Throne of Glass: unOrdinary Fanfic

(9) Benefit of the Doubt part 3

Throughout his morning, John discovered that news of the kiss spread like wildfire, taking the school by storm. Members of the school press would lurk around him, occasionally trying to pressure him into doing an interview. But Isen, oh brother Isen was the absolute worst. Persistent to a fault and passive aggressive in his attempts to harvest every drop of drama that he was capable of coaxing.

Escaping the overconfident half-and-half boy was difficult, and frustrating. Seriously, are these people that desperate for a story? John almost cried in relief as he stopped in front of the roof access, panting while he caught his breath and grabbed the door handle. Swerving his head back he quickly checked behind his shoulder to confirm that no one had managed to follow him. After making sure that was the case, he returned his focus to the roof.

The familiar worn door handle fit perfectly in his palm, the edges smoothed by repetitive use. A smile quickly uplifted the corners of his mouth at the prospect of who was waiting for him behind the door, dispersing any other thought. As a personal rule, Sera took precedence above all.

John felt warmth flood him head to toe just at the thought of her, musing over a good comeback to combat her playfully snarky banter from earlier. He glanced back at their text feed, which he had spent more time focusing on in class than the actual learning material.

His heart hammered in his chest when he reminisced the very visible kiss, the thrill, the uncertainty of exploring new boundries.

It had left him bruise-free for the first three periods of the school day, everyone giving him a wide berth in the hallways. They wouldn't dare try their luck after such a public display of affection.

After all who knew what Seraphina would do in retaliation...

Eagerly swinging open the door John was met with fresh air filled with birdsong, musical ears attempting to pick apart the mixed melody. There was a chill in the breeze even though the sun was high above, light spilling through the few clouds that lazily drifted towards the east. But the beautiful scenery was a sorry comparison to the radiance of Seraphina. She was tapping away at her phone with inhumane speed, her irises glowing a dim azure as she empowered her movements with aura. Flicking her eyes up to the sound of the door creaking open, she immediately brightened after seeing him.

It was like witnessing the sunrise break through a dreary night and a feeling of peace filled him as their eyes softly met, immediately drawn to each other.

He was finally home.

Seraphina couldn't stop the warm smile that appeared on her face and she beckoned him over with a wave, pausing the game and pocketing her device.

"There you are, what took you so long?" She started, her voice showing relief. It was ten minutes since classes let out, and he normally made it up here in half that time. Worry gnawed in her stomach, and if it wasn't for John responding in his typical rushed and oft constantly misspelled fashion she would've stormed through every room of this school to find him. "I was about to go looking for you."

"Press club decided that interviewin' me was priority number one," John sighed like a heavy weight was just lifted off his shoulders, tension releasing from his tired mind as he approached Sera and plopped down next to her. He set his tray to the side for now, he was in the company of someone far more important than food.

"Any information regardin' you is a hot commodity, so I've been hunted down all day." Recounting the events and opting to use a dramatic tone he motioned with flourishes of his hand, the other draped across his torso. After rolling his neck to get all the cricks out- and a few concerning crunch's- he carefully lowered his back to rest on the ground, head laying just above Seraphina's knees.