Head Over Heels! // SnowBaz

1

SIMON

I've been thinking about Baz nonstop for over a month now. First, it started with paranoia, thinking that he was behind every corner, hiding in every shadow until he would leap out at me and drain me of every drop of blood in my body, until there was nothing left. I was afraid he would kill me. But he was never there. He was nowhere to be seen.
   
Then, I began to worry. It was unlike him to not be at Watford during term. Despite the fact he was the one that never missed a class, always got perfect grades, was an incredible athlete, and could have any girl in the school that he wanted (even Agatha), he just wasn't here. If he wasn't here, then where was he?
   
I took countless walks around the Watford grounds, with and without Penny, to see if he was lurking around anywhere. Usually, I found myself around the football pitch, where he stretched his toned muscles and played until the sweat coursed down his forehead and dampened his hair. His heavy breaths racking his body as he swept his hair back, his stony, grey eyes still focused on the goals. His shoulders and joints moving gracefully as he evaded the other team, swiftly, flawlessly, ruthlessly.
   
He was so perfect at everything he tried, I was convinced it was all just a grand plot to upstage me. Everything he involved himself in, extracurricular activities, his immaculate grades, how he presented himself, flirting with my girlfriend last year outside the Wavering Wood, it was all to get under my skin, to prove himself superior to me, the lonesome, untalented orphan, masquerading as the hero. The so-called "Chosen One" (a title Baz persistently mocked and degraded).
   
It was our Eighth and final year, the time for our duel and for one of us to be imminently destroyed by the hands of the other. The year that decided our fate. The year that I would hopefully come out victorious so I could, at last, defeat the Insidious Humdrum and save the World of Mages from its fateful demise.
   
How was I supposed to do any of that without Baz? Vampire Baz, annoying, pretentious roommate Baz, perfect, stoic Baz. I would take any of them over this strange feeling that my mind was slowly caving into madness and depravity, that he was going to loom over me while I slept and take my life. It was too cowardly, even for Baz. It was the year, the moment that would define our lives, and Baz was always one to put on a show.
   
Penny shakes me out of my daze. I was mindlessly staring at my plate of breakfast--toast with jam, a sour cherry scone with a decadent amount of butter, some cheesy eggs, and bacon.

"What is with you?" she whispers loudly to not call attention onto ourselves.
   
I shake my head. "Nothing."
   
She raises a skeptical eyebrow. "Uh huh."
   
I look up and imagine Baz sitting opposite me, staring at me censuringly like he usually does. He never ate much, if at all. It used to worry me, until I found out about his state, seeing his tall, dark figure wandering about the catacombs.
   
"Simon, is this about Baz, again?" she asks.
   
I sigh. "Well, if your roommate was missing, wouldn't you be worried?"
   
She looks up hopefully. I already know the answer to that. She would be grateful, if anything.
   
"It's driving me mental, I know," I tell her. "But my roommate is more intimidating and..."
   
"You think he's plotting something," she says, in a bored tone. She has heard it hundreds, if not thousands of times since first year. It was nothing new to her.
   
"Maybe. But if he isn't, then where is he?" I ask.
   
She looks hesitant to ask her next question. "Maybe he told Agatha where he went."
   
I tense. Agatha is still a sore subject from last year. I avoid her. I haven't talked to her since the end of last term. Maybe I am wrong to do so, but she loves Baz more than me. It's incredibly obvious. I don't know why I haven't seen it before, with the way she looks at him, almost in a daydreaming manner. I may be oblivious, but I'm not blind enough anymore to not see her pining after him. I mean, he's perfect in every way. It would be dumb of her not to see it. Not to prefer him over me.
   
Now that I look over at Agatha, who is sitting across the dining hall from us, her butter blonde hair glistening in the light and her blue eyes distracted, she looks unhappy. She isn't as beautiful as I remember, either.
   
I shake out of my stupor and turn back to Penny, who begins to talk to me about some spells she was experimenting with. I eat my breakfast and listen to her.
   
We go to class. I feel different. Everything is different, and I don't like it at all.

PENNY

Simon is distracted, more than usual. Over the years, I've become accustomed to Simon's unhealthy obsession with Baz, but now it's unlike anything I've ever seen.

I know he's genuinely worried about him. He just won't admit to it. I won't force him to. He keeps staring off into space, and he won't truly engage in a conversation if it's not about Baz. Simon has a problem, and for once, I don't know how to help him fix it. So, I decided to help him out the best way I can.

We're going to leave Watford and look for him.

My mother is going to kill me, but it's for the best. It's for Simon's mental health. Even if we're going directly into harm's way, at least Simon will know Baz is okay and we'll be better off than we were before. Maybe we'll find out more about the Humdrum as we go.

I wrote all the assignments down from now until next month, so I'm hoping for the best. To Baz or bust.