Matthew Montoya either did not get adjusted to the time zone change, or he sleeps more soundly than the dead. His music got even louder the next couple of nights. At least he was changing it up with the kind of music he decided to play, and they weren't all awful. Sunday night may have been the first night he slept because Alex was pretty sure it was the same CD on repeat the whole time. Considerate of him to take the precaution of pressing the loop button in case he wasn't awake to continue the music himself.
It was silent when Alex woke up on the first morning of classes. He got dressed in his uniform and hyped himself up for about a minute before walking out into the lounge. His efforts were wasted, though, because Matthew was not there. The restroom was empty, and Alex managed to be brave long enough to poke his head into the open door of Matthew's bedroom. He wasn't in there either. Alex noticed since he had last seen it several posters and what looked like flyers for music festivals and performances were tacked up to the walls. That was technically against the rules, but lots of people did it. The teachers never even it wrote it up if they saw it during a room check.
As he walked down through the now bustling dorm, Alex wondered if they might interpret that particular rule differently in Matthew's case. His family may not be able to get rid of every scholarship student like they wanted, but they would be partly satisfied if they could get rid of the boy that started the whole thing. Only in a way that they could spin as justified on their end, though. Enough small infractions like that piled on top of each other may do the trick.
Alex felt less angry at Matthew by the time he left the dorm. He knew what it was like to feel extremely unwanted, surrounded by people that just wanted him gone. Alex had coped with that by burying his frustrations so deep within him that the only person he could take them out on was himself. He didn't know if Matthew's method was any healthier, but he imagined the instant gratification he got from it felt highly beneficial. Maybe there was something about Alex that just made him an extremely attractive punching bag. Hell, he couldn't even resist treating himself like one.
Even if he didn't empathize with Matthew, there was too much at stake for Alex to let his bitterness get the best of him. Not just because of his family, though Alex was ashamed to admit he couldn't keep them from influencing his decisions altogether. If things escalate between them things will look bad for them, and then they'll just come down on him. But fear of his family wasn't his only motivation. They weren't even his biggest. No, Alex was now driven by something even pettier than his family. Himself.
Matthew Montoya was trying to get him to break, and Alex was not going to let him win.
That petty drive to prove people wrong got Alex through a lot of his hurdles. It got him through putting up with his cousins' bullying. His mother's condescension. His grandfather's ambivalence. He was pretty sure it even got him through his illness. Baby Alexander wanted to prove wrong to everyone who thought he would die.
Montoya acting like a prick was nothing he couldn't deal with. And not only was he going to stick with being his flatmate, he was going to be the best flatmate in return. If for no other reason than to satisfy his weird ego.
The campus had been slowly coming back to life the past few days. The halls of the dorm were filled with students and their things. The dining hall saw more activity with every meal. That morning the quad had its usual beginning of the day traffic, most of whom were heading in for breakfast. Alex spotted Julia and Laurent with their usual friends lounging by one of the building's arches. Their auburn hair made them easy to find in a crowd. They were the only ones of Alex and his cousins to inherit that trait from their grandmother, making them look more like Margaret Conrad's kids than Alex did.
He was hoping to just walk through the quad without having to acknowledge them, but just when he thought he was going to make it, Laurent caught sight of him. He and his friend Ezekiel jogged to catch him before he could get away.
"Hello, Lexi," Laurent said when he got close. He threw an arm around Alex's shoulder in a way that probably looked friendly, but his grip was too tight for friendliness to be his intent. "How have your first few days back been?"
"Fine," Alex answered simply, as if Laurent would be satisfied with just that.
"Fine?" He repeated when Alex didn't follow up with anything more. "Just fine?"
"Yes, fine."
"Oh, come on Alexander," Ezekiel pressed. One thing Alex appreciated about his cousin's friends was that they at least kept away from using their nicknames. "You know what he's asking you about."
"Do I?"
"The runt, Lexi," Laurent said impatiently "What's it like living with a runt?"
