schoolers.
"ahh.." she groaned in pain as she held the side of her temple. Suddenly she had a headache, xerxes also stopped his yelling, noticing how her face scrunched up in discomfort.
"you okay?"
"yeah…" feeling the headache subside, she looked around and spotted her jacket that had been resting on the chair. Her eyes widened as she realised something, she pushed the blanket aside and got out of bed, she grabbed the jacket and searched for it, but it wasn't there…
"w..where is it..?"
"where's what?"
"the amplifier…it's not here anymore…" she started panicking as she searched everywhere. Xerxes walked to her side and placed his hand on her shoulder. He brought something towards her face and she calmed down
" is this what you are looking for?"
"YES!" she snatched it out of his hand and turned to look at him.
"…"
"…"
"thank you…"
"mmhm.." he hummed as he walked towards the curtains and pushed them aside, peering out the window.
"…the doctor said you where the one who brought me back…" she mumbled and he turned to look at her with a look of indifference, pretending to not have been given the scare of his life last night.
"…I did.." his words would sound dry and uncaring to anyone that passed by, but between yesterday and now, she could tell he had been worried about her and this made her smile. She could also see the guilt in his eyes. He probably blamed himself for making them follow the alley in the first place.
"…what?" he stared at her and she stared back…
"…I'm sorry…'
"for?"
"dragging you into my mess…" there was an apologetic look in her eyes as she looked at him, but xerxes shook his head
"…it's my fault for making you follow the alley…" she gave him a smile and he too mustered up the smallest of smiles. Ivy walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, making his body tense up by the sudden contact. Of all the things, he hadn't expected her to hug him.
"I know what you did last night…" she whispered the words and his face turned pale, his heart thundering in its cage.
"i…I don't know what you're talking about…"
"don't worry, I won't tell anybody…" she let go off him and stepped back. Xerxes looked as though he had seen a ghost. When he got into bed with her last night, he was sure she had been asleep. So how could she have known, unless she hadn't really been asleep. His face turned red at the thought of being caught.
"tch…whatever, but you still owe me some answers…"