𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣'𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙣

𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆

Calvin
• • •

The moment I'd walked in on Saturn cuddling my hoodie, I knew that my secret was no longer safe. I had meant to ask her about the way we'd found each other that evening. Did she usually dwell in my room when I was absent? Did she take comfort in having my clothes with her, absorbing my scent and imagining that I was there with her? I could not bear to ask.

It was best that I tried to forget about the past training session. Each time I went, I fought to block the memory from my mind. To bury it beneath a heap of school, work, and Saturn. This time, it was not quite so simple, as I wore physical proof on my face of what I had just endured. I could not pretend it was merely a nightmare.

The black eye had been a result of a fight between me and another trainee by the name of Devon. He was much larger than me, much sterner than me, and an overall jackass. Before, I had caught his glances at me from across the dining hall, his chuckled remarks to his cronies while sitting only a few bunks down from me at night. I knew he had something up his arse about me, but I didn't know what until things became much more severe.

"Why are you wearing that?" Devon had asked one evening, jabbing a thick finger toward my bracelet.

"It reminds me of my girlfriend," I replied, wondering if Devon's intentions were pure. Knowing him, they certainly were not.

"Why?" Devon had grumbled. There was truly nothing going on in his head.

"Her name is Saturn," I said softly, "I got her a matching bracelet as a Christmas gift. Is that so unclear?"

I recalled Devon's dull expression morphing into one of anger. It didn't take much to set him off, and the others he had quarrelled with rarely came out victorious.

Devon straightened up to his full height, and for a moment, I remember being afraid.

"Your girlfriend sounds like a real freak."

My fear had faded in an instant. In a matter of seconds, I was upon him, having managed to knock him to the ground with my sheer adrenaline. I wasn't focused on anything other than making him hurt. Devon had managed one clear swing at my eye, but in the end, I won the fight. He had retreated to his band of little friends, grumbling about how I was a prick.

Perhaps I was a prick, but I would never sit there and listen to anyone speak about Saturn in such a manner. If I needed to pick a fight with the entire group of trainees, I would have.

I would have done anything to protect Saturn.