Jayden & Astrid [On Hold]

CHAPTER NINE PART II - HOME OF THE TITANS

Astrid sat cross-legged on a desk in an empty classroom, her body positioned so that she overlooked the school's parking lot, but her back was turned to the beady-eyed iguana left on the teacher's desk by a staff member. Her attention should have been on Yuri Sidorov, the junior from the swim team whom she was tutoring, but he was working on some physics questions and his headphones were blasting rock music so loudly, she could hear it faintly from where she sat. Instead, her attention was focused on her vibrating phone in her hand, indicating an incoming call from fashion designer extraordinaire and her ex-roommate, Indigo O'Neill.

As soon as Astrid accepted the call, Indigo's face appeared on the screen. Her short dark brown hair stood at odd angles, making it hard for Astrid to take her pretend-angry face seriously. "Why didn't you tell us you and Khalid broke up?"

Astrid regarded her with a smirk. Khalid Hassan: her most recent ex whom she had nicknamed Bronzylocks on account of his bronze coloured dreadlocks. "And good evening to you too." She greeted, mimicking Indigo's Irish accent because she knew it vexed her.

A pair of mismatched legs walked behind Indigo-one a fleshy pale mass in serious need of a tan, and the other a glossy black prosthetic with a network of handpainted flowers. Briar Hoffmann. Prima ballerina, grizzly bear attack survivor and Astrid's ex-roommate. The comments on how she'd never be a good enough dancer because she had just one human leg quickly changed to how she was only a good dancer because she had one mechanical leg. "It's two in the morning over here." She corrected off-camera.

"Answer the bloody question." Indigo exclaimed.

"We realized that there was no way a long-distance relationship would work, so we broke it off." An outright lie, but a necessary one. She and Khalid could have made a long-distance relationship work. His last relationship had been long-distance and had gone on well until it was brought to an abrupt end when his then-girlfriend died, and what she and Jayden had shared all the while she was in the UK could technically be classified as a long-distance relationship. The truth was complicated. "Where did you guys even meet Khalid?" She asked before Indigo could express unneeded sympathy. As Khalid didn't go to their school, the only way they could have met him was if they had snuck out. Judging by Indigo's smeared lipstick and the confetti in her hair, they had done just that.

Her lips spread into a wide smile, revealing her lipstick-stained teeth. "We snuck out to a party and we met him there. It was a really nice party. I wish you could have been there. I miss you. We all miss you." She sighed, shifting in her seat so that Briar could join in on the conversation.

Unlike Indigo, Briar's hair was in almost perfect condition. It was almost perfect, as a few strands of strawberry blonde hair had escaped from her updo. Her freckles were hidden behind a layer of makeup. "Henri got so drunk at the party, he forgot you'd moved and came to the conclusion that you had been kidnapped." She added, her nose scrunched in irritation at her stepbrother's behaviour. "We found him crying at the back of the bar. Do you realize how difficult it was to get him to his room? And he has a piano recital later today. I don't know how he's going to play anything useful with a massive hangover."

Astrid laughed at the image that popped up in her head. Henri Dubois was just as tall as she was and twice as heavy. It would have taken great effort on the part of the two girls to lug him up the several flight of stairs that led to his room.

Separately, the four of them were formidable but together, they probably shared half a brain cell. They had taught Astrid the Allegiance and a bunch of American things they had culled from movies and the internet once they had learnt she would be moving. In return, she had thanked them and sworn that if any of them ever needed US citizenship, she would marry them in a heartbeat.