HeartBLOOD

Chapter seventeen

"Alec?", he heard a familiar voice. A shiver ran down Alec's spine as he imagined the face matching the voice- blonde hair, evil grin. "What do you want, Jonathan.", he scoffed as he turned around. Indeed, it was Jonathan he had been speaking with. "Oh, I want what's rightfully mine.", Jonathan smirked. A dark assumption already settled in his mind. Somehow, this moment reminded him of what had happened almost exactly two years ago. "You're not getting my alternate spot, Jonathan.", Alec replied and wanted to walk away as an iron grip around his wrist pulled him back. "Except I am. We had a deal, remember?" "That was last year- the deal is off, I have nothing to do with you.", Alec spat. "Well, you're not entirely right about that, unfortunately.", Jonathan replied, the grin widening on his face, "You promised me three favors, of which I used only two last year. Meaning, you still owe me a favor, and I'm calling it in now." "Why waste a favor to get my spot instead of just asking someone else and getting it for free?", Alec asked, trying to slowly deflect from the actual topic. "Well,", Jonathan said, "It's not like there are many more. Raphael's alternate spot had already been given away to Julian Blackthorn, in case you remember, and you darling boyfriend for sure won't make me his alternate. Plus, with your condition there's just a higher chance of you needing to be replaced than there is for Magnus- I was just calculating the probabilities. In addition, of course, I also just simply enjoy how much it pains you to be in this position. I'm a bit sadistic, I'll admit." This left Alec speechless- he went to public high school as a gay kid that did ballet, he had the honor of making the acquaintance with quite a few assholes, but he had never met someone like Jonathan. Jonathan seemed like pure evil, but he was brilliant. He was so incredibly aware of himself, it made him invincible- there was nothing you could say to surprise him. Jonathan was admirably honest, Alec needed to admit, but that honesty came at a certain price. He could easily open up about the darkest corners of his soul, but he'd do it in such a charming way, nobody would even realize that he just admitted to being something close to a psychopath. "Did my way of thinking leave you speechless, Lightwood?", Jonathan mocked. "Not at all.", Alec replied, "I guess there is not much I can do anyways. Take my word, you've got the spot." To his delight, he saw Jonathan's eyebrows rise- he managed to surprise him after all. "No fight, surrendering immediately? I'm impressed, I'll admit. You learn your lessons fast, don't you?", Jonathan smirked and shot a quick glance at Alec's knee, "I'm glad I don't have to teach you another one, it was quite exhausting planning the whole shenanigan." "Suck it, Jonathan.", Alec snarled and walked away, focused on not showing any traces of a limp like he tended to do after a long, exhausting day.

"What took you so long, I though you just wanted to step by the bathrooms?", Magnus asked whilst putting away his nutrition book, reminding Alec of the homework he hadn't even touched yet. "I had a refreshing conversation with an old friend of mine- well, maybe enemy fits better.", Alec replied sarcastically, dropping his bag on the floor and walking to the bathroom- the talk with Jonathan had infuriated him so much, he didn't bother going to the bathroom downstairs. "What did Jonathan want from you?", Magnus asked a bit alarmed. "Monsieur called in his third favor and demanded me to make him my alternate for the nutcracker.", Alec replied and supported himself on the sink whilst looking in the mirror. "So, what did you do?" "It's not like I had much of a choice.", Alec scoffed as he longed for his razor, "I gave him the spot hoping Simon won't be too mad about getting yours." "I mean it's not the role that's going to hurt him, it's the fact that you made Jonathan your alternate instead of him, your friend. You do realize what it looks like from the outside, don't you?"", Magnus asked. "I do.", Alec sighed, "But I'll figure something out. I will find a way to explain and apologize, it's not like he's not getting an alternate spot at all." "Well, you do you.", Magnus stated, "But keep in mind who your friends are and where your priorities lie. Don't drown in the drama, take your time and properly think about what you'll say to Simon. He had always been a great friend to you, the least you could do is come up with a decent explanation." "I'll try my best.", Alec finished and locked the bathroom door before he proceeded with wetting his face. In the hurry and the stress of the upcoming auditions, he had completely forgotten to shave his face in the morning, and if there was something Alec passionately hated it were any signs of a beard. Getting his head closer to the mirror, Alec inspected his face: He had aged, he noticed. His under-eyes were swollen and darker than they usually were, his skin looked matte and paler than usually, his lips were dried and his bottom lip looked like it was about to chip. There was a shadow of the beard on his face that he hated so much and very faint wrinkles started to form on his forehead which, truthfully speaking, wasn't much of a surprise considering how oft he raised his eyebrows. "You're twenty one, get it together.", Alec scoffed at himself and proceeded with shaving, still not being able to shake the feeling of something having drastically changed. He had heard about people saying that one day they looked into the mirror and couldn't see themselves anymore- this was different. He still saw himself, his bushy eyebrows, his wide chin, ocean blue eyes and the disarrayed hair which had not changed in five years. The Alec in the mirror was more mature, he had grown, had gained wisdom and experience. But he wasn't the only one that had changed- Isabelle, his little sister whom he held when she was thirteen and crying, getting over her first ever crush, now was a model and lived in her own apartment. It was just Magnus who seemed like he hadn't aged at all- for love never grows old.