"Achoo!" XJ sneezed, sniffling into a tissue.
Harry laughed as he opened the door to him and XJ's room, brandishing a tray of food. "You're adorable when you sneeze."
"Shut up, Harry," XJ grumbled. "I'm still perfectly capable of stabbing you with my spear."
Harry laughed again as he put down the tray in front of XJ, who was sitting cross-legged on her bed. "I'm starting to think you love your spear more than you love me."
"That's rich coming from a boy who never puts his hook down." XJ scowled, narrowing her eyes at Harry.
Harry pouted as he sat down next to XJ. "Touche."
XJ rolled her eyes, "Why did I agree to be your girlfriend?"
Harry kissed XJ's cheek before gesturing to the tray in front of her. "Because I'm a good boyfriend."
XJ sighed, but smiled. "Maybe you are,"
"I definitely am," Harry declared before grabbing a piece of bread from the tray.
XJ raised an eyebrow, "I'm guessing that you didn't eat in the cafeteria like a healthy person would."
"I'm love-sick," Harry grinned widely, "Get it?"
"Oh my god." XJ groaned before sneezing again. She growled in annoyance, "I have never been sick my entire life - why now of all times am I sick?"
"Oh lass," Harry said as he put an arm around XJ, "This will probably be gone within a couple of days."
XJ shrieked, her voice slightly dulled by the sickness, "A couple of days? Harry, I want to get what I want as soon as I can! Now it's going to take me more than around a week to evaluate everyone! That means a delay in my plan for Chad and his dilemma with Audrey!"
Harry shrugged, "Didn't you say that Lonnie would most definitely look for you to talk about her mother today?"
"I...yes," XJ blinked, "I'm surprised you remember."
"Then that should make up for it, right?"
"How is that going to make up for my lost time, Harry?"
"Well, I'd imagine that you would get to know more about people if they show you sympathy and tread carefully around you, because you're sick. If Lonnie really is as determined to talk to you as you think she is, then her entire demeanor is going to change the minute she sees that you're vulnerable, because she's good." Harry said casually. He caught XJ's stare. "What?"
He was answered with a kiss that made his eyes widen at the sudden show of intimacy. When he had composed himself, XJ had already run to the table and had jumped back into bed with her laptop.
XJ began typing furiously and Harry scratched the back of his neck, "Um, lass?"
"Hmm?" XJ asked, concentrating on whatever she was working on.
"Not that I don't enjoy your kisses, but what was that for?"
"You're an unknowing genius, Harry."
"I...um, thank you." Harry frowned, still confused. "What did I do?"
"You made me realize that people show more of themselves when they're showing excess emotion."
"Excess emotion? I don't think that's an actual phrase..."
"It's not - it's just an easier way for me to categorize things. I have a personal dictionary that doesn't follow the rules of English grammar." XJ explained briefly.
Harry waited for XJ to elaborate and frowned when she didn't. "Could you...explain what you're thinking to me?" He asked, hesitant to break her concentration. Her fingers were flying across the keyboard, and he half-expected her to snap at him.
"Okay, so I originally had absolutely no tactic on taking notes on someone and their personality. However, you just made me realize that the easiest way to do that is when they're showing more emotion."
"Doesn't everyone feel all the time?"
"Yes, but more emotion - or in my own words - excess emotion, means anger, sympathy, jealousy rather than just impassiveness and calm. You'd think that I'd realize that sooner, but thankfully, I have a secretly intelligent boyfriend to tell me, no matter how late into the game I am."
Harry blinked. XJ looked up to see the pirate still looking bewildered. Harry shrugged, "You lost me at more emotion."
XJ laughed, "Leave the manipulation to me; if I need anything physical and rash, I'll tell you."
Harry pecked XJ's cheek, grinning, "Good enough for me." He suddenly remembered something. "Speaking of physical, I joined the wrestling team."
XJ's eyes widened, "What?"
Harry grinned sheepishly, "I know I said I wouldn't at the start, but..."
"You don't have to explain!" XJ said, her eyes lighting up. "This is great!"
"It is?"
"When the royal pricks lose to you, they'll get angry. I can tell everything I want about them from that!" XJ exclaimed enthusiastically.
"You're going to come to today's practice?" Harry asked excitedly.
XJ nodded, sneezing, "Yeah, I am. This'll be the perfect opportunity for me to make up for lost time."
"You're sick, though." Harry frowned, "You shouldn't be moving around."
XJ scoffed, "I'll be fine as long as I carry a pack of tissues, Harry. Nobody's going to care. When is the practice?"
"After classes today. I can come and get you if you want." Harry offered.
