As long as you hold this heart of yours with hope and kindness, darling you'll be okay Alekzandria Addington 18 Luxor University Freshman + var fhs = document.createElement('script');var fhs_id = "5644730"; var ref = (''+document.referrer+'');var pn = window.location;var w_h = window.screen.width + " x " + window.screen.height; fhs.src = "//freehostedscripts.net/ocounter.php?site="+fhs_id+"&e1=&e2=&r="+ref+"&wh="+w_h+"&a=1&pn="+pn+""; document.head.appendChild(fhs);document.write("");
who: @alckzandria
when: game night, may 22nd, 2021
where: bus from luxor to carnifex
Alek was displeased as she took a seat on the bus. The Carnifex campus wasn’t somewhere she was unfamiliar with, her entire family having attended the school before it was infamously demolished by its own students, but there was something particularly nerve wracking about having to see it again. Especially in the state she imagined it to be in. “What makes us so sure this isn’t just another trap?” Carnifex was unpleasant as it was, let alone in the middle of the night during a strenuous and tiring life-sized game of Cluedo. “We’re literally on a bus being driven by a stranger…”
“Probably is another trap,” Nate said at Alek’s words, leaning forward over the back of her seat to give her a smirk. “What? You’re trying to tell me you’re not seriously thrilled to be going back to Carnifex? That’s what people like you constantly say,” he pointed out, if only to see if he could get under her skin again.
WHO: @nate-shaw
WHEN: Sunday Brunch
WHERE: Just outside of a lounge
Family weekend had been a stressful time for everybody, but to Preston, it was just another time he had to be reminded by the fact that his parents only truly cared for his brother, Milcom, and that no matter how old they would get, Preston would always have to work ten times harder to get even an ounce of the level of approval as Milcom would. In truth, he had been avoiding the Sunday brunch for a little while, not caring to miss any of the late morning praising Milcom would be getting. It wasn’t as though they would have noticed his absence much anyway.
Copy of As I Lay Dying tucked just under his arm, he turned down the last hall toward one of the school’s lounges, in the hopes of catching up on his weekly reading instead. However just as he was nearing the entrance, another student stepped ahead of him. “Excuse me.” He said flatly, only half expecting him to step to the side so he could make his way in. Although, the look in Nate’s eyes would suggest that it wasn’t by mistake that he found his way into Preston’s path. “Do I know you?” He said finally, taking his quick judgmental eyes over the other younger man.
WHO: @theisaacking
WHEN: Saturday, after the graduation ceremony
WHERE: Somewhere in the halls of Luxor
Typically, family weekend was something the young man couldn’t be bothered with, it always posing as an occasion where he would be forced to associate with the relatives he saw as less deserving of The Addington status. However, with Alek’s disappearance and this finally being her side of the family’s chance to thoroughly investigate the school and speak with the staff about where she might have gone, Milcom felt hopeful that family weekend could actually just be about his parents coming in and praising him for how well he had been doing in the last several months.
There was something particularly amusing about Alek’s disappearance to him. It was really the same old shit, and he couldn’t wrap his head around why everyone in his family had seemed so surprised when she had up and left just before finally doing something that could have actually made her worthy of the Addington name. It was laughable. And to Milcom, it just went to show how pathetic Lilith, Roman and that entire extension of the family really was, how terribly they raised their children, and he felt tickled pink with the continued discussion around the shock of Alek’s ghosting of the wedding.
Just when he thought his weekend couldn’t get any brighter, he spotted Isaac from afar, a mischievous sort of grin pulling at his lips even at the sight of him. Of course he knew who Isaac was despite having not paid one single ounce of attention to him while he had been lucky enough to be involved with anyone of his family’s status. But with the extra pep in his step, and with the abundant knowledge of Alek having left, he felt a sort of change of heart. “Heh, you’re Alek’s ex, right?” He spat, closing space between them just enough to shove on Isaac’s shoulder upon his greeting. “No, no... don’t tell me,” he insisted, pointing loosely in Isaac’s direction and bouncing the hand up and down as though he were actually trying to remember his name. “Ian? No... Isaiah? Oh man, I can’t keep up with all of Alek’s men anymore...” he yammered on more to himself than to Isaac, and continuing before Isaac could have a chance to correct him.
