The Other Side [boyxboy]

The Other Side {13}

                Taliesin and I didn't speak in math, and he didn't follow me out of the room. I didn't go to my locker after class; I headed down to Kace's locker.

                He looked up as I approached and got to his feet, shutting his locker. "I know, Gabriel."

                "Then tell me what that was about earlier," I said.

                "I was the one who figured out he was sabotaging us," Kace said, running a hand through his hair. "He's never forgiven me for ruining his plans."

                "There's more," I said.

                "He was my friend, but I never liked him as much as you guys did. I thought he could be an asshole at times. I didn't like the way he ran things. Sure, it's just the student council. But I knew he'd work the same when he got a real job. He pressured people, and he did it with a smile. He was good at getting what he wanted, and a person like that is a person to be wary of," he said.

                I bit my lip, because I knew he was right. I'd always overlooked Taliesin's methods. If he put some pressure on a staff member to get us what we wanted, I'd look the other way. As long as he wasn't hurting anyone, I'd figured it was okay.

                "You guys let him do it. You trusted him. I didn't. That's why I figured out it was him causing all that trouble. He could've gotten you in a lot of trouble. He could've gotten you suspended, or even expelled." Kace shook his head angrily. "He's not a good person, Gabriel. He never was. I'm begging you to trust me on that."

                He was hiding something. I was so tired of people hiding things from me.

                "I'm going to find Nadia," I said, walking away and ignoring him as he called after me.

                Nadia was at her locker and she did a double-take of my expression. "Bad day?"

                "Do you know anything that went down between Kace and Taliesin?" I asked.

                She shook her head. "No. I'd assumed something happened between the two of them. But I guess I just assumed Taliesin was the worst to Kace because Kace was the one who told us what Taliesin was doing."

                "That's what I thought too. But I think there was something more going on, and Kace won't tell me what it was," I said.

                "Kace isn't usually the type to keep secrets. If he's not telling you, he must have a good reason," she said. "Taliesin on the other hand..."

                "He's always been a stubborn idiot," I said in frustration. I sighed heavily, slumping against the locker next to Nadia's. "Nadia, did we let him go too far back when he was still in the council?"

                "No," she said, and the surety of her voice eased me. "He was good at twisting arms- metaphorically back then, much more literally now. But we never let him take it too far. You were always good at bringing him back to his senses. There was a line we wouldn't let him cross and he knew it. It kept him in check."

                "When did it start?" I said quietly. "It was so sudden."

                "We keep saying that, but it wasn't. Not really. I've thought about it a lot, especially recently. I talked to Leigh about it. She noticed, too. He was always so good with her. You know how forgetful she can be. But he started getting so impatient it made her scared to screw up. It was a small change at first, but it got worse. She never said anything about it because she assumed he was just going through something and it would pass. He got angrier and angrier, but we ignored it when it started because he passed it off as lack of sleep or stress from the work building up. It wasn't sudden, Gabriel. We just didn't pay attention to it until it was too late." She crossed her arms. "I was his friend, and I blame myself for ignoring the obvious. But he's still responsible for himself."