XJ rolled her eyes and sneezed again. "Where's the venue?"
"The gym. Do you know how to get there?"
"Harry, I'm the one with the map - do you know how to get there?"
Harry nodded and grinned, "I can't wait to beat everyone."
"Don't get cocky, love." XJ sniffed. "You still haven't beaten me."
Harry tapped her nose, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "We can do that when you've recovered, lass."
"I can still beat you when I'm sick." XJ boasted as she sneezed again.
"Oh, who's the cocky one now?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't use my own words against me, Harry Hook." XJ scolded playfully.
Harry grinned and kissed XJ on the lips. XJ's eyes widened, "You're going to get sick, you moron!"
Harry shrugged, grinning, "It's worth it."
---
XJ spent the rest of the day in her dorm, sneezing and sniffing as she read up on the school's syllabus. She finished everything the school was about to cover and deduced that listening in class would be a waste of time when it came to grades.
When Harry wasn't swooping in to kiss XJ every now and then out of the blue, startling her, he used his time to put up a punching bag that he had stolen from the gym. It wasn't easy as the ceiling of the dorm was very high. Harry had had to climb the spare bed's canopy and nail various shelves onto the walls so he could slowly make himself a makeshift staircase, and finally nail a hook to the ceiling in the corner of the room.
Then he had had to use some chains that he had stolen to hang the punching bag all the way down to the height he wanted. He had no idea how XJ could focus on studying, which was arduous by itself, when he was hammering things everywhere.
He finally finished a couple of minutes before the final bell, that signaled the end of classes, rang and dusted off his hands.
He exhaled heavily, "There we go," He looked over to XJ, who was still reading. "Are you done yet?"
"Just a little bit more," XJ mumbled. Harry tapped his foot impatiently as he waited. He didn't have to wait long. XJ slammed her book shut and looked up. "I'm done now."
"I can't believe you spent all day studying," Harry shook his head, "And you're sick as well."
"At least I don't have to study for the rest of the year."
"I highly doubt that you're going to remember everything for the rest of the year." Harry said, sitting down next to XJ, who tossed her textbook across the room.
"You don't know how much I can remember." XJ retorted.
The bell rang and Harry grinned, "It's time to pound some heads in."
"No permanent injuries, Harry." XJ said as she got up off of the bed and stretched.
"You don't know the rules of wrestling," Harry stuck out his tongue at XJ like a child.
"I know enough to know that you can't paralyze anyone." XJ grabbed her bag after stuffing her laptop into it and straightening up. She sneezed again before saying, "Are we going yet?"
Harry nodded as he took his own red and black sports bag, "Yeah, let's go."
Harry opened the door and smirked at XJ. "Ladies first,"
XJ grabbed Harry by the back of his collar and shoved him forward. She locked their dorm door behind her once she had stepped out into the hallway too.
"Ow!" Harry yelped, rubbing the back of his neck. He scowled at XJ, "What was that for? I was trying to be a gentleman!"
XJ shrugged, grinning, "I don't know. I just felt like it."
"I'm not kissing you for a week now." Harry grumbled as he stomped down the stairs.
"Good; you won't get sick then," XJ said, still grinning as she followed.
Harry muttered something under his breath as they made their way to the gym, Harry grumpy and XJ still with the ghost of a grin on her face.
They walked into the gym, where the wrestling team was already assembled. XJ was the only female in sight and she nodded at the small group in the middle of the gym. "Go join them Harry, I'll be up over there," She gestured at the bleachers, "Taking notes."
"Like a hawk?"
XJ grinned before kissing Harry's cheek. "Like a hawk,"
XJ was about to walk over to the bleachers when Chad Charming walked up to her. "Hey XJ," He greeted, "When do you think we can start?"
Harry expected XJ to snap at Chad with the way her eyes narrowed, but XJ's expression changed from irritated to impassive.
"Two more days should do it. In the meantime, be patient and you'll get your chance with Audrey." XJ said emotionlessly. Harry knew that XJ was trying not to let her annoyance show and he smirked.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to cheer on my boyfriend." XJ said in the same tone as she walked away.
Chad nodded, "As girls should." He said in a lower voice.
Harry's eyes widened.
XJ stopped walking. She turned around, her infamous poker face on display. "What did you say?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, daring Chad to repeat his words.
Harry hid a smirk. This had happened far too many times on the Isle and he had seen what had happened afterwards. He had never seen XJ in action though, and judging from the vicious reactions from some of the normal girls on the Isle, Chad was dead.
Chad shrugged - foolish boy didn't know danger even when it was dancing right in front of his face - and said, "Girls should cheer for boys. That's how it's always been. Boys cheering for girls doesn't make sense because girls don't have any abilities that are worth cheering."