Alex tensed up and grabbed Laurent's hand, throwing it off his shoulder. "Don't use that word," Alex seethed.
Laurent just held up his hands and smiled. "Calm down, Lexi. You were always one for overreacting. Though I take it this means you've made friends with the little nuisance. If any of us were close enough to his level to manage that, it would be you I suppose."
"I don't see how it's any of your business anyways."
"What are you talking about? Whether or not you manage this problem affects our entire family. It's all of our business."
"He's not a problem, he's just my flatmate. And a lot easier to 'manage' than you most days," Alex snapped. Laurent and Ezekiel stared at him with raised eyebrows. Maybe his sleep deprivation was getting to him more than he thought. He should be careful not to insult anyone more important.
"Note to self, don't speak ill of Lexi's new boyfriend to his face," Laurent muttered, earning a chuckle from his friend. Alex just rolled his eyes and continued along the route to the dining hall. Laurent and his friend had better things to do than follow him, so he managed to make it there without any more interruptions.
It was half-filled when he got there, and he couldn't help it when his eyes went directly to the table Matthew Montoya and his friends had claimed as their own. The same one from the first day Alex got in, right by the door leading into the kitchen. Sure enough, Matthew was there, sitting in a chair facing the entrance. Next to him was the boy who had spoken about Alex in Spanish before. Alex was pretty sure his name was Emilio. Baptiste and Eloise didn't seem to be there yet.
Those two had spoken to Alex a couple of times in the past few days. Mostly to check to see if Matthew Montoya was as being as big of a bother as he was bragging to all his friends about. Alex tried to downplay it as best as he could. If he told them it was starting to get to him, then Matthew would hear and only find more encouragement to continue.
Alex took his eyes off Matthew's table before he could be caught watching them. Instead, he found Jack, sitting at a slightly crowded table filled with other students in their year. He had a habit of flitting around from table to table at the beginning of a meal, socializing with people in his various friend groups until he got hungry. Then he would sit down and eat with Alex until classes started. Sean used to keep Alex company from time to time. He didn't realize how much he was going to miss his cousin until he sat alone at his table.
When a waiter came around, he surprised himself by ordering a coffee instead of tea. He normally didn't like the taste, but he had a feeling he would need the extra caffeine today. Every day, if this pattern continued. He was in the middle of putting too much cream and sugar in that coffee when Jack plopped down in the chair across from him. His hair was looking even more like a horse's mane than usual, his uniform shirt was unbuttoned at the top, and his tie was practically hanging loose around his neck.
"How long does it take you to look that disheveled in the morning?" Alex asked as a greeting.
"Like, forty-five minutes," Jack said around a bite of an apple he must have gotten from another table. "How long does it take you to look that sad and tired?"
"About fifteen years."
Jack chuckled before frowning. "Hm, that would be funnier if it wasn't true." Jack glanced over at Matthew Montoya's table. "Is he still-"
"Yes."
"And are you sure you still don't want me to"
"Yes."
"But-"
"I can handle it, Jack. Besides, I've got a point to prove now."
"What point? That you're a sturdy doormat?"
"He's trying to get a reaction. Don't give him what he wants. He'll get tired eventually."
"And if he doesn't? What if by December he's still pulling dumb shit?"
"Then I guess you have my permission to murder him."
"Thank you."
Alex couldn't help but smile at that. Though it did make him wonder how long Matthew did plan on keeping up his antics if he didn't get what he wanted right away. If he had plans to ramp things up at all or try new tactics. Baptiste had mentioned him sourcing his friends for ideas, after all.
"Do you think I could get away with it?" Jack mused.
"What, murder?"
"Yeah."
"You know normally I would say yes, but in this case, it might cause an incident."
"What if I made it look like an accident?"
"How would you manage that?"
"Perhaps a fall down the stairs. Un undetectable poison slipped in a beverage."
"This joke is starting to make me uncomfortable."
"Yeah, me too. Hey, do we still have the same schedule?"
"We should. Let me see yours."
