A R I U S
Arius carefully unwrapped the stump shrinkers as he winced slightly, shutting his eyes and pulling them off in one go.
"Careful with that Arius." Viggo said as he brought over the body-powered prosthetic to Arius and helped him strap the harness onto his upper body. They had been doing some compressions as it was part of the treatment that Arius had to go through in order to better his residual limb. His arm had been amputated, wrist disarticulation.
They were in Arius's room while the other students attended class after lunch. They would be late to astronomy, but they had a legitimate excuse. As they made their way down the empty hallways, Arius's phone vibrated in his back pocket. He rolled his eyes at whoever was calling him and swiped decline. He'd blocked around six unknown numbers so far.
"Is it Tammy?" Viggo asked from beside him.
"Yeah, and don't call her that. She's a bitch."
"Woah calm down Ari."
"She keeps calling me from different numbers like I wouldn't guess it's her. Nobody else even has my number. She's fucking annoying."
"I still think you should let her down gently, talk to her and tell her why."
"No Vig, she doesn't deserve shit, she fucking left me when I needed her the most." Arius turned to Viggo, startled.
"Tammy- I'm sorry, Tamara regrets whatever she's done. Don't forget that you were friends before you dated."
"Yeah well, friends don't ditch their friends and block them when they're going through the worst time in their lives, and neither do girlfriends." Arius seethed as he glared at his best friend who was currently defending his ex girlfriend.
"Wait, are you talking to her? Why the fuck are you even taking her side?"
"Listen, she'd pinged me on Instagram. She really wants to talk to you Ari, give the girl a chance."
"You can fuck off. Leave me alone." Arius muttered, turning away from Viggo and walking briskly toward the library. He couldn't understand why Viggo was so adamant when it came to Tamara, he knew what she'd put Arius through. Well, not everything.
He was sick of Viggo trying to mend things in between him and Tamara, his ex girlfriend. Heck, they hadn't even technically broken up properly. After Arius had gone back to school after his time in the hospital, she had simply ignored him and acted like he was coming onto her. She had embarrassed him in front of half the school on his first day back when he had tried to hug her. She'd gone as far as calling him a 'fucking freak of nature'.
Later that night, she had called him back crying, to apologize to him for whatever she'd said. And Arius forgave her. And he kept forgiving her. Now, when he thought about it, it absolutely blew his mind how he hadn't seen the problem with her and just let it go like it wasn't a big deal. It was like she was two different people everyday. She would totally ignore him in school and flirt with other boys but in the night, she'd sneak into Arius's room through his window and cry as she held him in her arms apologising endlessly until the sun rose. Arius wouldn't ever put up with this kind of behaviour, but he was so in love with her that he ignored everything she was doing to him. Emotional manipulation, guilt tripping, making him feel like he didn't deserve her, and convincing him that he deserved to be ostracized. She was fucked up majorly, and it wasn't easy to come to terms with the fact that his loving, sweet girlfriend was only after status, money, prestige and all about keeping up appearances.
All of this started because he had lost an arm. Something that had changed and altered his life in the most devastating way possible. He had been kicked off the soccer team in school; he couldn't write anymore because he'd lost his good arm; he couldn't play the piano with both hands; everyone looked at him with pity and his girlfriend was ashamed of being seen with him.
They were the perfect couple. He was a star athlete and so was she. They were both ravishing and extremely attractive. They were meant to be. But her pride didn't allow her to be with him after his operation.
What would people think? She just couldn't do it.
Arius had had enough of this nonsense when he stepped up and asked his parents to send him off to somewhere far away from home. His parents were skeptical at first but Viggo had convinced them that this would help him. Arius needed a change in his environment, somewhere he wouldn't be expected to maintain a certain image and always satisfy people's expectations of who they wanted him to be. Arius had been alienated at his own school. His friends wouldn't talk to him the same way, they always seemed to be walking on eggshells around him. Like they were afraid to say something inappropriate to offend him. It was exhausting. Sure, he loved his friends but he couldn't do it anymore. He'd been heartbroken over the fact that Tamara hadn't come to visit him in the hospital even once, but he kept seeing her in the nightmares he got. It was so frustrating.
His life was perfect. He had supportive parents, great friends, the perfect girlfriend, and was on his way to get drafted into a soccer team in his final year. And then, nothing. His world had been stripped of all colour and he was drowning in dull whites and blacks. Everything was washed out right in front of his eyes. He had been in a very dark place in the initial months of the incident but his parents and Viggo had carried him through and through. He was broken in every sense of the word.
Now, nine months later, he was finally starting to feel better about himself, but so much of him had changed forever. He didn't want to be popular anymore, he didn't like to talk to people anymore, he was actually getting good grades in subjects other than math and astronomy, he couldn't open up to anyone other than Viggo, he wanted to be by himself as much as possible and he was constantly afraid of getting close to new people and falling in love. No, he couldn't do that to someone, no one deserved to be burdened with him as a romantic partner. He had too many imperfections and too much emotional baggage that weighed him down which is why he always put on an intimidating front so no one would approach him or try to become close to him. The fortress in his mind was impenetrable, and he'd built it up so high that even he didn't know how to break through the high walls.
They all leave in the end anyway.
He climbed up the stairs, making his way toward the huge, circularly fashioned, spiralling library. Viggo knew it was best to leave him alone when he got like this, and Arius would be forever grateful to have him understand that. He would eventually calm down and apologize to him for being a dick.
