Ian's Charm

Pride

   ​"Ian would you please stop!" One of the teachers shouted causing Ian to jump and drop the pen he was clicking all class period. "Sorry." Ian apologized picking up his pen. "Thank you, now class, we have five minutes left of class. I want you to have a quick write for the entire five minutes. Don't stop writing until the time is up, even if you cannot think of something. Write 'I am going to write until I have no time left' over and over until you think of something. Begin."

​    Ian sat for a second looking at his paper not even knowing where to start. The class was an hour and thirty minutes long, it was torture. "Mr. Jesùs, can you please get to work. You haven't been doing much this entire class." Ian began to just scribble on his paper to make it look as if he was writing to avoid embarrassment from the class. Oliver sat at the very front of the class on the second row, far from Ian who sat at the back. Ian had never been away from Oliver and seemed to struggle with talking to new people.

​    The sound of a large bell rang throughout the school signaling for class end. The school had a large bell placed at the very top of the school. It was used to notify when class was over.

​    Ian quickly ran out of class not even turning in his paper, leaving it on his desk. "Ian!" Oliver called out quickly chasing after the curly haired boy. The teacher just shook his head in disappointment before going to collect Ian's paper. To his surprise, it had more than most students. Including Oliver. The teacher sat down and read through the paper astonished with the detail put into the paper with such short time.

​    "Ian, slow down." Oliver yelled finally catching up to the boy. Oliver noticed tears running down Ian's cheek causing his heart to drop. "Ian... are you okay?" Oliver spoke softly to comfort the boy.

​    Ian just wiped his tears nodded, trying not to make eye contact the taller boy hovering over him. "Hey, it's okay. He's just an asshole. Don't let him get to you." Oliver tried reassuring the smaller, curly haired boy. "I don't fit in here. Where I came from we didn't have all of this fancy stuff. We didn't sit in class for so long. I am an outcast, I don't belong here." Ian mumbled trying to fight back his tears that were swelling in his eyes.

​    Oliver was heartbroken. He hadn't even known Ian for a full day and he was already attached. His soft voice, his bright smile, his curly hair, all just drove him mad. Without even thinking Oliver had his arms wrapped around the boy and Ian embraced him. He laid his head against Oliver's chest and let out soft sobs dampening Oliver's nice blazer. The smell of Ian's curly hair reminded Oliver of a glacier. The smell of mint quickly entering his nostrils as he laid his chin atop of Ian's head, his small hairs tickling his nose.

​
​    "Just fuck already." A voice shouted from behind the two boys. Oliver and Ian quickly turned around, snapping there attention to a dirty blonde haired boy. "Shut up Mark." Oliver rolled his eyes refusing to make eye contact with the boy. "It was just a joke Oli, calm down." Mark said before walking in-between the boys and placing his arms around both their shoulders. Oliver groaned as his face turned red from embarrassment leaving Ian a giggling mess.

    The three boys started walking down the grand hallway still amazed by the schools size. "So what class are you in?" Mark turned to ask curly haired boy.  "I'm in the water elemental class." Ian spoke softly.  Mark rolled his eyes. "I'm a part of the fire elemental class." Mark boasted as he flexed his biceps. Oliver chuckled at the boy who thought he had muscles. "Mark, you are literally the world's biggest twink and you know it." Ian held back his laughter as Mark squinted at the two before lifting up his shirt to reveal his surprisingly toned six-pack. Ian looked down to hide the huge blush that crept across his face.

    "Mr. Thomas, in my office, NOW!" Professor Spark shouted. Mark put his shirt down and frowned holding his head down as he walked into Professor Sparks' office.  The door slammed quickly behind him causing Ian and Oliver to jump a bit. Both boys shared a look before bursting into laughter.

Later That Day:

​    Ian had just gotten back from his elemental training class. It was time to head to the training field for tryouts. He knew Oliver would be mad if he didn't go. Ian found his way to the field seeing a large group of people. Ian scanned the crowd for Oliver, finally landing his eyes on him. Even now he still gets those butterflies every time he sees him.

​    Oliver locks eyes with the boy motioning for him to come stand next to him. Ian moved through the crowed of students somewhat struggling from all the warm bodies so close together. Once he finally made it through he was met with a warm hug from Oliver that Ian just melted into.

    "Alright students, listen up!" Everyone became silent. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard from anyone. "Thank you, today all of you will be training for the tournament. Three members from each element will be chosen and here will be three teams. One member from each element will form a group. So each group should have six members. Then, those six members of each group will face off in a tournament the headmistress has arranged to pick the final team that will be participating in the tournament. There will be three stages in The Grim Games: The trial of Knowledge, The trial of Strength, and the trial of Trust. None of these trials will be easy. With that being said, are you still willing to participate in the games?"

    A large number of students stepped back and walked back into the building fearing what the games would bring. Ian began to take a step back but Oliver grabbed his hand interlocking their fingers casing Ian to stop.
​Ian looked up at the taller boy who seemed different, he had a hard glare that almost seemed scolding. His eyes focused on the person speaking but his grip soft on Ian's hand. He was scared, just as much as Ian. "Oliver..." the smaller boy spoke softly. Oliver did not respond but looked down at the boy and plastered on a smile. A smile Ian could see right through but didn't question.

​    "It would seem we lost a large number of people, in fact. We only have enough people for one team." The man spoke as he looked at the few remaining. Ian looked around counting how many people where left. "Sir, there are seven people and the groups are only allowed six." Ian pointed out. The man paused for a moment to think. "It would seem you are right. When I call your element, I want you to raise your hand." The few remaining people nodded their head. 

    "Water." Ian proceeded to raise his hand.
"Fire." Mark's hand shot into the sky.
"Air." A boy with darker hair raised his free hand with the other holding the hand of a raven haired boy.
"Earth." A curly haired boy raised his hand.
"Lightning." A boy standing next to the element previously named raised his hand. They looked quite similar as if they could be related.
"And Darkness." Oliver raised hand along with the raven haired boy.

    ​"Ahhh, Mr. Moy and Mr. Rush, it looks like you two will be going through the trials alone to determine who will have a place in the games." Oliver looked over at the boy who wasn't fazed at the announcement. "Since this happened on such short notice, the trials will be pushed to tomorrow morning. Please be ready, I will be making an announcement to the entire school, who will be watching. Please be on the training field at 6AM sharp, thank you.

    ​Everyone nodded and headed back to their dorms to get well rested for the day ahead. "Are you going to be okay?" Ian asked. Oliver did not respond only squeezed Ian's hand harder but not enough to hurt him.

An Hour Later:

​    Ian and Oliver where in there dorms getting ready for bed. "Oliver... are you okay?" Oliver removed his shirt throwing it over into the corner and pulling joggers over his boxers. "I'm fine, just going to get some sleep for the long day ahead." He responded. "You know you don't..." Ian was cut off noticing Oliver had put in headphones to block out his voice. Ian rolled his eyes and jumped in his bed looking up at the ceiling before finally falling asleep.