Inhale

Chapter 17 - Memories

Lunchtime: the time of day that women serve you under-cooked dishes with a side of burnt bread. I would take the other course if it didn't appear so appetizing. I don't have anything against well-dressed dishes: no, I just hate being lied to. Which, of course, is the primary reason why I hate lunchtime.

"Your bread isn't burnt today, Al," Phillip commented, "does it taste good?"

"Yeah... I guess," I meekly responded, taking a bite of the loaf. Though it definitely was better than usual, I had other things on my mind. Despite what he had told me the day before, I couldn't get rid of the thought of yesterday. What exactly is happening to them? I glanced at Phillip, and then Esmae–both were none the wiser of my gaze settling on the duo. I took note that both seemed calmer than usual, but not in an odd way... maybe they talked this morning? Maybe they arrived a consensus of the sort?

"So..." she trailed, causing me to come back to my senses. Esmae was looking directly at me, as if she was talking to me. "Anything going on?"

"What kind of question is that?" Phillip questioned, teasing the girl's innocence by sticking out his red tongue. "We spend everyday with each other–we obviously know everything that's going on in everyone's lives."

"I'm talking about gossip, you idiot," she giggled, mocking his shortcomings, "have you heard anything about anything?"

"Do moans count? I heard moans in the boy's dormitory," I nonchalantly stated, then continued, "you missed out, Phillip. The couple was so loud and ecstatic to the point someone had to separate them. In doing so, I got to see a girl's behind."

"Really?" He asked, sounding somewhat interested. "Was she cute?"

"A petite girl with small curves and dyed short hair. She appeared to have a nice ass, however, I didn't get to see much since she was holding a sheet," I responded, yawning. "A shy girl? Not my type."

"You two are disgusting," Esmae complained in response, frowning in disgust, "just gawking at some girl! Do you have no shame?"

"Well, it's not like he'll be interested, anyways," he defended, "I mean, he's not interested in men or women. How could someone like him be shallow?"

"Wait. Al, you're asexual?"

"Let's change the subject," I said, sighing, "anything else we could talk about?"

"Oh, I just remembered something!" Esmae exclaimed, pepping up, capturing both of our attentions. "This one's interesting!"

"What is it?"

"You remember Axel?" she inquired, leaning forward.

"Yeah," he muttered, fidgeting in discomfort next to me. Of course he remembered–after all, the man tried to beat him up.

"You know Al here?" she asked, gesturing to me. "He has something against this poor guy."

"What? Why?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows. "I wasn't the one who humiliated him."

"Well, word has it that he has a grudge against you because you 'helped' Phillip," she stated, munching on more bread, "since he can't beat Phil up, he wants to beat you."

"I suppose I should take caution."

"Yeah," she agreed, sitting straighter with a grin. However, her expression immediately fell and her eyes darted away from me. "Speaking of the devil, he's headed this way."

"Great," I snarled, nose crinkling due to the heavy emotion in my gut.

"Adair," a voice boomed from behind me, causing me to flinch, "you're Alastair Adair, right?"