Going back to the room where it was decided that he’d be enduring ‘community service’ was not easy, especially since Nik had a feeling that nothing good would come out of this impromptu meeting either. With the winter break fast approaching and mid-term exams having taken away all their time, the stress that Elysium students felt was at an all-time high. He figured at first, considering Kyle’s earlier premonitions, that the meeting he helped organize with the principal was to raise awareness regarding the effects of stress on mental health. To confirm his theory, he made sure to stall in the shower so as to hopefully overhear the discussion between Kyle and his brother.
It didn’t take long for the two to make up after what went down at the campfire. Tyler confessed to him that knew he wasn’t as bright as his brother and while he did feel betrayed, he had always wanted to be close to him and have a chance to earn his respect. So the hurt didn’t last for long. And, as promised, Kyle was almost always around, especially after the incident. He had also apologized to Nik for having had a hand in his punishment, which he, too, had easily forgiven – he wasn’t the type to hold grudges anyway. Since then, they had indeed become closer. Though not close enough for Kyle to tell him what the meeting was really about, hence the stalling in the shower. He knew he would be late meeting his friends (he hoped that’s what they were), but it would be worth it, he was sure, as soon as he came in with the news.
About 20 minutes later, he was one of the last people to make his way into the room, but Kyle was not yet on the small stage so he figured he had enough time to tell the group the real purpose of this meeting. He saw them near the back, having saved him a seat at the edge of the row next to Iv.
“You’re uncharacteristically late, flustered, buzzing with energy and your eyes betray that something worries you,” she noted with frightening accuracy. “Spill.”
He checked that he had the attention of all six, then leaned in closer to them.
“This is not a meeting promoting mental health like we assumed. Quite the opposite. I overheard Kyle telling Tyler that the principal had complained to him about the low test results compared to previous years. Kyle reminded him of the proposal he had submitted last year at the beginning of his term as student president and he seemed pretty confident that the principal gave his approval and that he’d be able to announce it in this meeting.”
“I’ve never heard of a proposal,” said Hendrick, “which is odd because Kyle likes to brag about any initiative he makes. Did he mention what it was about?”
Nik didn’t have time to respond - not that he knew anything about it since Kyle didn’t specify - because the boy in question came out of the principal’s door like the first time, with a document in hand and a diplomatic smile on his face. He truly looked like a president about to make an important announcement, which Nik took as a bad omen. Nothing good comes out of leaders having things go their way.
“We are gathered here under unfortunate circumstances. Some of you have proven worthy of being called Elysium students through your mid-term evaluations, but others have not quite reached the high standards our school sets every year. As such, the principal has proposed the following.”
While Kyle made his dramatic pause for effect, Nik had time to process the fact that he did not take credit for whatever proposal he was about to announce, even though he told Tyler that it was all his idea. Which could only mean that whatever it was he was about to announce next would not go down well with the student body. He looked at his friends and they seemed to think the same. He even saw Jacy mouth “It’s about to get bad.”
“Under normal circumstances, a second round of evaluation would be set, because failure for even one student means failure for the entire school. However, the principal suggested that only those who failed their evaluation do so, only if they lose in a competition against those who passed. If they win, they will nevertheless get additional points helping them in their exams. The overall bottom scorers and the overall top scorers regardless of grade shall have two friendly matches, one intellectual and one athletic, consisting of a debate and two rounds of tennis, a single and a double. This will hopefully raise the competitive spirit for which our school is known and give those who need it a chance to get on the same level as their peers.”
No one knew how to break the silence for quite a while after the meeting was dismissed. Hendrick eventually declared that this was “bloody madness”, and that seemed to break them out of their stupor.
“This feels like something we’d do in elementary,” Jabari noted.
“True, but it’s more than that. It’s going to be humiliating for some, dividing us by scores like that. It seems ridiculous, but losing means even more stress for those at the bottom of the list and possible humiliation by those at the top. It’s like he’s pushing everyone towards that stupid prophecy.”
