After a kilometre run, Jayden arrived at the school just in time for the final ringing of the bell. Classes were over for the day.
"Perfect," Jayden muttered and walked into the seniors building. He wasn't going back to the classroom, no. That would be pointless. But rather to his newly fixed locker.
He arrived in front of the locker and opened it, revealing a sleek, metallic interior. But unlike the last time, the locker wasn't empty anymore. It contained a holographic notepad, a few stationeries and most of all, adornments. His locker had been decorated with flowers, glitters and stickers, of which were all pink. Now this was some serious violation.
"Huh? Is this still my locker?" Jayden pondered. "Perhaps, they gave it to someone else, thinking I was already probably dead," he concluded, oblivious to the fact that he was still able to unlock it using his retina.
[Wow, I didn't know girls of this era were still into barbie and princesses] Luna chimed with a chortle
Jayden sighed. "Girls will always be girls, no matter what era it is," he muttered with a nostalgic smile as he remembered a particular miscreant with silver hair. Then his expression suddenly became that of sadness and guilt.
But before he could go further down memory lane, his gaze landed on a particular pink card laying on the locker floor, one that had his name boldly written on it.
Jayden raised a brow and picked up the card, he flicked it open and read it's contents. It was a short poem containing elements of love, desire and death.
******
"Do not surrender to the fading light,
My love, my heart, my shining star in night.
Though death's dark whisper breathes upon your ear,
Resist its call, my darling, and draw near...
.... Though death's dark veil may shroud your lovely face,
Fight on, my darling, and let our love's warm touch fill the space."
******
Jayden chuckled as he read the last sentence. "A revised version of Dylan Thomas's original work, not bad," he muttered, a smile grew on his face as he read the last sentence. He could already guess who the sender slash composer was.
He took a deep breath and read through the poem again, making sure to take in and relate to every word and sentence.
Jayden had loved poetry ever since he was just a little boy, his mother would read various porms to him at night instead of bedtime stories and he enjoyed it very much. The lines, the flow, the tapestry and philosophy of every sentence.
"Guess this proves, I'm at the right locker," he sighed
"Yeah, no kidding." A voice muttered from behind Jayden, causing him to immediately turn to face the source of the voice. He sighed even deeper after seeing who it was that spoke.
"Jessica, how long have you been standing there?" Jayden asked
"Long enough to see you admire my sister's poem," Jessica replied casually. "She made that for you, you know. When you were still in coma, she would come here to decorate your locker and keep it tidy, all in the hopes that you would come back to us... to her,"
Jayden didn't know what to say to that, he had received enough guilt for one day. So he just shrugged it off and pretended not to care. He remained silent and turned back to face the locker, completely ignoring Jessica.
This made Jessica a little furious, her sister had been one of the only five people in the world that cared if Jayden lived or died in that coma. And how did he repay her? By breaking the poor girl's heart.
"You know, you're so full of it," Jessica snapped. "You act like you don't care, but you actually do. I can see through it, the whole uncaring facade you're trying to fool us with. I know you care, you just don't want to admit it,"
Jayden sighed and turned to face Jessica again "Alright, so what do you want me to say?" he asked in a calm voice. "That I'm sorry about not feeling the same way? Well I'm not, and that's something I have to deal with for the rest of my life,"
Jessica furrowed her brows, she was confused with what Jayden had said. It felt like he was the victim of the whole situation. And Jessica wouldn't let it slide so easily.
But before she could utter a word, Jayden continued to speak. "But you wouldn't understand, would you? And you know what? I think you're just jealous. That's why you keep trying to make me look like I'm the villian in all this," he stated with a serious expression. And that was the first time Jessica had seen him expressed himself so much, he barely even communicated in words.
This surprised Jayden as well, the fact that he said a lot. But he didn't care, there was so much on his mind and so much to do that he just had to speak out. And it seemed to have ticked something in Jessica.
