The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

While Jared spent his Monday morning tormenting Landon rather than getting to school before the clock hit 7:50, Reed, like the unexpectedly decent student he was, was through the doors of Building C right on time. A slight frown lay upon his face. The reason for his not-so-happy expression was because of Ember. She had, once again, walked to school with that red-headed vermin. If anything, Reed should be accompanying her, as he could protect her from hungry vampires with ease. But Reed was always a minute too late and Cohen was always a minute too soon. It was an endless cycle of frustration mixed with a familiar sense of jealousy. Those emotions were never expressed though. He kept them to himself, not bothering to interrupt the two on their walk to school. For whatever reason, he found himself acting differently today as he began to walk in the opposite direction of his locker and toward Ember's locker instead. As he walked, hands hidden in his pockets, the sound of two beating hearts filled the air, mixing with the conversations of students idling in the halls. One heartbeat was pleasant to listen to while the other was flat-out irritating. As expected, the first belonged to Ember and the second was Cohen's. Although he tried his best to block out the other beating heart, it still found its way into his ears. By the time Cohen and Ember came into Reed's view, Reed was on the verge of sticking earplugs in his ears to stop himself from hearing Cohen's heartbeat. Through Cohen's unpleasantly loud heartbeat, Reed could hear the conversation the two of them were having together. He stopped, choosing to eavesdrop for a little.

"I'm glad you're back in school. Things weren't the same without you," Cohen smooth-talked her, resting against her locker that she had just closed. "I almost died of boredom."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. I can't be the only friend you have," Ember laughed, not taking Cohen seriously. They only ever talked to each other on their walks to and from school since they, unfortunately, didn't have any classes together. "Unless I really am your only friend, and, in that case, I'm honored, but, seriously, there's no way someone like you doesn't have friends."

"We're more alike than you think," He mumbled quietly. Like Ember, he didn't have more people around him than he could count on his own two hands. "I only have a few close friends and by a few, I mean two. One of them is you and the other...well, I can't really consider him to be my friend."

"Wow, that's kind of a shocker."

She now saw Cohen a little differently. Though he may come off as a charismatic person, it seemed that he wasn't one to just befriend anyone. He was reserved, carefully calculating every single thing that had a pulse, which was similar to how Ember was in the past. That past was one Ember didn't want to return to, as life was much brighter with the High-tiers that she could call her friends.

"Who would have thought a good-looking guy like you only had two friends," She thought out loud, clearly expressing her astonishment.

"So you think I'm good-looking, is that right?" He smirked, a little amused by her boldness.

"Did I say good-looking? I actually meant hot–...Wait, no, that was supposed to be an insult, not a compliment!"

Her mistake prompted Cohen to lean in closer to her, as he had taken notice of a pair of purple eyes glaring a little too openly at him. This is too easy, Cohen would be referring to how Reed was on the verge of succumbing to his anger after Cohen quickly closed the gap between him and Ember. If he wanted to get a rise out of Reed, this was definitely the way to do it. As Cohen expected, Reed began moving toward them instantly. That alone made Cohen determine that that day was going to be a good day, all because Reed Karayan had fallen right into his cleverly set trap.

"Morning, Little Rabbit," Reed greeted Ember, purposefully acting as if Cohen wasn't standing beside her. 

"To what do I owe the honor of you saying good morning to little old me, Princess?" Ember replied with a grin.