Blackstone Academy: The Rogue

24. Troy Roman

Troy P.O.V

Date: October 4, 2238 

"Fuckkk." I plopped onto my bed, flattening my palm over my eyes. The springs softly squeaked underneath my weight before quieting down.

This was such a shit day. In fact, every day since that day had been shitty, but today topped the Richter scale on the shitness factor.

Everyone must have heard about the recording by now. And if not, they would soon. Fucking Larry and his big mouth. Why did he have to appear at that exact moment? Just why?

There was no explicable reason. His whole being seemed a bane of my existence. Our only hope was that Cindy's possible mutation had eclipsed it.

The soft click of the door opening pulled me from my thoughts. I peeked out from my fingers as Jax entered, with Nova following closely behind him.

"What," I pushed up onto my elbows. "What happened while I was getting my exam?"

"Nothing." Jax sat at his desk, laid his head back, and interlocked his fingers over his stomach. "For the most part, everyone seemed more concerned about Cindy than Larry's outburst. Thank god."

"Good." I let out a relieved breath, sat up, and wiped my sweaty palm on my pants legs. "Let's hope it stays that way."

"Di-" Nova started, only to be cut off by someone knocking on the door.

My heart dropped, and through widened gaze, I stared at the door.

Has someone come already to inquire about the recording?

Surely not, right?

But knowing my luck, it might.

A second knock quickly followed when none of us moved to answer it.

"Troy, you get it," Jax whispered with a slight jerk of his head toward the door.

"The fuck? You're closer."

Jax slowly turned to look at Nova, a silent question in his eyes.

"Don't even think about it. This is your room. You get it." She firmly said, dropping beside me and crossing one long lean over the other.

"Fine." He sighed, hefting himself to his feet and going over to answer it.

"Maverick," he exclaimed after opening the door, eyes briefly darting my way. "Wh-wh-what are you doing here?"

"You really going to act like you don't know?"

Jax plastered on the fakest smile in all of existence and lightly chuckled. "Know what?"

"Don't play dumb, Jax. I heard what Larry said about Nova record-"

"Hey!" Jax spoke over him, dragging him inside and kicking the door shut behind him. "Are you trying to start the gossip mill up again?! The incident with Cindy is already enough drama as is."

"No, but that very well may be out of your," he pointed to Jax, then himself. "Mine, and anyone else's control. Since Cindy woke up a few minutes ago. And it's only a matter of time before they remember Larry's outburst."

I shot to my feet. "What?! She woke up?"

"Yup."

"Is she..." Jax visibly swallowed and briefly glanced at me. "Infected?"

"No, she's not. Cindy said she skipped a few meals because she was stressed, leading to her fainting."

I let out a relieved breath, unconsciously rubbing the bandage Dr. Walter placed on my arm after drawing my blood.

"You're in the clear, buddy." Jax beamed, throwing his arms across my and Nova's shoulders and squeezing us into his side.

"I wasn't worried for one moment." Nova tugged at the bottom of my shirt.

Jax snorted. "That's not what you said in the hallway."

"Jax!" Nova chided, playfully narrowing her eyes. "You... I can't..."

"Hey, hey, hey! Enough of all this touchy-feely stuff." Maverick said, scowling. "Just tell me if it's true. Did you really record what happened that day?"

The mood officially killed. Jax released us and returned to his seat. "Not exactly."

"What did it record then?" I asked, moving past Maverick to stand behind Jax's chair.

"She recorded the ground, Stacy's brother, the guards guarding the gate, and a heap of other stuff. But everything but the actual attack."

"What? How is that possible?" Maverick skeptically asked as his brow creased.

"The glasses were umm... on my head most of the time." Nova quickly explained, somehow managing to keep a straight face as she slipped into the chair beside Jax.

Maverick slowly nodded.

"Did you see anything while guarding the gate?" She questioned, looking up at him.

"No, we were pretty busy that day. I was hoping y'all caught something that could help."

"What has security figured out?"

"Nothing, to be honest." Maverick rubbed the back of his neck and leaned against the edge of the desk.

Damn! How the hell did one mutant manage to evade a whole team of security guards? It just wasn't possible unless someone was involved.

"Our head of security has unofficially got demoted," Maverick said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"What does that mean?" Jax's brow furrowed as he looked at each of us for clarification.

"It means he still has his title, but someone else technically calls the shots. Until they figure everything out." Maverick explained. "Fuck! I can't believe I told y'all that. This stays between the four of us. Got it?"

"Of course" and "Yes" respectively came out of Nova's and Jax's mouths while I just nodded.

Maverick ran his hand across his head and audibly exhaled. "So... Do you guys know anything else?"

"Nope. Nothing." I answered while Nova and Jax stayed quiet.

"Really?" He scoffed. "I thought we were sharing information and working together to figure out whatever the fuck is going on around here. Was I wrong?"

Jax and Nova averted their gazes, leaving me to answer. "No offense, Maverick, but how are we supposed to work together if you couldn't even catch a panty thief? Or trust you not to spill our secrets just like you did about the head of security?"

Maverick's nostrils flared. Once, twice. "Are you seriously throwing that back in my face right now?"

"Yeah, Troy, don't be rude." Nova softly scolded, lightly smacking my leg.

"He's not wrong, though," Jax muttered before turning to me. "But, Troy, I think you meant petty thief."

"No, Jax. I mean panty thi-" Maverick's fist connected with my jaw cutting me off. My head jerked to the right, and my fist automatically balled up, ready to retaliate.

"Whoa, whoa!" Nova stepped between us, nudging us apart. "Now is not the time for you two to be fighting! We have other important things to figure out. Remember?"

Fuck. I know I messed up. Seeing the disappointment written across Nova's face hurt more than the stinging of my cheek.

"Yeah, we don't need you two going at each other in the middle of all this," Jax spoke up, pushing us further away from each other.

I sighed. "They're right. And I'm willing to be the bigger man and put aside our issues to work together. If you are." I smirked, extending my hand toward him.

"Fucking prick." he snorted, skeptically eyeing my hand for ten whole seconds before shaking it. "Fine."

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