The Lonely King | Ongoing [New Edition]

15 | Coffee and Muffins

"But I never wanted you to lie to yourself about happiness,

When all you were was just a little lonely."

PAPERS SPREAD ACROSS the dining table, coloured pens littering every available space, empty cups of coffee stacking up. The scene of disaster in my dorm was due to the last assessment test tomorrow. Jake and I were trying our best to cram as much information as we could into our brains before the test. After all, Physics wasn't my strong suit, and Mr. Thorn was known to set extremely challenging papers.

"I don't think I can do this anymore," I groaned, thumping my head against the table. Jake glanced at me with an amused look, shaking his head.

"Come on, A. Just a little bit more," he encouraged, shooting me a small, cheery smile.

"At this point, I'm wondering what good all this cramming will do. I'm probably going to fail, anyway," I whined, rubbing my sore eyes.

"Look, let's give this our best. Just one last test, and we'll be free!" Jake cheered, nudging my shoulder. I let out another groan, trying my hardest to not give in to my exhaustion.

"You know, if Wes was here, he'd tell me to go to sleep," I grumbled, causing Jake to roll his eyes.

"Wes is a terrible friend," he sighed, shaking his head. "You shouldn't listen to him all the time, you know."

I frowned slightly, pursing my lips. Weren't the two of them best friends? Shaking my head and brushing Jake's careless remark aside, I picked up my pen again and started to write. It hadn't even been five minutes when Jake broke the silence.

"Alex?" he said, hesitating for a second.

"Hmm?" I hummed without lifting my eyes away from my notes.

"After tomorrow...do you want to re-schedule our date?" he asked, causing me to pause what I was doing. Blinking, I lifted my head up to look at him. Jake's eyes were wide and expectant as he waited for my reply, which made it all the more difficult for me.

The more time we spent together, the more I realised that I only saw him as a friend. Sure, he was handsome and nice, but there was just something that didn't feel right whenever I was around him. I sensed that there was more to him than he allowed me to see, and that he kept many things from me. For one, I wanted to know why he hated the Royals so much that he would befriend people solely because they shared the same mutual hatred for the 'crowned princes' of the Academy. Whenever I tried to bring them up, he would launch into a tirade of insults and wouldn't stop until I reluctantly agreed with everything he said.

Taking in a deep breath, I cleared my throat. How do you let someone down nicely?

"Look, Jake. You're a fantastic guy, but I'm just not ready for a relationship now," I said quietly, and Jake's expression crumbled.

"I'm not asking you to be my girlfriend straight away," he said, trying to sound convincing but failing at that. "I really like you, Alex. Don't you want to give us a chance?"

"I know, but...it just doesn't feel right," I mumbled, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear nervously. "I'm sorry."

Jake was silent for a few seconds, before he bit his lip and asked, "Is it because of Wesleigh?"

"What?" I choked, furrowing my eyebrows together in confusion. "Wes and I are just friends, Jake."

Jake narrowed his eyes slightly, before he sighed heavily and nodded.

"Right," he muttered. "Whatever. Look, it's late. I'm going to make a move first."

With that said, he began to pack his notes and stationary into his bag before swiftly exiting my dorm, but not before shutting the door loudly. Even with him gone, there was still a heavy tension in the air that I couldn't shake off. I had a feeling that this would put a strain on not only Jake and I's friendship, but Wes and Jake's as well.