the prince and the peasant | skephalo | DISCONTINUED

friendly advice

~Vincent's POV-

I've suspected Darryl and Zak had gotten too close.

Rumors had spread about them being seen holding hands. It was at the time when I was in the flower field, so I couldn't exactly confirm whether this was true or not. But even then, after that day, there was way too much gossip about the about Darryl and the royal's relationship.

The speculation on what their relationship was driving me crazy. Some say they were dating, some were rumoring on how Darryl was supposedly sleeping with Zak, some saying how Darryl was using Zak for the money, some saying that the boy Darryl is seen with isn't even the real prince, them just being friends, and some just straight up opposed to anything suspicious going on between them.

All the talk had made me feel so uneasy. They had grown so close. I promised to him to remove my feelings, but it wasn't easy. I try to hide my jealously, be the best for him. Sometimes I feel like Zak is just trying to print me as the bad guy. But I won't hold that against him. I was always not as likable as the two other boys.

Zak is the prince. He has a very high reputation around my school, even if he doesn't attend it. And Darryl - Darryl's popularity spiked after Zak's visits. I still can't wrap my mind around the gossip about them holding hands. That made him get tons of hate, but it also made him get fetishized. Also, people have been spending more time around Darryl. Because of that, more people are starting to recognize his attractiveness. The group of people who admire him swoon after his eyes especially. They're drawn to how green they are, as if they just noticed. Lots of people have been playing with his hair. They describe it soft. Some even tie them in little pigtails. Darryl's reactions always serve as a motivation to their actions.

Lunch was unusual. Our normally lonely table was clouded with new people. The conversation was split into talking about Zak and showering Darryl with compliments.

"You look really good today! Has anyone told you that before?" One girl comments.

"Thank you!" Darryl thanks eagerly, "and yes, I've been hearing that a lot lately," others force they're sucked up laughs, confusing the poor boy. "I wasn't trying to be funny," he mumbles his last remark.

I sigh loudly, wishing that we could go back to the days when it was just the two of us. Darryl picks up on my annoyance. "Are you okay Vince?" He asks, putting his attention on me. His voice leaves a strange feeling in my heart. The same feeling I've been trying to remove.

I nod, keeping my mouth shut. Talking makes everything worse as I learned. These new people never asked for my input.

"Alright," he mumbles out. He goes back to talking to the unknowns. There's a little bit of silence. I've learned that every time Darryl tried involving me in the conversation, people would go quiet.

We have to wait before they stir up a question. "How long have you and Zak been talking?" One asks.

"We were friends when we were younger. But then we got separated and we haven't reconnected until recently," Darryl explains.

"That's cool!" One chimes. "We were just wondering," they signal to their other friends. "What would you describe your relationship with Zak as? Like romantic, platonic, so on."

"Oh," Darryl mutters. "Um," a small, awkward, laugh slips, "We're just friends," he takes small pauses in between his words. It confused me. He didn't seem too confident.

A small noise of murmur escapes my mouth. It made me sound doubtful, leaving Darryl to grow defensive. "What?" He spews his words out up tightly. His words were aimed at me.