Chapter 2 | Irving

It was the first quarter of the second year at Almerden Academy, a school of all things whimsical and wondrous, and today was a day like no other, the day Irving was to return her book. 

It was a simple task, just approach her in the classroom, return it, easy, yet the moment he entered, his gaze was met by the sight of her laughing and using her fingers to hide a lock of hair behind her ear as she spoke to her fellow classmates. 

At this point, he was tempted to throw himself out the window, as he had lived a full life and all his wishes were granted, until he remembered the object he was holding in his bag, and decided he’d approach when she wasn’t busy with something else, totally not so he could watch her for a little while longer, and whoever thought that would be dead wrong, he merely happened to glance up at her multiple times and enjoy where he was standing, as his seat behind her granted a rather……generous view.

Hearing the bell, nobody knew how fast time would flicker by, and everyone returned to their seat. Thora could smell him, wait, that sounded bad, and thinking that her cheeks flushed. He simply smells of ink and lavender, that’s all! That’s all it is!

Leaning against the desk, her elbows sank into the wooden table, she noticed everyone was in class today, it was always a full classroom filled with every type of student, Scholar, and Business elective students, as well as those who study the Plight. 

Like Irving. She thought as her cheek fell into the palm of her hand and her starry eyes began daydreaming out the window. 

Meanwhile, Irving himself who was staring at her earlier, was now fighting to do the very opposite, as with her leaning over she’d more than accidentally let her modest clothes outline her figure and her….. soft-looking thighs…..plump, juicy- STOP IT STOP IT RIGHT NOW THIS IS THE CLASSROOM. 

Hurriedly fixing his eyes to his desk, he remained quiet as the mice in the rafters while his face was practically glowing red, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, slowly crossing his legs and trying to calm the thrumming heartbeat that sounded deafening in his twitchy ears.

With the lecture turning to history, Irving could see how her entire attention swung to the professor and an excited wiggle crossed her entire body. 

The professor abruptly asked. “Now, does anyone know the name of the seventh son of the third king taken by the plight in the war of shards?”

Springing up, Thora raised a hand and slammed the other on the table, bouncing on the tips of her toes as she was called upon. “His name was Balice of Malice!”

“Very well done, Miss Riddles.” The professor said with a smile as the praise made her ears wiggle, from beside him, Irving could hear the snickering of boys as they adjusted their gaze to see her hips wiggle and bounce, many of the boys sat in the back for reasons such as that. 

Hearing them, and glancing over, a scowl slowly settled onto his face, and his face went from a sweet cherry red, to a sinister pale complexion in no time flat as he quickly put on a safety glove, and reached into his bag, grabbing two small black, writhing beads, dripping with a green substance the consistency of honey and rolling them on the ground towards the boy’s books and backpacks, swiftly taking the glove off, and putting it back into his own bag as he carefully observed, a piercing gaze etched into his lavender shaded eyes.

Bursting from the small cocoon-like hive, the worms began eating, the shell, the wood, each other. Infesting the bags, climbing the chairs, they oozed colors of green and blue, eyes began bubbling on their skin like boils and their skin began to grow fur. 

A little something he had picked up in the last natural biology class he had taken, the professor was one of a kind, a proper quack who he had quite adored, her lessons always filled with gut-wrenching atrocities that fueled his ideals. 

Quickly, the boys began to dance as if they were on fire, the worms crawling up their skin as by the second they grew, digging into their skin, feasting off their flesh, and bursting on their skin when touched, leaving the boys coated in a foul stench. 

“What’s going on?” The professor said as everyone began to turn around, and the most gorgeous butterflies filled the air, taking off as the worms changed in mere seconds, decorating the classroom in starlight colors. 

Staying dead silent, he recoiled back and put a book between him and the butterflies, lest they choose him to be their next nesting spot, and simply smirked quietly as the boys writhed in pain, content at their now inability to peep on Thora, speaking of, he glanced back down to see her eyes staring into his, their gazes connecting as a smile tugged at her face, and she tapped the side of her head. 

Raising his hand, he felt as a red butterfly crawled off his hair and onto his fingers, and for a moment, part of him admired how it almost reminded him of Thora, the slight twitch in its wings similar to how her hair would flutter with each step.

And once she turned around, he quickly put it in a bottle, careful not to damage its wings, its red sunset colored wings that were her color, he could pin it inside a box at home, keep it forever, gaze at it, the very thought brought a warmth to his face as well as a happy grin as he tucked it away into his bag, returning his focus to the lesson, and occasionally to the ginger-haired girl sitting in front of him, content with the suffering he’d caused this day.

With the bell to the classes ending chiming, Thora stood up and packed her bag, clumsy in her packing she could hardly fit all her books in her bag before struggling to buckle the strap. 

“Thoraaaa, hurry up, all these bugs are freaking me out.” A girl with wavy blonde hair said, a smile on her face. 

“Butterflies aren’t a bug, they're a “ Interrupted mid-sentence Thora looks to see another girl, this one with short green hair. 

The blonde was Abira and the other was Harriet putting a hand on her waist Harriet sighed. “Nobody cares what they are, come on, let’s go get lunch, I heard Jhen will be there.” 

“That guy you like?” Abira teased as Harriet started skipping to the door. Giggling she then turns to Thora. “Don’t worry, I care that they aren’t bugs, will you tell me about it later?” 

With her ears twitching Thora nods as they both walk out of the classroom, a peaceful atmosphere leaving with them. 

As they left, Irving could feel a deep disdain for that green-haired girl who hung around Thora, she clearly just wanted to use her for some reason or another, he just knew it, the other one was fine though, he’d seen them getting along enough times to know she was safe, and he quickly packed his bags to head to his lunch, before stopping cold in his tracks, as he looked into his bag to see her book, in all the excitement, he’d completely forgotten he was supposed to return it.

Quickly putting away the rest of his books and items, he bolts up from his chair and towards the door, ducking and weaving past the other students as he grabs onto the doorframe while passing by, swinging himself quickly around the corner, and while in mid-turn, he crashes into someone.

In a quick bounce, his face pressed against her chest for mere seconds as the sheer shock of it caused him to fall back and slowly look. 

“I’m so sorry! A-are you okay?!” Her ears flush as she looks down at him, fidgeting while seeing his blank stare as she takes his hands, pulling him up and brushing him off, then scooting over to her desk, her face turning red as she grabs the pen she forgot and runs past him out the door, trying to hide her face to no avail. 

For a good while, even as students passed, Irving simply stood there in abject horror, and disbelief, nothing but a blank stare on his face as the classroom emptied itself, and soon, his face flushed a deep red, and he was left staring at the ground as he slowly walked to the dining hall. AHHHHHHHH I RAN INTO HER CHEST AND AHHHHHHHHH, THEY WERE SO SOFT AND WARM LIKE HOTCAKES FRESH OFF THE STOVE! I don’t think my heart can handle this, she’s even softer than I’d ever imagined! This is the greatest day of my entire life.

﹒˖˚──﹕✦﹕──˚˖﹒