ʙʀᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴏꜰ ᴅᴀᴡɴ

Chapter 15

Xavier stood in front of the dressing mirror in his parents' room, an eye shadow palette open alongside a tube of foundation. He looked at himself in the mirror, exhaling as he brought the paste closer to his black eye. Contact with the livid injury made him flinch.

He sighed, trying it again as he could only hold his breath, gently rubbing the foundation paste over the wound. When he was done, he picked up the make-up brush, laying askew on the table beside him, dabbing it into brown powder and spreading it generously over the foundation application.

In a haste, he dusted the powder off the brush, shut the top of the powder and foundation as well as the eye shadow. He once again looked at his handiwork and tried smiling and instantly regretted ever attempting that. He winced.

He shook his head, picked his bag off the bed and made his way out of the house.

Xavier unlocked the car, swinging the door open forcefully, swung his bag into the passenger seat and carefully sat in the driver's area. His grip tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles gradually turning white as the thought came flooding in.

After much thought, he shut his door and made his way out of the driveway.

*****

The murmuring got louder as Xavier parked his car in the lot:

"...he got into a fight with Kayden..."

"...a friend of mine said it was because of Gwen..."

"...I heard she's trying to cause a rift between Kayden and Xavier on purpose..."

"She's so horrible..."

Angrily, Xavier turned towards the girl who made the statement, "I suggest you all better not speak of what you don't know," he said. He adjusted his slung bag on his shoulder, marching his way into the school—one thing he couldn't overlook were the stares thrown in his direction.

"Xav!" Josephine called from the sea of students in the hallway. She briefly hugged him and smiled, "I heard what happened yesterday and I'm sorry."

"It's no problem," he waved his hand in the air, strolling towards his locker. He opened it, shoving books into his now open bag.

"Seriously, Xav. I was worried but I'm glad you're fine now," she touched the bruise on the edge of his lips. She examined his face, her gaze unwavering from his swollen eye. She laughed. Xavier frowned and Josephine went silent. "You did a nice job on the make-up though, only that it's not holding up well."

"Oh," he said then pursed his lips, shutting his locker and zipping his bag.

"We're going to check the Hall of Heritage—Noah said he told you yesterday," Xavier nodded, looking ahead. "We got the key and I wish you were there. It happened so fast and—"

"I met Ivona," he confessed and Josephien went wide-eyed.

"You what?" she whispered in shock.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys earlier. There was a lot going on and I didn't know how you were going to take it—"

"What did she say?"

"What?" he looked at her puzzled. She stopped on her tracks, facing him with a curious look in her eyes.

"I asked for what she said, Xav," she laughed as they walked into their Algebra I class.

"She wasn't happy and apparently, someone is dying next week," he stared at her as they took seats in the back of the class—the noisy environment aiding their discussion.