Where the hell was Kingsley?

     This was the first time she was late to a session, and Elias almost couldn't believe it. She was wasting his time. He kept checking his phone and getting more and more irritated, but finally, he spotted the bright red hair sticking out like a sore thumb.

    "What the hell, Red?" Elias let out when she slumped on the chair in front of him. "Didn't have your breakfast this morning, is that it?"

     No answer. She was fumbling with her books.

    "Hello? Earth to Kingsley?" He clicked his fingers in front of her face.

     Isla whipped her head up. "What do you want, Elias?"

     He blinked. Well, at least he got her attention. "What I want is a proper response from my own tutor, thank you very much."

     And she did something even more bizarre: she stayed quiet.

     Elias was so taken aback by her reaction—or rather, lack thereof—that he just sat there, blinking at empty space as she started today's course. Okay, he thought, something is definitely wrong. The girl was usually always eager to spit her own brutal comeback. Never letting him have the final word. He couldn't help but be intrigued, all while ignoring the fact that he was curious about her life to begin with.

     That interest peaked up the more they continued.

    "These are connecting words," she explained. "So, connectors. You use them to connect two separate sentences depending on your context. There's tandis que, alors que, tant que... etcetera, but they're more or less interchangeable."

    "So, uh, I can say je regarde la télévision alors que je mange mon dîner (I'm watching TV while I eat my dinner) and replace that with tandis que (while) as well?"

     Silence. Elias looked up.

     Isla was looking at anywhere but him. In fact, she kept looking behind her and sneaking glances around them—as if she was scared someone was watching her or something. He raised his brows, but she didn't seem to notice his scrutiny. She was too distracted.

     He didn't know if he enjoyed this version of her.

     When they finished hours later, she all but threw everything on her tote bag, not sparing him another look. Like she wanted to get away from him as quickly as possible. He just leisurely watched her as she tidied for the sake of her life, but out of all that rush, dropped a pen.

    "Red, you dropped this—"

     She didn't even pause to listen or look back before she raced out of there. Leaving him at the same state she was in the first day they had met: staring at her parting figure, mouth slightly opened in shock, and confusion written on his features. He straightened up quickly, not wanting another scandalous picture go viral.

     How quickly the tables turned.

     Forget about it, he thought. It's not your problem.

     Damn right it wasn't.

—

     The boys' dormitory house was relatively like any other building occupied by lads—noisy and inkling of trouble. Sure, private school kids were expected to be well-mannered than those of public school; but they might be more mad than others thought, just because the rules were too tempting to not be broken. That, and in the end, they were all just bloody teenagers living together for the most of the school year.

     Elias spent the end of the day slumping against one of the coaches in the common room, running his fingers over the pen. It seemed foolish obsessing over one, but the gold and metallic carvings on it showed that it had quite a cost. Good taste, he admitted. 

     Meanwhile, Nolan was having a little nap from all the work he'd done, undoubtedly being the most studious of them all. They knew they were taking too much space, but special territory came with being in Sixth Form; the oldest students in the Academy.

     That and some other exceptions.

    "Can you knock it off?" Nolan groaned.

    "Have a go at it yourself, then," Charles kicked the fruit machine, "this is a sack of balls anyway—" 

    "Language, Mr. Graham!" The housemaster scolded.

    "I'm terribly sorry!"

    "No, you're not."

     Charles put a finger up as to protest, but thought twice and eventually gave the older man a guilty smile. Honesty was the Academy's best policy, Elias knew was ringing in his friend's mind.

     But that wasn't the only surprise greeting they encountered that evening. Seeing that, five minutes later, a familiar face walked in. 

     Blair Bradshaw.

    "Outside, young woman!"

    "I'm just here to have a little chat—"

    "Outside!"

     The girl huffed and stomped an angry foot back to the door, grabbing Elias's arm in the process and leaving the latter in complete confusion. He looked back at his mates as if to say what the bloody hell but Charles and Nolan looked equally stupefied.

     Once they were outside, Elias ripped his hand from her hold.

    "What is this about?"

    "It's nice to see you, too."

     He gave her a look. "I thought I made things clear... about us."

    "I just want to talk business, darling."

    "We have no business. We have no anything. Not anymore."

     Back inside, Charles and Nolan gave an oh burn! expression. They were both peeking in from the window that was left ajar.

     She sent a glare their way.

     Blair Bradshaw was easily the most attractive girl in Belfort Academy. With her crystal eyes and ebony locks, followed by a voluptuous figure and light tan skin, she didn't have any trouble seducing any wanker in the school premises. It was only disappointing that her character was not as pleasing as her physical traits. 

     In his two years of having an on-and-off relationship with her, he discovered three things: one, the Bradshaw family was one of the wealthiest in all of the Academy; two, she was well aware of her beauty and wasn't hesitant in using it to her advantage; and three, her cold demeanour to people she deemed not par with her was unavoidable.

     But maybe those were the reasons why he wanted to be with her in the first place. Being near her made him feel dominant. He assumed she felt the same. Like they could easily be at the top of the food chain. That was why their relationship didn't last. 

     It was only a transaction of power.

    "What do you really want, Blair?" 

    "You."

     He raised his brows. "Sure."

     She seemed offended that he was quick to doubt her, but he knew she was a good actress. This was just one of her tricks up her sleeve. "Word has carried around about you and a certain ginger," she remarked, coming off sharper than usual. "Very suggestive things, yeah? I'm guessing what you did with that previous lassie—silly me, I can't remember her name—didn't do the trick, did it?"

     He stared at her for a while. "It's a bitch."

     It wasn't like he hadn't enjoyed his temporary time with Sarah, but he wasn't one to stick around with the same girl and she was starting to get attached. Most of all, since it was mostly to get Isla and the rumours off of his back, it was beginning to feel like more of a chore than a get away. So he ended things with her.

    "Agreed." A glint in her eyes. "If only you had a long-term plan..."

     It didn't click straightaway, but when it did—"Really, Blair?"

    "Think about it." She held out her hands to him like a mad scientist. "We tell everyone that we're back together, and since we have history, it's absolutely believable. We'll be the couple everyone talks about, and whatever rumours concerned you and her... it'll fade. So will she herself, which is a plus for us."

     Us. "That's in it for you, then? You despise her, too?"

     "That and..." she stepped closer, skimming the collar of his dress shirt. "Well, let's just say I'm marking my territory."

     He gave her a tight smile and moved her hand away. It'll take him years to convince this girl that he didn't belong to her anymore. But her proposition was alluring. It seemed like the perfect idea. Sabatier and Bradshaw, the Academy's favourite pair back in business. 

     And whatever ties he had with Isla would be gone.

    "It's a plague, what's happening to you." Blair smiled, razor sharp. "And I'm your cure."

A/N: Isla & Blair could be best friends in another universe.