Criminals Intellect

Chapter 3

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Once Max got on campus, he walked in with Eleanor and Vincent. He saw his old friend glare at him, but he just walked away. He didn't need to deal with her bullshit today. Max, Vincent, and Eleanor walked to a quiet hallway, sitting either on or near the window seal. Max sat on the floor, and Vincent and Eleanor sat next to each other on the window seal. Max felt hands on his scalp, he quickly turned around and saw Eleanor treading her hands through his orange hair. Her eyes were sparkling in awe as her fingers caught on tiny knots. "Eleanor, what do you think you're doing?" Max asked, trying to turn around.

"Your hair is so fluffy!" Eleanor sang, she kept her hands in his hair trying to turn his head back to its original position. "I want to braid it!"

"What? No! My hair is too short!" Max yelled fighting to get her dark hands out of her hair. Vincent watched the two fight in slight amusement, he fought back to smile, his Russian traditions coming back to bite at him.

"Ellie, stop." Eleanor and Max both stopped, looking at the bigger male. "If he doesn't want you to braid his hair then respect his wishes and leave him alone." Eleanor pouted, crossing her arms, and curling in on herself. Vincent sighed, "You can braid mine if you want to."

Eleanor immediately perked up, smiling widely. As she scrambled her way to him Vincent took out his low ponytail. Eleanor got situated behind Vincent, was that a hint of dread Max saw? "We've only got about 30 minutes until Vincents and Is class starts; do you think you have time?" Max asked watching as Eleanor sorted his hair into parts.

"Don't underestimate her abilities, Max," Vincent said, looking over at him. "She's a wizard at this kind of stuff."

"Quit moving your head!" Eleanor screeched, lightly smacking his head. Vincent muttered a quick 'ow' before going back on his phone. Max stared at the two for a while, easily catching their attention. "Something entertaining you Max?" Eleanor asked now halfway done with Vincent's hair.

Max grew red, embarrassed that he got caught. "Ah, no. I was just wondering when and how did you guys meet? It seems you have a strong relationship with each other." Vincent and Eleanor looked at each other for a split second, before looking back at Max.

"We've been friends for about 2-3 months by now." Eleanor smiled focusing back on the task at hand. "It's like we were soulmates, but for friends. Are there soulmates for friendly relationships?" Eleanor asked, chuckling slightly at her joke. Max noticed Eleanor was braiding his hair loosely, no wonder it wasn't taking that long.

Vincent shrugged, probably answering Eleanor's question. "As for how we met, that'll be a story for a different time," Max whined, why were they hiding things from him? He wants to be a part of their friendship!

So, like an annoying little toddler, Max asked, "Why?"

"Because it's personal and rather dark. You seem too innocent to know." Vincent replied, Eleanor and Vincent both seemed unnerved talking about it; so, Max let it go.

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What kind of drugs is Max's Economic professor taking? A partner project? Really? And he was partnered with Vincent?! This sounds like one of the sappy high school romantic clichés. Max sighed and looked over to Vincent at the other end of the room. He was staring at Max with a knowing look in his eyes. God, Max thought, this is going to be a long month.

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When the class was dismissed, Max started packing up his things. Ignoring everyone who whispered behind his back, he didn't want to hear what they had to say. He didn't care anymore. They made sure he couldn't feel anything anymore.