Infinity Academy

Chapter Five

As I reached the cafeteria doors, they swung open and I nearly ran into the chest of Adryan, Serenity right by his side, her arm weaved through his. “Emerald, what’s wrong?” he gushed, releasing Serenity’s arm and placing his hands on my face. It was probably the worst time for the well to break, but hearing him ask me what was wrong made the first tear fall. “Nothing I’m fine,” whispered, taking a step back and wiping my eyes with the back of my arm. I looked back over towards Liam, seeing the two girls were back and they were all laughing and playing around. The fissure in my heart cracked a little more, sending another wave of tears rolling down my cheeks. I pushed past Adryan and Serenity, walking as fast as my legs would take me. When I got back to the apartment I rushed to my room and locked the door, not caring that Cerberus, Kaiser and Ansel had all watched me come in. I was sure I looked like a wreck right now. My face had always gotten red and puffy when I cried, and right now I felt like I could cry forever. 

*Knock* *Knock* 

“Emerald, is everything alright?” Cerberus’s voice sounded from the other side of the door. I was already curled up under my blankets, my pillow damp from the constant flow of tears. I had decided to ditch classes for the rest of the day. I knew it would look bad, but there was no way I could go around looking and feeling like I did right now, it would just attract more attention that I already didn’t want. I wished I could erase the last eight years of my life, erase the memories of my friendship with Liam. I couldn’t understand how he could go from practically loving me one day, to hating me the next. “I’m fine, Cerberus. Just leave me alone,” I yelled, my voice crackling. He didn’t say anything in return, and I was glad that he didn’t push me for an explanation. 

****

Waking up, the clock told me that it was eleven at night. I couldn’t tell if I had slept the day away or through until the next day. Throwing my legs over the edge of the bed, I cupped my face in my hands, rubbing until I felt more awake. I had a quick shower and pulled one of my blue nightgowns on. “Ugh, I need a drink,” I grumbled, wondering if one of the guys had any alcohol stashed in the fridge. I wouldn’t be able to get out to buy some food until at least tomorrow, and that meant I would need to pull myself together enough to be seen in public. As I went to open my door, I heard hushed talking on the other side. I don’t know why these guys think that the living room is a perfect place to have their secret discussion, it was almost like they wanted me to overhear. “Kaiser, I’m telling you bro, she’s going to figure it all out. We are seriously underestimating her power.”

“And I already told you that you’re delusional, Adryan. There’s no way she can be that powerful. Her parents may have been royal or whatever, but my dad told me that she’s only getting preferential treatment because of what happened to her, not because she’s some sort of…” I quickly opened my door and stepped out, deliberately rubbing my eyes and yawning so that they wouldn’t think I had been listening in. I dragged my feet as I walked to the kitchen, rubbing my eyes every now and again to keep up the charade. “Hey Em, how’re you doing?” I jumped at his voice and spun around, clutching my chest. Adryan was leaning casually against the wall between the living room and the kitchen, a million-dollar smirk on his face. “s**t, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said frantically, straightening himself and taking a step towards me. I held up my hands, “No, I’m fine…it’s fine, really,” I stuttered walking backwards to keep space between us. I was already confused and upset enough about Liam; I didn’t need another thing to add to my list of current complications. “What are you doing?” “I just think it’s best if we keep our distance. Just think of how Serenity would feel if she saw you close to me. You know, your girlfriend,” I blurted out, trying to keep my voice from shaking. The smirk reappeared as he narrowed his eyes playfully, “Who said that Wren was my girlfriend?” I couldn’t help my reaction to his words. My eyes bugged wider, and my mouth fell open with an audible pop. My pulse thundered in my ears as I tried to scoop my jaw up off the floor. “No one had to tell her. I’ll admit, you’re pretty good at keeping your love life private, but dude, come on, even I saw her all over you at lunch today. You’re totally dating,” Ansel laughed, walking in and opening the fridge, searching for something. As he stood up and looked at Adryan, he very narrowly managed to dodge the bottle of soap that Adryan had picked up and violently lobbed at his head. Ansel picked the bottle up, placing it back beside the sink. “Ooh, I think he’s angry,” he taunted while sporting a rather sheepish grin. “Piss off, Ansel,” Adryan sneered, heading back to the living room. Kaiser had been sitting leisurely on the couch, ignoring the whole debacle going on in the kitchen. I opened the fridge and grabbed the first alcoholic beverage that I could find. The label read, ‘Bourbon & Coke’, “perfect,” I smiled. “What have you got there, gorgeous,” Ansel asked, unexpectedly grabbing my hand and pulling it up so he could read the label. “Careful, sweetheart. Cerberus buys that because it’s the strongest stuff around. I’d hate for you to wake up with a hangover in the morning.” I shrugged my shoulders and smiled at him, “Yeah, that’s kind of the point.” He released my hand and took a step closer, his gorgeous amber eyes glistening at me, “What happened to you earlier? I know you don’t really know me and we were all kind of d**k-ish to you yesterday, but I just want you to know that you can talk to me… about anything. My room is that one,” he said, pointing to the bedroom door next to mine. It was one of the first rooms I looked in when I got here. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind for next time,” I laughed. He was very clearly trying to hint at me coming into his room for a ‘chat’. I’d have to be either mad, drunk or carried in there unconscious to even think of spending another night with any of these boys. When I said I wanted to keep my distance from Adryan, I didn’t mean just Adryan. I meant every single one of them. After last night, I was already starting to see Cerberus as more than just a roommate. I couldn’t risk allowing anyone into my heart again, just for it to be shattered once more; I just couldn’t. No, I didn’t have romantic feelings for Liam but damn it, I loved him. He was like a brother to me after my parents died and it more than hurt to have him look at me with such hatred in his usually doting eyes. 

