MASTERMIND | ajax petropolis

- two

"Coach, Coach. She tripped me!"

I rolled my eyes at Rowan's complaints, leaning against the wall whilst I enjoyed the blue raspberry-flavored lollipop Xavier had given me to shut me up for the time being.

"It was a clean strike, Rowan." Coach explained, backing up Biance who had just won her fencing match against the boy who currently pouted on the floor.

Bianca cocked an eyebrow, "Maybe if you whined less and practiced more, you wouldn't suck."

"Or," I pointed at Bianca with my lollipop, "Just get used to the fact Bianca will always be better than you, Ro."

Rowan was Xavier's roommate. The two of us had a playful relationship, we tended to bicker like siblings.

His eyes darted to me, "You wanna go, Grey?"

I laughed, hopping to my feet before helping the boy up and handing him the glasses I'd been holding for him. Bianca was going on in the background about how she wanted some real competition. Most knew not to go against the girl, it was only ever me or Divina that could ever put up a real fight against the Siren girl.

"Anyone else want to challenge me?" Bianca spoke out into the room.

"I do."

Ugh.

Of course, it was my new roommate who wanted to challenge Bianca.

"Oh, you must be the psychopath they let in." Bianca teased with a smile, probably surprised that anyone had taken her up on her offer.

Wednesday held a straight face. "You must be the self-appointed Queen Bee." Bianca looked smug, but I was waiting for my roommate to continue. I'd known her for less than 24 hours and I already knew she wasn't done, "Interesting thing about bees. Pull out their stingers, they drop dead."

Oh shit.

I stalked back to where Xavier stood, attempting to rest my arm on his shoulder as we watched the interaction go down between my roommate and his ex.

"Rowan doesn't need you to come to his defense." The boy took a puff of his inhaler, "He's not helpless, he's lazy."

Eh, he's many things, but I don't think lazy is one of them.

"Are we doing this or not?" Wednesday bit back.

Bianca hesitated. I went to step forward to volunteer, I'm always up for a challenge, and putting my roommate in her place seems very tempting at the moment.

Except I didn't get very far.

"Don't." Xavier's words were mumbled, but his hand on my bicep kept me in my place.

I grunted, popping my lollipop back in my mouth and choosing to observe instead as the two girls squared up against each other. I'll get my chance with Wednesday at some point.

"En guarde." Coach smirked.

We all stood and watched the match happen, completely giving up on our own fencing matches. Well, I wasn't fencing to begin with seeing as my partner was currently a no-show.

At some point or another, Ajax showed up beside me and Xavier, completely mesmerized by the sight in front of us. I sent him a glare.

"Point to Wednesday." Coach announced the end of the first go. The girls squared up almost immediately, going again.

I elbowed Ajax's ribcage to which he rubbed the spot and pouted at me in return. When he didn't speak, I gestured to the room around us.

He still hadn't clued into what I was referring to. "You're late, asshole." I mumbled, waving my mask in his face.

Unfortunately for me, Ajax and I had been paired together for fencing this semester. I had wanted Xavier since we were best friends and he knew how to actually challenge me. But no. Coach chose Ajax for me, saying that he could use a few pointers.

Ajax's jaw fell slightly, "I texted Xav to tell you I was going to be late, but he never responded."

I quickly turned to my best friend, now glaring at him. He quickly held his hands up in defense, "I thought you'd figure he was going to be late when I handed you the lollipop."

"Xav, I-"

"The score is even." Coach's claim interrupted us.

Those boys are lucky.

I turned to watch as both girls removed their masks. Wednesday's face was stone cold while Bianca's held a smirk.

"That first point was clearly beginner's luck. Let's finish this."

My roommate ignored the siren's words and immediately faced Coach. She was definitely up to something.

"For the final point, I would like to invoke a military challenge." She walked over to stand next to Coach, her stare emotionless, "No masks, no tips. Winner draws first blood."

Oh?

"It's your decision, Bianca." Coach assured the girl. I knew Bianca was going to say yes, though. That girl never backed down when someone was challenging her.

"Let's see if you bleed in black and white."

See, I was right.

Not even two minutes later, Bianca struck Wednesday's forehead. We all gasped in shock.

I honestly had my money on Wednesday.

While Bianca made a snide remark, both Wednesday and Rowan were ushered off to the nurses' office. Apparently, they both needed to be checked on after losing to Bianca.

I poked my sword into Ajax's torso, "Let's go, Gorgon." I wasn't going to spend an entire class period not practicing. That went entirely against my competitive spirit.

"Okay, Siren." Ajax smirked as he slipped his mask on, "May the best win."

My fingers fiddled with my amulet, ideas swirling through my mind. Memories flooding back in.

A hand landed on top of mine. I furrowed my eyebrows, realizing that Xavier's eyes were widened slightly and it was his hand covering my amulet.

He thought I was going to take it off. "I was just thinking, Xav." I mumbled, shoving his hand away and tucking the amulet back under my fencing top. "No need to worry."

I handed the boy my nearly finished lollipop before sliding my mask on over my head, my gaze set on my tardy fencing partner.

"En guarde."

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i'm baaaack !
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