Alleyway BxB

IX (Complicated)

TUESDAY, 2 OCTOBER
MARCELLO LOCKHEART

"You and Nate got close fast, huh?" Zach slipped into the study room with his laptop and journal again.

We sat in the same spots as our last conversation with no doubt the same tasks at hand. I sat hunched over the same script laid flat and heavily annotated on the desk in front of me and there was yet another flawless photo of Dallon on his screen. While the flower photo was heavily styled and colour stricken, this one had its colour completely stripped away. A softer and more raw portrait of Dallon. It was a scene Zach had undoubtedly woken up love-stricken to. A scene that must have made him fall just a little bit harder for his personal model and the image no doubt belonged in their own private diary.

"He's still an asshole," I stated as a matter of fact. "He just means it less this time around. Is that what you wanted?"

The more time I spent around Nathan and the more we conversed, my delivery for Felix became clearer and more refined. As I recited my lines, I found myself mimicking his blunt yet capricious facial expressions and I tried to incorporate his fluctuating moods and personas into Felix's personality. Their tempers were both comically easy to override and both were shielded by their own secrets. The only major difference that I had noted between them was their involvement with their environments. Nathan had evidently thrust himself into major leadership roles around the school; he was a theoretical friend to every student while Felix would have hated the thought of it. He had two friends, and that was all he wanted.

He hummed happily in response. "Definitely."

"A part of me thinks you just want him back in your life, Zach." As much as I enjoyed Nathan and I's on and off relationship, I still found it difficult to overlook what had happened in the alleyway when I first met him. Something told me that he constantly tried his hardest to pretend as though it had never happened around me, but I knew it had and so did Dallon; but as the sole victim, Zach's intentions confused me more than Nathan's mood swings. Why was he the least concerned?

"I think I said that last week."

"Sounds like a bad plan." Did Dallon know about it? I doubted he'd like any part of the idea.

"I have my reasons... Have you just been reading that script all day?"

It was as if every topic surrounding his life was some forbidden mystery. Every time I tried to find out more, someone just had to push for a change in subject. "I like to be prepared," I shrugged. "You and Dallon were out for a couple hours. Did you two have another photo date?"

As he sent the image through for printing, the printer burst to life in a low hum. He shook his head. "We met with Matt again, actually."

"Nathan's younger brother, right? By how many years?"

"Just a year--ten months."

Oh? "I'm surprised he isn't in Monarch."

"Their... dad separated them," he said and I sensed a hint of bitterness behind his familiar sweet and lighthearted tone. "He goes to Beaumont, but don't mention it to Nathan. They pretend like they aren't related."

"They pretend like they aren't related?" I repeated, confused. I understood the competition between the two schools but a ruse as extreme as that sounded unnecessary.

"Only on the outside," he assured. "But they're extremely close. It's a complicated situation. I wouldn't push it."