Legends of Mirandis Academy

Chapter 30: Split the Hive

Kelam was in love with Iridia.

Brielle could not get it out of her head. She could not stop hearing him say he had feelings for her. She also couldn't stop thinking about how quick he was to try and fix Iridia's clothes before she did, or how he watched her work with the lathe with such pride, or how bashful he'd get at any compliment from her. Brielle couldn't get it out of her head how Iridia's heart must have been racing as they danced together; maybe he'd kissed her already; hell, maybe they'd had the wildest sex already, a thousand times more thrilling and loud and intimate and sober than Kelam and herself had. Brielle was left alone, replaced by both of them that quickly.

One of the most malicious thoughts settled in her head: she should have given him terrible instructions so Iridia would have hated him. Then Kelam could have run back to her once Iridia was no longer an option. Or Iridia would have realized Kelam wasn't right for her and come right to Brielle, and she could be all hers. Brielle could have had either one of them so quickly... but she wouldn't. That was a terrible thing to do, an awful idea. She was disappointed in her mind for even fabricating the possibility. She'd never wanted love before, but now she was stuck. She hated that the two people she liked both liked each other; it wasn't fair! The blue of Brielle and green of Kelam could make the most gorgeous teal, or blue with the red of Iridia could be a stunning purple hue, but she would never mix that way with either of them. She'd been burying and burying her feelings for so long, but this time, they weren't staying under.

She shouldn't have invited Iridia to the game. It was awesome having her there, but the more she was around them the stronger her feelings got. She just needed a distraction from them. Focus on school, her clubs. She had projects to work on, books to read; she had plenty to occupy her mind. As long as she avoided both of them, she'd be fine.

"Hey, Brielle." The voice startled her as she was reorganizing her locker at the start of lunch.

Kelam stood there, books and papers in his arms. Here he looked like the perfect academic, but all she could see was the man in the mask, holding her close as they danced. Holding her close under the impression that she was all but Brielle.

"I heard the soccer team won against Midhair." His light eyes were so kind, so politely pleasant. "I wanted to wish you congratulations."

She double checked to make sure her hair was in order. "Oh, yes. Thank you."

He started shifting from one foot to the next. Something was on his mind, she could tell. "So, um... Hey! Have you been keeping up with poetry? I actually wrote a couple poems—I surprised myself. I didn't think I would, to be honest."

She paused. Should she tell him? Was he wanting to trade poems, to read what the other said? What she had written wasn't too incriminating, but she wasn't sure if she wanted him to know what was really in her mind.

But would that be so bad?

"I... I did write another one. Besides the iambic, I really wasn't too fond of that style."

"Yes, I understand. It's difficult to do, but the end product is rather pleasant to read though. It has a lovely rhythm. I suppose that's the point."

"I quite agree."

As hard as she tried, all she could think about was how romantic this was. They were discussing poetry together. Who did that? They did, apparently. Just her and Kelam and sure, what if she did share her poem? Maybe he'd see it, and think—

"Has Iridia said anything to you?" he blurted out. "About me?"

Oh.

"No, uh..." he immediately deflated a bit, "you have yet to come up in conversation."