04 | PATH THROUGH THE WOODS
My rival drops me to school and I receive the best surprise ever! (note the sarcasm)
Ivan's POV
When Alexander Hope wakes up, I'm not on the air bed. Realizing I'm not where I'm supposed to be, he curses and jumps out of his bed and reaches to open the front door.
"I'm here," I say from behind him. I'm sitting on the large window that oversees the sun. My backpack which I'm holding is light, all the clothes are in his closet.
He turns and sighs in relief. "I thought you ran away."
"I did," I say. "And I came back. Why does this neighborhood have no courts to play in? Not even a basketball stand. They're all indoors and locked."
He yawns. "Why are you up so early?"
"It's six in the bloody morning," I say. "I need to go to school on time. Takes an hour from here."
"I'll drop you."
I give him the blankest stare I can. He's either being extremely stupid or extremely kind. The latter's probably impossible, so stupid it is.
"No one will see us this early in the morning."
"No," I say. He's being unreasonable. "If anyone sees the two of us together..." I don't want to think of what will happen.
"You can wear a skull cap or something, they won't recognize you."
"It's you, idiot. No one wants to see a car the color of the Falcon mascot next to Everly High. They think this Wildcat-Falcon thing more seriously than the end of the world."
"So you're worried about me, Petrov?"
"They'll beat the shit out of you." I say truthfully. He knows what they did to Sebastian. And even though Alexander is stronger than his brother, he can't win against a group of tough basketball players alone. "And if you're injured, winning won't be so sweet," I add as an afterthought. Even if there is a small part of me that's concerned for his safety (which there isn't), I don't want to show it. "I like defeating our opponents when they've got nothing to blame."
He smirks. "We'll see about that, Petrov. But I'm not letting you walk through this side of town alone."
"I just did it for the past two hours and no one saw me." At the crack of dawn, I jumped out of the massive window in Hope's room and explored the neighborhood. It's a beautiful place, he should be thankful for where he lives.
"Because they were all asleep." Hope flicks his car keys from the desk. "Make a move before they wake up, shall we?"
Groaning, I slip my hands into the shoulder straps of my bag and follow him out. He knows he can do whatever he wants with me and that's what he's doing. He thinks he's being helpful, kind even. But in reality, he's only making my life worse. I can't stand him, imagine sleeping and sitting and living with him just a few feet away from me.
As we ride through the neighborhood under the light of the rising sun, everything looks beautiful. The houses are considerably larger than the ones in my neighborhood, and way more elegant. It's hard to take my eyes off them. Even though rap music is playing and my rival is sitting to my left, the ride is, dare I say, pleasant.
"Take the right," I instruct over the music. He gives me a puzzled look.
"There's a shortcut through the woods," I explain. "And we'll encounter fewer people on the way; I'll be able to keep my cover."
Hope does as I tell him and finds the forest track. The path isn't as smooth as the road, but I'd rather be uncomfortable than be discovered. I'm still nervous though. I'm clutching my bag so tightly, my knuckles are white.
We pass a clearing in the middle of the woods before being surrounded by trees again. Hope looks at the clearing like he's considering something. Probably how good a picnic spot it will be for his next date.
Oh wait, he's Alexander Hope. He doesn't date people, only beds them.
"What do you keep in that bag of yours?" Hope asks, breaking our almost-silence. Rap music is easy to ignore when it is played so low. He points at the backpack I'm holding tightly. "You never let go of it."
I press my bag closer to my chest. "Nothing."
He extends his right hand and tries to pull the bag away from me.
"Keep your hands on the steering wheel, Hope." I shove his hand off and keep the bag between my seat and the door.
He shakes his head. "Looks pretty light. Honestly, Petrov, is it some love letter?"
I pretend I don't notice the fact that he called me by my first name. "The Picture of Dorian Gray," I correct him. My mom gave me a copy of the book on my tenth birthday. I didn't read it until I was fourteen.
The book means more to me than anything ever has. I'm not a reader - I'm probably the complete opposite of a reader, and I thought Mama was pranking me when I opened the wrapping of her present. It took me years to even start reading it, but when I finished it there was nothing I attached myself to more.
I knew I was different, and The Picture of Dorian Gray was proof that I wasn't alone. There were others like me- other guys who liked guys. They couldn't always show it.
"Who's Dorian Gray?" Hope wriggles his eyebrows. "Secret boyfriend?"
I feel like slapping my forehead. The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde's only novel. It's a freaking classic. I bet this guy doesn't even know who Shakespeare is, forget about Oscar Wilde.
I want to make his head explode by telling him everything I know about my favorite author. I have a terrible urge to fanboy about some dead English gay playwrite but I don't. Instead, I play along.
"Nobody," I mumble.
"Come on! At least tell me how he looks." Jesus Christ, he's buying every word of mine.
"Good. Very good," I say. "But that's none of your concern. Eyes on the road, Hope."
"Is this unrequited love I'm sensing?" He grins widely.
"No."
"So it's requited, then?" He glances at me for a second and winks at me.
I smirk. "Eyes on the road," I repeat.
He nudges me on the shoulder.
"On the road, Hope."
xxx
"I can pick you up when you're done with school," he says as he stops the car a couple of blocks from my school. We unanimously decided this was the closest a Falcon-red car can get to Everly High School so I'll have to walk the rest of the path.
