A/N—I Drew this picture above of Japeth ;)
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—ARIC'S POV—
Aric never realized how dull Arbed House really was until he met him...Him. The boy who could take anyone's breath away with just a glance. The boy who made Aric feel things he'd never felt with anyone before.
Aric had been sent to Arbed House in the Foxwood School for Boys just a week ago after he'd sinisterly burnt down his caretakers' home and attacked their daughter. It wasn't like he hadn't done these acts without good reason though. The Mahut family were good doers of course and had taken Aric in when he was just a child, but Aric had always felt angry at the world, at life itself. So he'd done the only thing an angry person would do and had caused a bit of carnage.
Aric's mother had abandoned him in the woods without a single goodbye and had left her little boy to starve all alone. She never returned back for him. It was something that scarred Aric even now almost 9 years later. Part of him just died the day his mother left him as if she'd just stopped caring.
That's why Aric was in this dreadful Arbed House now, because he'd simply stopped pretending to be on his best behavior. Could anyone blame him for his misdeeds when he never felt as if he truly belonged anywhere?
Arbed House looked like a rundown poor area that looked out of place in the whole Foxwood School with its towering structure and strong build. It smelt of cheap wood and wax that made Aric gag, and he swore that wherever Foxwood's taxes were going, they were surely not going into paying for the School's expenses.
The Mahut family had been too relieved the day Aric was sent off to Arbed House. They'd practically begged the dean of Arbed House to take Aric off their hands, fearful that he would do something else nasty towards them.
Aric couldn't help but snicker at the irony of it all. Once, the Mahuts had taken him in, intending on loving him as their own, only to grow to hate him and throw him out just like his own mother did long ago.
That was okay with Aric though. He'd learned at a young age never to put his trust in anyone, for they'd only betray him in the end. First, his mom, now his stupid caretakers. That's why Aric could only depend on himself. He had to toughen up and be a man, Show others that he wasn't to be messed with, and that's exactly what Aric intended to do during his stay in his new school.
So The first week at Arbed House, Aric had used his dark appearance to frighten the other kids who would run away quickly at the sight of him. Even the dean of Arbed House, Dean Burnhilde, seemed a bit taken back by Aric's attitude.
If there was one absolute thing Aric despised the most about Arbed House by far it was the Dean. Dean Burnhilde had a bright cheery appearance and always seemed to have a fake smile plastered across her face as if she'd been bewitched to look happy all the time. It was annoying, and the way she talked sounded like there was goo stuck in her throat.
Dean Burnhilde had beehive hair and wore a slim fitting modest dress adorned with fake pearls. Unfortunately, the dress didn't help flatten out her bottom, so it always jutted out like a sore thumb.
The Dean insisted that she'd love to take Aric of the Mahuts' hands and the Mahuts gladly obliged, dumping him here without a goodbye—not that Aric ever expected one, especially after all the damage he'd caused the family. Aric was just glad that he was away from that poor family who'd he known would never truly love him.
Aric wasn't a Mahut. He'd only felt unwanted in the Mahut home, and now he was in Arbed house. Not that Arbed house was a single bit better than his old place he'd been kicked out of.
There were only seven other boys in Arbed House besides Aric, and they all seemed terribly hateful at one thing or another like Aric was.
There was Jach with his bulging belly and negative views towards his older brother who seemed to "always get what he wanted." Jach was sent to Arbed House a few days prior than Aric was after the oversized boy attempted to kill his brother a few times.
Other boys named Mika and Hemwa had conspired to kill the King of Foxwood because they believed he was purposely raising their families taxes as a way to get more money and be greedy. They disguised themselves as Foxwood guards and attempted to sneak into the palace, only to be caught before they reached the palace gates.
There was also a boy named Kei who seemed so emotionless Aric thought he was part statue. Due to his lack of emotion and being withdrawn towards his loved ones, Kei's father sent Kei to Arbed House to make him better.
Aric didn't see how any of these foolish boys could compare to his reasons for being in Arbed House. While most of these boys had lashed out against their families and what they believed, Aric had murdered the Mahut's pets and attacked their daughter without reason. He'd been abandoned by the only person he thought had loved him and survived in the endless woods as a poor child before being taken in. Aric had good reason to feel angry at the world, a way better reason than any of the reasons these lame boys came up with.
Than, there were the twins. With their identical copper hair and pale skin it might've been hard to tell them apart if it wasn't for their different eye colors and hair styles. They were reserved and seemed to keep to themselves except for one of the brothers who occasionally chatted with the emotionless Kei.
The first time Aric laid his eyes on them, he didn't think much, except that one of the boys intrigued him for some reason. It was the twin with the shaggy copper hair and milky white skin that looked like he were sucked of blood. His eyes were a deep blue and his features were cold. His name was Japeth, Aric later learned, but there wasn't much he knew about the brothers' backstory. It made him wonder how somebody so seemingly good could wound up here in this dreadful house like some prisoner.
Students at Arbed House were taught about loyalty and kindness, the true characteristics of a pure Ever, but Aric paid no attention to Dean Burnhilde's stupid lectures. Instead, he'd spend time sneakily vandalizing his desk during class before the Dean would catch him in the act and force Aric to go to the Circle.
The Circle was a ring that'd be made up of students who were being punished. It wasn't a physical punishment though like a beating or anything like that. It was a form of mental punishment where every individual in the ring had to confess their so called, "sins" and were supposed to feel guilty after confessing them.
Aric thought it was a stupid punishment for something as silly as damaging School property. Yes, it was wrong, but when did Aric do anything right?
