Pangaia: Agendas (Year One: Fall)

Chapter One - Anj

"And you know what else?" Anj snapped. "I've had it with—" He stopped mid thought when he heard the distinct sound of giggling from the crowd that had gathered around him and his now ex-girlfriend, Jewl.

His brow knitted together. "You're mocking me while I'm speaking, aren't you." Anj might have been born blind, but he wasn't born an idiot. He wouldn't put it past her to make faces or do something as equally immature and petty just to get a rise out of him.

"We both know you're all talk and no action," Jewl said with absolutely no expression in her tone.

Which he hated. That made her impossible to read.

She knew he couldn't see her, so she kept all of her feelings on her face. A secret.

Another secret.

Which tended to be the source of all their fights. Too many of those between the two of them. Not having open communication about her emotions made her far harder to trust.

He refused to give her the pleasure of using what little magic he had to look at her. That meant she'd be winning. She didn't get to win. Not this time.

Instead, he hit back where he knew he could hurt her. "At least I try. We both know you're neither talk, nor action, Darling."

Anj spun on his heel and walked the other way. Like usual, the crowd separated as he moved by. No one wanted to be in the path of the blind kid. Whispers from the other students flooded his ears.

"She always does this to him."

"I've never understood what he sees in her."

Students loved to gossip at the Pangaia School for Invention. Anj loved to give them something to gossip about.

His ability to work the crowd, to make the story, was part of what made him so popular amongst its student body. In an institution that existed to support and educate creatures that were supposed to be nothing more than myths, Anj felt it his duty to create lore of his own in the rumor mill.

His relationship with Jewl always got tongues moving. The off again, on again couple who'd been together since their Freshman year of high school. As Seniors, they'd either make it to marriage, or have an epic break up that would shatter the halls for years to come.

He loved it. Her...not so much.

Zes is about to start Physics. I don't think he'll complain if I rescue him for the morning.

His twin was an artist by nature. Math and Science were his nemesis.

Turning right down a hallway, Anj counted the number of steps it took to get to the Physics lab before popping his head into the door. Time to turn on the charm.

"Mrs. Ludwig? Is my brother here?"

While he was anything but helpless, sometimes, he did the horrible thing and played up his vulnerability to get away with skipping school. It's not like he needed to spend his Study Hall in the actual classroom. And Zes doesn't need Physics to be an English Teacher.

Mrs. Ludwig didn't have Anj as a student that semester, so she couldn't see through his act as easily as his regular teachers did. The click of heels approached him, and her gentle voice said, "Is everything okay?"

"I...no," he said, and it wasn't a lie. Everything wasn't okay. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to... I just..."

"Zes," she called out. She didn't say anything else, but Anj could hear the swish of fabric as she made some kind of gesture in his direction. "He'll be right over. How about you wait in the hallway."