Stop Being Human

Chapter 24

My pencil scrapes and skins the paper on my notebook. Every line, every blend brings a brighter smile to my face. My hands are covered in black smears, but it is the least of my worries. I am too concentrated. So much inspiration is flowing through my fingertips. I cannot stop now.

"Rei! Would you listen and get your head out of that book!" Melody snaps at me, tapping her fingers on the table.

I finally set my pencil down and stretched my fingers out. I hadn't realized how sore they were. "Sorry... what were we talking about?" All week I have been starting to draw again. I officially decided to take Brandon's advice, so I grabbed an unused notebook and got to designing. I had been building so many ideas in my brain since being here, but I just ignored them. Now everything is rushing forward, begging to be drawn.

I've dropped the Harmony situation for now. She hasn't bothered us recently, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen the glares she gives me or the whispering. The random men are still around as well, and I have definitely not missed them. It means chancellor Niam is still suspicious about me, which is wonderful, but there is nothing I can do about that.

"We were talking about the matches tomorrow!" Melody has not stopped talking about this weekend. Tomorrow the finalists will be revealed. Which means soon enough we will crown a Fantasy Games winner. The chances of Axel and Brandon being the last two is driving Melody crazy. She is so restless over it but excited.

"In case you haven't noticed, but your man and your roommate's man could potentially fight one another!" Paris jumps in.

Melody punches Paris's shoulder and her cheeks turn bright pink. "Alex and I are not... a thing!"

Almost everyone but Melody and Axel scuff or cover up a laugh. "Yet." Brandon mumbles.

The entire table knows it's true. Hell, I knew it was true before I even really knew the both of them. We just don't know what's stopping them from becoming official. They are together all the time and constantly flirting. They are basically a couple already.

"Hey Axel, I never got the chance to thank you for the other day." I switch the subject before Melody becomes a tomato. "If it wasn't for you, I think that situation could have gone worse." Worse, as in what I wish could have been a few black eyes.

Never before have I thought of myself as someone who would fight, but just in that moment, I was over it. I was tired of feeling like I was nothing to her. That she could just walk all over me and get away with it. Just before I got kicked out of the house, my dad became almost the same way. He started to make me feel like I was nothing to them anymore. I always wished I had spoken up before. Maybe if he knew how I felt, things could have been different.

Axel shrugs it off. "I mean, it didn't seem like Brandon was going to, so I had to step in."

Brandon doesn't disagree. "I'll admit it, I wanted to see her fight Harmony. She totally deserved it." He is so laid back about it. I wish I was as carefree as Brandon. Life could be so much simpler.

Before I can bite back at Brandon for his comment, everyone starts to stand, checking the time. It's time for the next class. Everyone stands up and throws away their scraps in the nearby trash cans. Brandon leaves me with a goodbye kiss and we are off in our separate ways.

Melody pulls me aside real quick. "We need to look over that paper during class, okay?"

"Absolutely. I'll see you then." Then Melody and I go our separate ways.

I take my break to continue to draw out the design I was working on during lunch. Shockingly, I got some inspiration from Brandon. The top corner of my page I drew the front few of a jacket on a silhouette. Now I am working on how I want the back of this jacket to look. I have the idea of a leather jacket, with devil horns stitched on the back, and flames on the bottom. The rest is plain besides the sleeves; the ends have chains wrapped around them. I love this idea so much and can not wait to show Brandon. I think this is something he would wear.