The two spent the next few minutes checking their class lists against each other. Just like previous years, they had the same ones with the same professors, until they split up for their different languages at the end of their day.
"Can't believe my dad is making me take Mandarin," Jack grumbled, glaring at the last class on his schedule. "And Professor Munn is the worst!"
"You have been fluent in Italian since you were five," Alex pointed out. "It's probably time you moved on."
Jack narrowed his eyes. "That's exactly what he said."
"Sorry."
"And you're one to talk. You could probably teach Montgomery's French class better than she can at this point."
"And I also spend almost all of my weekends studying Mandarin, and German, and Korean, and-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. You're a bona fide linguistic prodigy."
"Just someone with a lot of tutors and almost no hobbies. Why did your dad pick Mandarin?"
"For business. As if I'm gonna have anything to do with his business."
"What's your plan after school then?"
"Gonna move back to New York, get a dumpy apartment with Miranda, work nights as a bartender."
"Bartender," Alex repeated. "You know they usually don't let you drink on the job, right?"
"That's not why, ass."
"Why then?"
"Because I think I would look cool. And maybe I would get to break up bar fights."
"Does Miranda know about this plan of yours?"
"She suggested it. When I told her I didn't want to go to college like my dad thinks I'm going to."
Alex winced at the thought of someone breaking that news to Basil Farrow. "To afford even a run-down place in New York," Alex decided to say, knowing no one needed to remind Jack of that hurdle, "you might need to start saving now. Get a part-time job in Brighton. Or embezzle money from your dad."
Jack smiled dreamily at that second suggestion. "Like Robin Hood," he muttered.
"I think you would have to give to the needy to be like Robin Hood, not just yourself."
"What if I'm needy?"
"Still doesn't quite feel in the spirit, does it?"
Jack grumbled in halfhearted agreement. When the waiter came back Jack ordered enough food for two people, and Alex stuck with just his coffee. Jack frowned at its pale color after the waiter left.
"I don't think coffee is supposed to be that color," he said. "Not unless it costs five bucks and is served by an uppity barista."
"It's mostly cream and sugar by now," Alex admitted.
"And you're drinking that instead of your fancy leaf juice because Hollywood was being a dick?"
"Please let it go."
"What if I just scare him? I've been told I can be very intimidating when I try."
"I doubt it would work."
"I'm not hearing a no."
Before Alex could give him a definitive "no", a familiar face approached from behind Jack. Well, two familiar faces. One was Eloise, standing right behind Jack's chair. The other was Baptiste, standing a bit farther back with a slightly nervous look on his face. Alex had noticed over the past couple of days that he had become increasingly more withdrawn than he had been when they first spoke. He figured it had something to do with the increasing number of students, and how he and his friends were steadily being outnumbered by old family wyverns. Alex himself could feel the rising tension, so he couldn't imagine what an empath like Baptiste might be feeling.
"Morning Alexander," Eloise said, causing Jack to look over his shoulder so he could see her. She barely looked at him.
"Hi Eloise," Alex said, noticing how Jack's expression took on a familiar kind of interest. "How are you?"
"Feeling first-day nerves, but other than that alright. You?"
"I'm alright."
"He's sleep-deprived," Jack corrected. "The poor bastard is drinking that abomination for Christ's sake."
Eloise glanced down at the abomination in question, and then back at Jack. "You're Jonathan Farrow, right?"
"I am." Jack leaned back slightly so we wouldn't have to keep his head turned to face her and flashed a flirtatious smile. "We've never met before, right? Feel like I would remember."
Eloise stared at him with a blank expression for a second. "My name's Eloise," she said, not visibly responding to the flirting. "I'm a new student. One of those new students."
"Welcome to Conrad, it sucks here."
"Yeah?"
"Tried to get kicked out my first year. Didn't work too well."
"What did you try?"
"Oh, I punched him in the face," Jack said, pointing at Alex. "Remember that, Al?"
"Couple of times in the stomach too," Alex confirmed.
"Good times."
"How charming," Eloise said, looking at Jack like he was anything but.
