Last Year of Seventeen

Chapter 14 - Theodore

I got to school really early the following Monday. My body was still reeling from the exhaustion of yesterday's activity but I just couldn't stay home any longer.

My father has returned from his business trip and the household is once again filled with this ominous aura he seemed to carry wherever he goes. Even the butlers and the maids are feeling strained and are more rigid than usual. My mother on the other hand is trying her best to pretend she's been well the entire time he was gone and that she's doing better now that he's here. We all can see that it was a lie, but my father does not care enough to even pretend his concern.

I knew that the moment he lays his eyes on me, it'll be a none stop conversation of the things I should already know about the business and how if it was Bash, he probably wouldn't be worrying so much about leaving the company's future to such incompetent hands.

So what's a guy to do other than drive to school earlier than usual?

The Academy looked so different when no students were around. It's a harrowing sight actually. The empty hallways that echo with every footstep, the stillness that occupies every room, the deafening silence of the oftentimes clamorous cafeteria. And yet despite the inexplicable sadness that the entire place felt, it was better than the suffocating despondency that engulfs our house. It will be better if father never comes home.

I decided to wait out the morning in the room where my first class– History, is held. The room is beside August's first class and my heart raced in thinking of the possibility she got there early as well. It was impossible I know, but that didn't stop me from walking way too fast only to peek in her classroom to see if she was there.

To my surprise, August sat on the second row, with an open book, hand busy with writing and a forehead creased in full concentration. I knew she always came earlier than most, but not this early. It's a full two hours before classes actually start. And with how she looks, she seemed to have gotten here earlier than that.

I knocked at the door gently. I didn't wait for her to look and just let myself in. If she was surprised to see me, she didn't show. There was only apathy written all over her face as she took in the person coming to sit down in front of her. "Good morning," I greeted. I turned the chair to face her, our legs crisscrossed under her desk. She does not flinch at my touch anymore and despite her aloofness, I knew that she no longer finds me disdainful.

"Good morning," she greeted back. She returned to her notes and I noticed that she was doing Calculus. "Why are you here so early?" She asked.

I pondered if I should tell her the truth or if I should just conceive a different story all together. I decided to go with the truth. August has a way with her that even if she isn't looking at you, even if you think she's doing something entirely different, you just know that she's still listening. Without looking up, she asked "So how long will he be staying?"

I shrugged, "Depends. But with the ongoing merger between our company and Grand Freedman Incorporation, we'll be lucky to have him for a week."

This merge has been going on for years. Our company– HughesHunt Corporation has been trying to sign GFI for what seems like forever. The Freedmans are one of the richest families in Europe and their head, Louis Freedman is a well-known business tycoon. He and my father just can't seem to meet eye-to-eye and thus the never-ending negotiations.

I told all this to August who nodded and asked follow through questions as a response. I came to a realization that despite the fact that I've only properly known August for a month, I have already shared with her more than I did with my life-long friends. And it still boggles me to this day, how I felt more comfortable with her more than I ever did even with Theodore.