When we return from dinner, my brother and I say goodbye to Lion, Angie and Mid before heading into our apartment. Bastian stops me in the hallway outside my door.
"Jeremy has sent your allowance," he informs me in that tight voice that comes out every time he talks about our dearest daddy whom at the moment I love so much I could hug him... okay, no. I don't care if he lives or dies, but every time he gives me money my heart fills with love for a brief moment, "But I'll deduct the hundred pounds you asked me for yesterday."
"Fück off, Bastian!" I exclaim, snatching my money from him before he take what I owe him, "You have more money than me. Stop taking the pittance that man gives me."
"No, because I'm the one paying for everything here, so," he stretches out his hand and we fight with our eyes for a second but in the end I end up pulling out two bills and laying them tightly in his hand, "How much do you have saved so far?"
Nothing.
"Uh... mmm... probably, maybe about... ten thousand and three hundred pounds," I mumble, doing the math on what I should have. Bastian smiles complacently and slaps me on the back before going into the bathroom. I wait a few seconds and then yell, "I'm going with Gemma for a bit, don't wait up!"
I leave the apartment before Bastian comes out of the bathroom and wants to forbid me to leave. I run downstairs and sit on the couch next to Felix to count my money.
"Hey, Gravy," Felix greets me with a wide smile full of irons to fix his teeth. Gross.
"Shut up, Felix, I'm busy. And don't call me that," I mumble to him, pulling the bills out of the yellow envelope and counting them twice to be sure, "That damn old cheapskate... he sent two hundred pounds less. Who does he think he is?"
"Are you ready for the fight on Saturday?" asks Felix next to me, and all I can make out with my panoramic view is his red hair, "Is it true that Midnight Vosse is having an affair with you and Baxter at the same time? That would be hot, man. While it's true that it's kind of gross that she’s human..."
"The only thing that's true is how badly I want to shove something in your mouth so you'll shut the fück up," I spit towards him, "Why are you reading that fücking account, traitor?"
"I-I just... it's interesting to know about boxers and..."
"No, nothing. Stop reading that, everything they say about me or Mid is bullshit," I get up from the couch, leaving the envelope there and stuffing the measly thousand pounds in my pocket. Felix steps back in fear.
"Sorry, Grayson," Felix mutters, looking ugly, skinny and uncomfortable. He's so much like me at his age that I can't help but love him a little even though he's the most annoying kid that could possibly exist in the world, "But you're ready for the fight on Saturday, right? They say Jake is training extra just to humiliate you even more than he already has."
"No, I'm not ready, but I'd like to use you as a training sack. How do you like that, Felix?" I ask in a rather aggressive tone and the poor guy actually thinks I, of all people, would beat him, so he covers himself with his long skinny arms, "Don't be ridiculous, man. I'm not going to hit you, I'm on my way out. Send my kisses to your mother, right where she likes them."
"Ew!" Felix grumbles as I walk out of the building.
Out of sheer inertia I walk towards the parking lot, but then I remember that my crappy car is only going to break down on me so I decide to walk.
I put on the hood and I start walking through the wet streets of the clan, hoping it doesn't start raining again.
When I get to the location, I knock on the door and Jeraldo, the usual guard, opens the door. I give him a big charming smile that, as usual, does nothing to brighten his sour face, but he steps aside anyway and lets me in. I head immediately to my usual table where my favorite contenders are.
"Hello, grandpas. Ready to lose?" I ask aloud as I walk toward them. They raise their heads and look at me, but decide to ignore me. Some of them nod at me but other than that, they don't give me anything.
"I thought I'd never see you here again after the beating you took the other day," Romney says with a smirk. He's the oldest here and he's only in his forties, so my ‘grandpas' was an exaggeration.
"That was nothing," I snort, sitting down in my designated seat and raising a hand to call out to my favorite girl. She quickly comes over, "Hey, gorgeous. Give me a thousand and something to drink that doesn't have alcohol in it."
"Give him a chocolate milk," Tom mumbles, shaking his head at me and taking a swig from his glass of whiskey. The girl ignores him, takes the money I'm stretching towards her and walks past me to go get my chips and drink, giving me the perfect opportunity to look at her äss in that tight skirt, "Where have you been, kiddo? We've missed you here."
"Ah, how cute" I tease, earning a grunt from him, "We're not all rich, okay? I haven't had any funds."
"You missed Cummings here yesterday," Ike informs me, shoving a fistful of chips to the middle of the table. I drop back against the back of my chair and groan heavily. Cummings is one of the best players around, the only one who's actually a threat against me and the reason I don't have even a fluff ball saved. He blew me dry the last time we played.
I wait for my favorite girl to arrive with my chips and a simple bottle of water.
With my chips in hand, I stretch my neck and get ready to win at something I'm actually good at and not that crappy sport where I just get beaten.
"Are you that sure of yourself?" sneers Ike when he sees that I bet everything on the first game. I nod enthusiastically because I know I'm going to win and then we get started.
With only an hour playing, I've managed to triple the amount I came here with and my confidence has returned to my body.
