The Man With The Gloves (mxmxmxm)

9. The First and Last Party

"I'm scared to get close and I hate being alone/ I long for that feeling to not feel at all/ The higher I get, the lower I'll sink/ I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim." (Bring me The Horizon, Can you feel my heart?)

Those last three weeks had proven to be the most frustrating ones in Fayez's all too long existence.

Despite his best efforts, he hadn't learnt anything new about the Institute, its headmaster or even what the students were supposed to accomplish during their time at the school.

Well, maybe it wasn't entirely true that Fayez had been trying his hardest at uncovering the ISB's secrets. He would have probably been more successful, had he asked other students about it. Yet, for someone who had spent his whole life in a secluded castle, asking someone something as simple as the time or if they could give him a tissue was already an accomplishement in itself.

Actually, he had done it twice in three weeks. The first time, he had asked a girl whom he knew  belonged to Ashur's team if the library was still opened after 10pm. Then, one week later, he had asked one of Helmut's friends if he had seen the guy around lately.

Those moments had been quite stressful, and Fayez had probably appeared as a rather awkward person, but he had felt incredibly proud of himself afterwards.

However, it was obvious that inquiring about the Institute would require much higher social skills. He still had a looong way to go before he could think of doing just that.

His inability to get more information about the Institute wasn't the only reason for his current gloomy mood, though.

He was way too proud to consciously admit it to himself, but he was weirdly annoyed and saddened by the fact that Ashur had apparently kept his promise, for none of the three prefects had interracted with him in any way during these last three weeks.

Of course, Helmut had told him that the prefects usually didn't talk much to the new students, that is, until they had proven themselves to be dedicated and trustworthy enough. That was the reason why Fayez couldn't asked Ashur or Zephyr why they were giving him the silent treatment. (he remembered too clearly his previous interactions with Akhenaton, and didnt' want to feel like his brain was frying again). They didn't talk to him because they weren't supposed to talk to him. He was a Nobody.

The problem was, despite frequently repeating to himself this perfectly rational explanation, Fayez couldn't help but think that there was something else behind their sudden coldness toward him. He had somehow connected to all of them, on his first days at the ISB, and surely they were perfectly aware of that - they seemed to have pretty sharp minds, after all.

No - no. That was beyond ridiculous. He had just happened to find himself on their ways on a few occasions, thanks to his never-ending clumsiness. Now that he was back at being a normal, invisible student, they had simply forgotten about him.

Even Akhenaton barely acknowledged his existence at the training anymore.

But could something as intense as Akhenaton's obvious dislike for him really fade this quickly ?Or was Akhenaton only following Ashur's orders not to meddle with the awkward vampire, who for some reason always kept his gloves on all the time?

He sighed deeply as he entered the cafeteria. When he had first arrived, he had avoided going to common rooms, for fears that some people would try to talk to him and that he wouldn't know how to handle a conversation.

Now, he knew that nobody would pay him any attention, and that he would most likely sit alone in a dark corner.

True, Fayez was someone who enjoyed being alone, but he had quickly discovered, since his arrival at the Institute, than being alone among a crowd was much harder than being alone when there was truly none else around.