Elven Love (SAA Book 1) ✔

Part Twenty-One

The following day at school, the day was much more lazier and slower. Why? It's a Monday. Everybody on Earth dreads the Mondays, even the smart ones. Oren was practically dragged out of bed by the blond, and he refused to get dressed. Well, until Clayton threatened to undress the boy himself.

The two were casually pulling through the tedious first period. Oren was trying his absolute best to ignore the laughing behind him, but to no avail. He couldn't stand the persecution people were putting to him. He raised his hand and waited for an answer from Mrs. Grets. She turned from the board and Oren excused himself to the bathroom. Clayton looked over at him in worry, but the elf didn't notice as he shuffled to the exit.

As he left, James raised a brow. "Oh I'm not done with him yet. He's got a gift with the long-ass ears. Gotta learn his place." Clayton turned at that, giving the brunet a deadly glare from the corner of his eye.

"I hope you know that he's anxious and jittery because of pricks like you. He's actually a sweet person, but you're just too dense to try and get to know him." Clayton spat. He turned back around and the whole classroom went dead silent. As Clayton returned to doodling on his paper, James stood up and rushed through the classroom door.

.

As Oren leaned over the sink of the bathroom, he stared into the mirror with wide, worried eyes. He didn't know words would be so hurtful. Breaking his train of thought, the sharp sound of a hand slapping the cold tiles rang around the rather small bathroom. Oren's head snapped towards the entrance to see a smug James leaning against the wall of chipped, white tiles.

 "So, your dunce of a friend back there called you sweet. That's funny." he snickered. "you might be charming and nice and all that, but that doesn't matter. You're weird. You have old man hair, and your skin turns green. Piss green." He cackled loudly and strode forward, causing Oren to back up with a defensive stance appearing in the iris of his emerald eyes.

 "You don't belong here, and I hope you're aware of that." James grew closer to the elf, stopped only inches away from the boy that stood flat against the wall. Oren stood on the tips of his toes, pressing his back further into the wall, hoping to clip right through.

   "What do you think of us now? The human race isn't for you, buddy. Quit trying to fit in and run back to the fantasy world."

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Lunch Break

As lunch came around, Oren sat in the same spot as usual, only this time Clayton was sitting right next to him. Nobody dared to go near the elf, not if Clayton was there. Unlike Oren, the human was brave and didn't care what people thought of him. Oren needed that confidence to make it through the day.

   As the elf quietly sat in the corner of the golden shop, Clayton went on and on about when he was a child. He laughed and subtly preened with the blond, an emerald blush spreading to his cheeks as they spoke.

A figure approached them and Oren tensed, his guard instantly raising as an excited girl stood before him. She was a petite brunette, hair falling over her shoulders like a waterfall of silk. Her eyes were soft and pale as they bored into Oren's uncomfortable ones. Her lips were turned up into a smile and her hands were folded behind her back.

She was short and her clothes were a mix of pastel blues and pinks. She wore a light baby blue jacket, the white zipper closed only half way up her torso. She wore jean shorts that were patterned with a light pink thread and her sneakers were a matching light rose.

 "Hi! I'm Amber Steakins. You're the new student, right?" her eyes traveled over Oren's pointed ears and she smiled, "I've never seen someone so interesting in this uni before."

  Oren smiled politely. "Yeah. My name is Oren."

  Amber jumped and clapped her frail hands together. "Well, it's nice to meet you Oren! I know you're not being treated very nicely. I'm really sorry." At this, Oren was taken aback. He's never met someone so accepting, so he didn't know how to react.

  "People tend to get nasty attitudes when someone new comes around. I hope we can be friends this year, though." she bat a flirty eye at the elf, to which his eye twitched. Her hands raised to play with a strand of her hair and she laughed softly when Oren replied with a silent nod.

  "Great. My best friend Ashlynn and I are gonna head to our next class, but before we left I wanted to greet you. I'll see you later, okay?" she winked at Oren and turned to a girl with short, black hair. She was wearing a black hoodie and ripped jeans. Oren would've felt more comfortable talking to a girl like that instead of one that resembles sparkles, cats and fluffy clouds.

   Clayton rolled his eyes and scoffed, catching Oren's attention. Oren tilted his head and creased his brow, biting his lip. "Are you okay?" the elf asked with a shy, wobbling voice. The human shook his head and smiled, eyes dark but restricted as he stared at the elf.

    "That was sudden. Like, really really sudden. She was here for five seconds and left," Clayton noted. "-plus I can't see someone like her talking to you. She's the kind of person to peer pressure you into doing something against the rules." Oren hummed softly in understanding.

   "But she seemed nice."

 Clayton let out a breath. "At first she does. She even tricked me into thinking I was her friend until she pressured me into stealing from an old professor."

  Oren's shoulders sagged. "Well, at least someone can be nice to me around here." he said. Clayton's head shot over to him and his jaw dropped.

   "Oren, no, don't think like that, c'mon." the human pleaded, "it just takes time for them to understand and know you. You're not any lesser than them, if anything you're a lot better than them, you just have to show it." Clayton leaned over and pressed a hand to the back of Oren's ear, thumb swiping against the lobe.

   Oren shivered and leaned into the warmth Clayton projected onto him. His eyes fluttered closed.

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The next day at school, Amber grew attached to Oren as if she were a magnet to metal. She followed him through the hallways, chatting up a storm with her friend on the other side of her. She laughed and chanted playfully, holding onto the side of his arm as they walked. Clayton wasn't oblivious to the disgusting behavior.

He despised the way she was so friendly with him. Clayton was well aware of how she wanted Oren to depend on her, when she's just luring him into something horrible, like a manipulative snake. The human grimaced at the thought of his boyfriend being taken advantage of, but then again, he didn't know what to do, and panicked.

"Maybe we can go out if you're free. I really like hanging out with you. Here, I'll give you my number so we can call after school." Amber fished out a block of neon sticky notes and a pen from her fuzzy pencil case. She clicked the top of the pen and jotted down a sequence of curvy numbers and peeled it from the sticky notes. She stuck it to Oren's shirt and threw him a suggestive smile before throwing a glance at Clayton.

 "That boy doesn't seem to be cutting it for you anyway."

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Thanks for reading Part Twenty-One!