Lovers: Boarding School

_carnival

I can't believe all the support I've been getting from you guys recently! It's been so overwhelming I can't deal QwQ And to all the new readers out there, HELLO! I'm so freaking glad you guys actually enjoy reading this story *sobs happily in a corner for all of eternity*

Anyways, this chapter was actually supposed to be much longer but I've decided to split it into two parts because it was too damn long. The other half will come later as I want to make it PERFECT and extra...well, you'll find out later ;) As always, enjoy the read and see you on the other side!

Jackson, "Jack", Invidia might seem like a predictable, easily digestible character at first glance, but when observed under a microscope the boy was actually a colourful cocktail of predicable, easily digestible character tropes that were fairly common in the world of dating sims.

He had the "aura" of a titular love interest (the ones placed dead centre in dating sim marketing), the height and muscle of a stoic, "manly" love interest, and the vivacious personality of a child-like, "jail-bait" love interest who are always liked but never truly loved by heterosexual female gamers.

This Frankensteinian amalgamation of character traits could've made Jack a much more complicated character than the character tropes that made him, but the boy wasn't.

When Violet first entered the game, Violet thought the "Golden Boy" title would've went to James' as he was the most academically gifted student in his grade as well as the most well-rounded (he was the school president and the captain of the lacrosse team). However, as Violet progressed through the game, Jack's name would pop up frequently, and almost always in favorable terms.

Female NPCs would be the most aggressive whenever Jack was mentioned within their closely knit circles. Random NPCs would greet Jack left, right, and, center like clockwork whenever Violet was anywhere near him. Even the grouchy, elderly lady serving tickets at the Autumn Carnival's ticket booth "welcomed" Jack with a toothy smile and a few extra tickets on the side for him and Violet to enjoy for their "excursion". The whole world seemed to adore Jack and it wasn't hard to figure out why.

He would be the first to greet a person on a rainy day and the first to introduce himself in front of a group of total strangers. He would be the one you'd find cheering the loudest during a game and the one to offer his shoulder to silently cry on if they've lost. He would be the one who was the easiest to befriend among the four CPs, even though he was just as infamous and as good-looking as they were.

He was also the one to ask Violet to be his date for the Autumn Carnival, an annual carnival replete with booths selling the unhealthiest food imaginable, game stations stuffed with ludicrously sized polyester animals, and rides that included a Ferris wheel that was extremely popular amongst a certain, horny demographic.

"Don't you just love carnivals?" Jack said as he bit into his second candied apple.

The carnival grounds were buzzing with energy. Flashing lights popped and burst like fireworks as carnival goers filled the air with cries of delight and merriment. People young and old rode rides that twirled and whizzed like planets in orbit while love-struck boys attempted futile strategies to win prizes the size of dobermans for their scantily clad sweethearts. Violet and Jack walked through the epicenter of the pandemonium, Jack with a blood-red candied apple in his hand and Violet with a cloud of pink cotton candy in hers.

"They're alright," Violet said loudly as the two walked by a raging roller coaster that roared as loud as its passengers screamed.

"Can I have some of your cotton candy?" Jack said as he flung his now apple-less stick in a garbage bin overflowing with waste.