Hendrick was right. This did look like an attempt to test who would break first.
“Well, none of us should be at the bottom of the list,” said Iv confidently, then she must have looked at him to question “right?”
They all went to check the list on the panel Kyle pointed them towards. Nik knew he was smart, but he truly doubted himself at times being surrounded by all these prodigies. So, despite being disappointed, he couldn’t say he was truly surprised upon seeing the list. Iv, Shiro, Hendrick, Jacy and Jabari were all highlighted in green at the top of the list, while his name was in red at the bottom. Surprisingly, so was Svea’s, but he was secretly glad that he was not alone in this as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. The rest of the group also looked at them in pity. This meant that they’d have to compete against each other, and Nik questioned just how competitive they were willing to get.
***
Pretending to be tired after 5 tennis matches was harder for Iv than the actual act of playing them. Still, she thought she did a pretty good job as she breathed heavily and slouched on a bench with her head falling on Shiro’s shoulder. He, too, seemed like he was truly tired, and she found herself wondering how much of it was pretense. She was zoning out thinking of testing the boy to witness his true physical limits, so it took her longer than usual to notice that they were spoken to by the guy they teamed up with, Enrique.
When deciding on those who would compete from the people at the top, it was clear than Hendrick would do the debate. And since he and Gwen had previous experience working together, the first team was unanimously selected. For the physical part of the competition, things were a bit more complicated.
Of course, Kyle had to be a part of it. He had more experience in tennis than most of them, so no one could argue against him playing. He made himself captain and suggested he played the single match on top of that. For the double, there were a few worthy opponents. Shiro was certainly one of them, but Kyle thought it might be better for him to be the reserve because of the whole accident fiasco at the game, worrying that he might not have fully healed. If only he knew. Instead, Jacy was suggested as an option and so was Jabari, who Kyle admitted to having kept an eye on. As part of the cheering squad, he obviously had some athletic abilities, and Kyle surprisingly took notice of that. Shiro was consequently left to make his back-up team, which consisted of Enrique, the guy who used to have a crush on him as Shiro later confessed, and her. When she asked him if he was truly willing to have a girl on his team, he simply shrugged and said he had heard Jabari praise her strength before.
“Besides, I want you here.”
Iv had noticed that Shiro liked being the center of attention despite seemingly doing everything to stay out of the spotlight, so she was inclined to believe that him choosing two people who were likely to fawn over his physical form as he played was some sort of compensation for not actually being on the team. Apparently, it worked.
“You two look good together. You should play the double if it ever comes to that.”
“It won’t,” she quickly replied, “and even if it does, Shiro has to play the single. After all, he would be up against Nik and according to my spy” – she meant Svea - “he’s the real threat. I doubt even Kyle stands a chance.”
“Right, sorry, I didn’t mean to imply anything,” said Enrique flustered. She knew she had that effect on people, sometimes being more straight-forward than socially acceptable.
“We shouldn’t worry about that. All that matters is that we are prepared for the worst. For tonight though, I think we’ve done enough, so if you don’t mind, I’ll just head to my room.”
Both she and Enrique bid Shiro goodnight and watched him leave, but Iv was not done with him. She said that she was also going to bed, leaving the disappointed boy she just recently met to practice more on his own. He was the weak link of the team anyway but she wasn’t about to say that to his face; contrary to popular beliefs, she did have a heart.
“Good job getting yourself out of an awkward conversation,” she said as she caught up with Shiro.
He turned his head, but kept on walking past the courtyard to his dorm, seemingly not surprised that she followed him.
“Was not trying to.”
They walked in silence until they reached the part of the manor housing the students, and only then did he continue.
“I can see why you would think that, though. I have mentioned having a secret admirer before, and you could have easily deducted that he was the sender of those letters. As for you presuming he still has feelings for me and was jealous…well, it was clear to me you enjoyed playing your part. Acting more… possessive, if you will.”
They arrived at his door, and he still wouldn’t turn towards her.
“Then may I sleep with you tonight?”