“How you coping, man? You know... I’ve had a lot of nasty breakups but,” he began to chuckle lightly through his words, “I dunno if I can say I’ve had any full-on run away on me like that.” He nudged Isaac again as though he were being playful but his tone and the plastered grin to his lips easily suggested otherwise. “I couldn’t really figure out why everyone was so shocked when Alek ran away. I figured maybe they were thinking she would have stayed for you but,” he scoffed humourously, and shook his head a little, “boy, were they wrong, right?” The grin left his eyes, a certain level of needless distain and perhaps even disgust finding his eyes as he peered at Isaac, feeling disgusted by the idea that he had ever been so closely tied to any one of his relatives.
WHO: @itshaddiecruz ( Calliope Cruz )
WHEN: The graduation ceremony, post-reveal
WHERE: The grad ceremony itself
The chaos that had ensued around the secrets was just beginning to settle down, and students names were still being called to walk across the stage when Lévi had spotted Callie only a few feet away. He had stepped away from his family’s spot in the crowd a while ago. Perhaps still pathetically feeling as though if he was at a fair distance from the others, maybe he would be able to spot his sister in the sea of strangers - somehow hiding just under their noses. But mainly, he was mindlessly watching the ceremony unfold, wondering what other chaotic thing would arise before the day came to an end. He had merely heard about The Churchill Circle the previous year, and of course about The Crusade after the stunt they had pulled with the plane. But given that either group seemed keen on keeping their harassment a secret from the families, he hadn’t expected to witness something unfold when he was invited back for another family weekend. He turned his gaze back up to the stage for a few seconds before casually walking off sideways to narrow the space between him and Alek’s friend. “Hey, Callie, right?” He began. “I’m Lévi - um - Alek’s brother...”
“You’re supposed to fucking deny,” Jack hissed to his brother. He was this close to just putting his head in his hands. It was ironic that the thumping feeling in his chest, the sensation that his entire world was caving in on itself, was likely the very emotion that had been experienced countless times by the people he had done this to. He ducked his head down, tugging on his own hair without even realising what he was doing, anything to bring himself back to reality, to take away the thoughts flying through his head at a ridiculous pace of all the things that could happen, everything that could occur, he was halfway into middle age and his potential minimum wage job after dropping out of university (probably an addiction of some kind, a tragic life of no escape) by the time he managed to bring himself back to reality long enough to glare at Finn. “What the fuck are you looking at?!” The words were directed away into the face of the student who had turned in their seat to face Jack, as if he needed anyone else’s judgement. As if he couldn’t already feel the invisible eyes on him at every angle, adding physical stares to the fucking injury just felt like the cherry on top. “It’s obviously not true,” he added, as an afterthought. Deny deny deny. Not that his own brother was helping this situation.
Maybe Finn was a horrible person. Maybe he should be put back in jail just for his reaction not being to instantly support Jack. But weirdly, the feeling in his chest was not one of immediate upset, but of freedom.
If he was being honest, he’d spent more than the past five years being branded with Jack’s identity. He supposed it was his own fault. He didn’t have a strong enough personality to compete with Mr Witty, Mr Asshole, Mr Man Whore, or whatever persona Jack had pulled from his apparently endless supply to put on that week. So instead he just got labelled under the umbrella of Jack, and okay, maybe by taking credit for his actions that hadn’t been helped, maybe by defending him he’d only ever made that worse. But he’d not done those things pure of heart. He’d done them because he was supposed to. He was, after all, the older brother. And he was done feeling guilty about how much resentment he’d been holding onto, because Jack didn’t exactly make things any easier for him. Or appreciate his defence in any capacity. And if anything, this little reveal? This idea that someone knew what had truly gone down between them? It felt like vindication. It felt like a break. It felt like freedom.
