21 Jealousy

Hayden stared at the destruction of the school's quad from the outside of the main gates that were locked to prevent anyone from loitering.

He stood alone, not in his school uniform, but a red hoodie and black shorts. The hood was drawn over his brown hair, his hands shoved into his pockets as he stared bitterly at the destruction.

The school was to be closed down for the next day as the staff went to find someone--more specifically, a mage--to fix all this mess.

He'd seen it all. He was standing right in front of the window as that woman rose into the air, strong winds blowing fiercely around her. And as hateful Emrys was, he couldn't help but feel jealous towards him.

He'd always felt there was something different about him since the beginning of the current school year. It unnerved him, but he couldn't seem to grasp what that feeling was.

Today the answer was given.

That fucking despicable loser was actually a mage, one that was better than him at least a hundred-fold.

He scowled and gave the sturdy bars an angry kick, still feeling the humiliation he faced from class hours before. That woman really called him out in front of everyone, told him he had no real talent with his ability...

"Why?" he shouted bitterly, giving the fence another fierce kick. Luckily there was no one around to him vent out in the public. Fire wielders were supposed to be strong, they were supposed to be feared for they could burn anything down as they wished!

"I was supposed to be the star!" he yelled hopelessly. He gnashed his teeth as he continued to attack the poor fence with his fists and legs. "I was awakened first! How could he be better than me?"

He sucked in a seething breath through his clenched teeth and ran his hands vigorously through his hair under his hood. If it was anyone else, he might as well just accept the fact. But of all people, it had to be that damned loner of a class president.

He was already the top of the class, smart, good-looking, but that stuck up bastard just couldn't seem to spare Hayden one damn trait. His two lackeys that used to always follow him around ditched him after finding out what the lady said about his powers; they even had the courage to diss him right in front of his face after they witnessed Emrys' ice powers.

It was all his fault. Emrys, that fucker.

Defeated, he slumped down onto the floor and sat with his legs crossed, burying his face in his hands. Even if Emrys was able to awaken as an ice mage, how was he able to have such a great control on his ability? He was even able to catch the attention of the M.A. and have a face-off with national ranking professional.

He bit down on the inside of his cheek and stared intensely at the site of battle.

Not to mention that guy that appeared at the end. Back was partly face towards him, yet somehow he seemed awfully familiar. It sparked his curiosity as he recalled that girl down the hall that was leaning out the window, shouting the name 'Mister Gray'.

"Mister Gray...," he muttered, emphasizing the word 'mister'.

So they were close.

It didn't take him too long to figure out that 'Gray' was also a mage. How else could someone explain the fact that the lady from M.A. so quickly backed off at his appearance?

It happened so fast, she was out of there not thirty seconds after he arrived.

Hayden's eyes widened as he lingered on that thought.

"No way...," he marveled, leaping to his feet. "Is that man even stronger than her? Is that why she retreated? Or maybe they knew each other?" Seeing how close he seemed to be with Emrys, perhaps he was the one who helped him become so strong!

If...if he finds him and he asks, maybe he'll help him!

Hayden turned his head left and right, trying to see if he could remember which way the man had left hours ago. As much as he hated seeing Emrys, he needed to find 'Gray' to help him somehow.

Frustrated that he couldn't remember which way the guy had left when he was watching it all die down from the second floor, he cursed underneath his breath and started up the street to his right. One way or another, he'll find him.

"I'll find him and show that sunnovahbitch who's boss," he hissed.

But little did he know that it wasn't hatred that drove him on, but it was his envy of Emrys that pushed him to find that man.

_______________

"Got a report?"

The uninterested tone of the boss' voice unnerved the man, and he quickly averted his eyes from the back of the boss' blonde head. Of course, the boss was no other than the feared criminal mage, Cereus, the one who completely flipped the underground a full one-eighty degrees the moment he came on top.

"Yes, Boss!" the man announced, trying his best not to stutter. "The men we sent, they told us that Old Mike and gang seem to be the ones that are disrupting the city."

"That old bastard?" Cereus mused. There wasn't even a hint of anger or annoyance in his voice, and it made his subject wonder why.

The man stood in the center of the room while Cereus sat in a chair with his back turned. He waited for his boss to say something, intimidated by the eerie silence that was accompanied by the whistling breeze that came in from the window.

Cereus was a hideous man. Not by his face, but by the heart. It wasn't supposed to be like this. When Rune and his supporters were still high up in the ranks, Cereus had told them that Rune looked down on everyone and saw everyone as a mere toy.

That drove the surge of Cereus' followers, as they concluded that that was the reason why people kept disappearing from their ranks, and reappearing as bloody corpses in the middle of the street.

They claimed Rune was murdering his own people, and so they helped Cereus to fight his way up the hierarchy of the system.

