The academy didn't look any different from when we had left it. Well, that wasn't true. It was drier than before. But nothing changed otherwise.
Students were scrambling to reach their next classes, the lazy students were slowly making their way behind the others, and, to add to the normal routine, the bell rang. It was just any other day.
I felt stupid for wishing they would at least show in some way that they had just lost a few fellow students. Did they not care at all? Were they told to just forget the students that were kidnapped and kicked out?
I couldn't imagine being this placid if Jenny had gone away. I might have done anything in my power to rescue her. If she had been kicked out then try to visit her sometime. I wouldn't be able to live without seeing her now that I actually got to know her a little bit.
Jaxson pulled me to a stop. "When we go in there... they probably won't be nice. They might think you have turned to the rebels' cause."
"What makes you think I won't tell them you have become a traitor?" I crossed my arms.
He shrugged. "Go ahead. I trust you."
"You trust me? To tell on you?"
He ignored me and walked farther on the campus grounds. I wondered where he was headed first. He didn't seem particularly happy to be back, but I was. This was my home. This is where all of my memories have been.
The first place I would want to go is to class. Jenny would be there. I suppose Cho would be as well. He had seen me get captured just as Jenny had. Was he worrying about me? Now I feel kinda bad that I had only been worried about Jenny. But Cho had just started being nice to me.
I pushed aside my thoughts and focused on following Jaxson. He might have wanted me to branch off from him, but the best option for me was to follow him. He could be headed to the Zodiacs, his brother, or the Club. Wherever he was going, I was going as well.
He may think it's because I can't think for myself, but I beg to differ. I like to believe I was following him because he might be headed anywhere I would have gone anyway. Not because my body just wanted to go into autopilot and follow him around.
Jaxson stopped walking and stared at me blankly. "Why are you following me?"
I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Get telepathy already, smart guy." Walking past him, I tried to figure out where he had been headed.
In front of us was the Zodiacs building. So he was going to announce our arrival?
"Oi, Aqua, don't go in there yet."
I turned around. "Why not?"
He gestured for me to come back. I did as requested. "If we go in there first thing, we won't be able to have any contact with anybody but the Zodiacs for the rest of the day. If you want to see your friends, go find them first."
"How do you know that?" How did he know anything having to do with the Zodiacs? We were barely taught anything specifically about what the Zodiacs do outside of their responsibilities. We were expected to learn those once we graduated.
"Just take my word for it. Let's go find your friends."
"My friends? What about your own?"
"I don't have very many people here that I connected with." He shrugged. "Nobody wanted to be friends with Leo's shadow. Char is really the only friend I have."
I nodded slowly. "Char is cool. You know, besides the fact that he tried to murder me last time we spoke."
Jaxson laughed. It was genuine and deep. I missed hearing him doing something other than scoff at me. Laughing at Gavin did not count. "He wasn't trying to murder you," he laughed.
I shrugged. "Whatever you say, Jaxson." It was nice to see him be happy. He had a neutral face on for most of the walk here. If talking about Char made him happy, then we should definitely stop by to see the man with the abnormal eyes.
He shook his head as we walked side by side. It would almost feel normal if I didn't have the annoying thought of being kicked out because of my unwilling kidnapping drilling into my head. But I wasn't going to think about that. I was just going to go find Jenny and maybe Cho and eventually Char.
Before all of that, I was going to check on my dorm room. And I was surprised to find it exactly as I left it. Textbooks lying crooked on my desk, the sheets a little ruffled but mostly straight, and a glass of half-empty water on my nightstand. It was as if they expected to bring me back.
Maybe they weren't going to give up on me?
"What're we doing here?" Jaxson questioned, picking up a random textbook.
I walked over and drank the water. It tasted... dusty. "I don't know why you're here. You could have gone to your own dorm."
He set the textbook down. "I share a dorm with my twin brother who was apathetic about our parents' deaths," he deadpanned, "I don't want to go back to a room that I have no attachment to."
"So you don't have any knick-knacks you've collected over the years?"
"Nothing I can't replace."
Wow. Okay. He was a little more complex than I initially thought. And I already thought he was pretty complex.
I shrugged. "Alright, let's go find my friends."
°^°^°
Class hadn't been in session for long by the time we made it to the shared Air Manipulation class. To pass the time, Jaxson started using his wind to mess with me. It was getting very frustrating and if those doors didn't open soon I was probably going to strangle him.
I started to think of ways to slowly get rid of his oxygen supply around him when the bell finally rang and students started shoving each other to get to the door. Lucky for us, Jenny was near the front of the horde. However, she didn't see us waiting.
I pulled Jenny away from the crowd before she could get away. She yelped and almost tripped over her own feet. "Who-?"
Recognition registered in her features. "Aquarius?" she whispered. Her hand flew over her mouth, probably stopping a scream from escaping.
"Did you miss me?"
She punched my arm and scowled. "What the heck, Aquarius?"
"Ow!" I rubbed my arm to dissipate the pain. Which didn't help at all. If anything, it brought more attention to the slowly forming bruise.
"How could you just leave like that? And now you're back? Where did you go? I'm going to kill you."
I blinked at her. How could I even begin to answer those questions? Opening my mouth, I got ready to reply but was interrupted by another person joining our small group.
"Aquarius?" Cho grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
"Yeah, go ahead and shake the brain out of her. Maybe we will be able to see what's wrong with her that way," Jenny grumbled.
Jaxson put a hand on Cho's shoulder. His face just screamed stop and dared him to fight back. Cho obeyed the glare and let me go.
"Didn't you get kidnapped by those weirdos?" Cho asked.
Staring at him wasn't helping me process the words he had just said. Weirdos? I wouldn't exactly call them weirdos.
"I was kidnapped. But I escaped." Jaxson scoffed at my words. I ignored him and continued speaking. "It's like nothing has changed. Did they even try to rescue me?"
Jenny shrugged. "They told me they would get right on it and were following all the leads they could."
Cho gave her a confused look. "They told me they couldn't do anything about it."
I looked at Jenny. "Were you crying?"
Her lips thinned. "No," she lied.
"Jenny."
She rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine! I may have been tearing up a little bit while talking to the Scorpio Zodiac."
Cho laughed. "He doesn't like it when women cry. He gets flustered and tells them whatever he thinks will either get them to shut up or go away."
So they weren't trying to find me. They had been okay with the fact that one of their signs had been taken away. That was messed up. Weren't we supposed to function as one whole group?
"We have to get you back to the Zodiacs. Show them you escaped. And then you can tell them everything they did to you and where they are," Jenny stated. "We will make them pay."
She started to shove me in the direction of the entrance doors. I glanced back at Jaxson. He was following behind slowly but he didn't look comforted by the fact that we would now have to face the Zodiacs.
I don't think I was very happy about it either.
"Wait," I exclaimed, shoving my arms out, "we have to go see one more person.