Il libro di Jaylos

Promises Broken - Chapter 6

"up you lazy boy!" Came Jafar's voice in the morning.
Carlos jumped, thinking Jafar was going to barge into the room again but he heard footfalls going downstairs, climbing quietly out of bed the young De Vil tried to find his clothes; Jay had only brought one pair of clothe from Hell Hall so he just wore his clothes from Saturday.
"you're quiet ain't ya?" Jay sat groggily up in bed, trying to smooth down his wild hair.
"I didn't want to disturb you." Carlos whispered.
Laughing lazily Jay rolled out of bed to begin the search for clean clothes and as Carlos was checking his bag for various things he usually kept in there, pens and notebooks, the older boy cleared his throat.
"Carlos?" Jay's voice was careful, he wasn't looking at the younger boy, instead he was fiddling with a hair elastic, "whatever you hear today, promise me you'll talk to me first."
Carlos didn't like the sound of that, it meant Jay knew something was going to happen, something much worse that just people gossiping, "what do you think I'll hear?" the young De Vil asked slowly.
The hair elastic snapped in Jay's fingers, "you know what that school is like. They'll tear anything apart." Finally he turned to Carlos, his dark eyes desperate, "just promise you'll listen to me, before any of them."
Smiling Carlos stood in front of the older boy; he'd never seen Jay look vulnerable before, even on the Tourney field he was full of confidence, "I trust you Jay, I really do. I promise I'll listen to you." The young De Vil told him meaningfully.
Jay didn't hesitate to kiss Carlos, almost savouring him, and only pulled back when his cell phone rang; looking annoyed the older boy ignored the call and grabbed his nearly empty school bag.
"be home on time Jay!" Jafar called as the boys made their escape, "I need your help in the shop." His voice faded as the door slammed.
Swinging onto his motorbike Jay was silent but he relaxed when Carlos wrapped his arms tightly around his waist; the young De Vil held on tightly as the motorbike sped through the town towards school.
As the boys approached the school Carlos was tempted to take Jay's hand but decided against it, fearing the older boy would shout at him and was surprised when he felt Jay take his small hand in his own warm one.
"stay close to me." Jay said with a soft smile.
Walking down the hallways Carlos heard the whisperings, he saw the pointing but with Jay walking next to him all the gossip didn't seem too bad; Jay gave his usual greeting to all the usual people, only to get shocked looks back.
"so, are you actually coming into classes today?" Carlos asked when they arrived at the younger boy's locker.
"only if you'll help me." Jay countered with a cheeky wink.
Carlos laughed, gently moving some remaining gifts in his locker to grab the right books and pulling out the polaroid photos from his pocket; he saw Jay stiffen beside him.
"why did you bring those?" the older boy asked in a low voice.
A guilty feeling clenched in Carlos's throat, "I was going to leave them here, so my mom didn't find them, you know, when I go home." He explained quickly, hoping Jay wasn't going to be too mad.
Jay sighed, "you could have left them at my house." He said, face softening.
"I wanted to make copies, so we could both have one." Carlos said and realised how soppy it sounded.
Instead of being angry Jay gently touched the young De Vil's face, rubbing his thumb across his freckled cheekbone and looked like he was about to kiss Carlos when they were interrupted by someone snatching the photos straight out of his locker.
"well, these look interesting." Chad Charming stood there flicking carelessly through the precious photos, "looks like you guys had a good weekend." His overly white smile was wicked.
"give them back." Jay snarled, very muscle in his body was tense and his hands were shaking.
Chad didn't stop, the more photos he looked at the more his smile grow, at one point Jay lunged for the photos but the blond had quick reflexes and darted back; Carlos watched in embarrassment as he came across the kissing photo.
"whoa! You actually did it!" Chad laughed addressing Jay, "didn't think you'd go through with it." From his pocket he pulled a huge clip of bills and held it out for Jay.
Carlos felt his heart thumping painfully, his throat going dry as watched the older boy take the money with shaking fingers, "what's going on Jay?" he managed to gasp out.
Jay's face was blank, no longer kind or loving he didn't look at the younger boy, "it doesn't matter." He said flatly.
"why did he give you money Jay?" Carlos pressed bravely, "what did you go through with?"
Chad's obnoxious laughter filled the hallway, attracting people to watch, "I thought you were a genius." Finally the blond calmed himself down and regarded Carlos with a superior look, "we had a little bet that Jay couldn't.."
"shut it Chad." Jay snarled but it didn't stop the blond from continuing.
"that he couldn't get a date with you, including a genuine kiss." He held up the kissing photo.
All the breath in Carlos's lungs left in one hard whoosh, his fingers went cold and he slowly turned back to Jay, "is that true." His voice was so small he was worried Jay hadn't heard him.
The older boy was unnaturally still, money still gripped in his hand, "yes." He said at last, "yes, it's true."
Carlos bit back the sob that tried to escape but he couldn't stop the tears; he'd never felt so stupid, so betrayed, he felt sick but couldn't make himself move.
"it was all an act then? Everything?" Carlos asked almost desperately, no longer paying attention to Chad's smug face.
Jay slowly looked at the younger boy but his eyes were empty, soulless, there wasn't an ounce of kindness there, "it was all fake and you fell for it." He tried to sound mocking but his voice was emotionless.
The young De Vil roughly wiped away tears, his heart aching so badly he thought it might break, "everything you said was a lie." He said more to himself than Jay.
"and you fell for everything, hook, line and sinker!" Chad cheered, throwing the photos into Carlos's locker, "but, hey, at least you've got some good memories." He sniggered before swaggering off down the hallway.
"Carlos listen..." Jay said the moment the blond was out of sight, his face suddenly anxious and voice pleading.
The younger boy stepped away, tears still pouring, "to what? More lies?" he snapped.
"you'd said you'd listen to me!" Jay said firmly.
Carlos glared at the older boy, "that was before! When I thought you actually cared!" he was attracting more attention and he wanted nothing more than to get out of there.
"I do care!" Jay shot back, voice filled with unknown emotion, stepping forward to touch Carlos.
Flinching away the younger boy wanted to disappear, be invisible again, but everybody's eyes were on him, "you don't have to lie anymore! You've got your money, bet over. You won." He spat bitterly.
"please." Jay begged, still reaching out.
Carlos couldn't listen to anymore of the older boy's lies, he took off down the hallway, not sure where to go at first; every spot he thought of he knew Jay would find him so he eventually left school grounds and began walking home.