The Shrink Program

Chapter 48

"It might not be so bad," I said, wringing Vain's collar between my hands.

Without a word, Vain finally passed through the school's pearly gates, making it onto the premises with barely a few minutes to spare.

"We're probably going to have a nice, peaceful day of boredom," I added, on edge and trying to look at everything all at once.

Don't be paranoid. It's not like Jack's going to just swoop down from the sky and abduct you...

It had been a long walk from the Hospital, made worse by the fact that Vain was a freak of nature who's legs wouldn't work unless he had a book in hand.

"Who are you trying to convince," Vain asked, not looking up from his reading as he walked.

I could never figure out how he did that... read and walk at the same time.
He must have some sort of nerd superpower.

"Me, mostly," I answered honestly, staring down at the ground from his shoulder.

If long walks can do one thing for a person, it is acclimatise them to travelling on something the size of a building.

Watching the world blur by only made me want to throw up half as much as it did before.

It had also given me time to drag myself into an optimistic state of mind.

I have made my peace with the world. Death and torture are nothing but a leaf in the wind, and I am a butterfly ninja!

Which was all well and good, until I saw the crowd of people standing near the front of the school....and I had the sinking feeling I knew exactly what people had gathered around to see.

Vain slowed as we approached the bustling crowd, just as cautious as I was of the unusual scene.

"It can't be," I whispered.

Life wouldn't be so cruel as to throw him in my face this early in the morning.

"Yes it can." was Vain's grim reply.

The Albino wasted no time in stopping a passing girl. The short brunette was just leaving the crowd of onlookers to greet someone call someone over from the gate, already raising her hand excitedly.

"Pardon me, but do you know what's going on here?" Vain asked, nodding his head in the direction of the crowd.

The girl stared up at him. Obviously, a little star-struck.

A natural response, when the normally reserved beauty of the school starts talking to you out of the blue.

When she noticed me glaring at her from his shoulder, the girl managed to stop herself from drooling long enough to give us an answer.

"There's a new transfer student, and he's a famous violinist, and he just came back from overseas and...."

"Hello, Vain." A voice as soft as velvet spoke, making Vain's shoulder stiffen beneath me. "Hello, Maddison."

Vain and I looked up, only to find the cause of all of this drama standing right in front of us.

What the girl had left unsaid, but was obvious by the giddiness in her voice, was that the new transfer student was handsome.

Pretty enough to even compete with Vain... and that was not something I admitted lightly.

Everything about him was delicately gentle, from his jet black curls to soft purple eyes.

His smile was simply breathtaking, the sort to immediately leave you unguarded.

The slightly taller boy raised his hand to shake Vain's.

"It's nice to see you again."

Vain didn't take the hand.

"Hello, Jack."

Jack smiled wider at the greeting.

Still sweet.

But with a little more teeth.

"...We didn't even make it into the building." I whispered in defeat.

Jack tilted his head, his smile taking on a sad tinge at the unwelcoming attitude.

"Still be mad at me, I suppose?" He murmured, his hand falling away.

"Yes." Vain agreed quietly, bluntly cold.

Jack sighed, eyes closing with regret.

Then his smile brightened up with a shrug.

"That's okay." He took a step forward, instantly closing the distance between us. "After all..."

Vain remained frozen, even as Jack raised a hand and gently touched his cheek. "You won't be able to glare so fiercely... once I cut these pretty red eyes out."

I felt Vain shudder, and I couldn't blame him. There was no threat in Jack words, and there was no doubt.

Because to him, it was just a fact.

He intended to do it.

"I've been thinking of ways to try and make it up to you." Jack smiled, giving Vain's cheek a soft pat. "For all those things that I did to you two years ago."
My eyes narrowed at the reminder.

Throwing yourself off a cliff would be a good start...

"That's why I'll take your eyes out first. " Jack tilted his head, contemplatively. "Maybe even you're ears if you ask nicely."

He drew in close, his smiling lips almost brushing Vain's ear... so close that I had to scramble down Vain's shoulder to avoid being touched.

Jack watched me from the corner of his eye, his purple gaze fixed on me as he spoke.

"Then you won't have to watch what I do to her."

Vain's breath caught, the only sign that he had heard the words.

Knowingly, Jack drew back, his smile as loving and gentle as an Angel's.

He had a smile that was so soft, so sincere, that it made your heart throb just to see it.

I had seen him wear that smile while talking to little children.

And I had seen his wear it while cutting off a challenger's finger.

It was the smile he wore after he hurt Vain two years ago.

And it was the smile he greeted us with today.

A large shape appeared in my peripheral vision, and I turned my head to see just who had gotten so close to us, still thinking about Jack's smile.

No matter what happened, what he did, that smile never, never, never, left his face.

Even as he brutally backhanded me off of Vain's shoulder.