When Lust & Envy Meet

3. ETHEREAL

Triumph of Galatea, Raphael, 1514
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(Past)

     Isaac could remember the third of last year's September like it was yesterday. After all, anyone would remember their first day in figurative hell. William had decided that "enough is enough" upon catching him sneak out for the eleventh time. Apparently, boarding school was the only viable solution for taming the human equivalent of a wild boar.

     At first glance, Eton seemed full of pretentious pricks. He wasn't yet aware everyone felt the same negative feelings as he did, so on his first day of school he made his assumptions and went about despising his life like some overdramatic girl who's been told she can't see a guy anymore because he was far too old for her. While to many this was simply a rebellious teenage phase, Isaac felt just about his hatred of boarding schools. For God's sake, they weren't even organized nicely. When he finally found his dorm after tireless searching, he was happily greeted by a small, cute boy with emerald eyes and brown hair that twirled about in strands as it pleased.

     "You must be the new kid! Isaac is it? I'm Asher Alexander, your roommate. Let's be friends." Asher said as he extended his hand to be shaken, implying the formation of their friendship was some sort of contractual agreement. Isaac still took it. He was aloof at times, but he wasn't heartless.

     "That would be best, considering we're going to be sleeping in the same room for the next few years. Just assure me you're not crazy."

     "I would, but I feel like only crazy people say, 'I'm not crazy', so I won't. Shall I show you around campus? I bet it took you an hour to find this room."

"You don't even know the half of it."

     Surprisingly, he found himself quite entertained by Asher's tour. He told Isaac rumors and made witty remarks about teachers and other students. He learned about a professor named Cromwell who was extra grumpy because of his pent up sexual frustrations, and that a student named Archie ran a black market for banned books and mature content. Isaac made sure to keep the latter in mind, for future references of course. He was also given advice to be wary of prefects, or "defects who were also pricks". Hearing more about each bizarre student made him especially grateful for his new and mostly normal roommate. From that moment on, Isaac knew his friendship with Asher would be a successfully delightful one.

     "You said your first class is calculus, right? Geez, that's tough to have first thing in the morning." They paused in front of a large oak door embellished with gold accents. "This is your stop. Best of luck."

     When he took his first steps into the classroom, he immediately regret it. One, because he hated math class in general. Two, as the 'new kid' his face was so fascinating that everyone felt it necessary to stare directly at him. He scanned the room for interesting faces, and his eyes froze on an alluring olive-skinned boy with dark hair in the front row who was too busy taking notes to look up. From the window beside him, golden rays of light shone down on him to accentuate his beauty. Instead of being real, the boy appeared ethereal. He felt as if he were looking at a scene straight from a painting.

     Isaac flushed at his sudden infatuation and desire to have him writhing and moaning underneath him. Granted, he also wouldn't mind himself being the one writhing—it all depended on his mood and occasionally time of day.

     "You must be Isaac Harley," said the professor. "Welcome to calculus."

     Isaac would've felt more welcomed by the actual gates of hell.

     He walked to the very back of the classroom, and along the way he could feel eyes prying into the back of his head. He heard whispers as well, learning that these people were lousy in the art of discretion. "He's so slim that it's kinda sexy" and "I'd totally be down" were a few variations of what he was forced to hear. He shot a glare back and they went silent.

     As soon as class ended, he tried to swiftly make his way to the note-taking boy, brushing off several other advances in return. The boy was already packing his stuff, and he needed to get there before he was lost in the sea of people that was Eton's hallway. He barely made it to him as he was getting up from his desk.

     "Hey, I'm Isaac."

     "The new kid," the boy stated matter-of-factly, eyeing the regular clothes he wore because he hadn't received his uniform yet.

     Isaac frowned and stared. "Isn't this the part where you give me your name in return?"

     "Beckett," he said, "Josiah Beckett." He looked rather irritated. Isaac was confused.

     "I was just curious if-if maybe you wanted to—"

     "Hang out? I hate to interrupt your...advances, but it'd probably be best if we didn't associate." Josiah set his bag down and looked directly into his eyes. Isaac noticed his were as blue and clear as water, but rather than the water of a calm lake, his eyes resembled a tsunami: the erratic reflections of light were white water and his irises the blue. Together, they caused mass destruction and anguish. Beautiful. Dangerous.

"I wasn't hitting on you." Isaac blurted out.

Josiah ignored him. "You should know that I'm a prefect here, and that the headmaster told me to keep you under surveillance. However, I don't know of his reasons other than you having a 'sinful' past."

     "Excuse me?"

     "To be frank, I have a high reputation to maintain," he said as he stepped closer, placing both hands on the desk behind Isaac, pinning him against it, "and I'd appreciate it if it wasn't tarnished by your immorality." His lips curved into a blatantly saccharine smile before he picked up his bag to leave the classroom.

"Have a good rest of your day, Harley."

     What the hell?

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✦ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

(Present)

Isaac couldn't stand it. He'd reached the point where he couldn't suppress his desires any longer. As a result, he planned to use this weekend to reveal himself to the man whom he's had affections for for the past two years. He was conquering a fear, and that was opening himself up to vulnerability. He knew he was going to regret it, but he couldn't bear the thought of being forced to live how he currently was for however long his feelings lasted. At least this way, whether he's rejected or not, he could move forward.

     He considered discovering the prefect's secret as a good omen, because it not only gave him an alibi but also proved to him that life was truly unpredictable. Never would he have thought the perfect prefect was almost as big of a sinner as he was, yet here is now using that as blackmail. He figured that if this was possible, so could his feelings being reciprocated, even if the chances were nearly nonexistent.

     Isaac remembered the way Beckett looked earlier, sitting on the ground getting high, desperate to suppress his true emotions. Pathetic. He wanted to relish at the sight, but reality hit him with a bat before he could. He realized he was no different, living his life afraid of feelings. For once in his life, Isaac saw himself in the pretentious prefect, and he hated every second of it.

In less than three days, Isaac's relationship with William was about to officially come full circle. He met him when he was most vulnerable, and their relationship was going to end in a similar fashion when he finally revealed his sinful desires.

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