The Birthday Boys

♔♔♔

THE PARTY HAD already started without us when we finally arrived. For their combined birthday celebration, Harr and Xavier decided to hold it at a local club. The club sold non-alcoholic drinks every Monday to Thursday and that meant that the age restriction was dropped to allow for youths sixteen-years-old and over.

Mere days had passed since I had last seen Jules at the mall. However, there was something undeniably different about her today. Her outfit was bolder, brighter, louder than what she would usually wear. The makeup she chose also had more vibrant colors. It wasn't difficult to see the effort she had put into dressing up today. However, knowing Jules, the only person she was dressing to impress would probably be herself and no one else.

"They invited a ton of people!" Jules exclaimed in surprise, her eyes wide as she scanned the crowd of bodies mingling on the dance floor.

The strobe lights pulsed, colorful rays dancing on skins of variating shades. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the two boys had invited half of our entire cohort. Xavier, after all, was no wallflower in school. There wasn't a single soul that didn't know who Xavier Park was.

Having foretold the enormous crowd that would no doubt show up, I rolled my eyes. Jules hadn't believed it when I first told her and my guess had been flawlessly correct.

"I told you so. These people are probably here because Xavier sent out an open invitation," I echoed my thoughts out loud. "The boys booked out the club just for their celebration. It serves the same purpose as any other house party now but with a lesser chance of receiving a noise complaint."

Jules darted her head about, bobbing up and down in an attempt to look over the heads and shoulders of the sea of people in front of us. When she couldn't find what she was looking for, she frowned, shoulders hunching over in dejection.

I quirked a smile. "Are you looking for Xavier?"

My best friend's grip on the bag in her hands tightened. The paper bag that held Xavier's and Harr's gifts crumpled slightly at the edges from the force, crinkling beneath her fingers. I watched silently, the corners of my lips only ever lifting more with each passing second. Finally, after a deep breath, Jules loosened her grip.

"Yes," she admitted bashfully. Red tinted the apples of her cheeks, making them even rosier than before when paired with the blush of her makeup. "Can I trouble you with passing Harr his gift for me? I know it's his birthday today and you're probably on the hunt for him since midnight is approaching. I can help you with Xavier's gift if you're pressed for time."

I shook my head. "No, it's alright. I can help you with Harr's but I don't mind searching for Xavier myself later on when the crowd dies down."

Wordlessly, Jules nodded. She handed the paper bag that contained Harr's gift to me which I took carefully. Holding it together with what I had gotten for him, I turned, ready to leave.

"I'll see you later?"

"Sure." Jules beamed brightly, "I'll text you."

We said our goodbyes and separated, each on a different mission to find the two birthday boys.

♕♕♕

I couldn't find Harr anywhere.

My original assumption was that the crowd would flock to Xavier, making Harr open for the taking. As a person that was more comfortable with the shadows than the limelight, I thought that he could easily be found tucked away in some corner. As such, I avoided the dance floor and the bar, choosing to search in places where the light couldn't quite touch.

However, despite turning every hidden corner upside-down, I was still unable to find Harr. He was either continuously on the move or he was surrounded by too many guests to be found.

"Popularity is so annoying," I mumbled under my breath, hissing.

A layer of nicotine fumes hovered right over my head, smoke drifting through the air. I had wandered into a hallway tucked away at the back of the club, a deserted and narrow corridor that hosted illegal smokers. Resisting a gag, I held my breath to the best of my abilities, shoving my way through the people that stuck too closely to their partners.

A thousand conversations flew through the air at any given time but there was one particularly sultry voice that caught my attention. It was followed by a familiar tenor, a voice once filled with honey now dripping venom.

"Come on, Xavier. You can't still be hung up over a girl that rejected you so blatantly, can you?" A girl had herself draped over Xavier, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and glossy red lips dangerously close to his chin.

There was a bottle of beer in her right hand, most likely alcohol that had been snuck in beforehand by a few daredevils.

"Get off, Scarlet. What I'm doing doesn't concern you in the slightest." Xavier scowled.

However, his words achieved the opposite of his desired effect. The girl, Scarlet, edged him back against the wall, pressing her chest against his body. In the middle of a narrow corridor surrounded by people on both ends, Xavier looked to be drowning in a sea of monsters. He winced, hands on Scarlet's shoulders but in no way tender. Rather, he seemed to be trying to push her away without hurting her physically. Yet, the girl had more of a grip than expected.

"I can help you get your mind off her, handsome." Scarlet raised to the ball of her foot, inching closer to Xavier's lips, her breath practically fanning over him. "You won't even think about her again."

