~Waylon~
"Kara Forester can die in a dark pit of venomous snakes for all I care!"
Juniper scoffs as she talks to her best friends Keke of Forester and Markus Crimson, her small entourage laughing while sitting on her bed as she unpacked her clothes into the walk-in closet. She takes all of it every year but that's okay cause I just keep my stuff in a little dresser under my bed.
Finding the small Oreo cookies served to us as refreshments on the ferry ride over to the island, I carefully broke the seal.
"Ah Wei, don't eat those. The mating ceremony is in six months and your cheeks are chubby enough as it is. Do you want your soulmate to reject you for your weight?" Juni asks as she holds her hand out for me to give them over.
"No," I sigh as I give them up and she pinches my fat cheek with her thumb and forefinger.
"Don't worry, I've got you little brother," She smirks as she eats a cookie herself before handing it to her friends. My small tummy grumbling as she did so, I ignore the ache and keep unpacking.
"Kara Forester is just a jealous bitch who doesn't deserve the attention. Who cares if she's first in our class. Nerds never get anywhere in this life. She's nothing more than a wannabe Lotus if you ask me." Markus huffs and they carry on their conversation as if my existence had rudely interrupted it.
I finished with all I could out of the trunk and slid it under the space beneath my bed, knowing I'd set up my small hideaway later when Juniper and her friends were gone. I made the mistake of setting it up in front of them last year and getting made fun of when I put down the stuffed rabbit my grandmother had given me when I was younger.
With it being late and the night before the first day of school, I want to go to bed early so I don't start tomorrow off exhausted from all the travel and excitement of today. I grab my towel and small shower cady with all my toiletries from home and go to the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" Juniper asked the second I touched the knob and I feel bad for forgetting to ask for permission first.
"Um, I-I just wanted to shower," I explain, looking down at my feet as I refused to meet her heated emerald green-eyed gaze.
"You know the rules," Juniper tsks and I bite my lower lip, hoping for forgiveness as he alpha energy looms over me, forcing my knees to wobble.
"You may leave, but be back in fifteen minutes," She finally lets me go and I can let out a breath of relief. Walking out the door, I go towards to communal bathroom we shared with the floor at the end of the hall.
After I got in, I set my stuff down on the marble countertop, brushing my teeth first at the sink. A few girls giggled and I used the mirror to watch them as washed their faces together as a part of some kind of nightly routine. Their tinkling laughter of pure radiating happiness were almost contagious and I smiled a bit as I went back to doing my own thing.
Sometimes I wish I had a friend.
Brushing my teeth, I watch my reflection and stop for a moment, poking my pudgy cheek. Juniper was right, my mate will never accept me if I'm anything less than perfect for them. My sparkling ocean blue eyes were pretty enough but the glasses I had to wear in order to see ruined them. My light brown hair is plain, my nose is too feminine, and I've been trying to get rid of my little scattered freckles my entire life.
Juniper is my twin but she certainly stole all the looks in the womb. She can't even walk down to the refectory without everyone staring at her like she was the most gorgeous woman alive. I know because she makes me walk ten steps behind her and I'm unnoticeable in her shadow every time.
Too dorky to be in her social group, too ugly to walk beside her, too shy to make my own friends, the list was neverending.
But I smile nevertheless because I am a prince after all so I have to.
Spitting out into the sink, I go to an empty shower stall and put my cady down on the bench and place my glasses inside. Getting naked, I turn on the shower to its hottest setting and step inside. The hot water lashing my cold skin as I let it run over me. The burn was comforting and I enjoy its clouded steam of warmth as I run the shampoo through my dull locks.
The heat itself reminded me of him.
"I'll be your daydream, I'll wear your favorite things. We could be beautiful," I sang the lyrics to a song I knew well as I remembered the way it felt when his hand touched mine. The tiny spark that came with it flowed through my very veins and warmed me like hot cocoa on a cold day.
"Get drunk on the good life, I'll take you to paradise. Say you'll never let me go," I sigh into the song as my soft soprano echoed against tile walls.
