*Chapter Twelve*
With each approaching day, the school grew more restless. Fights would break out almost every single day as demons, and even angels, would pick on the weaker ones, preferably humans. Aurora didn’t know if it was just her, but it seemed like even the teachers were told to ignore the fights. Also, with each passing day, Aurora noticed that Cade wasn’t acting his normal self. When confronted, he just shrugged it off and said that Aurora was just imagining things.
The trio stopped. There was a large flock of girls. Aurora rolled her eyes. Girls nowadays, especially the younger humans, were way too driven by their hormones to be sensible.
“God, this again?” Cade crossed his arms, obviously as annoyed as Aurora.
“Aurora! Aurora! Aurora! Aurora!” Gabriella chanted. “You see him?” she gushed, her lips inches away from Aurora’s ears. Aurora cringed. Gabriella showed no sign of lowering her voice even though Aurora could hear her more than well. “Girl, that guy’s a complete hottie,” she shrieked, her eyes gazing dreamily at the guy surrounded by a bunch of girls. “He’s like the second Adrian but with a much less scary personality!” She turned back to Aurora, her eyes wide with excitement. Suddenly, she grasped her hand with a vice-like grip. “You must use this chance! There’s nothing more you can expect from a guy! He has the looks, the charms, and he’s a Prince!”
The corner of Aurora’s lips twisted upwards, not at her comment but at the way Gabriella was behaving. Her smile faded when she saw Cade turn away from them.
“Whoa,” Gabriella continued to rant, completely oblivious of anything around them. “Have you seen the amount of girls after him?” She stretched out her arms to stress her point.
It had been six days, yet there was no sign of the attention he was getting from the female population in Artemis diminishing anytime soon. Every single day, practically half of the girls in the entire school would gather together in front of his last class once the bell rang. The fact that he told the entire school to ignore the formalities of him being a Royalty seemed to attract girls like bees to honey. The number of females throwing themselves shamefully at him really was preposterous.
“You’re so damn lucky, Girl,” Gabriella continued.
“Only if you’ve seen the amount of glares I’ve received in the past three days,” Aurora said. Her tone was flat, and her eyes shared none of the emotions Gabriella felt.
“They’re just jelly.”
Jealousy, Aurora thought with a sigh. She was definitely regretting the relief she felt when she heard that Adrian wasn’t her partner. At least, if that were the case, she wouldn’t need to face the horde of horny girls’ dirty looks.
Slowly, Avary straightened up from his position of leaning against the wall. He slowly walked forwards, a lopsided smile on his face. Aurora finally understood where Adrian had gotten his smugness from. It must run in the family.
“Oh my gosh!” Gabriella rambled, “Is he walking towards us?”
Wincing at Gabriella’s intense grip on her arm, she turned her head sideways. The most popular guy of Artemis was indeed walking towards them. Just like last time, he had no problem with staring into her eyes.
“Aurora, right?” he said, flashing Aurora his trademark dazzling smile. Aurora noticed that if she looked closely, his eyes were a shade lighter than Adrian’s. “I don’t think I’ve ever properly introduced myself. I’m Avary, your partner.”
He extended his hand, and Aurora took it, feeling glowers being shot at her from every direction.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Aurora smiled out of pure courtesy. “I already know who you are.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet someone as beautiful as you,” he said, winking at her. “Do you mind showing me around?”
Feeling even more glares being thrown at her, Aurora groaned inwardly. She searched for Gabriella for help, but the girl wore an identical reverent look most of the female population now wore minus the bitterness. She was just about to reply when someone beat her to it.
“Avary! I’ll show you around!” a girl offered, rushing forward with a large smile.
Aurora quickly turned away, trying to keep her neutral expression. The girl had a ridiculous amount of makeup, and her bright red lipstick stood out like blood on a white cloth. She had somehow made her skirt a lot shorter, and half of the buttons of her top were unbuttoned. Okay, maybe not half, but certainly more than enough.
Taking this to her advantage, Aurora nudged Gabriella. Before she could even react, Aurora was dragging the flailing blonde away.
“Aurora!” she whined. “He was so close! I could just -”
“Gabriella, Cade’s acting weird.”
Suddenly, she felt Gabriella cease resisting. Aurora loosened her grip, and the two of them walked through the almost empty corridor. Aurora frowned. Cade wasn’t usually like this. Frankly, Aurora had never seen Cade acting so…not himself.
“Any idea where he might be?”
Gabriella’s eyebrows knitted together in concentration, Avary forgotten behind. Her eyes lost their playfulness, and her lips were set in a grim line.
“I think I know where he went.”
Slightly taken aback by Gabriella’s sudden change in attitude, Aurora nodded slowly. She followed Gabriella aimlessly through the corridor. They emerged out of the West door, leading them to the large pond at the back of the school. Aurora shut her mouth and trailed after Gabriella. She knew better than to argue with her in this state.
Cade sat on the gentle slope inclined towards the pond. One of his legs was bent, on which he rested his elbow. Aurora saw him pull back his other hand and throw something small towards the still pond. The small rock, Aurora had made out, soared in a gentle arc through the azure sky before landing with a soft plop into the pond, creating a series of small ripples.