"Me? Jealous? Why would I be jealous?" she snickered. "If anything, I feel pity for my idiot sister who can't seem to get over you,"
Jayden rubbed his hands on his temples and took a deep breath. "How did I even end up in all of this?" he thought. But before he could reply her, another voice suddenly chimed into their conversation. It came from a teenage boy standing at the end of the hallway.
"I'm gonna have to agree with Starrk on this, Jessica," Carl muttered as he approached them. He put on his usual smile which carried a charming and devilish tone. "I think you're not in acceptance of your sister's feelings simply because you never got over him yourself,"
Jessica frowned and her aura completely changed, from fierce to even more fierce and deadly. "Shut up, Carl! No one asked for your opinion," she clicked in anger, already getting disgusted by Carl's presence. But she was more annoyed because it seemed there was some truth to what he had said.
"Oh, but I'm stating the obvious. You can't stand the thought of your sister falling for the guy you once liked, one who rejected you at that," Carl muttered with a smirk. "And I bet that deep down, you are elated to know that he rejected her as well,"
Jessica clenched her fists, Carl had hit her in a deep spot. She wouldn't let herself be defeated so easily. "Shut it, Carl. I'm warning you," she muttered softly, a wave of wind pressure building up around her.
Carl paused and frowned. "Make me," he muttered. "But remember that I am one level above you and that makes me stronger. I think it would be rather wise to not threaten me,"
Jessica gritted her teeth, she was completely enraged. But he was right yet again, she couldn't defeat him in a fight. Apart from the fact that the gap in strength between levels were high, Jessica had fought Carl once before, and she lost. And that was why she was ranked third in the entire school while he was second. With Tasha holding the position of number one.
So she just stood there, staring at Carl with a deadly intent. But that was all she could do, watch and remain watching. If she attempted to fight him, not only would she be humiliated but also be punished.
Carl saw that she had yielded and a smirk grew on his lips, he was free to continue his taunts without a care in the world. "Now isn't that ironic, two sisters falling for the same guy. And he doesn't even give a crap about any of you. How sad," he muttered
"And you," he continued, shifting his gaze to Jayden who hadn't said a word since. "Breaking the heart of two sisters. That's cold, even for you,"
Jayden remained indifferent, he wouldn't let Carl get under his skin, not today. "I think you've had enough, Carl. Leave us," he said sharply
Carl chuckled. "Is this supposed to be some kind of hero moment, where you come in to save the girl and get beaten up in the process?" he asked with a slight chortle
But Jayden didn't reply, he clenched his fist and furrowed his eyebrows.
"Well, I'll gladly let you have that moment, as I break every single bone in your body," Carl muttered and continued walking forward with a smile. "But tell me something, bro to bro. Does stepping up for Jessica mean you actually like her? And does that mean you don't like Tasha? I'm just curious, is all,"
"That's enough, Carl?" Jessica spoke up this time, not able to stand another word from his mouth
Carl frowned and glanced at her fiercely, with a look of death. "You can't tell me what and what not to do, Jessica. Don't provoke me," he said sharply. Then he turned back to face Jayden and smiled.
"Come on, beastboy. Fight me, you know you want to," he muttered. "Or you're just going to stand there like a weakling that you are, not doing anything to stand up for your girl, hm?"
Jayden frowned, but he wasn't angry. He knew what Carl was trying to do and he wouldn't let him have it. "She's not my girl. But I won't just watch as you keep bullying her, not in my presence. So I suggest you leave now, while you still can on two functional legs," he said with a menacing gaze. And this made Jessica a bit stunned, he was actually standing up for her, even though he was weaker and would probably get beaten up.
It made her heart flutter, and it made her question her perspective of him. "First, he runs out in the middle of a thunderstorm to save someone. And now, this. Perhaps I have truly misjudged him," she thought to herself.
Carl, on the other hand was furious. A weakling had just threatened him, and he hated being threatened. "How dare you threaten me? Just because you're an evolved now, you think you stand a chance against me?!"
"Wrong move, Starrk. You should know by now, I don't like being threatened," he voiced out. And just like that, he disappeared from the spot, reappearing almost instantly behind Jayden. His fist was stretched out, aiming for Jayden's head.