• tab Felitia walked briskly down the corridor toward the dining hall for breakfast. She had woken up early to avoid too many people being around. These days, she tended to be a bit of an introvert in public, especially now as she was extremely unpopular. She saw a group of boys in her year hanging around the entrance to the dining hall. One of them she recognised, it was Ganymede. She increased her guard wary that if she made a wrong gesture, it could easily get sticky with this guy, according to what she had heard from Jared.
    tab Hostile company, that’s all I need. She folded her arms defensively.
    tab He noticed her approaching and pulled a disgusted face.
    tab “Look who’s early,” he jeered.
    tab Felitia glanced up at him and bit her lip. She attempted to pass by, but he stepped in front of her.
    tab “My sister tells me that you’ve been causing her trouble.” He grabbed her arm and shoved her against the wall. “No one gets in the way of what a Caimerode wants.”
    tab Ah, so that sow is your sister. I can tell; you’ve both got the same sour attitude. She must have told you about it after I had gone to bed.
    tab “Well, there’s always a first,” she said quietly. Anger swept across Ganymede’s face.
    tab “There won’t be once I’m done with you!” He held a dagger under her chin.
    tab Looks like I’ve officially made an enemy.
    tab “You might not want to do that,” she whispered.
    tab “And what harm could a girl like you do?” he spat.
    tab Felitia looked down at the floor.
    tab He’s off his guard. Perfect. She waited. Then she hooked his ankle with her foot pulling it to the side. He fell backwards, swearing.
    tab “Pin her down!” he shouted. She tried to run but the two other boys grabbed a hold of her arms and rammed her back into the wall. He picked himself up and approached her overbearingly, his dagger in his hand by his side. She struggled to break free but the two boys were stronger than her.
    tab “You’ll be sorry you did that freak!” he yelled. She struggled harder.
    tab An angry teen boy and a knife is not a good combination. I’m gonna have to get rough. As he came closer she braced herself. He came in range and she chose her moment. Using the wall and her two captors for support, she kicked Ganymede’s stomach and he fell back onto the floor winded. She elbowed the boys restraining her and made another break for freedom. They let go of her arms and stumbled back, clutching their abdomens.
    tab “GET HER!” Ganymede roared as he lurched up and ran in hot pursuit of Felitia. The two other boys were still recovering from the blow they had just received. Felitia was fast but Ganymede was faster and he closed in on her quickly.
    tab Through the mad dash Felitia saw Jared coming around the bend in the corridor.
    tab Thank the gods! There’s no way I would have survived much longer on my own. She called his name desperately.

    tab Jared came round the corner of the corridor toward the dining hall and heard his name being called. He saw Felitia being chased rapidly by Ganymede. Ganymede was swiftly catching up with Felitia, a look of total hatred spread across his face. He immediately started sprinting toward her to help.
    tab Ganymede came within arm’s reach of Felitia and grabbed her dress pulling her down to the ground.
    tab “Leave her alone, Ganymede,” Jared shouted.
    tab “And why should you care about her? Unless, ohhh, you’ve fallen in love with her. But that’s disgusting,” he teased. His two comrades drew in around him. “You hear that? Jared’s got himself a girlfriend. This is so priceless. The loser and the freak; the perfect combination.” The three started laughing. Felitia blushed, annoyed.
    tab “No it’s just, why are you picking on an innocent girl?” he interrupted before they could start mocking Felitia and him again.
    tab “This,” Ganymede spat, pointing down at Felitia, “Is no ‘innocent girl’. This is a freak of nature. Freaks are vermin; they should be stamped out like cockroaches.” Jared looked down at Felitia, who was breathing deeply and cringing in slight discomfort.
    tab “You’re the freak, Ganymede,” he said quietly.
    tab That really was just about the last push, for Ganymede, toward becoming a savage animal. He lashed out with his knife at Jared. If it weren’t for the fact that Jared had his dagger out ready to block the attack then Ganymede would have spilt Jared’s guts out all over the floor. Jared pushed back with the knife.
    tab “Don’t continue this, Ganymede. I don’t want it ending up like last time.”
    tab “I do,” Ganymede said devilishly.
    tab “You dare and I’ll squeal. I’ll tell Remsum what really happened,” he threatened.
    tab That should be enough to end it, for now. Ganymede put his knife back in its scabbard and walked away. He shot a mean look over his shoulder as he went. Jared turned to Felitia.
    tab “Are you okay?” he asked holding out a hand.
    tab “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for all that.” She took his hand and he pulled her up.
    tab Then there was a moment where, after Jared had helped Felitia up, they were only a few inches from each other. Jared felt the strange and sudden urge, more like an uncontrollable impulse, to kiss her. Now his head started to throb and he gripped her hand tighter.