She waited for exactly five seconds before continuing, just enough to see him process her words, figure out the implication and let his body react: back muscles flexing. Eyes wide, lips parted, cheeks flushed as he finally turned to look at her.
“It’s just that Svea has been spending a lot of time late at night in the library preparing for the debate and I get really lonely. I also know that Jacy is doing the same, practicing on the field ‘till late, so…just for a couple hours?”
“Yeah, yeah…I mean sure.” The reply was not coherent, but there was no stammer. It would take a lot more, she concluded, to make a near-god become flustered the way mortals get.
The room had a nearly similar layout to hers, but was slightly bigger. Shiro announced that he was going to get changed, so Iv asked if she could borrow something to wear. He pulled out a black knitted sweater and handed it to her.
“I figured you would like something warmer since your hands tend to be pretty cold.”
“Thank you. Just bad circulation.”
The only time he could have made that observation was at the ball when they danced together. But it had been a while since then. She supposed that for an eternal creature such a memory felt quite recent, much like it did to her.
They soon got into his bed since she claimed she didn’t want to intrude on Jacy’s space without his permission, though at this point she knew he was well aware of her game. They faced away from each other, but even so she could still clearly make out his breathing pattern, slightly different from most humans. She wondered if he noticed hers.
She turned around and planted a gentle kiss on his nape. In response, he moved to face her and returned the kiss, this time on the lips. After that, no more words were exchanged.
***
For someone pretty athletic and blessed – or cursed, depending on who you asked – with certain traits that would maximize his winning chances in any sport, Jacy was having a hard time mastering some of the basics of tennis. It wasn’t a sport he had played before, but that usually hadn’t been a problem for him. Jabari was new to it, too, but much like Kyle had promised when he chose him, he more than made up for his lack of experience with agility and quick thinking. He didn’t want to drag the team down, even if he thought that the whole concept of a competition based on scores was absurd, so there he was, at 1 in the morning, out on the courtyard practicing non-stop.
His session was soon interrupted however when he heard footsteps approaching. By now he had a pretty good understanding of the different ways his friends walked, and his guess was confirmed when he turned around and spotted Iv.
“Nice sweater.”
“Thanks. I’m here to talk about its owner actually.”
Ever since the ball the question of “will they, won’t they” had been hanging in the air whenever the seven of them got together and Shiro and Iv effortlessly mirrored each other as if they had known each other for ages.
“Are you here to ask for my blessing?”
“I’m here to ask if you are willing to step aside and let him have your place on the official team. He really wants it.”
Jacy knew. He saw how he tried to mask how upset he was when Kyle rejected him and also how hard he kept on practicing, even if he would have been prefect on the field without ever having held a tennis racket before. It was weird knowing that Shiro could have easily had it all, but held himself back out of a wish to be human. It’s what he was here for, he confessed. Last time, during the rugby practices, he had failed in blending in. Jacy believed it was because he was trying to impress someone – or maybe someones?
“Sure, except I already proposed that and he was adamant that he won’t let me withdraw for his sake. So what do you suggest?”
“What if you miraculously couldn’t play anymore? Say…there was an injury that could heal fast enough, but not before the competition? After all, we both know that your body is capable of that.”
There was one time while in the basement when he had almost sprained his wrist because he had mishandled the shovel. When Iv went to check on him, it was totally fine. In fact, just the simple fact of him making it out of there unharmed signaled that his body was built different. So an actual sprained ankle for example, while not healing right away, would not be too much of a burden for him. Heck, he might not even need a cast.
“Alright. I’ll do it for Shiro. It’s not like I’ve got something to lose.”
He did have one condition though. He wanted to take this chance to see just how much strength Iv was hiding in her slim body. He wanted her to know that just like she had him figured out, he had her, too.
“I’m not sure how to injure my ankle on purpose. Think you can help me out?”
He handed her the tennis racket, which she took almost immediately. Lifting it up with a smile, she warned him - “This might hurt” – and hit.
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