Gabriella slowly walked forwards, her footsteps muffled by the soft soil beneath their feet. For some reason, Aurora found herself unable to walk forward. Something was telling her that this wasn’t something she should interfere, and for some reason, she really trusted that small voice of hers.
She watched as Gabriella walked past her and sat down by his side, a decent amount of space between the two. He chose to ignore her presence. Aurora saw Gabriella’s mouth move to form words that she couldn’t hear. Cade tensed, and worry filled Aurora. The two best friends never fought. To see Cade like this, in such a strange mood, was unnerving.
“You don’t know anything!” Cade hollered, rising up in a flash.
Aurora’s eyes grew wide. Never would she expect Cade to scream at a girl, especially Gabriella. The blonde froze in her place for a second before she abruptly leapt up. Contrary to Aurora’s belief, Gabriella noticed Cade’s strange behavior. For so many days, Gabriella had watched impassively as Cade grew more and more distant. All the while, she kept her temper in check. Like a rubber band snapping after being stretched for a long time, Gabriella lost it.
She was in front of Cade in a flash. She pulled back her fist, and it struck Cade’s jaw with a soft thud. The punch was so hard that Cade lost his balance and staggered backwards, almost falling.
“That’s for raising your voice at me,” Gabriella’s icy voice whipped at Cade.
She pulled back her fist one more time, but this time Cade was prepared. He brought his palm up, successfully blocking her attack and keeping a hold on her fist at the same time. Fury raged deep in his deep green eyes. Aurora knew that she had to intervene. No way was she watching two of her best friends engage in a fight. She jumped out of her hiding place and brought her palm up, facing outwards.
“Stop this, both of you. Care to explain yourself, Cade?”
“You don’t want to know.”
His voice was low and emotionless. Aurora dared to peek at him out of the corner of her eyes. His eyes said all his voice did not. He really meant each word he uttered. This was not enough to make Aurora back down.
“Cade, don’t make me find out by force,” Aurora warned in an equally low volume. Something in her voice caused both Cade and Gabriella to know that much like Cade, Aurora was not jesting. Cade’s defense seem to fall, and he slumped down to the ground.
“I can’t fight. I literally can’t fight. I can’t use any of my demonic powers.”
“How is the situation here?” Valin asked, resting his chin on the back of his hand. The Prince sat laidback on the chair, staring at the window with an uninterested expression.
“They’re too easy,” Avary said. “It’s no fun. Father made it sound so interesting.”
“Is there anything that’s ever not easy for you?” Valin joked.
That was right. Because of his looks and personality, Avary got everything and anything he wanted. In fact, everything was so easy to achieve that life no longer had any meanings for him. Images of the black-haired girl stuck in his mind. The look in her eyes, it wasn’t the reverent look or even the dazed look he had seen in the girls in Artemis.
“Thinking back, I came here for two reasons. One of them was because the human intrigued me.” Avary stood up and leaned his head out of the window. A gentle gust of wind blew in, ruffling his hair. “Father told you to pair me with her, didn’t he?”
Valin smiled. It was a wary and acknowledging smile. He chose to remain in silence.
“I’m curious. What’s the other reason?”
The Prince smiled crookedly.
“Adrian seems to treasure her, as much as he denies. My second reason, of course, was to taunt my little brother.”
Valin’s smile shifted into a small frown as the Prince turned away from him. He wasn’t quite sure, but it seemed like the Demon Prince hesitated for a brief moment before the second reason. Oh well, Valin did not care for some insignificant sibling matter.
Aurora grabbed his chin, trying to force him to look into her eyes. He quickly slapped her hands away.
“Don’t.”
“Aurora.” Gabriella lowered her arm and turned around. Her calm and collected voice seemed to snap both Aurora and Cade out of their trance. “Let’s go.”
Aurora whirled around, blinking at her friend. The blonde slowly ran a hand through her hair and walked past Aurora.
“G-Gabriella?” Aurora stuttered.
Gabriella never once looked back. Aurora shot Cade a pointed look, to which he refused to respond by simply looking away as if he was suddenly captivated by the still water. Aurora hesitated, the words on the tip of her tongue.
“Cade, I vow that I will not judge you. I’ll hear you out, okay? Just tell me when you’re ready.”
Cade still did not show any sign that he was acknowledging her. Aurora sighed and turned around. She had made her point, and she just hoped that he would answer her.
That night, Aurora barely caught any sleep. The pale moonlight shone through the open window and fell onto Aurora’s bed sheet. Aurora found herself reminiscing all those nights she had lain awake in bed, wondering why on earth was she still alive. She tossed and turned silently in her bed. Across her, Gabriella lay still as a rock.
“Hey, you awake?”
Her soft whisper traveled across the deadly silence. There was no response. Aurora gave her friend a brief look before turning to face the wall. Even though she had friends, why did she still not feel at ease? It was as if something was missing within her. She shut her eyes, hoping that by the time she would wake up, the empty feeling within her could disappear –something she had tried futilely for more than a hundred years.
Gabriella’s eyes were wide open, staring at the opposite blank wall inches apart from her face. Slowly, her hand reached up to her chest.
Her heart was still pumping just as it did every single day. She could not comprehend this. Images of Cade flashed across her mind, yet it still seemed like she was missing something. Her heart ached like a raw wound.
Why?
Why did it hurt so much?