Please, let's forget my past

The future looks bright ahead

***

CHAPTER 86:

BATTLE OF EGOS

They say dramatic events can change a person's character. Dying, ending up in a school full of the dead, escaping death three or four more times, discovering love, almost losing the man you love, going mad with fear—yep, I'm pretty sure those qualify as dramatic events. And let's just say, they worked their magic on me. I'd changed so much, I could barely recognize myself anymore.

This morning, it was me who suggested skipping class. Yes, me! After the bombshell Davon dropped and the intense conversation with Mars, I didn't have the strength to carry on with the day. Despite the confident speech I'd given Mars and the promise I'd made to him, my heart was far from calm. All I wanted was to be alone—to make a plan and figure out the right way to confront Dav.

But...

For the first time, my soulmate was the one insisting on going to class. He said he needed to clear his head—or else he'd end up finding "that guy" and tearing his head off. "That guy," of course, was Dav. And obviously, I couldn't let that happen. So, even though guilt gnawed at me for leaving Davon without much explanation, I grabbed Mars's arm and marched us straight to the atelier. I distracted him with questions about class, the teacher, anything I could think of.

Thankfully, it was working. His tense muscles started to relax, his clenched jaw loosened, and his glare softened. That's why I didn't let go of his arm, even though every single soul we passed stared, whispered, and smirked at us. Let them talk, I thought. Soon enough, everyone would know we were dating anyway.

Everyone, including Dav, echoed my voice in my head. My stomach churned. How easily I'd told Mars I'd talk to Dav and sort everything out. But how was I actually going to do it? When was the right time? How much of the truth should I tell him? Would it be wrong to admit I'd never really loved him? Or that I'd found that love in someone else, said yes to being Mars's girlfriend, and figured I'd never see Dav again?

No, no, no! That wouldn't work. I didn't want to break Dav's heart; I wanted him to understand. That meant I had to speak his language, lay everything out with cold, hard logic. We'd always been good friends—always—and we could stay that way. Probably. Time had made the nature of our relationship clear to me. When Dav looked back, he'd see it the same way. Probably. One day, he'd fall in love with someone else, and then he'd finally understand me. Probably.

"Olive!"

Mars's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I hadn't realized we had stopped walking. I hadn't realized we had reached the atelier. Most importantly, I hadn't realized that we were now face-to-face with the one person who absolutely shouldn't have been there.

"Dav?"

"Finally, Lili," Davon said, placing the wooden horse he'd been fiddling with on the table. In two strides, he was in front of me. "You said we'd talk and then disappeared. You were even late for class. That's not like you. If this is how you've been acting in my absence, it's no wonder you're still stuck in this Dorm."

His accusing glare then shifted from me to my soulmate. Under my hand, Mars's arm felt like steel, his whole body rigid. I slowly pulled my hand away and stepped forward, trying to place myself between them.

"Are you... in this class, too?" I asked hesitantly. What cruel twist of fate was this?

But Davon said, "No," pulling a piece of paper from his pocket and holding it out to me. "You dropped this while you were rushing off like you were fleeing a fire. I saw from the letter that this is your class."

"And you just decided to join us?" Mars asked, his tone so hostile that I turned to him in surprise. The carefree, easygoing guy everyone knew was nowhere to be found. Instead, he looked more like a predator ready to pounce. But my ever-confident ex didn't seem fazed.

"Excuse me," Davon said, tilting his chin up. "Who are you, exactly?"

Mars opened his mouth, no doubt to say something sharp, but I quickly intervened. "Mars is my soulmate, Dav."

It was clear that someone had already explained the concept of soulmates and its significance in this realm to him. "Oh, that nonsense," he said, rolling his eyes. "An obsolete, malfunctioning system with no real purpose." He sighed as though bored, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Now that I'm here, you don't need to worry about pointless details like that, Lili. You already have the best partner, and he's right here." He finished his words with a pointed look at Mars before turning away. "Come on, I saved us a table and prepared the materials. Next time, try showing up on time to help."

I opened my mouth to protest, but Mars was quicker. Before I could even utter "Ma...", his hand shot out, grabbing Davon's arm and spinning him around.

"Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to decide something like that?" Mars growled.

"Mars," I said, stepping between them again. I tried to catch his gaze, but his eyes were busy slicing Davon apart with invisible lasers.

"Calm down, buddy," Davon responded lazily. "The Principal is aware of the situation. I discussed my terms with her from the start. If you have a problem, take it up with her. I'm sure we can resolve this like civilized people."

Mars's blue eyes communicated clearly that civility was the last thing on his mind. In one swift movement, he pushed past me and confronted Davon up close. "Listen, buddy, I don't care who you talked to, what you discussed, or what little schemes you're plotting in that head of yours. Olive is my soulmate. She was before you came along, and she will be long after you're gone. If you have a problem with that, I've got other ways of settling it."

I swallowed hard. So did everyone else in the class. Nobody made a sound. I was sure none of them had ever seen Mars argue, let alone fight with someone. We were witnessing a scene that people would talk about for weeks. And if things got any more out of hand, there'd be no coming back. I couldn't let that happen. So, I did the first thing that came to mind: I stepped between the boys for the third time.

"I think," I said, trying to sound as hopeful as possible, "we can find a middle ground. Why don't we..." I looked from Davon to Mars. "Why don't we all work together for this class and see how it goes?"

"No," they said in unison.