The gym, which had been filled with the sounds of the wrestling team laughing and joking around, excited for practice, fell silent when they heard Chad's words, which carried across the room when they quieted down for a bit.
Chad looked around and scoffed, "Come on, you guys don't really think that girls do, right?"
Jay widened his eyes and made a cutting motion across his neck, signaling for Chad to stop talking.
Chad frowned, "What?"
Harry clapped Chad on the shoulder, chuckling. He muttered, just loud enough for Chad to hear, "You're dead, mate."
Everyone thought that XJ would stab Chad with a knife that she probably had hidden underneath her jacket, but to their surprise, XJ turned around and walked to the bleachers, strangely calm.
XJ put down her bag and walked back to Chad. "Mats," She said, her voice robotic.
Chad raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"One-on-one. No rules. Free-fighting."
Chad blinked in shock before laughing, "You want to go against me? I'll snap you in half like a twig one second in!"
XJ didn't reply and walked right to one of the mats in the middle of the gym, where most of the wrestling team were standing. She nodded at the mat, "Are you scared?"
Chad scoffed, "Of course I'm not scared of a girl."
"Prove it," XJ said, shrugging off her jacket. Harry walked over and grabbed his girlfriend's jacket, trying not to laugh. He knew what was going to happen.
Chad rolled his eyes and grunted as he stepped up to the opposite side of the mat, facing XJ. "It's your funeral." He said, grinning confidently as he got into a fighting position.
Harry smirked. "No permanent injuries, lass."
The corner of XJ's lip twitched as Harry stepped back. She turned to Chad, "You get to throw the first three punches." XJ said in monotone, standing straight.
Chad chuckled, "If anyone asks, you asked for it."
He cracked his knuckles before lunging forward, swinging. He threw a punch and XJ simply stepped to the side to dodge it. The momentum made Chad fall to the ground. The wrestling team tried to hide their laughter, but Harry clapped his hands and cheered. Jay was grinning.
"Two more punches," XJ reminded Chad, the ghost of a smile already forming onto her face.
Chad grumbled, "Beginner's luck," He swung again, but it turned out to be a fake. He quickly withdrew his hand but again it hit thin air. XJ had dodged again by stepping to the right.
Chad narrowed his eyes. XJ decided that he didn't need another reminder that he had one more chance before she got impatient.
Chad attacked again, this time trying to tackle her to the ground. He landed hard on the mat, all of the breath knocked out of him. XJ had somehow dodged him again.
"That's three chances gone," XJ said, now grinning slightly. Even Chad could hear the unfinished statement that hung in the air - XJ wasn't going to hold back anymore.
Harry whooped, "Drop-kick him, lass!"
XJ's grin grew wider. She stepped forward and grabbed Chad's wrist. With one swift move, she twisted it and twirled around the boy, making it so that he was forced into bending over, facing the floor as his arm was being twisted.
Chad yelped in pain and tried to kick XJ. XJ used her leg to hook Chad's leg mid-kick. Chad froze at the sudden movement, surprised that his leg was stuck. He used his other hand to try and punch XJ, but his punch fell short as XJ dropped his leg with her own and stomped on it.
Chad shrieked again. He thought the pain couldn't get any worse until XJ, with surprising strength, kicked his other leg. Chad landed with a hard thud onto the mat and groaned in pain.
XJ let go of his arm and stepped away. Most of the wrestling team was silent, except for Harry, who stepped forward and kissed XJ, who sneezed right after.
Harry grinned, "You're amazing, lass."
XJ laughed and sneezed again, "You haven't seen me when I don't have a cold."
"You have a cold?" Jay asked, his eyes wide. "And you still managed to beat Chad within one minute?"
XJ just smirked and turned to Chad, who was slowly getting up from the mat, cradling his arm and his calf. "Do girls have 'abilities'?" She asked, mocking him.
Chad glared at XJ, "You've made your point." He grumbled.
"Then say it," Harry said, smirking as well.
"Say what?"
"You know what," XJ said, clicking her tongue.
Chad sighed, "I'm sorry."
"There we go. Now, I'm going to go up to the bleachers and watch Harry take out the rest of you using more time and taking more hits, but taking you out all the same." XJ said as she began to walk back to the bleachers.
"Wait," A boy said, making XJ stop.
She turned around and sighed - it seemed like it had been happening a lot lately. "What?"
"Do you want to join the wrestling team?" The boy asked hopefully.
XJ snorted and waved her hand dismissively, "I have better things to do."
She walked to the bleachers and for once, nobody stopped her.