"Hey, this guy loves me now. Don't you bud?"
"... No comment."
"Rude."
"Anyways," Eloise cut back in, "we just wanted to check in to see how much we should berate Matt for his antics today."
Jack glanced back at Baptiste, who was still keeping his distance. "You two are friends with that ass?" he asked.
"He can be a good guy," Eloise argued. "When he's not working a warped vendetta. It doesn't help that Emilio and Olena keep egging him on."
"Has he been getting any nicer?" Baptiste asked from where he stood. "He promised me he would try."
"He lied," Jack answered, and Baptiste jumped slightly back.
"It's not their fault, Jack," Alex said and then looked at Baptiste. "You don't need to be scared of him, he's harmless."
"Not to people like us," Baptiste answered, maintaining his distance.
"He's not wrong," Jack muttered.
"It's nothing personal," Eloise said, leaning in slightly. "He's been getting shit from a couple of old family brats. We all have, but there's this one who's decided to make Baptiste his favorite punching bag."
"Who?" Jack asked.
Eloise scanned the room until her eyes landed on a white boy with cropped brown hair, sitting at a table across the hall. "Him."
Alex tensed when he saw who she was pointing out. "That's Malcolm Greene," he said. "He's..."
"Fucking insane," Jack finished.
"Greene." Eloise mulled over the name for a second before her eyes widened. "Weren't his parents the ones fighting the hardest to keep us out?"
"Yes," Alex answered. "And Malcolm falls in line with their worldview."
"He's also absolute garbage in just about every other conceivable way," Jack added. "I'd avoid him as much as you can."
"If we avoided everyone here who wanted us gone," Baptiste said, "we would just end up having to leave. Come on, Ellie, I am hungry."
"We'll see you around then, Alex," Eloise said as Baptiste was already walking away.
"Good luck," Alex said, waving goodbye. "To all of you."
"What are the odds she would go out with me?" Jack asked once they were already out of earshot.
"Why would I know the answer to that?" Alex asked.
"Hey, you two seemed pretty friendly. Wait, do you want to ask her out?"
"No."
"Cuz I'll back off if you-"
"No, Jack. But to be honest, I don't think she would like you very much."
"Why? What's wrong with me? Don't," Jack held up a hand suddenly when Alex opened his mouth, "answer that."
Alex glanced back at Matthew's table, where Eloise and Baptiste had gone. Baptiste sat in the empty chair next to Matthew, who immediately put what looked like a comforting hand on his shoulder. Baptiste looked slightly reassured by it.
"They knew this wasn't going to be easy," Jack said when he noticed Alex watching them. "Getting in the door was only step one."
"Classes haven't even started and he already looks much more run down than when we first met," Alex said, turning back around. "Kind of makes any of our problems seem insignificant."
"Hey, everyone's got their shit," Jack said, lightly kicking Alex's leg under the table. "Sure, some people weigh more than others, but at the end of the day you still gotta carry yours."
"Wow. That was uncharacteristically insightful of you."
"I may or may not have been paraphrasing that parenting book my mom had."
"Did your mother have another talk with you then?"
"No, no. She dropped that thing the second something trendier came along. I saw it at the airport gift shop and figured at least one of us should finish it. It was surprisingly useful. I am now equipped with everything I need to effectively become your mother."
Alex frowned at that mental image. "Thank you, I now know what pictures will be visiting me in my nightmares tonight."
"Maybe it's a good thing if Montoya doesn't let you sleep then."
"Hm. I'll have to thank him when I get back then."
"I think I would do a great job of being your mother. I'd make you eat your veggies. Give you a fair allowance. Leave a box of condoms on your nightstand with a little note that says 'stay safe kiddo' and then never acknowledge it again."
Alex stared down Jack's earnest expression before nodding slowly. "You know what," he started slowly, "yeah. I do think you would make an excellent mother."
"Thank you. I think you'd perform excellently as my son."
