𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧, young royals

Chapter 10: Aleksander

Through Me (The Flood),  Hozier

10: Aleksander

Days seemed endless.

Or maybe they just crashed one into the other in my head, creating one long, infinite stretch. Day and night, that's all I knew.

But if one thing was certain to me, it was that August was not my friend, and neither was Wilhelm, or anyone for that matter. And I was fucking sick of being treated like some low-life, insignificant first-year.

I had the material to make chaos, so why not make everyone pay? Why should it be me, tossed under the bus like meaningless trash? I could play their games, too.

I watched them pretend like everything was perfectly fine, even when everyone saw the cops roaming the halls. It was all but an act, some pathetic cover, and I was only waiting for them to draw curtains and bow in front of everyone. God knows where August was then, and I frankly didn't care. He tried to reach me about the drugs he'd left with me, but I merely discarded all of his messages.

Whispers and murmurs were buzzing through the school that day. More than usual, that is. Wilhelm and his boyfriend were making the headlines again, more prominently than ever with the newest statement that was released over the week-end. Neither of them addressed me or acknowledged me, even though we shared plenty of classes.

Not until the school day was over, really. At the end of the classes is when they found me the study hall.

"We need to talk. Now," grumbled Wilhelm through gritted teeth, jaw locked tight.

Simon stood next to him, arms crossed over his chest impassively.

"Sure, we do," I uttered bitingly, looking between the two of them, unbothered.

"That wasn't a request. We don't have time for you bullshit, Aleks," he scowled firmly, though he plastered on a casual expression, glancing cautiously at passers-by. "So put on your pretty little smile and follow us out, won't you?"

And so, bitterly, I did. Outside, I trailed behind them until we were far enough from the school that no other students could see us.

"What now?" I asked, piqued.

They exchanged a wordless glance, something that spoke between the two of them without letting me hear any of it.

"We know you gave the drugs to the police," stated Wilhelm.

Something twisted inside me. I scoffed, hoping the muscles in my face wouldn't betray me. "I don't know what you're talking about. You're wasting my time."

"You're a liar," said Simon, taking me aback. "And a bad one."

Now they seemed more certain than ever. If either of them had a sample of a doubt before, it was no more. I swallowed hard.

"I don't care. Go see August; he's the one who had the pills."

Wilhelm shook his head, stepping toward me, jaw clenching. "August wouldn't have gone to the cops," he spat bitterly. "Now tell us exactly what you told them, and don't play with my time."

Glaring, I stepped forward, matching his fire. "Why should I help you? You tried to ruin me."

Wilhelm scoffed, almost amused. "Please, spare me, Aleks. Those accusations did little to nothing to you," he spoke, biting. "Do you think I did it in spite of you? We had no other choice."

Now I was the one laughing. "Of course, you didn't. You just had to protect your little pet, didn't you?" I lazily motioned at Simon.

In a matter of seconds, abruptly, almost animal-like, he grabbed the collar of my shirt and shoved me back, knuckles turning starry white around the hem of my shirt. A gasp hitched in my airways, but I tried to conceal my shock, gulping down a lump in my throat.

"Listen to me, you little shit," he hissed in my face, white-hot anger flaring in the brown of his irises, "you think you had it tough? Try stepping in our shoes for a second."

His knuckles dug into my neck.  I clenched my jaw, staring back at him, silenced. Simon observed, eyebrows furrowed, narked.

"I don't know why you felt the need to go to the police when Simon had nothing to do with what happened to you, and quite frankly, I don't care," he sneered, "but you're either going to tell me everything you told the cops, or you can trust that I'll make your life a living hell."

With that, he released me with a hard shove, sending me staggering backward. For a moment, I only considered them, lips pursed tightly, swallowing harshly.

"I handed in the pills and said August asked me to hold on to them," I confessed at last.  "I didn't tell them how he got them, only that he's been using on campus for a couple of months."

"What about the other bottles?" asked Simon. "Where are they?"

I scoffed at him. "You know, if you hadn't dealt in the first place, you wouldn't be in this fucking mess," I taunted, glancing between the two of them. "You guys aren't better than the rest of us because you screwed yourselves up."

Wilhelm scowled, eyes hurling daggers at me, but Simon was the one stepping forward this time.

"The only one screwing himself up here is you," he hissed, ramming his hands into my chest. "Because you may not be with August anymore, but that means you're on your own, and you made yourself a powerful enemy.  And if you think anyone will side with you when shit starts to go down, you're a fucking fool."  I glared at him while he drew closer to me to glower in my face, "now those drugs.  Where are they?"

Gritting my teeth, I replied, "I don't know, and that's the truth. I only had that one bottle. August probably threw the rest away."

They scrutinized me for a while, trying to catch a lie in my response, but there was none.  At last, they shared another look and nodded.

Before they really walked away from me, Wilhelm halted, his shoulder lining up with mine, and uttered in my ear, "You could've walked away from this, Aleks."

His voice hadn't come off spiteful or spewed angrily out of his mouth, it had only sounded matter-of-factly.  For some reason, that made me fume even more.

With that, they strolled off, and I spun around, watching as they drew away into the horizon, hollering, "You think you're better than August?!  You're just like him!"

omg they released the date for season 3, im shitting my pants

anyways thank you for almost 400 reads, love you xxx