A GOLDEN EMPIRE

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

AURORA AND THE EMPIRE SIT in the cafeteria enjoying their breakfast (yeah aurora and justin are eating again) when Jordan Forrester walks in. No one talks to him anymore ever since he failed the drug test months ago. Mans tried to be slick about it. He tried to flirt with Aurora and Autumn, he didn't get very far. Justin and Mario weren't having it. They had threatened his life. Jordan hasn't been near them since.

"What should we do tonight? Kinda in the mood for dinner and drinks at STEAK 48." Adrianna says, looking up from her phone. "Or are you guys in need of a night off?" She asks as she takes a bite out of her omelette.   

Kingsley pulls away from Avalon's kisses and looks at his friends. "Count me in. I could use a night out. It's been a rough couple of days for us." Both he and Avalon have been dealing with their annoying parents. Regina has been trying to get her daughter to meet her biological father but Avalon is just not ready.  So Kingsley does everything he can to distract her. He wants them to go out with their best friends and hopefully spend some not thinking about their personal problems. The last few weeks have been hard on both of them and even though they are still close, sometimes Kingsley misses getting drunk with them. So a night out is just what they need.

"We should all meet up at one's house and ride together." Kingsley offers and then goes back to eating his eggs. 

Everyone nods in agreement and go quiet again until they hear the doors to the cafeteria slam open.  Everyone stops what they are doing to look and see who it is that just walked in.  The only person to walk through is Caleb.  He doesn't seem to notice that everyone else is watching him, so instead he starts making his way directly to where the Empire sit. Once there, he makes his way over to the empty seat next to Aurora. The eight of them stare at him, confused as to what he's up to. He sits down and gives them a weird smile. He glances at Aurora, smiles again, then looks away without saying a word. "Um...what is going on here? Donahue, what the hell is wrong with you?" Brandon says, motioning towards Caleb with a raised eyebrow.

  "Are you sure there isn't something going on?" Justin adds, staring at Caleb again.  No response. 

That's odd because usually the latter would make some sort of witty comment about how much of an ass Justin is. He's normally more animated, more confident than this. But there's no indication that he knows what's going on. "Is he okay? Has anything happened to him recently that might explain this sudden behavior change?" Aurora asks, confused.

The room erupts into noise as people start talking at once. Caleb jumps to his feet and leaves before any of his fellow students can react to his strange behaviour. "That was fucking weird. What the fuck is happening to him?" Mario asks. "Is he going crazy?"

"Maybe we should follow him after school," Brandon says. "I'm sure he won't want to talk to anyone right now."

Mario nods slowly and stands up to throw away his trash.  As the others follow suit, Justin puts his hand on Aurora's waist. "Do you think we should follow him? See if he's lost his mind?" He asks, trying to sound nonchalant like he doesn't care one bit what happens to Caleb, especially considering what happened when he tried to flirt with Aurora on the football field.

Aurora shrugs. "Maybe, big guy. He has been acting off for a couple of days. It's suspicious. I'll tell you that much."

"Well, let's go ask him," Brandon says with a smirk as they exit the cafeteria. "Hopefully, he will have some answers."

The boys follow behind Caleb as he heads to the art building. When they reach the door, Brandon kicks it open. "Donahue, we need to talk- what the fuck are you doing??"

Caleb has his phone open to Brandon's Instagram page and a hand around his nether region. Along with a shocked look on his face. "What the hell are y'all doing in here?"

"The better question is why are you in here jerking off to pictures of me?"

Caleb is so shook that he can hardly speak right now. Truth is he has a crush on Brandon but can't act on it because said male is dating BLAKE CALDWELL, who'd no doubt murder him for this shit. He tucks himself back into his pants and puts his phone away, planning to sneak out of here the minute they're not looking.

Which happens to be now. The boys are distracted so he makes a quick move and hauls ass out the door all the way to the parking lot.

"And he's gone. I'm telling Blake about this." Brandon says taking his phone out and sending Blake a text saying that they need to talk immediately. "Ugh! I feel violated."

"That is so wrong on so many levels bro. I cannot."

Aurora and the girls walk into the room. "Donahue just bolted past us looking like a deer in headlights. What happened here? Why does Brandon look like he wants to kill somebody?"

"Donahue was acting sus so we followed him down here only to find him in here jerking off to photos of Brandon." Justin explains, pulling Aurora's lithe body in a back hug, burying his face into her neck. "Mans is a whole ass creep."

Blake bursts into the classroom in a frenzy. "Brandon, love, what happened? Who's ass am I beating?" He has somewhat of a inkling of who. He just needs some confirmation. Brandon with disgust written all over his face, explains to his boyfriend what happened. Blake feels two things right now: concerned for Brandon and murderous. Donahue better stay away or bad things could happen. "Are you okay though?"

"Yes and no."

Blake pulls Brandon into a much needed hug. The latter melts into it. "Thank you babe. I cannot put into words how much you mean to me. I love you."

"I love you more, pretty boy."

The bell rings. It's time to head to English class. No one really wants to be a school today. But they're here so they're sucking it up and going to class.