He walked along the shelves and picked out 'The Count of Monte Cristo' by Alexandre Dumas and walked over to the section with the cosy pillows and a large window. He'd been meaning to read this book for a while now and the time had come.
He soon got immersed into the world of Edmomd, Danglas and Gaspard, forgetting all about his uneventful, dry life. He had skipped astronomy for the first time and he sort of felt like a rebel in his own right. He got up to grab himself a cup of water from the help desk when he caught sight of a blonde mess of hair lying on the table. It was that Elijah dude.
He was sitting by the table near the help desk and had probably fallen asleep while studying. Five books lay open on his desk, a pen hanging off his long fingers. His usually poofy blonde hair had flopped onto his face messily and his cheeks were flushed. Arius noticed that the boy had long, dark eyelashes and high cheekbones.
He was a catch, Arius would admit that. Maybe in a different scenario he would've been attracted to him or probably even asked him out but Kingston was absolutely infuriating and annoyed the shit out of him for kicks. He was an insufferable brat. Arius could barely go through detention without strangling the boy every five minutes, but he had refrained from doing so. He didn't want to get expelled and sent back to his parents.
Also, Elijah was like such a child. Always so happy, so carefree. He had the childlike wonder in his big green eyes that most people lost by the time they hit eighteen.
If Elijah was the calm breeze that lit up the people's lives around him, Arius was the tornado that would dissolve everything into dust and suck everything into itself.
If they ever did collide it would be like two worlds falling into each other; like a fucking rainbow merging into black and white.
Elijah stirred a little, rubbing his left eye slowly as he turned the other way and went back to sleep, reminding Arius of a kitten. A big one at that.
He shook his head and turned around, walking back to his spot to continue reading. The bell would ring in another thirty minutes and Arius still had a book to finish.
He didn't know how long it had been when he felt something hit his forehead as he flipped through the pages.
He looked up to find that everyone had left the library except for the librarian and Elijah.
"Why'd you get detention postponed man?" the boy asked, grinning sleepily.
Wow, even after he'd just woke up from a nap, he was smiling like Christmas had come early.
Fucking weirdo.
"Cause I don't want to fucking work alone. Also, can we get done with it as soon as possible? I can't do this anymore."
"You wound me Arius, you really do." Feigned the boy, slapping his palm on his chest dramatically and making a puppy face at Arius.
"Fuck off."
"Always so pleasant! I'll see you 'round, in another two days." Elijah said, gathering up his books and bounding out of the door.
Arius noticed that the boy took ridiculously long steps and sighed. In two days, detention would resume for another week. The bell chimed and the librarian motioned for him to leave the room.
"Uh, may I borrow the book for tonight?" He asked nervously, approaching her desk.
"Alright, just make an entry in the register here and you can return it tomorrow." the lady said, not looking up from the paperwork she was currently involved in.
Arius was just about stepping out of the door when someone came crashing into him like a fucking truck and the both of them toppled over, legs tangling and hands twisted.
It was the tall, smart girl from his astronomy class. Elijah's friend. She was lying beneath him with a wide look in her eyes, one hand fisted into his jacket.
"Get off me! You're fucking heavy, God." She yelled, pushing him away from her.
"Why were you even running that fast near the dead end in the first place?" Arius said, standing up and dusting his jeans and holding his hand out to the girl.
She took it and stood up, wiping her hands on her ripped jeans.
"I don't know okay? I'm looking for someone."
"Oh and running like a fucking buffalo is chasing you is going to help you find them?" Arius rolled his eyes.
"Have you seen Elijah? The guy you're detained with? Tall, blonde, gree- "
"Oh I know what the idiot looks like. Yes he was here, but he left around five minutes back."
"Okay." the girl said and turned around, walking away without a word.
Who fucking runs that fast when a wall is right in front of them?
Arius walked downstairs, looking for Viggo who was standing by the entrance, scrolling through his phone.
Three girls were standing not very far from him, giggling and laughing as they looked at him every now and then, trying to get his attention. But Viggo was an oblivious idiot, as charming as he could be. No one had ever been able to hold him down. Yes, he was an absolute sweetheart but he wasn't one for commitment or serious relationships. Casual, seasonal hot flings were more of his area of expertise.
"Oh you're here. I'm sorry about today Ari, I didn't mean to be patronizing. I just want you to have some closure, you'll feel better."
The girls had started to walk off as Arius and Viggo stood together.
"I apologise too. But Viggo, don't fucking push it, I'm not ready." Arius said, looking serious.
"It's your call." the other boy threw his hands up and smiled, patting Arius on the back.
"So we're good?" Arius asked, nervously.
"Of course! You're not getting rid of me that easily." Viggo beamed at Arius as they walked back to their dorms.
Arius needed to be reminded time and again that he was wanted and loved by the people who claimed to do so. He was constantly afraid of people leaving without an explanation and it made him more anxious than he let on. But nothing swept by Viggo unnoticed, and he made it a point to show Arius that he cared everyday.
Arius felt physically lighter as Viggo rambled on about what he'd missed in Astronomy class.
They had a current affairs session for five minutes at the end of class and apparently, today they'd discussed about the Curiosity Rover on Mars.
Well, he'd just have to catch up on it tomorrow.
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A/N
I'm sorry, I've been out for a long time. Some things came up, I don't even know of anyone's reading this but, I'm really sorry if I kept any of y'all waiting. Regular updates starting tomorrow.
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Much Love XD Thank You!