He didn't want to be in this stupid school where everybody seemed so cheery and positive while he was so negative and hateful. But alas, Aric had nowhere else to go. Apparently, the Mahuts had been responsible for Aric, so they had a say in him staying and leaving Arbed House. Unfortunately for Aric, he probably wouldn't be leaving Arbed House anytime soon after all the horrible things he'd done at home.
It was one chilly afternoon that Aric found himself being forced right back into the Circle after he made a rude remark about Jach and made the heavy boy cry like a baby. Apparently saying that Jach could've killed the brother he hated so much by sitting on him had hurt Jach's feelings. Aric found it hilarious, but Dean Burnhilde found no amusement in Aric's joke.
Aric scowled as he marched down the steps towards the Circle located in an empty lot behind the dormitory of Arbed House. He knew that if he didn't follow the Dean's rules than the punishments would only get worse for him, so Aric dragged his feet forward closer to his dreaded destination.
That's when Aric picked up the sound of scuffling nearby, and he turned, violet eyes narrowed as he searched for the source of the sound.
The grass was still very green despite the cold weather as gray clouds billowed in the vast sky and the sun, half secluded by clouds, shone its light the best it could with the gray sky seemingly swallowing it whole. In the far distance, birds flew over the Foxwood village nearby.
"Who's there?" Aric said, voice dripping venom as his gaze darted about, fists curled as if ready to attack.
There was no response until Aric's attention turned to the fronds rustling and watched a booted foot emerge from the leaves before another foot followed it out, than a torso and a neck. Aric's eyes drifted upwards to meet the spy's icy blue gaze glinting in amusement.
"Scared?" Japeth asked, cocking his head as if curious of Aric's answer, but Aric only puffed his chest, teeth gritted.
"Me?" Aric asked, scoffing as he watched Japeth's lips curl upwards in a grin. "Scared of some boy hiding in a bush spying on me? Never!"
Japeth flung his arms above his head to stretch and Aric saw the muscles on his torso, his firm tall build almost similar to Aric's own. While Japeth was tall and muscular, Aric was also muscular with hard youthful features consisting of pale cheek bones and spiked black hair.
"I'm hiding from my brother and his wicked friend," Japeth explained as his hands fell to his sides and he peered at Aric with a cold face. "Rhian and him were playing that dumb game they always do. Pretending to be Camelot Knights. Foolish, I say."
For the first time, Aric heard the bitterness in Japeth's tone like he had wrath that momentarily burnt his cold features. Aric wondered if he could just reach out and brush a finger across Japeth's cheek to feel if his skin was really cold or not.
If Japeth was hiding from his brother, Aric could only guess they didn't get along. Why? Well, that was just a mystery Aric had yet to unravel.
"I don't think 'hiding from my brother' is a very good reason to be spying on me," Aric said, crossing his arms as he studied Japeth.
"I wasn't spying on you," Japeth retorted, brushing leaves from his messy copper hair. "I didn't mean to scare you, although if I did than you'd be bawling your eyes out."
Aric arched his eyebrow in disbelief and tipped his head back to laugh at Japeth's claim until he saw the look on Japeth's face. He was being serious as if he truly did believe he could scare Aric of all people.
"Heard someone made Jach cry," Japeth went on. "That wasn't you...was it?"
Aric felt himself smile as he recalled Jach, tears streaming down his face like a baby in need of his mother. Once upon a time, Aric was like Jach and just wanting his mother to soothe his cries, but life came to disappoint him. Aric only had himself now.
"Guilty as charged," Aric snickered, and Japeth laughed, blue gaze glinting in amusement. At least there was somebody other than Aric who found the whole Jach incident funny.
It was the first time Aric heard Japeth laugh. It wasn't an annoying laugh or a snorting laughter that arose from Japeth's throat. It sounded like a deep husky baritone compared to Japeth's low tone when he spoke. It sounded right.
"Dean Burnhilde sent you to the Circle, didn't she?" Japeth asked, stepping forward. "She never lets up on the ideology that we all shouldn't do naughty things. It's annoying."
Aric found himself stepping towards Japeth whose gaze was thoughtful. He couldn't help the look of disdain that crossed his face at the thought of Dean Burnhilde.
With her upbeat attitude and constant nagging to her students about the true lessons of being a gentleman, she seemed to be disliked by not only Aric, but Japeth as well. Aric fully agreed with Japeth's remark about the Dean trying to keep all the students in Arbed House from acting out of line. Plus, Aric definitely agreed with Japeth on the fact Dean Burnhilde's ways were pretty annoying.
"I'm Japeth," Japeth introduced himself but didn't hold his hand out like one would usually do, but that was okay with Aric.
"Aric," Aric replied smoothly, violet eyes glinting in mischief, matching Japeth's own mood. Japeth tilted his head forward to gesture ahead the cobblestone path leading to the Circle behind the building, and Aric felt a nasty smile crawl across his face.
Japeth didn't need to say anything to let Aric know what he desired. Instead, the two swaggered down the path without a sound, determined and focused in causing some carnage.
For the first time, Aric felt that he could actually trust someone. Japeth seemed like a decent person, but with the same hatred for Arbed House Aric had. It seemed likely that perhaps Aric had even made a friend.
Aric had thought Arbed House was a terrible prison like place but with rainbows and sunshine, but the day was cloudy and the air still. Japeth felt like the only brave person to relate to Aric in a way, and to Aric it seemed that Japeth was different from the other Foxwood boys.
Indeed, Japeth truly did make Arbed House more dull than it ever was. At least That was just Aric's opinion on things.
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Hi guys. Sorry this book hasn't come out in a bit. I've been busy with finals and moving to a new house, but I hope you guys like it so far!
Thanks for reading and be sure to comment and vote!