Wren watched Ryvan staring at his phone, his facial expression unreadable. Whatever he did, Ryvan was the definition of graceful, his straight posture, the dignified way he carried himself, and his carefully chosen clothes. How could such perfection exist?

“Don’t worry, Ryvan,” Wren said, “They won’t ever dare to hit you again after I’m done with them.”

The addressed student looked at him, confused at first, then with a red face. “You saw?”

“You know, at the welcome lecture, you forgot to pick up a brochure so I followed you. I saw what they did to you… But don’t worry,” Wren said, fidgeting with his pen. He hesitated, it would be okay to compliment his friend, right? “You- you looked… cool.”

“Thanks.” Ryvan didn’t sound convinced but a smile formed on his lips. Wren liked Ryan’s lips, they were rosy and smooth like they were made for kissing. He wondered what words they would speak if he told Ryvan that he liked him. If only Milun wasn’t there…

“Let’s just stick together so nobody will be at risk of getting hit. We can still have fun as long as we stay away from those goons,” the freckled student suggested, obviously unaware of Wren’s thoughts. “By the way, there is a special sale at the campus shop, let’s go check it out now that the boring stuff is over. I wanna buy some cool stuff to impress Autumn. What do you think she likes?”

“I have something to do,” Wren quickly excused himself and hurried to the library. He wouldn’t let the bullies torment Ryvan any longer. Plus, taking notes was annoying and being in control of a group of bullies would also benefit his plan for revenge. Wren grinned as he imagined himself as the leader of Taren’s group.

But first, he needed to do some research. Once settled down at a library computer, Wren reached into his pockets where he found a wrinkled piece of paper. Before revealing its content, he carefully looked around. There were a few rows of computers next to the bookshelves, most screens black, some abandoned at the login screen—but no other people that could disturb his plan.

Written on the piece of paper were three names. The names of Taren and his two companions. His treasure, carefully retrieved from the administration office when the secretary had looked the other way.

Taren Jones. 

Leander Emsworth.

Colton White.

Now all Wren had to do was dig. If they really were gang members, they surely had enemies. Enemies that he could befriend. He shivered—people that could stand against the Crow, they must be truly scary. But Wren didn’t waver, he would protect Ryvan from Taren at all cost. 

First, he entered Taren’s name into the search engine. Nothing came up. Leander and Colton—no results either. Social media was devoid of any trace of the three as well. Were they even real people?

Looking at the blank screen, Wren scratched his head. It had turned dark outside but he didn’t pay attention. Something was wrong, it was as if they were phantoms without a past. Had they changed names? Or perhaps the names were misspelled? 

Having no other clue, his fingers raced over the keyboard as he tried various combinations of their names. It was almost midnight when he finally found something. “Now I’ve got you,” he said to the computer, a half-crazed grin on his face. The library assistant who was stacking books nearby gave him an odd look but Wren didn’t care. His efforts had paid off:

Leandre Hemsworth. 

Swapping a few letters revealed pictures that looked like they belonged to the Leander he knew. They were dated though and stemmed from a news article. It seemed Leander had run away from home several years ago—and his parents weren’t just anyone. It seemed the bully came from a British family with a long heritage and matching wealth. 

But that didn’t help Wren. ‘Stop bullying me or I will call your parents’ sounded like he was in primary school and would make him a laughingstock. Diving deeper, he found an old social media profile, full of blinking text, odd colour combinations, and meaningless emojis. 

Wren didn’t have to look very hard: something instantly stood out—a  fact so embarrassing that Leander would probably do whatever he wanted, just to keep him quiet.

Even though it was already late, Wren felt wide awake when he triumphantly texted the bully. I know your secret. From now on, I’m making the rules in this game.

Taren would never have his Ryvan. Instead, he, Wren, would be the hero of Fairlight.