But when the day came where Rune and his friend, Zeke, along with their direct supporters, had either escaped or had been killed, it was already too late for those who'd found out the truth to do anything.

Rune neither killed nor had anything to do with the death of their colleagues, it was Cereus who had them finished off. And when he was questioned, he didn't even try to hide it. The ones he'd murdered were the ones that would strongly oppose or threaten his rise to the top of the chain.

He had confessed it all with a nasty, smug grin as he enjoyed killing all seventeen of his own colleagues himself. So it was the fear for their own lives that no one stood up against him even after being told that Rune was innocent.

Hell, he wielded pyrokinesis, who would be crazy enough to go against him?

It was way too late to want to apologize to the kid, who did nothing but protect them his whole life.

The wrung his sweaty hands behind his back as he continued to wait in dreadful silence. The only person who would be able to defeat him now was Old Mike, who held a powerful aerokinetic ability.

He was too powerful for Cereus to handle, but fortunately for him, the old man was an alcoholic, easily swayed if you offer him a bottle of anything.

"Alright," Cereus suddenly mumbled, making the man jump in cold sweat.

What was he even trying to plan anyway? If they were to defeat Cereus, they should've considered these possibilities years ago.

"You may go now," he said with a sharp flick of his wrist. "Just let those old fogeys play around."

"...Yes!"

The man gave a short bow and hurriedly exited the room, a huge wave of relief washing over him. He left the room and turned to close the doors when he heard the boss talking again.

"Cille in chaos...I should report this," Cereus muttered almost inaudibly.

The man's froze for a second, his blood stopping cold. But the sharp thud of the boss getting out of his chair scared the living daylights out of him, and he quickly shut the doors and ran down the hall.

Report? he wondered, confused and terrified at the same time. Isn't Cereus at the top of the pyramid? Who the hell would he be reporting to?

_______________

It was closing time, and Gray helped Anthea close down the shop. He had managed to get in a few more hours of work after Milo left, since the med-student as he was, he had plenty of work to catch up on.

Gray followed Anthea to her car and watched as she got inside her car and started the engine. Instead of the usual smile and wave, the store owner rolled down her window and stuck her head out.

"If you're not feeling well, you can have the day off tomorrow," she offered, her thin brows furrowed.

Gray shook his head, refusing. "No, it's okay. I'm good, there's no need."

Anthea sighed and leaned back into her seat, flicking the loose strands of her tan-colored hair out of her eyes. "Are you sure?" she asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously at him.

Gray nodded in response.

"Huh...alright then," Anthea relented and set her hands on the wheel. "See you tomorrow, Gray."

"See ya." He watched as she drove off, leaving him alone in the street.

Gray continued back to the apartment complex alone. It was kind of weird, as he was just beginning to get used to spending the rest of the day with the other three.

Once he reached the bottom of the open stairs to the large complex, he began to count his fingers. It's been about four weeks now, a whole month. The four week mark was when he had to pay rent once again...but it was also when he would get his first paycheck.

He cringed as he remembered that he'd never asked Anthea how much would his monthly pay was. "Crap...," he mumbled as he climbed up to his floor of the apartment. Hopefully the paycheck was enough to cover his rent at least.

If not, then he'd have to find a second job to do in the morning.

He sighed as he walked down the hallway, looking down at the nicely lamenated, wooden-tiled floor as he strode forward. When he got enough money, he'd have his apartment renovated...or maybe he could do it himself...

As he approached the end of the hall towards his apartment, a familiar sensation tugged at him, and he glanced up to see someone sitting against the wall next to his door. His arms were folded across the knees of his propped up legs, and his head was faced away as it rested atop his forearms.

It was the kid.

What is he doing here?

"Hey, kid," Gray said as he neared him, stopping just a few inches away. Despite his unannounced arrival, Gray remained unbothered, only curious.

He received no answer, so he leaned to the side, only to find that Emrys had his eyes were closed. It was strange enough, but the kid was somehow able to fall asleep even while sitting on the hard ground.

Gray's eyes fell to the stuffed school bag sitting right besides him, then to the cellphone that he gripped tightly in his hands even as he was knocked out.

The screen lit up and faded away, but Gray paid no heed to it and unlocked the door to his apartment with his keys. He opened the door and reached down to grab Emrys' bag when the screen to his phone lit up once more, and he caught sight of the name, 'Mother'.

He stopped and stared blankly at the screen until it faded away one more time. And just as quickly as it disappeared, the screen flashed on again. And again. And again.

Unable to look away anymore, Gray reached out with a slender hand and plucked the device out of Emrys' possession. He turned on the device just in time to see two more notifications appear. The total number of unread texts was thirty-eight, the number of missed calls twenty-four.

And sure enough, these were all from his mother and father, the frontmost text reading:

[face it, you have nowhere to run]

[you're nothing without us, you're worthless]