Tragic Magic 2: Black Magic [boyxboy]

Chapter Eight

Tristan kept his word and duly updated me every fifteen minutes with a Still alive, which was gratifying and deeply unsatisfying in equal amounts.

On one hand, I wasn't particularly worried that Axel was going to kill him, because I wasn't really sure what it was about Axel the set my what-the-fuck senses tingling, but it was a relief to know that nothing weird or out of the ordinary was happening because I really didn't want what had happened to me, to happen to Tristan. In this light, I fought the urge to ask him if Axel had touched him, because I knew he'd just make fun of me and accuse me of being jealous.

Which I was, but still.

On the other hand, the fact that nothing weird or out of the ordinary was happening was also kind of... Disappointing? Like, I obviously wasn't having any luck getting to the bottom of this by myself and I was pretty sure that Tristan, having dealt with all of this stuff for a lot longer than me, would have a better idea of what was actually going on if he could experience it for himself. I didn't want him to, because believe me, you don't want anybody you love to feel what I felt when Axel put his hand on me, but it wasn't like I was doing a very good job of making the others understand what it had been like. "Worse than the worst thing" is kind of bogus and would get me a D- if I used it to describe something in an English assignment.

I dropped down moodily beside Sarah at our usual lunch table later that day, carefully avoiding looking at Mackenzie in case she was trying to make eye contact with me or worse, still mad at me.

'Jeez, not you too,' Timothy snapped, stabbing a straw through his juice box aggressively. 'First Mac, then Katherine, and now this as well. What's up with you guys?'

I looked up from my lunch to scowl at him; he was sitting right next to Katherine and I noticed she was wearing a pretty sour expression as well but seemed to be avoiding looking at me the same way I was doing with Mackenzie.

'Katherine's just moody because Axel's not here today,' Sarah teased her gently. I guess they really were going with the whole "Katherine never had a thing for Cody" plan, and I couldn't decide if that was annoying or not. It shouldn't have made too much of a difference to me since I'd only just found out about it, but for some reason it bothered me that we were just sweeping the whole reason she'd been such a bitch to me under the rug. 'Where is he, anyway?' she asked, directing this at Katherine.

'Uh,' Katherine stuttered, then recovered herself. 'He had to go into the city to do some shopping. I told him to get me a surprise,' she added, grinning.

'No he didn't,' I snapped, all out of patience for her bullshit. 'He's at UCLA with Tristan.' There was a beat of silence as the others glanced at me warily, and Katherine turned red. Knowing I shouldn't but completely unable to stop myself, I added, 'How many guys have blown you off for Tristan now, Katherine? Oh well, maybe you'll get third time lucky.'

Katherine's bottom lip all but disappeared as she bit down on it hard and her face turned even redder before she jumped up and ran from the table, eyes watering.

It was hands down one of the nastiest things I've ever said and I could feel my friends all staring at me, slack-jawed, as I focussed on my lunch, peeling the skin off an orange carefully.

'Who are you, exactly?' Sarah muttered after a minute, before standing up and taking her tray with her. Mackenzie followed and, after another awkward couple of moments, Timothy and Denis did too, muttering excuses about needing to get to the library.

I finished my lunch, alone, jumping in surprise when I heard Tristan's bored, Still alive, just before it was time for me to head to my next class. I spent the rest of the day refusing to think about Mackenzie, and the shitty thing I'd said to Katherine, and especially not about how the others had reacted to it. But as I made my way to my locker at the end of the day I saw a still-sniffling Katherine walking fast, head down, towards the Girls' bathrooms at the end of the hall and, sucking it up, I went after her.