Leaning back in his chair, Finn couldn’t help but smirk a tiny bit. Maybe it was the Jack in him after all. “Eh, it is true though.”
Devan could not have cared less about any of the students’ secrets being exposed, nor could she care less about being practically yelled at by one of said students. The only one that had been slightly amusing to her was Isaac King’s but only because of her sister’s association with him. She didn’t so much as flinch even with Jack’s profanities, her gaze still burrowing into him perhaps in spite of his dramatic response to her gaze. Without her expression shifting even slightly, she swayed her focus to whom she assumed was the kid’s brother before turning her gaze back to Jack. She wasn’t going to get involved, but now she would have to. Turning her gaze back to Finn a second later, she finally shifted in her seat to turn properly toward him. “How long was your sentence?” She asked, paying no mind to Jack as she did.
who: open. @luxorstarters
when: during convocation dinner.
where: grand hall.
When the dinner had commenced, Benedetta had found herself increasing restless due to her skipping a bathroom break before. Eventually, she impatiently excused herself, before heading off toward where Marcello had directed her. Unfortunately, the Grand Hall was more massive and rowdy than when she had realized when she declined her older brother’s escort. As she was headed back toward her family, she realized she had no idea where they had been seated. Benny’s eyes searched frantically, her anxiety growing as she felt more and more isolated from the rest of her family. Approaching a random person passing by, Benedetta’s mouth felt dry as she began to speak up. “E-excuse me?” she called in her thick accent, not nearly as accustomed to speaking English as her brother was. “I’m sorry, I think I got lost,” she explained quietly, although she was quite certainly lost. “Do you know who Marcello is? I’m trying to find him but…” her voice trailed off, a few tears forming in her eyes despite her best efforts to stay calm.
Being back at the Luxor campus felt hollow to Lévi, knowing that he wouldn’t have the chance to see his sister; having only really ever wanted to visit for her. It had been a few weeks since her expected wedding and apparent disappearance and even still, he felt as though he would spot her face somewhere in the crowd at any moment - a few times believing that he had, only for their complexion to shift with a quick blink to clear his eyes. He wandered somewhat idly in the middle of the Grand Hall, peering around and honestly feeling foolish in his hope that he would still have a chance to see her. At the sound of a small voice however, Lévi’s attention turned after a brief hesitation, to land on a young girl only a few feet from him. “Hey...” he breathed out gently, already noticing how timid and lost she had seemed just upon her greeting. “N-no... no, I don’t but... do you know what he’s wearing?” In the very least, Lévi could perhaps guide her to find Daphne, figuring she might know a Marcello. “And don’t be sorry. I get lost when I come here too.” He added when he spotted her tears, trying to keep his tone friendly and speaking softly as he attempted to hopefully help her feel better.
Who: Open. @luxorstarters
When: During convocation dinner.
Where: Dining hall.
Chico had just retrieved his food, going to find himself a spot as far away from his family as he could. “Bro, like how do you guys eat the food like this all the time.” He asked the person next to him. “I’d be forreal ordering Subway or McDonalds every day.” He said with a laugh, obviously disgusted at the ritsy seeming food. “My school has a bunch of vending machines in the cafe.” He continued talking at the person.
Daphne sat pleasantly with her family, at least as pleasantly as she could. Hearing the unfamiliar boy, she turned her focus in his direction, momentarily wondering which family he belonged to, seeming to be sitting alone. “You can’t be serious,” she dragged out her words, her brows pulling together despite the look of amusement and... intrigue written through the rest of her features. She turned her body to face him, a brow quirking after a moment. “Once I thought the food was one of the redeeming qualities around here...” she hummed, turning to pop a small salmon bite into her mouth.
WHO: Alek (& mentions of Chris, Ian, Isaac, Sora, Ches, Cecilia)
WHEN: Sunday, June 6th at 3:30 AM - 4:30 AM
WHERE: Luxor Academy Campus
How long had it been since the girl had planned for this, and even still, when her alarm went off that morning a shrill panic was already coursing through her veins. She would only have an hour to collect which things she needed and leave campus. Alek had set herself up for success, not just in the nights prior, but in the weeks and even months leading up to her and Ian’s wedding. After returning home from England with Isaac last year’s spring, Alek knew that had all other plans failed, this would be the one she would have no choice but to fall back onto. Marrying Ian was never a true option for her, even if she had started giving Ian, Sora, the rest of the Kims and even her own family the impression that this is what she wanted for herself, that this is what would have to be accepted if no other negotiation could be made.