    tab Felitia was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Jared was holding her hand tightly and staring at her with a strange combination of lust and fear. It was if he had gone into shock. tab She cleared her throat and he snapped out of it.
    tab That was too weird.

    tab What the hell was that?! She must be freaked out after that; I am.
    tab “Ah, sorry,” he apologised and let go of her hand.
    tab “Better get to breakfast,” she said and started to walk down the hallway toward the dining hall.
    tab “Yeah, sure.” He followed after her.

    tab Felitia took a seat about half way down one of the two long tables that were laid for breakfast and Jared sat opposite.
    tab “So, what was all that about?” Jared asked.
    tab “Oh, Ganymede just thinks he and his family are superior to everyone else. He had a score to settle with me ‘cause last night I told his sister that she can’t boss me around. Apparently, ‘no one gets in the way of what a Caimerode wants’.”
    tab “That’s what he said three months ago, when we got into that fight,” Jared said glumly.
    tab “Why didn’t you tell the teacher that Ganymede was lying?”
    tab “Ganymede’s argument was way more convincing, and, in some ways, it was my fault the fight happened; I should have walked away. And if I did, it would only have made it worse. Ganymede would want to get revenge if he got into trouble because of me. Besides, the information is good as a bargaining tool.”
    tab “As I saw.”
    tab “Yeah,” he laughed.
    tab “Does he treat everyone like that?”
    tab “Everyone he doesn’t like.”
    tab “He’s such an idiot. If he makes enemies now it’ll be harder when he rules his province. Other rulers will hold grudges against him because of how he treated them in the past.”
    tab “If it comes to war, people won’t want to ally with him,” Jared added.
    tab “Exactly,” she agreed. The kitchen staff were now bringing out the food. One brought a steaming platter of bacon over to where Jared and Felitia were sat.
    tab “Thanks,” Jared said to the maid who did a small curtsy. He offered some bacon to Felitia.
    tab “No thanks. If we’re gonna be friends there’s one thing you should know. I can’t stand eating bacon. It’s all that fat, disgusting.”
    tab “Oh, sorry,” he apologised.
    tab “Nah, I don’t mind,” she smiled.

    *****


    tab The next few days were pretty much the same routine as each other. Felitia went through the day bearing ongoing mockery from her piers and Jared was subject to teasing about his newfound friend. But despite this, they both managed to ignore them and concentrate during classes. Fortunately, some of the people bothering them were scolded by the teachers for interrupting the lessons. After about two weeks, the bullying more or less stopped. Sure they were definitely unpopular; people still gave Felitia dirty looks and Jared could hear people talking behind his back about his ‘girlfriend’. But generally, everyone left the pair alone and hardly noticed them. They spent most of their meals and spare time together, unless one of them was called to do an errand or something of the sort. They would have rather interesting conversations. A lot of the time it would be about the mysteries of the Reform, of Angels, and Warlocks, and share experiences their parents had told them about that they heard from their parents before them. Apart from that, Felitia would usually ask Jared a lot of questions. He would answer her with slightly rushed sentences and would trip over his words occasionally. When they talked, he would from time to time stare into the distance aloof, and Felitia would have to sometimes have to say his name once or twice to snap him back into reality. But Felitia didn’t really mind about all this. In fact, that was what she liked about him. It would make her laugh when he said things wrong and revealed things he was thinking unintentionally. She appreciated someone listening to her. Back at her home, her mother would listen to what she had to say, but a lot of the time her mother was busy doing other things. Now she had somebody she could always talk to, who would always talk to her.
    tab “See, I told you people wouldn’t bother you so much after a few weeks,” he said, in one conversation.
    tab “Well you never know; it could hotten up again without a moment’s notice."
    tab “I hope not.” He started fiddling with his button again.
    tab “Well, life doesn’t always go the way you hope,” she said. This time, it was Felitia who stared of into the distance of the courtyard.
    tab “Yeah,” said Jared. He did the same.