Young and Foolish

Chapter 19: Legend of the Lighthouse

Theodore's POV: 

I didn't allow myself to think. I could hardly remember the last time I had been so productive in schoolwork, but I charged through as many worksheets as I could. I didn't have a choice. If I didn't bury myself in work, my mind would drift back to Jason's tight, black underwear. 

Goddess, why? 

Nope. I couldn't dwell. And there was no way I could head back to our room and see him again. And I didn't want to explore the school grounds either, for fear that I'd run into him. 

The image of his semi-nude body was burned into my mind and I just couldn't allow myself to lust after my hot roommate. He'd kill me if he found out I thought of him like this. 

When the bell rang, I headed to the photography studio, where I met with a Mr. Hudson that gave me a camera and a pamphlet on photoshop tips. He said something about a photography showcase near the end of the year, but didn't speak much after that, only encouraging creative freedom to do as I wished. 

I really, really tried my hardest to not think about nude photography, and how my roommate really would make my perfect muse. 

The chess club gave me a bit of respite, as it took a lot of concentration to learn all pieces and moves. I made note to bring a notebook next meeting to write down all I learned. And by the time 9:00 p.m. finally rolled around, I was worried all over again. 

But despite all the rest I had gotten yesterday, I was still really tired from all the work I did today. And I knew I couldn't avoid going to our room any longer. 

I dragged my feet as I slowly made my way there. But the moment I reached my hallway, my nose twitched. It was a familiar scent, one that I knew well only because two of my sisters spent so much time in a hospital. 

Blood. Specifically, Jason's. 

As a halfblood, I didn't have the smelling abilities of an average werewolf, but I was still much better than the average human. The closer I got to our room, the stronger it smelled. 

And the red smear on our doorknob was unmistakably fresh. 

Oh goddess, what if there was a dead body in there? The hot ones are always proportionally crazy. And Jason was extra hot, so he had to be extra crazy. Heck, he was a student at this correctional institute; obviously he was insane!

I swallowed before hesitantly opening the door. I let out a mental sigh of relief that the walls weren't blood splattered and the floors weren't streaked in crimson. But the moment I saw Jason, I couldn't help but gasp. 

He sat on the edge of the bottom bunk, elbows resting on his knees as he blankly stared at the ground between his feet. But what stood out was the blood dripping down his chin from a split lip, and the blood coating his bruised knuckles. 

I immediately went for my first aid kit that I had tucked away in the suitcase I never unpacked. I always kept one on me, curtesy of my sister's uncanny ability to get into all sorts of trouble. 

He didn't pay much attention to me as I set the kit down by his feet and kneeled in front of him. 

"Jason," I quietly called out, and finally his gaze snapped to me. His eyebrows drew together as he leaned back, away from me. 

"Wait," I grabbed his wrist, careful not to touch his bloodied hand, but he still flinched under my touch, "you're hurt." 

He looked at my hand on his, and then back to my eyes, before giving me his hand. I took it as permission to treat his wounds, and opened up the kit. 

"There was once a man who lived by the sea," I started, before abruptly cutting myself off. It was a habit for me to tell Lily stories as I treated her wounds, because there was no other way I could get her to sit still long enough to do so, but he wasn't Lily. 

I swallowed thickly. There was a heavy tension in the air that weighed heavily on the both of us. I stayed silent. 

"What happened to him?" he asked lowly, just above a whisper. I glanced up at him, but looked back down the moment our eyes met. 

"He liked to gaze at the blue expanse of endless water, often spending hours on end doing so. One day he happened to see a woman of the sea, a goddess of some sort, or maybe just a fish. But either way, he fell deeply in love," I spoke quietly as I disinfected his wounds with the gentlest touch I could muster, "She liked to play in the water in the sunshine, never coming too close to shore, and disappearing the moment night fell. He decided to build a tall tower that touched the sky and fill the top with such a bright light that it would illuminate the whole ocean at midnight to show her how much he cared for her." 

I finished up with one hand and moved to the other. His wounds weren't too deep, but I was sure they still hurt. I hadn't looked at him since I started the story. 

"He toiled away, spending years at it. And the very few glimpses he caught of her each day made it all worth it. At last, he finally finished his tower, and the moment darkness fell, he lit his bright light. It shone brilliantly, rivalling the sun itself. His sea woman surfaced, and she looked so much more beautiful in the light he had made just for her." 

I finished his other hand, bandaging it up nicely. All I had left was his face. His awfully handsome face. He jutted his chin out, leaning even closer, as if silently asking me to treat his lip, too. I swallowed again. 

"The local fishermen were overjoyed at this light, because it made them able to fish throughout the night as well. They immediately brought out their boats and took to the seas. All sorts of sea creatures came to the surface to investigate this new light, and the fishermen had their fun. The man didn't care, for he could only see his sea woman. And she could only see him, a small and dark, but ever handsome, blur against the dazzlingly bright light. And come morning, the only fish left was her. The fishermen all closed in." 

I placed a small bandaid on his lip. Our faces were so close, almost too close.