"Deep in my bones I can feel you, Take me back to a time when we knew, Hideaway." I wash the rest of the shampoo, closing my eyes as I washed my upper chest. My heart skipping a beat when I imagined they were his instead.
Larger than mine, they would easily engulf my chest and I could feel in the steam his breath on my shoulder. Grabbing my sides, he would pull me in close and hold me in his large muscular arms. His hands could roam my entire body if they wanted to, but I have nothing to offer him.
Who am I kidding? This is stupid.
Alexei would never look at me unless he has to nevermind touch me.
"Say you'll never let me go," I finish the lyric with a half-hearted sigh as my enthusiasm dies with the song.
Clutching my hands in a fist against my chest, I hunched over the drain as the hot water ran down my back and my forehead touched the cool metal wall. I close my eyes and catch my breath as my emotion drips down the drain, taking my dreams with it.
I turn off the water and take up my towel, quickly running it through my hair before wrapping the towel around my waist. I must have taken over fifteen minutes and if I don't get back to Juniper she'll punish me or worse.
Taking up my cady with my glasses still inside, I storm out of the shower on a mission, only to run straight into a brick wall.
Or at least what felt like one followed by a strange burning sensation building in my chest.
"Ah! Sorry!" I quickly apologized, looking down at the fuzzy ground as I caught sight of the large feet of the guy in front of me.
"Hey, it's alright," The deep voice instantly made me wish I had studied Lotus spells hard enough to know the one that melts you into a puddle so I can turn into what I feel.
I slowly look up past the towel, the hard muscular abdomen, and the godly cheekbones to the soft brown-eyed gaze of Alexei Crimson himself.
"Mhm," was all I could muster and an awkward bow as I quickly turned but only took two steps before his voice halted me.
"Prince Waylon," He says my name with such masculine assertiveness that I feel like my feet had been gorilla glued to the tile floor.
"Was that you singing?" He asked and I felt the blush already staining my light cheeks deepen as I clutched the cady close to my chest, turning to face Alexei.
"Yeah, I guess I forgot where I was," My voice squeaked as if this wasn't embarrassing enough, bracing myself for the impact that would come after he made fun of my singing.
"It was beautiful," He says instead and I was so nervous I couldn't say anything so I just shrugged. He can't possibly mean that, he's just trying to be nice.
There's nothing beautiful about me.
"Are you okay?" He asked as I felt the tears burning my lower lids and I quickly nodded before darting out of the bathroom as fast as my skinny legs could carry me.
I slammed the door to my dorm room closed behind me and was relieved when I discovered I'm the only one here.
He said we were beautiful. I think that's worth something.
My wolf, Umiko, decides to speak up and I shake my head.
"No, he was just being nice Umiko. Don't be naive," I chastise him and he retreats with a lick of his paw.
I'm just saying
He added with extra sass and I put on a pair of navy shorts and a t-shirt before reopening my trunk. With Juniper gone, I could set up my little hideaway under my bed as I shifted my dresser over and started placing the little plastic hooks on the underside. It doesn't take me long to get the lights up since I've been doing this every year since my caretaker showed me during my third semester.
I plug in the lights, letting their warm yellow glow wash over the bare floor as I pull out my comforter and mattress topper from home, adding a few decorative pillows. I put my glasses back on and stored my reading tablet under the pillow before adding the final touch.
"There you go Mr. Mika, enjoy it cause it's our last year hear," I tell my stuffed rabbit as he sits to hold down the fort while I was in class.
"Sometimes I think you're my only friend here, but don't tell Juni I said that," I mutter as I pull my knees to my chest and poke his soft pink nose.
I looked at my watch and after seeing how late it was, I went ahead and turned out the lights before crawling into bed. My stomach grumbled a bit but that's okay, I can go without a few dinners anyway.
I'll do anything to be accepted by my mate even if that means following Juniper's advice.
Because I don't want to be alone anymore.
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AN: God, why did I cry writing this? Lmao.
Fun fact: It's pronounced Alex-I, like an i by itself at the end and Weigh-lon.
How are you guys liking it so far?
Also Waylon's little hideaway looks something like this but simpler