From the corners of his eyes Jayden took a quick glance at his phone. It was from an unknown number. What captured his attention was the capital letters scattered through the text. He had a good bet that it was just a "CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR LOTTO WIN" scam text.

But then again...

His intuition pricked at him. Perhaps it was because he remembered that tomorrow was drama class; and that his teacher indulged in a habit of revealing their roles through text on the night before so that they could prepare for their character. He pondered if it was perhaps another message that delivered the cruelty of surprise homework.

Or perhaps, there was a moment of stillness when the message came. Not that type of stillness that may be explained by siding with the occult, but rather the stillness that resounds through a piece of literature during an apical event, as if the world had paused to offer more detail of this single moment.

Jayden's good upbringing imbued him with a hate for being distracted during dinner. But he checked and Alex was too busy enjoying his meal to notice. 

It'd be fine. He convinced himself. 

Still with a little guilt he turned on his phone to read this text. 

(Hint: it wasn't the results of the Maths Comp.)

***

"What's wrong?" Alex said to Jayden. "It's not this hot in here is it?"

...Shhh let me think Alex.  He tried to speak but no sound came out.

"Pajamas...?" He called to him.

"Hey pajamas?" And then again.

"Um.... Jayden?" 

But the tightness in his throat seemed to corked his voice. He focused on what Alex had last said and tried to respond, but...

"Why is everything so funny to you?" He didn't mean it. He knew he messed up but he had no time for this. He got up. 

"No, I am concerned," Alex said, he was slightly hurt but he's not feeling it.

"Doesn't matter, I'm gonna pay for mine myself." He needed to get out of here, to get away from this place, and get to where he needs to be.

Jayden took his wallet out, but Alex stopped him. 

"Look I know your family is poor, let me okay?" Alex said. He tried holding Jayden in place but he didn't want to be too rough.

...

"You don't know me? You don't know how I feel?" He blurted out. I'm sorry Alex. 

"You don't know the situation I have with my family. Stop trying so hard to guess what's going on." He continued. STOP, STOP HURTING HIM.

But he couldn't hold himself back.

"You don't know how hard it is to fight for everything you need to survive. Even then you have your parents scripting out your shining future, and your brother cleaning up after every person you feel like roughing up. You're just an idiot spoiled delinquent trying to find a reason to get mad at every turn." 

When he had finished, it was too late. Every bit of bottled up emotion had poured out, at the wrong place, for the wrong person...  

"What?" Alex said, his mind went through the ways he could calm Jayden down. "But I was just trying to."

Jayden didn't have time to argue. He knew he was being unfair to Alex, but he didn't know how to solve the situation now that he said what he said. Between the situation at hand and Alex, Jayden felt that he needed sometime to calm down. He walked out the door for some fresh air, staying quiet all the time. 

Alex looks so mad right now. Don't make things any worse. He thought to himself.

By this time Alex caught a few people stealing glances at them. He was blushing from the blood rushing to his head fueling his thoughts on ways to calm the situation down. Alex knows he has a tendency of getting aggressive to others, but it was really just himself getting worked up over the situation. But it was in his genes that his gaze turns into a glare everytime his hormones rush in. He needs to let them know he's not looking to hurt anyone, but he can't help his voice turning into a deep growl had he tried to talk.

Don't look up, I'm gonna look mad. Don't look up, don't make Jayden think I'm mad at him.

"Hey you haven't paid yet", the cashier called as Jayden walked out.

"I'm paying," was what Alex tried to shout from the back of the room. But "I'M PAYING!" came out as a bellow instead.

Jayden turned around to see Alex looking back... 

...and they both died a little inside. Alex watched as Jayden left the store, running out of sight...

No, not this time.

He pushed himself up from the table, and with all his strength sprinted towards the door.

"Someone is trying to dine and dash-" The cashier screamed, but stopped when she was chucked a small stack of notes. "ummm. Never mind!"

Alex didn't count the amount of notes he had given her, but it was probably a lot. Outside, he saw Jayden running up the far end of the street.

"Turn- right- in- fifty- meters-," The GPS on his phone said. It showed that he was 3km away from the hospital. 

The message came from Lingshan. Apparently his mother had started experiencing another coughing fit while finishing her shift. She's been having coughing attacks that's been getting definitively worse and worse ever since the fire. The last one was 3 month ago, and one of the lobes in her lungs permanently collapsed as a result. Doctors told him they didn't know if she'll make it through the next one.

Jayden heard stomping footsteps dashing up behind, and turned around to find Alex chasing him.

I'm sorry Alex, please just leave me alone.  He thought as he picked up pace, running away. I'm running out of breath.

But Alex was relentless. He soon closed the gap. Like a wolf taking down its prey he leapt towards Jayden and tackled him to the ground, knocking his phone out of his hand.

"I'M SORRY. PLEASE JUST LET ME GO." Jayden said, struggling.

But Alex squeezed him tightly. "no..." he puffed, "I'm sorry." His voice was muffled by Jayden's clothes.

You shouldn't be sorry, you didn't do anything wrong.  Jayden thought, completely giving in to guilt.

CHAPTER END

XXX

"What is this? Some sort of cosplay?" Alex asked as he took out the contents from the parcel.

"These guards first." Jayden took them off the shelf and handed them to Alex. They got them from their visit to Russia, metal plated guards that Alex wears on his shins and forearms. They're decorated with a layer of snow wolf fur to keep the wearer warm.

"Now, the bear fur cloak" Jayden said, finding it on the ground lying next to the bed. "Ts ts, you can't wear that with your shirt on." The bear cloak was made with real bear skin, given to them as a gift for their help by a tribe leader in Africa.

"Now the grass hulas from our vacation to Hawaii." He went and passed it to Alex. 

So much trouble. He thought as he saw Alex take the article of clothing from his hand, passing another one back. 

It's not like it's gonna stay on long anyway.

"What, you're gonna watch me change? You pervert." Alex said, as he unbuckled his belt. 

"Just do it."  Jayden said, while handing the male-sized skirt to him.

"Okay what now?" Alex said, looking in the mirror. 

"Now these." Jayden said, grabbing the contents of the parcel, and plugged them on Alex's head.

"Cat ears?" Alex asked, and checked his appearance in the mirror again. He looked like a tribal warrior with a furry streak.

"I've always wondered if you'll fashion that outfit well," Jayden said.

"I'M A BAD WOLF, RAWR" Alex said, taking a step a closer to Jayden, and whispered. "I'm gonna eat you alive."

XXX