Like a piece of art.

More than that.

I climb the last staircase of the building and go to the terrace where I spend most of my nights, including one of the most important.
The sky is clear and full of stars, it shouldn't be long before the morning sun comes out. One of the things that bother me most about this place is not being able to know the time, maybe I should buy a watch.
I approach the shore to see better the trees that surround the school and I begin to remember the day I discovered that Jack wasn't just a normal boy who had entered school luckily, that he was much more than that.

* Flashback *

"I knew it" Ryan enters the room where Mikey and I are trying to play an old game of Mike's parents. We both don't even look at him, Ryan always gets upset with little things. "I knew that I knew that boy from somewhere," he says again and sits down next to us interrupting our game completely. "Okay ... did you see the boy who entered school today? The scholar?" He asks us and starts searching among his things until he finds his phone. Ryan is the only one allowed to use his phone at school, only in his room of course.

"What's wrong with him?" Mikey asks, I try to pretend I don't care and I lean against the wall. I still can't get this kid out of my head and barely three days since I know him, he's driving me crazy.
"He's the one who went to trial for my brother, the one who hit him," he says, showing us a picture of Jack in his brother's trial. My heart stops for a few seconds. Jack...? I can't even think about it.
"Oh my god" Mikey takes the phone from Rye's hands and looks at it carefully. Me, meanwhile, I still don't breathe.
"God and you share a room with him, I swear that if he does something to you I will kill him"

Ryan seems sure of his words but I don't know what to answer, I'm unable to see Jack as the boy who almost killed Ryan's brother.
"Does your mother know?" Ryan asks me again looking at his phone.
"She have to know it," I answer almost in a whisper.
"I can't believe they gave that fagot a scholarship." Ryan shakes his head. "I'm going to make him regret being here" neither Mikey nor I say anything.
"Do you really think it's worth it?" I say grabbing a ball on the floor.
"Of course it's worth it, you saw what he did to my brother" He confronts me.

He's right, I remember that classes had not started when Ryan called me in despair from the hospital, telling me he needed me. And I also remember that when I arrived at the place, his brother's condition was critical, they weren't even sure he was going to wake up. But he did and now, for some reason, my mother let Jack into this school and even worse, to share a room with me. I have to talk to my mother, I need to know why she did something like this. I throw the ball against the wall and grabbed it when it comes back to me.
"I think I have to go to my room," I lie.

"See you tomorrow" Ryan says to me without stopping looking at his phone, I can see his hatred reflected on the screen.
Mikey nodded to me and I return the sign, then just leave the room but instead of going to my room as I always do, I go to my mother's office which is not so far from where I am.
Once I arrive, I knock on the door and wait for my mother to give me permission to enter.
"Hi, son, what happened?" She asks, taking off her glasses.
"Hi," I say and I sit in front of her. "Do you know who Jack Duff is? And what did he do? "I ask her bluntly, his gaze changes suddenly and his condescending smile disappears.

"Why do you say that?" His tone of voice is now worried.
"Ryan recognized him from the court," I say, leaning my back on the chair.
"Yes, I know what he did but his father..." she cuts the phrase for a few seconds "I owed his father a favor" she ends up saying although I know it wasn't what she really meant.
"And why did you put him in my room knowing that?" I ask now really curious. It doesn't make sense that this woman, who cares so much for me, targets a almost killer like my partner.
"I already told you... there are no more rooms available, it will only be for this year." She says calmly, as if she had confidence in that.
"It's okay" I get up from the chair to leave his office.

"If he ever does anything to you, I'm going to expel him. I promise you" I nod and go to the exit.

* End flashback *

I remember perfectly how at that moment I thought Jack was a killer and how knowing that made me more attracted to him. Now I smile with those stupid thoughts and I also stop smiling at the thought that it started being a game for me and Jack ended up making it become something much bigger.
God. I have so many reasons to stop smiling when I think about Jack: my mother, Ryan, Ryan's brother, the real Jack, things that make me wonder whether what I do is right, things that could ruin me more than I already am.

I sigh and lie on the floor, in the same place where our first kiss passed, under the damn stars, as if it were a damn cliché. And I stay here for hours, just contemplating and thinking, good but mostly bad things.
I need to talk to Jack to tell me the truth, I need to know the reasons why he almost killed Ryan's brother, I need my decision to be a fair decision. I need to know both points of the stories and also need that Ryan comes to his senses, because I can't choose between Ryan and Jack. And I know Ryan is going to force me to do it.
I close my eyes and I sink into a deep sleep, full of nightmares and pain.