Chapter Twenty-two #2
If a Parent Association-styled structure took over, each parent would look to push a narrative of their own, one that only benefited their legacy and no one else’s. Greed would overtake the vision the board has protected for centuries.
“Right, you two.” Rain pointed to the boys who raised this problem in the first place.
“You’ve really picked the time, haven’t you?
Fine, if you’re so adamant on this ethical dilemma, perhaps to prove to yourselves something that isn’t there, you can check for yourselves.
Tomorrow. Ask Scott anything you’d like.
God knows he’d be too off his rockets to even realize. ”
Ajax sighed. “It’s not some ethical journey. It’s called being human.”
I raised a brow and twisted one side of my lips upward. “Ajax, out of all of us, you should be the last person saying that. You know you’ve taken the place of a dead boy, right? One that you killed. Ethical dilemmas should be child's play to you.”
I should have anticipated what would happen next, but if push came to shove, I didn’t mind playing dirty. For now, however, I’d let Ajax act out his performance.
I tried leaving the matter to rest, just as Wolf had asked, but with more tells Ajax was leaving behind like trails to follow, my confirmations became clearer.
No matter how right I was in my assumption, I never planned to bring it up.
Ajax had asked me not to meddle, and Malakai Young would serve me no purpose.
But if he wanted to play the moral game, he’d have to play with people that didn’t know the rules.
He stood up in an instant, charging at me.
As if in slow motion, I was distantly aware of Marigold’s squeal as she pushed herself so far back that she fell over the edge of the couch and around the back, out of sight. Wolf jumped up and rushed to hold each of us back, August quick to follow after him.
Rain didn’t seem phased by the violence; she only sat back on the couch and continued to massage her temples.
Ajax looked like a wild animal in that moment as he pushed me back against the shelves, the wooden edge biting into my back despite Wolf being there to soften the blow. “I did what had to be done. Don’t you dare pretend to know anything about it.”
Wolf’s head whipped towards him at the clear revelation, but he remained otherwise silent.
I leaned my head back and smiled only slightly.
“I don’t pretend to know. But I for one also don’t pretend to give a damn about something that doesn’t concern me when I’m so clearly a selfish person–or rather, a self-preserving person.
You can only ever care about yourself, Ajax.
So, why are you suddenly going off script? ”
His grip on the lapels of my uniform jacket tightened. “I–... did what I did with good reason. I’m not some senseless killer. It’s different.”
I shook my head again, slowly this time, letting the silence that fell after his words fester between us.
I could hear Wolf’s heavy breathing as he stood between the two of us, pressing a hand against Ajax’s chest. I let my eyes fall on the latter, knowing exactly what I looked like now, what my mother never let me forget.
“It’s different because it benefited you when you did it.
Now, you’re too shortsighted and unsure of how you might gain from it.
Don’t give me the moral high card crap, Ajax.
August.” I nodded towards the boy on the other side of us, mirroring Wolf’s stance.
“He may have some emotional sentiment towards the woman. But tell me, August, would you risk your mother for it? Your entire family? Yourself?”
The boy in question’s arms loosened at my words, and his gaze shifted downcast, dejected, as he slowly, hesitantly, shook his head.
My eyes slid back to Ajax. “What about you? Would you risk your mother? Your own self?”
He let out a sharp, rough breath through his nose before his grip on my jacket tightened once and then loosened fully, his arms dropped to his sides. “I’ve always been all in.”
With that, he backed up and exited the room.
Slowly, Marigold, who’d stood from her fall, cleared her throat and followed after him with a mumbled, “S-see you guys tomorrow.”
August nodded quickly and stepped behind her in haste, as if one of us would hold him back. “Yeah, me too.”
I didn’t feel bad for the way I’d spoken to the pair of them. Perhaps it was delivered slightly without empathy, but Ajax and August needed the reminder.
The board didn’t care about the depth of their emotions and their capacity to empathize. I’d stated on multiple occasions that I didn’t particularly like August, but I didn’t want to see him dead.
Neither did I want such a fate for Ajax. If you’d asked me back in September what I thought of the two boys, I’d say I would kill them myself if it ensured my continued survival.
Now, well, I’d still kill them but at least I’d feel bad about it, and slightly sentimental about their late memory.
I may have sounded evil, but they hadn’t been the ones threatened in a closed space with Evander Bartholow Kingsley, and they hadn’t been the ones who were still suspecting whether their entire life was engineered for Thaddeus Saltford-Windor’s benefit.
Right now, these were the cards I had, and I was going to play them until new ones appeared.
Rain’s shoulders drooped with the breath she let out. “Well, tomorrow will show us if they’re willing to do it all for the board.”
Wolf’s eyes remained on the dark archway where all three students disappeared before blinking and looking between us. “If you wanted to give them a reality check, you could have gone a bit easy on them.”
I scoffed at him, ever the kind-hearted soul. “Wolf, don’t start.”
He threw his hands up. “Sasha, that was harsh. August is–”
“August will thank me when he isn’t a missing person’s poster hanging in some run-down town’s corner store.”
Wolf tried to speak but couldn’t find any other argument. So, he fell silent.
When she felt none of us were going to speak, Rain interjected, still sitting straightened and cross-legged. “You did good, Alexandr. It was a reminder they needed. Now tell me, where is Paris?”
I stiffened, focusing on righting my uniform. “She’s busy doing something I asked of her.”
She raised a single brow, her arms crossing over her chest. She didn’t believe me. “And what, pray tell, did you ask of her?”
To sleep.
Except, I couldn’t find a well-built lie quick enough for an expert in the art like Rain. Slowly, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Do we need to concern ourselves with Paris as well?”
I shook my head, adamant on my lie. “No. I’m handling it. Paris is close with a girl in the Queen’s Club and I asked her to… inquire.”
She hummed, thankfully distracted by the topic of Callum Queen.
“We’ll deal with Callum if he poses an immediate threat.
For now…” she let out a sigh and ran a hand through her long hair in frustration, the first of the emotions I’d seen her wear, standing and dusting off her skirt.
“Let us pray favor is on our side tomorrow.”
With that, she walked out.
Then, I remembered that Rain Atlas Jett had many things to shoulder at her age. Her family problems aside, she was the student body president, holding up the position with poise that wasn’t as effortless as it looked, while also navigating the Founder’s Society.
I couldn’t imagine her taking a moment to herself.
When she left, Wolf visibly relaxed and turned to me, nudging my shoulder with his fist. “What was that?”
I fixed my hair that had gotten roughed out during the altercation and turned to him, the both of us walking out side by side. “What was what?”
“Never mind.” He sighed and shook his head as if disappointed, and at the look, something in me wanted to explain.
I didn’t.
Or at least, I forced myself not to. I repeated to myself that I didn’t owe Wolf anything.
Maybe, in the dead of night, under the cloak of secrecy, I would open up to him as I continued doing when we stood leaning against my windowsill, sharing a cigarette.
I didn’t make friends at my old schools, my mind was on other things, and I couldn’t believe that the wiring of my brain, that had been formed and reinforced after so many years, would change so quickly.