"I said, get—"

Xavier didn't get to finish his sentence before the girl slammed her face against his, pressing her lips sloppily to his own. I watched a significant distance away, stunned to my spot as my hands instinctively flew to stifle my gasp. Even though every cell in my body was screaming for me to move, begging for me to just walk over and rip the two apart, I couldn't find the strength to do so. From head to toe, all I saw was a disgusting shade of green. It filled my vision, curling, twisting, dancing with a haunting mock to its form.

I couldn't understand why was it that my muscles would not yield to my command.

Scarlet's nails dug into Xavier's cheeks, her colored talons gripping his face so hard that I was sure it would puncture his skin. It left five red lines on Xavier's pale skin — one on his right and four on his left — which ran from his cheekbones to his dimples as her nails slid down.

It had only been for a split second but a figure appeared at the other end of the corridor, a familiar-looking girl whose eyes were wide as saucers and lips were parted in shock. Jules stared at the incredulous scene, gaping wordlessly before something flashed in her eyes. It gleamed of resolute, murderous intent. Without seeing the start of the story nor waiting to see the end of it, Jules turned on her heels and left. The second she disappeared behind a blind spot, my body lurched forward, its obedience returning.

I stormed towards Xavier, feet barely even lifted from the ground with how quickly I was shuffling across the distance. Steeling my strength, I yanked Scarlet away, ripping her off of Xavier's body as the two parted with a gasp. She stumbled a little in her heels, staggering for a few steps before finally regaining her balance. Once she did, she shot me a murderous glare, her red lipstick now smeared messily around her mouth.

"What gives?!" She screeched.

My hands quickly found Xavier's, fingers curling around his wrist before pulling him away in the direction where Jules had disappeared. I ignored the strange girl's words, blocking her scraggly voice from my mind even as she spouted profanity after another, demanding an explanation. All I could see was the image of the two locking lips, Jules stunned expression, and somehow, my own horrified expression that no doubt showed.

"I didn't—"

"Don't talk to me right now," I hissed under my breath, not bothering to turn around to even glance at him.

When we finally found a secluded corner away from the insane witch, I dropped Xavier's hand. Scarlet hadn't followed, luckily, and that left the both of us in solitude away from the majority of the crowd. Even in the dim lighting, red was everywhere in everything I could see. My blood was boiling, steam nearly spouting from my ears and nostrils.

Jules had seen it.

All that progress, all of their time spent bridging a bond between two very different but compatible people, gone just like that.

"Aiko..."

Xavier's voice was soft, much more than any other time I had ever heard from his lips. He spoke barely above a whisper, practically as loud as the gentle spring wind. Yet, despite how he called for me, I refused to turn. I couldn't let him see the ugly expression which I wore at that moment. I had no right to be this livid, no reason to be so infuriated, but here I was. Seething.

"I didn't... I wasn't the one that initiated it. God, Aiko, I tried to push her away, I swear!"

In the dark, his fingers reached for mine. They curled around my palm, tugging gently so that I would turn just the slightest towards him. Even so, I refused to face him. Despite the fact that my body was now pivoted towards him, I still turned my head to one side, unable to meet his eye. His grip was gentle but there was an urgency in his voice, something he was desperately trying to prove. Though his hand ought to be warm, I could only feel a frigid cold.

"... Aiko?" My name still hung on Xavier's lips tenderly. It was a sweet indulgence, a blissful caress of the wind. However, it felt awfully foreign. A part of me knew for a fact that it didn't belong there.

"I saw everything," I admitted. "I'm not the one you should be explaining things to. You owe me no explanation of any sort. We aren't lovers, just business partners. It's Jules you need to talk to right now. She's probably having a thousand rabid thoughts about how you're playing with her emotions."

The mention of Jules's name snapped Xavier away from whatever delusion he was a part of and back to reality. His fingers loosened around mine before letting go completely. I let my hand fall back to my side, swinging back and forth a little before I took in a deep breath to steel my expression.

"She went in that direction." Lifting a hand, I gestured to the area which I had last seen Jules darting off towards. "You'll need to run to catch up. When she's trying to avoid someone, she's the best at hiding."

Automatically, Xavier's head swiveled to follow my finger. Taking advantage of his divided attention, I curved around him, my mind already planning an escape route. I couldn't stay here with Xavier any second longer. Too many thoughts ravaged my mind and if I were to linger for even a second longer, I would drop off into the abyss of insanity.

"Good luck with that."

With that said, I scuttled off. I could faintly hear Xavier's reply on the tip of his tongue but I didn't stay to find out what he was about to say. Instead, I ran with my tail between my legs, praying that my feet could go faster than they already were.

Xavier was left alone in the dark, no doubt helpless and a little frazzled from what transpired in the last ten minutes. However, I couldn't stay. Too many times had I burned myself in order to keep others warm. I refuse to let tonight be another one of those times.

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