The Snowy-haired Genius

Chapter twenty-two

The next few days were boring without Winter. I basically sat, curled up on the couch and reading. Victor came in every day with food, ignoring me when he came in. This time, I didn't pounce at him or ask him when Winter was coming back. I just said hi, then went back to my book.

Instead of sleeping on the bed, I slept on the couch. The bed felt so empty without Winter beside me. So I slept on the couch, wrapped up in my blanket and waiting for Winter to return.

Finally, on the last day of the week, I heard somebody clear their throat. I looked up, in hopes it was Winter, but Victor was standing there. "Winter's in his study. He needs you."

Needs me? I was up in a flash, following Victor up to his study. We heard Winter from a mile away. He was shouting, and we heard crashes coming from upstairs.

Victor slowed down. "Actually, it might not be a good idea for him to see you. He's... not in a good state right now." He went to pull me back downstairs, but I wriggled out of his grip and ran towards Winter's study just in time to see a chair being thrown at a guard. It was quickly followed by a slam of the study door. He ducked but stood up when he saw me. "You can't be up here!" He told me. I ignored him and pushed the study door open.

Winter heard me enter and threw a pot of paint at me, not even turning around to look. I shielded my face with my hands as the paint splashed all over my shirt. "Good aim." I said, flicking the paint off my hands. I had thought he wouldn't throw anything else at me when he heard my voice and realized it was me, but to my surprise, he started to throw more things while shouting at me to get out.

It wasn't just paint that he threw at me either. It was paintbrushes, paintings, sculptures. Anything he could get his hands on. And he hit me every time. My body was probably covered with bruises by the time I managed to grab his wrists to stop him from throwing things at me.

He twisted my arm and slammed me against a wall. "I told you to get out." He growled. I winced and squeezed my eyes shut. He dug his nails into my wrist. Blood was dripping down my arm now, but I ignored it.

Years of self-harm and bullying from my older brothers had taught me how to handle pain. In some situations, I actually liked it. But not this time. I grinded my teeth and glared at him.

This time, he punched me in the stomach. I groaned but managed to straighten up again.

Not getting the reaction he wanted, he stepped back and let me go. It was only then I had the strength to look up at his bright blue eyes that I noticed the difference. "You aren't Winter, are you?" I managed to say.

He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "You're a masochist, aren't you?" He mockingly replied. Without answering his question, I looked around the room. The only painting that hadn't been damaged was one of the people that Winter confirmed were his parents. "What happened?" I asked him.

"Get out before I hurt you." Was all he said, turning away. I mustered the strength to grab his arm. "Winter-"

"Aiden." He snapped, pushing me away. "My name's Aiden. Winter's not here right now."

"Aiden." I corrected myself. "Can you bring Winter back? I need to talk to him."

"It doesn't fucking work like that, Jace." He said my nickname in a mocking way. "I can't just bring your dumbass boyfriend back."

"He's not my boyfriend, and he's definitely not dumb!" I shouted, surprising myself. Aiden rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, totally not dumb. The asshole can't even fucking read. Sure, you give him an equation and he'll solve it in three seconds flat, but he can't read or write. Genius my ass."

I stared at him. Winter can't read? Then how did he write that letter on Monday? "Don't be stupid! Of course Winter can read! He wrote me a letter on Monday!"

"Did he? Or did he just tell Victor what to write and decided that was good enough for a little twink like you?" He smirked at me. I couldn't think of anything to shoot back. What should I argue about? Should I argue for Winter or the fact he called me a twink, which clearly wasn't true? "Y-you... He's not... I-"

"While you try to think of a comeback, I'm going out for a smoke." Aiden turned and walked away.

"I'm not a twink and Winter can read!" I shouted at the closed door, my face red. When Victor entered the study, saying he was taking me to Winter's room and I shouldn't have ran away, I was trembling with anger. "I'm not a twink, am I?" I demanded.

Victor cleared his throat awkwardly as I kept talking. "And of course Winter can read! He can write too! He's a genius. There's no way he can cook, sing, paint, and play instruments but not read. That makes no sense."

"Come on." He grabbed my arm and took me to Winter's bedroom. I didn't say anything as he sat me down on the bed and turned the TV on for me to watch it.

"Twink." I muttered to myself angrily and huffed. "I'm not a twink. That's so stupid."