Where is Onyx?" Alexandra asked Tony as they headed out of
the common room for breakfast.
She had seen her last with him
Tony shrugged, his shoulders sagging. "Didn't seem
enthusiastic about eating today, I guess."
Alexandra sighed. "Okay… I, yeah, okay."
Recovering from
trauma and opening up was a protracted process, she knew.
It took more than a few weeks, certainly, yet she could feel
her impatience taking over.
Alexandra wasn't upset with Onyx's actions, not at all, it
was her right to remain silent if she chose to, it could be her way of healing.
Yet she couldn't handle the change and wanted things to return to normal as
soon as possible, even if this development was inevitable, sadly. She had grown
accustomed to it throughout the summer, began analyzing Onyx's behavior, and
went from there.
For two weeks, nothing unusual or concerning happened. Onyx
not joining them for breakfast was a minor anomaly but nonetheless disturbing.
Alexandra didn't like it.
"You're worrying again," Tony stated. "I'm… it's not that."
She tried to deceive him, unsuccessfully.
He lifted an eyebrow "Yeah?"
He sighed.
"Me too, it's okay.
It's been weird."
"Tony, Alexandra!,"
Bella, a friend of Aiden called out their names after the two arrived and
situated themselves at a table in the dining hall.
It was too early to
argue, Alexandra thought, so she didn't respond and placed a hand on Tony's
shoulder to do the same.
"Oh, don't ignore me." "I would rather ignore you." Tony
gave up first, sighing.
"What do you want?"
"What's been up with
Onyx?" Daniel asked instead, he, Bella, and Aiden were seated opposite of
Alexandra and Tony.
Her hand moved in
various directions as she spoke.
"The lack of her
voice recently has been heavenly, don't get me wrong, but something must be
amiss."
Alexandra tried her
hardest not to scoff. "And you care enough to ask us?"
"You must admit, Alexandra, that she doesn't shut up." Aiden
said.
"It's like the walls
echo her voice every time she talks; it gets so fucking annoying."
He looked at Tony.
"Not as much as yours, but that's another topic."
Tony scoffed. "And
things have been quiet, way too quiet."
"What do you want us
to do, Aiden?" She spat out before she could stop herself.
"Touchy subject, huh?" Bella's lips twitched in a smirk
Alexandra wished to erase.
Aiden raised an eyebrow in surprise. "So, there is
something?" It startled her a bit how interested he sounded, how carefully he
analyzed her expressions and Tony's reactions to his words.
She couldn't lie; it
put her slightly on edge.
Aiden continued to
stare at her, waiting. Waiting for her to answer, to confirm the rumors.
Alexandra stopped
paying attention to them, it wasn't worth it, and they only made her upset on
behalf of her friend.
The worst was Onyx probably didn't even know about them, they
were never in the room when they were created.
"It's too early for this." She said instead and began
putting food on her plate. She nor Tony were questioned any more, having only
Bella glare at them occasionally.
They finished their breakfast and headed to class extra
early, Professor Fletcher wouldn't be happy with them being late. And when they
did, they found the classroom empty and cold.
As they waited, the
room slowly filled with the rest of their classmates, and class began.
Something was off, but Alexandra couldn't quite tell what, the professor was in
a pretty bitter mood because of the early hours, but other than that, the class
went by just fine. Everything was in place. And just when they left the
classroom did, she realize what it was.
Onyx missed the class.
"Do you think Onyx is
sick or something?" Tony asked her.
"I don't know, but I swear if she, Onyx!" As if saying her
name out loud summoned her, Onyx was walking at the end of the hallway ahead of
them. Alexandra rushed to catch up with her, Tony following suit.
"Onyx, where were
you? Why did you miss the first class, oh"
When she finally got
to see her face, it revealed her holding a bloody tissue to her nose.
"what the hell, where
did you crash?" Tony chuckled lightly, Alexandra glared at him.
"Anyways," She said.
"It's good to see you… semi-alright."
Onyx just looked at
her, expression as neutral as ever.
"What's our next
class? Alchemy?" Tony changed the subject, his voice taking a bitter tone
towards the end
"Great …" Alexandra
smirked. "Just because you're not good at Alchemy doesn't mean you should be
salty
"But I am, as you said, 'salty'. And, for the record,
we can't be all good at everything."
"I'll take the
compliment and not comment further. Thank you, Tony." She chuckled.
Tony rolled his eyes with a smile. "Sure." They made
their way to their next class, everything back to normal, or as normal as it
could be.