Alex's mouth twitched up into a smile that surprised him a bit. "Thanks," he muttered, hoping he didn't betray how much that joke meant to him.
The food Jack ordered arrived soon, and he wordlessly pushed one plate in front of Alex. He just raised a challenging eyebrow when Alex looked at him in confusion. "Don't you dare tell your Italian mother that you're not hungry," he said, holding out his fork like it was a weapon.
"No ma'am," Alex answered, trying to pick at the food in a way that made it seem like he intended to eat it. By the time the old clock signaling the end of breakfast rang out, he managed to eat some eggs and one slice of toast.
"I was talking to Mary Somers earlier," Jack said as they picked up their things to leave, "about her start-of-term party this weekend."
"Yeah?"
"She and her cousin have heard rumors that your uncle will try to shut it down this year. Do you know if that's true?"
"He and some other administrators are worried any non-sanctioned events on campus will end in a riot or something. So, probably."
"Dang. I was hoping to woo your girlfriend- what was her name?"
"Eloise. And I'm not interested."
"Why not? You don't think she's hot?"
"She's very pretty."
"And she likes you."
"What makes you say that?"
"She came to check on you."
"So did Baptiste."
"Maybe you should ask him out then."
"You have never been this interested in my love life before," Alex pointed out, hoping there were enough bodies around as they walked from the dining hall to their first class to hide how much that suggestion made him heat up from embarrassment.
Jack shrugged. "Sean kind of got me thinking when we were at Alistair's party. We have, what? Ten years at most until we get hitched to our fiancées? Probably less. The clock's ticking on our time to have fun."
"You have fun your way, I'll have it mine."
"Hm. And what exactly is your way? Cuz you seldom look like you're having fun."
"Well, it's not your way. Any time we do something your way I decidedly do not have fun."
"Hey, we had a great time at the aquarium. Remember? Two years ago?"
"You tried to swim with sharks and we got a lifetime ban."
"It would have been worth it if you just committed with me."
"I liked that aquarium too."
"Does this mean they're cracking down on campus curfews too?"
"Probably. And increased supervision at actual school events. They were debating canceling off-campus ones, last I heard."
"What?" Jack shouted, drawing the attention of some students around them. Mostly ones who weren't used to him by now. He leaned in close to whisper. "So, no Beach Day? No Music Crawl?"
"They're still arguing. I think they're waiting to see how things go in the first month."
"Damn, that's the only fun we get to have around here."
"Things would look bad if every time we all interact it turned into a battle, wouldn't it?"
"Hm, I think most of us are more passive-aggressive than that."
"Then you should have nothing to worry about."
"Hey, what are the odds Montoya is in all your classes too?"
Jack's question made Alex's spine go cold, and then he immediately felt embarrassed over being so afraid of another teenage boy.
"My family didn't mention that, so my guess is low," Alex said, though as he spoke, he couldn't help but feel like that was something his family might neglect to mention. Or maybe they thought it was so obvious they didn't need to say it. "We might have a couple."
"If we're lucky it's none."
Their first class was Chemistry, so they followed the herd of students leaving Elizabeth Hall and headed for the science building. That one was named after one of Jack's old family members. Tabitha Hall. They made their way to the classroom and sat down at a lab table by the front. They both watched with slightly too much interest as more students filed in. Hannah Palmer's friend Warren. A girl named Kayla Laurens. Julia's boyfriend Michel. Laurent, unfortunately. He didn't come near them, though. He knew to keep his distance when Jack was around.
Right before class was about to start, a boy Alex had never seen before walked in. He had pale freckled skin and curly black hair. Alex was pretty sure he was a scholarship student, based both on him being a new face and the way he looked around the room with cautious eyes. Most of the other students in the room looked at him with disdain. Alex wanted to try for a reassuring smile, but the boy didn't dare look their way. He avoided looking at Laurent too, and just made his way to the very back of the room.
Matthew Montoya did not end up arriving, but when Alex glanced back at the boy with freckles and saw him sitting alone with his eyes fixed on the table for the entire class, he almost wished he had.