The Leaders Society

♬ADAM♢

3RD SEPTEMBER 1997

In the quiet embrace of the 'Leaders' common room, where the flickering candlelight painted patterns on the walls, I had found myself immersed in a late-night conversation with Ben and Lena. The common room, previously buzzing with magical chatter, had settled into a tranquil ambiance, providing the perfect backdrop for our candid exchanges.

As we lounged on plush sofas, the conversation meandered through the realms of magic, shared experiences, and the occasional laughter that echoed through the dimly lit space. Ben, looked up from at the dark-haired girl, his tone shifting slightly to nervous banter,

"You know, Lena, you and Adam seem to be like a couple sometimes." he remarked with a weak smile. "You're always studying together and you have known each other for years."

Lena, caught off guard, and I, equally surprised, shared a glance before simultaneous denials escaped our lips. "Oh, no, no, not at all!" Lena laughed, her eyes dancing with amusement.

Ben chuckled slightly, "Come on, you two. The dynamic duo, like a magical power couple."
Laughing it off we dismissed the notion with good-natured banter. The idea of and Lena and I as a couple felt like a whimsical fantasy, a playful suggestion that added a layer of lightness to the camaraderie we shared.

"In your dreams Huntington." Lena remarked. "And besides you, Ben have known Adam longer than I have, you're more suited as a couple than we are!"
She quickly became silent, realising what she had said was probably not the right thing.

However we just laughed it off, the conversation shifted seamlessly, weaving through topics as diverse as potion mishaps, magical creatures, and the nuances of our shared experiences at Bruxeria. As Lena spoke about her latest water manipulation endeavors, Ben and I listened, the enchanting cadence of her voice painting vivid images of her magical prowess.

In the midst of our banter, I found my gaze drawn to Ben—his easy laughter, the subtle quirks that defined him, the way his dark inky eyes crinkled when he smiled. The camaraderie we shared masked the unspoken longing that lingered beneath the surface.

The common room's ambience shifted from lighthearted banter to an air of tension as Lena, Ben, and I found ourselves navigating the intricate paths of our shared history. Lena's perceptive gaze couldn't help but unravel the subtle undercurrents between Ben and me. As the laughter subsided, she bravely tiptoed into the realm of our past.

"What's on your mind, Lena?" I asked, sensing the unspoken inquiry in her eyes.

She hesitated briefly before delicately addressing the elephant in the room. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help but notice there's more to the story between you and Ben. You guys were close, right?"

The room's energy shifted, and my gaze naturally gravitated towards Ben, whose expression tightened ever so slightly. The once-comfortable atmosphere became tinged with the weight of unspoken words.

"Yeah, we were," I responded, a hint of nostalgia in my tone. "Best friends since forever. But things change, you know?"

Lena nodded, her gaze moving between Ben and me. "Well change is inevitable, but it seems there's more to this story than just the passage of time. What happened?"

An uneasy silence settled in, the flickering candlelight casting shadows on the unresolved fragments of our history. My eyes met Ben's, and we found ourselves suspended in a moment where words carried a profound weight.

There was a story, one I wasn't ready to admit yet. Ben and I were inseparable for years, until I started to feel more complicated, things felt different for me. Ben however, also seemed to have some hidden reason for our separation, I doubted it was in anyway the same as mine.

"It's complicated," Ben muttered, his words resonating with the complexities that defined our fractured friendship.

Lena, sensing the fragility of the situation, chose her words with care. "Sometimes, understanding complexities can bring healing. What happened, Adam? Ben?"

I sighed, a heavy breath escaping me. "We used to be inseparable, joined at the hip! But as we grew older, our ambitions led us in different directions. There were misunderstandings, things left unsaid, and before we knew it, we weren't the friends we used to be."

Ben, his frustration evident, interjected with a tense tone, "Adam's always been the golden boy. The one everyone expects to succeed. Sometimes, it's hard being the friend in the shadow."

He shifted his eyes to me, hitting me with a stare that could freeze water, then he turned back to Lena, his tone dark and subtly violent. "But you would know all about that wouldn't you?"

Lena looked as though he had stabbed her in the heart, her eyes brimming with tears. Everyone knew that Lena was Felicity Morgan's so-called 'sidekick', even Lena herself had spoken about it like that before, but Ben's words seemed to cut her deep, as though she felt everyone saw her that way.

"Felicity and I would never stop being friends over some stupid unknown reason, you two just need to talk." She said bravely. Ben didn't have the best track record with anger containment, and it only got worse after we stopped being friends, so Lena standing up to him in the way she did seemed rather heroic.

But, her words seemed to ignite a storm within Ben. In a sudden surge of anger and frustration, he stood abruptly. "You know what? I don't need this right now," he muttered, storming out of the common room, leaving Lena and me to grapple with the aftermath of his departure.

Lena looked at me, uncertainty etched on her face. "I didn't mean to..."

"It's not your fault, Lena," I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "This goes deeper than we can unravel in one night, and in all fairness, I'm still unsure on the full story myself."

As the enchanted candles flickered, the room felt charged with the fragments of a friendship that had once been unbreakable. Lena and I were left to grapple with the untold complexities, facing the shadows of a history that remained shrouded in mystery and unresolved emotions. The common room, once a sanctuary of laughter, now bore witness to the fragments of a friendship lost in the passages of time.