Everything that has happened this past month has been a test for what little self-confidence I had, bringing it down even further.
My advanced classes are over and I'm only left with the "easy" ones where I can't pay attention and all I want to do is leave. I will probably fail all of them and my GPA will go to shït.
Lionel retired from boxing way too early and threw me to the wolves without me being really prepared. No one takes me seriously because I’m not a ‘real alpha’. I've lost almost all my fights because I really don't like to be violent and that stupid page is turning the whole continent against me.
And lastly, Cummings beat me at the only thing I'm really good at and took with him all the money I had saved up for my Harley.
In conclusion, I've been on the verge of suicide about fifteen times this month alone. And counting.
I retire at two in the morning and walk back home in the rain quite happy because I now have six thousand seven hundred pounds. I only need nine thousand three hundred more and my life is going to be fantastic again. Besides, if I win against Jake this Saturday (which I very much doubt) I'll win five hundred pounds (assuming Lion lets me keep the money I should pay him). And if I can work at the cafe for a full week, that's another five hundred pounds very well deserved.
When I get home, I'm way too excited to sleep so all I do is walk around my room thinking about how cool I'm going to look riding my Harley.
And I do just that until the sun starts to come up and then I walk to my uni in the same clothes as yesterday.
"Baylor!" yells Mrs. Tucker, making me wake up immediately. I blink and turn, my classmates are looking at me mockingly and I don't know what's going on, "If you want to sleep, that's fine. I don't mind. But don't talk."
"Was I talking?" I ask Gemma to the side of me. She clamps her mouth shut to keep from laughing and nods, "Sorry, it won't happen again! It's just that this class is too boring."
"Then go away, there's nothing stopping you," the teacher gestures towards the door and I consider it for a moment... stay here and listen vaguely about philosophers and what they did centuries ago or go do literally anything else. The answer is simple and straightforward, so I get up and grab my backpack to take off.
Before I leave, I leave the essay Mid did on the desk and give the teacher a smile.
I still have two more classes but they are just as bad if not worse than philosophy, so I decide to leave for Beast Maker and spend the whole day there like Lion has been asking. I guess Bastian will understand that I can't be waiting tables when the most important fight for my pride will be in four days.
Midnight is talking to Regina when I arrive, but before I go to help her I take a refreshing shower and get ready to train all day. I decide to walk around shirtless to Mid's delight and then head straight for her.
This day she is again wearing that little pink dress that only needs a little breeze to make the skirt lift. It's worth mentioning that it's my favorite dress ever.
When she looks at me, her eyes light up with relief.
"I'm sorry, Regina. I need to talk to Mis," I say, interrupting whatever she was saying. Regina's thin eyebrows raise with interest when she sees me grab Mid's hand, but she doesn't say anything.
"Thanks for that, Regina was inviting me to have lunch with her and your occasional lover," Midnight complains, "And I seriously want girlfriends, but not them. Anyone but them, really."
"What's so bad about them? Gemma is a lot of fun," I say, but Mid squints her eyes at me so I decide not to say anything else, "Sorry, you'll have your reasons. But now we have work to do. Matthew's in there, go get him."
"What? No! I can't."
"Sure you can. You'll just talk to him, there doesn't have to be any contact. Besides, he's always looking at you, he's not going to be upset if you say hello."
"But I can't!" she exclaims, wide-eyed and scared. Her fear makes me laugh, "I can't talk to him like it's you. Look at him, he's beautiful and perfect."
"Are you saying I'm not beautiful and perfect... because that's really offensive and could hurt my feelings."
Mid's face gets destroyed as I pretend to be sad at her words and puts her hands on her chest as if she's holding it.
"That's not what I meant. You are my friend and it doesn't matter if you are beautiful or not because we would be friends anyway. All he has to offer is being beautiful," she explains and I nod to put her mind at ease, "I don't think it's a good idea yet. Maybe after Baxter gives me a kiss."
She's right. Maybe that will make her more comfortable. I pull out my phone right then and there because I don't like to waste time and I text Baxter, "Meet me today at seven, in my room, don't be late. You will kiss Midnight and make sure it's a good kiss because I need her for my master plan and that's an essential part."
"I wouldn't miss it for anything. How much can I touch?" he texts back.
"You can't touch shït. I just need you to kiss her because that's the one thing I can't do myself."
"Everything is all set and arranged. Head to my room today at seven, the door will be locked so you have to knock four times in a row and say the password: 'Vendetta'," I explain, and Mid nods, laughing at me, "Baxter will be there and give you that kiss you want so badly."
"And you'll be there, too?" She asks quietly. I nod, "Gray, this is starting to feel like... like a transaction. I just want it to be nice and sweet."
"I can close my eyes if that makes you feel better. Sorry, Angel, we'll make it romantic. I promise, it will be the most romantic first kiss ever," I promise, starting to think about what we can do, "In the meantime, go about your business and keep an eye on everyone."
When I finish saying that, I walk away and head to the back to run through the woods for a while in wolf form.
For some reason my energy is pumping hard, so I force my wolf to give it all he’s got and run with full power.