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Sleep had completely left me, all trace of my exhaustion extinguished from my body. I was now upright, and scrambling back on my bed, startled by the boy that continued to watch my pathetic display.
"What- Who allowed this?!" I gasped.
"The headmaster did." Artemis shrugged as he began taking his things off of the spare bed. "I convinced him to let Crimson stay with us when we spoke earlier."
"Oh look at you and the old fart getting all goodie goodie together." I groaned, rolling my eyes. Crossing my arms, I added, "But it's a no from me. I'm not gonna spend my final year babysitting some troublesome kid."
"Oh, you don't have to babysit me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Crimson spoke with a tilt of his head, his expression blank, yet somewhat... Unsettling.
There was definitely something up with this kid.
"Awe Graaaaay! Don't be like that!" Artemis suddenly whined, dropping everything and racing towards us, dropping to his knees at my bed. "Please can we keep him??"
And then it happened. I knew it was coming, but it never failed to catch me off guard. The puppy eyes.
I always struggled to resist their power, especially when it was Artemis. But what happened next truly surprised me, it was strangely amusing to say the least.
Crimson tilted his head and observed Artemis with a curious look on his face. Then without warning, he began mimicking Artemis, contorting his features into a similar, exaggerated puppy-eyed look.
I blinked, my arms still crossed, taken aback by his unexpected behaviour.
"Shit..." I sighed, hanging my head back in defeat. "Fine. Just don't get in my personal space. It's already endangered with Artemis around."
"Yay! Thank you, Gray! I knew you had a kind heart!" Artemis sang, leaping forward and hugging me.
"Yeah, thanks a bunch!" Crimson, once again following Artemis' lead, bounced onto the bed and clung onto me. I couldn't help but realize a familiar scent to his silky white hair. "You're the greatest, Gray!"
Well so much for terms and conditions. I have a feeling that the two of them are going to be the uttermost end of me.
"Yeah yeah, whateve—"
"Hey, what's this? I almost sat on it." Artemis spoke, letting go of me. My heart sank, and I reached forward to grab the polaroid in his hand.
"Hey- Is that your family?" Artemis said, his eyes sparkling as he snatched the picture away from me.
"Yeah." I responded, my fingers unable to keep still.
"Woah! And these girls, they look exactly the same!"
I rolled my eyes. Sometimes, Artemis can say the dumbest of things, it's as if he thinks all his goddamn thoughts out loud.
"Yup, triplets. I've three younger sisters."
"Woah!" His amber eyes sparkled while beside him, Crimson took a peek at the picture. "What's it like? I've always wanted a younger sibling!"
"No idea. I've never met them." I responded, sounding more unbothered than I was. "They were born after the school basically became my new prison."
Artemis then went quiet, and I caught a glimpse of Crimson, his eyes going dark. My heart skipped a beat at that moment, when I finally came to the realization that the younger boy now had to meet the same fate I did. I sorta felt bad now.
"Hey, but you'll see them in a bit! You're graduating this year, aren't ya?" Artemis continued. If I wasn't in this situation, I would have landed a facepalm so hard that my handprint would be engraved into my skull. How much of an idiot could he be?!
Though, I was an idiot too, if it took me this long to figure out the kid's situation. Though, I was glad that I was finally done waiting — as selfish as it was. A warm smile playing at my lips, I reached forward and took the picture from Artemis' outstretched hand — I didn't know what possessed him to think that I wouldn't reach it if he did that- I'm like two feet taller than him.
Though he seemed rather surprised when I did grab it, from the way his eyes widened and his mouth gaped. Though it was after I turned around, when I realized why he looked so flustered.
"Crimson, Crimson, did you see that? Gray smiled!" He whispered to the boy. "He usually never does that!"
They really thought I couldn't hear them.
Despite the sun still hanging low outside our window, I decided to hit the hay early. This day had been an awful lot for my tired soul to process. If I were in a poorly written novel, this day alone would have been exactly 5.9 chapters so far.
"Well anyhows, Imma call it a day." I yawned, tucking my photograph safely into the envelope and placing it under my pillow.
"What? Why?" Artemis pouted. "I thought we were gonna spend the evening bonding, where the barriers of unfamiliarity slowly crumble, and a sense of camaraderie begin to take root!"
"No, I'm gonna sleep. Gnight."
And that's what I did. I fell onto that pillow, and blackness washed over me instantly, wrapping me in a long-awaited embrace.
Sometimes, a day just won't seem to end no matter how much you want it to. Around one in the morning, I was once again woken up by warm breath blowing over me.
"Do you have like, a thing for watching people sleep?"
"No, not usually. But watching you sleep is interesting, Grayson." Crimson's soft voice sounded. I shuddered, my eyes refusing to pry open. I would have been creeped out if it weren't for my complete exhaustion overpowering any other feeling.
"So... Is this gonna be a regular thing or...?" I yawned.
"Come on a walk with me, Gray."
"A walk? At this hour?" I asked. "Hell no, get back to bed! We're not even allowed to be out past 8!"
"But who's gonna know? There are no guards close to campus, excluding the wall to the forest, of course." He responded. I knew that, but not many others did. Apparently, Crimson did.
"Dude, no. I'm tired." I groaned.
"I'll just sit here and stare at you until you get up." He huffed.
I groaned once again. He would definitely do that. My eyes finally opened, and I blinked a few times, my eyes once again meeting with those sharp orbs of scarlet. I didn't think I would ever stop getting startled by them. So blank, yet so ominous.
"God. Fine, I'll come." I rolled off my bed, tangled in the sheets, and pulled myself up into a sitting position. "Why do you wanna go on a walk?"
"I wanna talk."
"Can't we do that here?" I asked, my voice laced with a slight whine. He shook his head, his expression remained unchanged. I genuinely thought that I might have gotten to the kid's nerves by now, but apparently not.
Defeated, I stood up and walked over to the door, the boy following closely behind me.
