"Point, me!"
Both Ajax and I pulled our masks off. The boy just stared at me, exhausted and dumbfounded. "Seriously, Caleigh?"
I dropped my hands to my sides, "What?"
Ajax gestured to the empty room around us. It was currently just him and me in the room we fenced in, everyone had left probably a good 45 minutes ago.
"Why're we still practicing?" He groaned, "One of your roommates is in the infirminary-"
"Infirmary," I mumbled my correction.
"Your other roommate is off doing who knows what and Xavier is probably painting or doing something that isn't this."
He was tired and bored.
I, for one, was not.
"Well, maybe if you weren't late we wouldn't still be practicing."
"I was 15 minutes late, not 45." He said breathlessly, "Can we be almost done?"
I shrugged my shoulders, stepping back and twirling my sword. My eyes focused in on the boy in front of me. Ajax Petropolis. What a sight to see.
A bead of sweat rolled down my face and suddenly I realized how hot and tired I was. Maybe it was time to call it. Not everyone can have the same stamina that I do when it comes to being overly competitive.
I blame my family for my competitive nature. My parents always pitted my brother and me against each other. Calum and Caleigh, who would come out on top?
Trust me when I say, that not all "friendly competitions" end friendly.
"Fine, last round."
He cocked an eyebrow, suddenly getting rather confident, "What do I get if I win?"
"You won't." I immediately bit back and his face fell. Dammit, Caleigh. "But if you do, you can brag about it for the next 24 hours."
A subtle smirk snuck onto his lips, "Deal."
We both slid our masks back on and hopped into a ready position.
I breathed heavily as we fought.
I can't tell if it was my pride or the need to prove others wrong that was driving me at the moment. My mind flooded back to the times when I would fence against my older brother. We somehow ended up practicing with each other, he was my partner before Ajax was. Calum always won. I always came in second.
His sword would stick me and he'd whip his helmet off, his blonde hair falling around his face and a laugh falling from his lips. "Gotta be better than that, Bug." And then we'd go again.
A groan fell from my lips as my body hit the ground.
I was no longer reminiscing about fencing with my brother. No, I was laid out on my back on the fencing mat, Ajax very much laid out on top of me.
He propped himself up on his hands, using one of them to pull off his mask. "I won?" He sheepishly said.
"What the fuck, Petropolis?" I mumbled.
"Well, I got you. I won." He chuckled, a small smile on his face as he spoke. "But when I won I may have unintentionally tripped us both."
Of course.
Ajax didn't move. He just stayed there, mostly on top of me, the other part of him propped up and staring down at my masked face.
He picked up one of his and I furrowed my eyebrows. And then my mask came off of my head. I could see the smile in Ajax's brown eyes as they connected with my bright blue ones. Something about this situation made me feel sick to my stomach.
"I've gotta go." I spoke, my voice barely audible as I quite literally shoved Ajax off of me.
He tumbled to the floor, groaning from the impact, while I stumbled to my feet. I needed to get out of here.
I ran through the school. Enid. Xavier. Yoko. Hell, any of the Sirens. I just needed someone.
Eventually, I stumbled out of the doors of the school and out into the rain. Except when I did, I saw Xavier tackling Wednesday out of the way as a gargoyle crashed into the ground next to them. My heart dropped into my stomach.
What the hell?
I rushed over to the two, my interaction with Ajax now being the least of my worries. I dropped to my knees on the stone next to my best friend. The water on the ground seeped into my clothes, probably staining my fencing uniform beyond belief.
"Xav?" I questioned, my eyes not leaving Wednesday's motionless body.
His hand shakily reached for mine, pulling me into his side quickly. "She's fine, she's fine." I think he was reassuring himself a tad more than he was me. "Let's get her back to the infirmary."
Xavier stood up first, helping me up shortly after. My whole body shook as I watched him pick her up from the ground. I couldn't help but stare at my roommate. The fact that she didn't even look like she was breathing was freaking me out.
I don't do injuries. I don't do death. I don't do unconsciousness. Nothing close.
"Hey." Xavier's voice was sharp.
My eyes tore away from my roommate and locked onto his.
I could tell he was worried, but his eyes were on mine. "She's going to be fine. Ok? I need you to open doors for me. Then you go find Enid, got it? You're not sticking around to wait for her to wake up." He was being bossy. But bossy was needed in this instance.
"Got it."
Xavier's eyes softened.
He knew I wasn't okay. He knew I didn't like stuff like this.
"Woah, what happened?" Ajax walked out the door I had just exited.
He was out of breath. Had he run after me?
He must've been. There's no way that Ajax would be that out of breath if he hadn't.
Xavier looked at me, Wednesday, and then the shattered gargoyle behind us. "Not totally sure, but I've gotta take Wednesday back to the infirmary. Mind walking Cai back to her dorm?"
My stomach dropped.
He did not just suggest that.
"I'm fin-"
"Sure can, Xav." Ajax reassured our best friend, holding the door open to help him back into the main building.
I groaned knowing that there was no way I was going to be allowed to walk back to my dorm by myself now. I followed the boys, somewhat like a puppy, Xavier would know if I snuck away and I didn't want to upset him. He tended to be overprotective at times, so I let him. Even though I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself.
"Aj." Xavier called out once more after we reached the infirmary.
The gorgon raised an eyebrow, ready for Xavier to say more.
"If Enid isn't there, can you stay with Cai til she is? Kind of don't want her to be by herself at the moment."
You've got to be kidding me.
Ajax assured Xavier he would and I immediately turned around to start the walk back. Yeah, yeah, maybe it wouldn't be the best idea for me to be by myself after seeing what I had just seen. But, Ajax? Why couldn't Xavier just drop Wednesday off and come with me?
"Why're you walking so fast, Caleigh?" Ajax complained.
So, I slowed down.
"I don't want to be here," I gestured vaguely to the area around us, "anymore." Infirmaries and hospitals made me sick.
"Yeah, that's why Xavier asked me to walk you back to your room."
This boy.
"You don't have to stay with me if Enid isn't there." I blurted.
I could see him shrug out of the corner of my eye, "Got nothing else to do."
Of course.
We walked in silence back to my dorm room. And, much to my dismay, Enid was nowhere around.
"So, this is your room." He was quiet, almost as if he were mesmerized.
I ignored him, grabbing sweatpants and a shirt I think used to belong to Xavier, before walking into my bathroom to change. My clothes were soaked from being out in the rain, so not even Ajax being in the middle of my room was going to stop me from getting out of them.
When I rejoined the boy, he was staring at our giant window. The one that was basically half Enid and half Wednesday.
"This is dope." he chuckled. Ajax turned to face me as I struggled with my tangled hair. "Want me to braid it for you?"
I cocked an eyebrow, "Huh?"
"Your hair. My sisters taught me how to french braid their dolls' hair when we were younger and I haven't forgotten. Need help?"
Every part of me screamed to say no.
"Sure."
What could it harm? "Alright, sit down on the floor. Shouldn't take all too long." And so I sat, Ajax on my bed behind me.
This isn't weird, right?
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ajax x caleigh content !!
what scenes would you like to see??