When Lust & Envy Meet

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

Sin - an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.

     Over the course of time, sin has proven to be permanently engraved in human nature. The art of sin is timeless—it is immortal even in a world ridden with death and disease. It's sin that makes up who a person is, influences their actions and controls their words, whether consciously or subconsciously. Yet despite its everlasting existence, people always choose to hide this part of themselves from the rest of society. The sad fact was that in the eyes of many, a life with a tarnished image was not a life worth living.

     Shame—it's the ultimate killer.

Isaac Harley was a seventeen year old exception to the majority. He was quite daring, going as far as to openly associate with one of the seven deadly sins: lust. There was no point for him to hide this part of himself anyway. Everyone at Eton either heard rumors of or already knew about promiscuity.

However, based on the sole definition of lust—an intense yearning for pleasure—Isaac didn't consider himself a sinner at all. To him, there was nothing wrong with longing for satisfaction or indulging in self pleasure, especially when these indulgences allowed him to forget about his own harsh reality. The reality that his true desire was for what he could never have: love and devotion from the man who took him in. His divine savior. His guardian angel. So deeply he desired to be held by him, even if just once. Maybe these desires made him a sinner, but Isaac stood firmly by his belief that self gratification alone did not make anyone the equivalent of a devil.

Maybe there's danger, which at this point only excited Isaac even more, but there's certainly no evil in seeking a stranger's embrace to avoid the depth of misery. Maybe the fact that he even did this only proved that he was already drowning in it and had no escape. Oh, the wonderful contradictions of his pitiful life.

Due to his consistency in one night stands, Isaac quickly learned the power of seduction and how easily people succumb to temptation. Isaac was a beautiful boy, no doubt, and the weakest minds always fell first to a few sultry words. His frivolous nature allowed him to take advantage of this unconventional skill for the sake of survival in both society and school. He couldn't have fewer cares for preppy Eton and its hidden wickedness, but he did learn from personal experience about the strong suppression, for lack of a better term, of several professors.

     "I know exactly what you're doing Harley," stated Josiah Beckett, house prefect, upon exiting his maths classroom much later than everyone else, "I could have you expelled right now, if I wanted to."

     "Do it. This place is a living hell," he retorted.

     The prefect had his stupid little smirk plastered on. "Maybe I will."

     "The only problem is I know you're desperate for me to stay. You know what I'm capable of and yet somehow I'm still thriving as a lotus does in its prime three days. Why haven't you punished me yet? I wouldn't mind." he said. "I feel your eyes following me everywhere I go. You're absolutely dreadful when it comes to hiding your little infatuation."

     "Harley, if there's one thing you know, it's that I'm required to watch you. You have a list of offenses suitable for an entire house."

     "Sure, Beckett," he replied with a wink and a smile before walking away, because he knew it especially pissed off the prefect.

     Isaac shut his eyes and violently shook his head, trying his best to clear his mind as fast as he could. Thinking of Josiah Beckett only strengthened his resolve to escape reality. That pretentious prefect sat on a horse so high that scientists believed the brachiosaurus was alive again. And Isaac genuinely believed that he was only well-travelled not because he was rich and could afford flights, but because of the fact that he didn't travel by plane at all. Rather, he used his hothead to warm the air of an enormous balloon.

From their every interaction in which the prefect had scolded him profusely, Isaac concluded that Josiah's most prominent sin would definitely be wrath, or something of utmost unpleasantness and unattractiveness along those lines.

If only pretentiousness were a sin, because then Isaac would gladly call Josiah the devil.

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Hi to anyone who's reading this!
This story is set in the 1980s, and my goal is to tell a story that yes, is about love, but also touches upon the youth culture and ideas of sexuality at the time. I want this romance to be both heart wrenching and warming as these characters grow.

Warning: there will be sexual content and explicit language (also sarcastic British boys. quake with fear)

*If you notice any typos in my work, I'd greatly appreciate if you point them out. I hate typos with a burning passion but I'm too blind to see them. It's not rude at all, I promise.