I widened my eyes and gave Mars a pleading look, mouthing the word please. It was just for this class! I was going to talk to Dav anyway. He'd understand. Everything would work out.

"Well... I think that's the best idea," said a fourth voice from my right. All three of us turned to the newcomer. He wasn't exactly a stranger. It was Theodor, the freckled redhead who'd been the first to invite me to the carnival. He smiled at us with his shy, endearing grin. "Otherwise, I'll end up being the only one without a soulmate."

My mouth fell open. Davon sighed in irritation. Mars's eyes glinted with sudden mischief. "Wait, wait, wait, are you this boy's soulmate?" he asked, his voice dripping with overly cheerful curiosity.

Davon shook his head from side to side while Theodor nodded up and down.

"Ah, that explains why he's blaming the system," Mars muttered gleefully. His trademark crooked smirk spread across his face. Now it was his turn to be cocky. He threw his arm over my shoulder, pulled me close, and raised his chin proudly. "Well, I guess it's okay if you join us this once. And it's only because it would devastate me to see this poor boy feel left out."

I was certain Mars didn't care one bit about Theodor's feelings. I doubted he even remembered him. This was all about flaunting his "toy" in front of Davon. And in this case, the "toy" was me. The whole situation left a bitter taste in my mouth. I hated Mars's childish stubbornness. I hated Davon's clueless arrogance. I hated being caught between the two of them.

Theodor met my gaze, and for a moment, it seemed he was the only one who understood what it felt like to be a pawn in this passive-aggressive battle of egos. Suddenly, a better idea popped into my head. I slipped out from under Mars's arm.

"Actually, now that I've thought about it, I think working as a group of four might be too much. It's better if Theo and I pair up. You two can take this opportunity to... bond and get to know each other. Let's go, Theo!"

I didn't give either of them time to react. The moment I saw the horror darkening Mars's and Davon's faces, I grabbed Theodor by the arm and dragged him to one of the empty tables. They called out after me. I didn't look back. I quickened my pace. Thankfully, our angel teacher walked into the atelier just in time. Her mere presence silenced both Mars and Davon's protests. I knew I'd have to face both my current and ex-boyfriend later, but right now, I couldn't think of another way out.

Mars and Davon weren't the type to give up easily. Naturally, they rebelled. They refused to be partners. They even tried arguing with the teacher, only to be swiftly shut down. In the end, they trudged over to the table Davon had prepared and sat as far apart as possible, glaring daggers at me.

And so, the longest class of my life began.

Fortunately, our strict teacher left no room for distractions. She handed each group a model to carve by the end of the day, with breaks short and staggered so that no one left the room at the same time. While the rigid discipline was annoying, it also spared me from the inevitable midday brawl between Mars and Dav. For the most part, the day passed without major incident. Besides Mars's sharp remarks and Davon's equally aggressive retorts, they seemed to grudgingly accept they couldn't kill each other, at least for now.

But... everything, good or bad, must come to an end. The lesson finished before we could complete our wooden rabbit, which still lacked one ear, hind legs, and a tail. I prolonged the task of cleaning up our table as much as possible, but the moment our angel teacher left the atelier, both Mars and Davon were by my side.

"Come on, Lili," Davon said. "Let's go somewhere quiet. We need to talk."

"Olive isn't going anywhere with you," Mars snapped. "She's going to talk to me."

Davon smiled condescendingly. "This is a serious matter. We're going to discuss the steps needed to leave this Dorm and go back to our home."

Mars's eyes flickered at the emphasis Dav put on our home. But he quickly masked his irritation, adopting a smug smile. "Oh, how sweet. But what Olive and I have to discuss is far more... spiritual. You wouldn't understand, of course. It's a soulmate thing."

He twined his fingers together dramatically, as if illustrating our bond, and gave an infuriating wink. It was one of those gestures that grated on my nerves. Davon barely managed to keep his smirk in check.

"Olive doesn't need that so-called bond," he said. "We don't plan to stay here long."

Mars chuckled. "Everyone says that at first, pal."

"I'm not everyone, pal," Davon replied, his grin widening. "You'll figure that out soon enough. Let's go, Lili!"

"I said Olive is staying with me!" Mars growled.

Oh God. I was going to lose my mind. Once again, they were bickering like children. Once again, they forgot that the person they were arguing about was standing right there. Once again, I wanted to kick both of them. And once again, the only solution I could think of was to escape. Leaving them to their testosterone-fueled squabble, I headed for the door.

My movement finally reminded them of my existence. "Olive!" and "Lili!" they called in unison, and the next moment, I felt two different hands grabbing my arms.

I shook them both off. "I'm not talking to either of you right now. I'm exhausted. I'm going to my room to rest before dinner."

They frowned at me, for the first time finding common ground in their frustration with me. They were so convinced I would choose one of them that my refusal felt like a betrayal. I understood them, of course. Mars's anxiety. Davon's expectations. The situation we were in was a labyrinth with no apparent exit. That's why I was trying so hard to resolve this with as little damage as possible. That's why I'd asked for time. But it was clear they didn't understand me—or rather, they didn't even try to. They were so blinded by their own desires that my feelings seemed irrelevant to them.

"Whatever you need to talk to me about will have to wait," I said firmly. The sharpness in my voice finally seemed to convince them that I was serious. I used their moment of surprise to slip out the door.

It appeared I would have to handle this the old Olive way: with a solid plan, disciplined effort, and sheer determination. Unfortunately, I was about to discover that relationships are far messier than any math exam.

***