I shake my head. "You don't need to. I'll take the bus. And I'll talk to my team about what they did to Sebastian. I'm sorry for what they did, by the way."
Hope gives me a wry smile. His hair is literally golden under the sun, I have to keep myself from looking at it. "Ivan Petrov's apologizing to me?" He sounds amused in the best way possible. "Damn, that's new. I should've recorded it or something."
"Better late than never, huh?" I mutter, getting out of the car.
"Is this a sign that I have to apologize too?" he asks. "For the way I treated you when you came over and stuff?"
I shrug. "We both know you're not going to do that."
"Well, I could surprise both of us. I'm not that predictable, you know."
"Surprise me then, Hope," I say and walk towards my school. I'll never figure him out - constantly switching between being kind and obnoxious. Another minute with him and I might actually believe he is a good person.
I spot Vinny Donovan and his followers (Ezra Langer and Michael Williams) walking into school. They're exchanging jokes and smoking cigarettes, the smoke rising over their heads as it disappears. All three of them stop on their tracks when they see me. Two of them try to hide their cigarettes behind their back. Donovan takes another drag.
We've never been on good terms, Donovan and I. Coming to senior year, everyone thought he'd be the new captain of our team. But Coach Merton appointed me as the leader, surprising everyone (including me) and since then, Donovan and I haven't seen eye to eye on anything.
"Come here," I demand. Langer and Williams freeze. Donovan starts walking in the other direction.
"I'm your captain. Come here," I repeat. I've never taken my role as captain seriously, but physical violence is something I've never taken lightly. "Or I'll Coach handle this."
I have a feeling they know what I'm talking about, and the guilt plastered on their faces assures me I'm on the right track. The three of them were involved in Sebastian's beat-up, I know that much.
"There's a rumor that Hope's little brother was beaten up by a group of Wildcats. Is that true?"
Donovan raises a brow. He radiates more asshole-vibes than Hope. "Well, there's no reason to suspect us."
Langer and Williams nod hesitantly. They both have goosebumps on their skin. I'm not going to let them go this easily. "Whoever's involved will be sacked immediately. You'll never be able to play for the Wildcats again, and it'll go on permanent record."
Langer and Williams' eyes widen. Donovan keeps his cool and almost looks like he's bored. "If you confess, however, the punishment won't be as steep."
I give them time to think it over. Donovan's obviously still pretending he did nothing, and I'm obviously not buying any of it. I've seen far too many of his antics to fall for them. Langer, on the other hand, looks like he's making the most important decision of his lives.
"We did it," Langer finally admits, not meeting my eyes. Donovan and Williams glare at him. "I didn't mean to-"
Before Williams or Donovan can say anything, I speak. "That's enough. All three of you are benched for the next three games. Extra rounds before practice this whole season, and if you miss practice even once, you won't be playing again. And if I hear of you guys showing any kind of physical violence towards anyone, not just the Falcons, you'll be thrown out of the team, understand?"
"But-" Donovan starts.
"I don't need you to win my games," I say, highly aware of the singular pronouns. "Now leave."
Donovan looks at me for a long time. "When did you become so touchy about the Falcons?"
"I've always been against physical violence."
"But you hated the Falcons more," he says. "I'm not defending my actions, Petrov. But something's changed." He gives me one last suspicious look and walks away with Langer and Williams flanking him.
Donovan finding out about Hope is the absolute last thing on my list. I'm going to have to be more careful.
xxx
When I get out of English, everyone is heading towards the front of the school. By everyone, I don't just mean the football players or cheerleaders or whatever. Every single person is jogging towards the main gate, all for the same reason. It's a freaking stampede. So chaotic, a baby lion could be killed.
I reach the gate and see what must have put the entire school on the run. There's a large poster stuck on the gate. There's a falcon spreading its wings on the poster and beneath it, GO FALCONS is written in big, bold letters.
Now I know why Hope was so eager to drop me here.
"How on earth did they come here without being spotted?" one person asks.
Through a secret route in the woods, I think. I can't believe I trusted Hope. He's the world's biggest jackass. Everyone knows it. I was just stupid enough to question a hardcore fact.
Saying Hope is an asshole is like saying the sun rises in the east. Even if you question it, it won't stop being true.
"This is what you get when you defend a Falcon," Vinny Donovan snarls by my side.
"You shouldn't have attacked his brother," I reply. "You could have beat the shit out of Hope himself and I couldn't have cared less. Leave his brother alone."
"So we're still grounded for the next three weeks?" Langer asks, frowning at the Falcons logo. "We can't go take revenge for what they've done?"
"Benched, Langer," I say. "Not grounded. You can't play our matches, you can do anything apart from that."
Langer smiles coyly. "Of course." He shoves his hands into his pockets and throws his head backwards, wincing at the sky. "I think I've got the perfect plan. Revenge is going to be sweet, my friends."
"Just don't be violent," I mutter but no one hears me.
"Enough of that, Ezra," Vinny Donovan breaks in. "Let's rip this bloody poster into confetti. I can't stand another second with this around. Unless, of course, our captain here thinks it's too violent."
Of course, Donovan has to make it look like it's my fault. It is technically my fault, but not for the reasons he's giving.
The whole team looks at me expectantly. I walk up to the poster and rip it diagonally through the center, so the falcon's head is disjointed from the tail.
"Do whatever you want," I tell the team. "I'm done with Hope."
xxx