I shuffled to the living room and threw myself down in one of the reclining armchairs across the room from the love-seat that Adryan and Kaiser were currently lounging on. I twisted the top off of the bottle and took a long drink, letting out an ‘ahh’ sound as I placed the bottle on the small coffee table beside me. “So, what’s the plans for the night boys?” I asked, wanting to keep my mind off of my current situation. “Well, we,” Kaiser said, pointing between himself and Adryan, “Are off to a dorm party tonight. It’s one of the scraps birthday’s today and we figured we could get some free booze and maybe a bit of…”

“That’s enough!” Adryan growled, stopping Kaiser from finishing what he was about to say. “Sounds fun, I’m in,” I blurted out. I knew that attending a party was probably the last thing I should be doing tonight, but to hell with it, I needed to get out and have a few drinks to drown my sorrows. “I don’t think so, Princess. How are we supposed to pull chicks if we are worrying about you all night?” Kaiser said, glaring at me. “I don’t need you, or anyone for that matter, to worry about me. I am quite capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much.” Kaiser grunted something inaudible and stomped off to his room. He really did behave like a frustrated toddler. “I think it’s best that you stay in tonight, Em. The scraps can be… vicious. Especially when one of their own has whispered lies in their ears,” Adryan commented, pulling my focus back to him. “Does it look like I give a s**t what anyone has been saying, Adryan? I’m already the stared at freak that nobody likes here, so tell me, what exactly are these ‘scraps’ going to do that could possibly hurt me any more than I already have been?” He just stared at me in shock, so I took the opportunity to go to my room and get ready. Before doing my hair and makeup, I threw back the rest of the drink that I’d opened and shook my head, feeling the buzz from the alcohol already. I’d have to remember to thank Cerberus, later, for his love of strong alcohol. I went basic for my makeup, opting for just enough to cover the bags under my eyes and blotchy skin. There was nothing worse than seeing a girl wearing caked on makeup, throwing up the contents of her stomach while her mascara runs down her face. I brushed out my long strawberry blonde hair and went out to my closet to find something to wear. After a couple minutes of sorting, I found the perfect outfit. My favourite -and only- dress. It was a light green colour, matching my emerald green eyes perfectly and complimenting my strawberry blonde hair. It stopped just above the knee, and had a ribbon at the top that held the front of it up, while the back hung low. It took me less than a minute to get dressed and throw a pair of sensible flats on. High heels didn’t go well with the amount of alcohol I was intending on drinking tonight. I pulled my bedroom door open and walked out into the living, sporting a confident, slightly tipsy, smile.