I dreamt of a devil that knew her

15

Beyond Birthday's demons weren't silenced for long.

Alternative still kept distance from him.
During lunch.
During free time.
During class.

Alternative was nice to everyone, but not to B. At least not anymore.
No, A wouldn't bully Beyond or anything. A would never be capable of such awful doing.
A would just ignore Beyond. Pretend he wasn't there. And Near could tell that it broke Beyond.

Beyond would do anything to get attention. Showing up extremely late to class or not showing up at all. And kicking the back of Alternative's chair during lecture.

Alternative wouldn't even turn back to look at him, but the noise drove Near crazy. It made him pout. He couldn't hear what the professor was saying even though his desk was first row. All he could hear was Beyond kicking Alternative's desk.

"Okay. Alternative, Backup. Come to the front and solve these problems," Professor Smith, the calculus professor, told them.

Solving problems in the board was part of class participation and preparation for upcoming exams.

Beyond quickly began solving his calculus problem while Alternative took longer to solve them.
Near wondered if Beyond's chair kicking also distracted A from lecture.

"Good job you two. Backup, if you keep it up, you'll be number 1 of the class," professor Smith said and it was obvious to Near that the phrase just used destroyed Alternative.

Both Alternative and Beyond made eye contact by instinct, and for the first time Near saw that B looked at Alternative's forehead. His expression completely changed.

Hours later Near was in his room and noticed that his toy robot wasn't in his backpack. He must have dropped it.

He retraced  his footsteps and reached the school's hallway. He saw Mello and Linda talking in a distance. Linda was doing typical flirty girl behavior like touching her hair and trying to make eye contact with Mello's blue eyes. Mello on the other hand seemed oblivious.

Then Mello made eye contact with Near.
"Ugh, there's Near. Let's go," Mello sounded annoyed and Near watched as Mello and Linda walked back to the dorms.

Near tried not to feel bad. He was used to Mello's harsh treatment.

He reached the calculus classroom and saw Alternative and Beyond inside.

A seemed to be frozen in place while Beyond paced around the room. His body language was throwing all signs of anger and desperation.

"Why would you do that?" Near pressed his ear against the door and could hear Beyond screaming.

"Do what?" Alternative sounded calm and collected.

"You know what!" Beyond grabbed A to avoid him from leaving.

"Let go of me. I don't know what you're talking about."

"So you really would do anything to work with L?" B finally asked straight up.

"Well yes! Isn't that why all of us are here for? To have the opportunity to work with the world's greatest-"

"Not me. You know exactly why I'm still here!"

Alternative tried to move past Beyond and walk towards the door. "That's your problem. Roger said to not get too attached to your peers because this is a competition."

Near could see Beyond's world turn black by his expression. Beyond swallowed hard. Maybe his soon to be tears and pleads.

"Okay then, Alternative. If this is all a race to you then I will give you a real race and become your competition. I will become number 1 and replace you."

Alternative stopped on his tracks and looked at Beyond.
"You wouldn't."

"You've heard what the professors have said. I am backup if you are to fail." Beyond snapped and began to walk towards the door.

"Wait!" Alternative grabbed Beyond before the other boy could open the door and leave the classroom. "Why would you do that? You know how much it means to me to have the opportunity to work with and become the next L! You don't even care about becoming the next L! You don't even care about L at all!"

Both Alternative and Beyond Birthday stood a few feet away from Near. The only thing separating A and B from Near was the closed door. But Near didn't move. He was never the nosey type, but the escalating conversation between number 1 and number 2 had him intrigued.

"Sheep!" Near quickly turned and saw Linda and Mello standing a few feet away from him.

"What are you doing, Near?"

"We found your stupid toy robot," Mello cut off Linda's sweet tone. "Here."

Near got his toy robot but his attention quickly turned to the door opening. Beyond and Alternative walked out of the classroom. Near saw for a split second that they were holding hands. But their hands separated as Beyond and Alternative saw Linda, Mello, and Near standing outside the classroom.

Why were they holding hands? What did I miss, Near thought.

Beyond Birthday's eyes traveled to Mello's, Linda's, and Near's foreheads while Mello glared at him. Neither group said a word to each other.

"Oh my god, how are they friends? Backup is so weird!" Linda exclaimed as soon as A and B were out of view. Well she told Mello. Once again the two were excluding Near from the conversation.

"You know Alternative is a boy, right?" Mello asked Linda. Now the two older kids were walking away from Near. Not even turning back to look at him.

"Shut up! No way!" Both Linda and Mello walked away. Both of them holding hands. Back to flirting. Leaving Near behind. Leaving Near alone.

No. Near wasn't alone. He had his toy robot and his thoughts.