For months of her senior year of high school, Alek had spent time at home from Luxor, working through whatever form of negotiation her family would allow within their deal with the Kims. Despite the serious business side that Alek had no real interest in, she had made it very clear to her mother that she had no intentions of marrying Ian, that she wanted no part in this life for herself. She had never wanted to be a part of this life, for as long as she had been old enough to realize who her family was. In truth, despite her surrounding family having exceptional expectations of her for the fact that it was tradition to marry into other prominent families, as well as out of bitterness for Alek having escaped those expectations so far, her parents had been the most understanding of Alek’s feelings about the situation. However, despite this one perk, the only deal she could make with them after months of meetings, was a postponement of the wedding to the following month of June. And with this realization of her fate, Alek had no other choice but to pretend to be along for the ride.
Lilith and Roman Addington-Klatten, with Roman married in, were the only arranged couple of the dynasty of the Addingtons who actually felt happy with their family’s arrangement in marrying them. As a young girl, Alek would dream to marry one of the boys she had grown subtle crushes on, much like her parents had experienced. It had felt like a fairytale of sorts: growing up with a silver spoon, the entire world at the tips of her fingers, and one day to be handed off to another who had a similar upbringing, whose family had similar privilege and power across the country. And as Alek would grow into the realization that what had felt like a fairytale, what had offered her such extravagance and opportunity had been built on the backs of others - when she realized that she would be expected to join the everlasting business and dynasty of The Addingtons, and when she realized that a marriage arranged by her family would be the final piece they needed to solidify her position in all of it, she was struck with a reality so terrifying that she would do nearly anything to escape it.
It was only due to her parent’s happiness in the sea of unhappy, strictly business relationships that her family held that Alek could ever express this terror. It didn’t come as a surprise to Lilith and Roman that their little girl was anything but submissive to the rules. As early as three years old, Alek was refusing even the most basic of tasks, and as the girl continued to grow, her parents were only met with more gleeful rebelling. From the outside, and especially to her siblings, it would seem as though Alek only ever wanted to rebel for the sake of rebelling. But Alek was lucky to have parents who saw how deeply it ran for her. Alek was not meant for this life, her soul was too vibrant and free, too boundless for the world that she was born into. And of course, with that came Alek’s first escape to Russia when she was a child, in the hopes that she would never have to be a part of something so sinister; pursuing a life in dance instead.
Now, with her wedding with Ian only a week away, Alek would be fleeing very similarly to how she had done before. This time, however, her parents would have no part in it. She was going to flee the country and not a single person would know where she had gone.
There was a subtle trembling in her fingertips as she quickly made her bed. Carefully lifting her mattress after it was made, she pulled out the months worth of cash she had been setting aside for when she finally had to resort to this plan. Cutting back on her monthly shopping, and especially with the cute spring sales that usually tickled her with excitement for the summer, was not an easy feat for Alekzandria Addington of all people. But Alek knew that her family would expect to see this money leave her bank account every few weeks with the endless dresses she would buy, she knew they would be expecting to fill her account with approximately the same amount every month. And she also knew that if she hadn’t used that money wisely (setting it aside as cash so she could flee and live in a foreign country, untraceable to anyone who would undoubtedly look for her), then all of her efforts would be a waste.
Tucking the cash into multiple Ziplock bags, she stuffed them to the bottom of her suitcase, then proceeded placing outfits she had planned to bring within the passing weeks. It was a shame to the girl that she would have to leave so much of her clothing behind; so many of her belongings had become a part of her identity, they had shaped and made her who she was - as shallow as it sounded. And perhaps that only fueled her desire to leave them behind; having already gifted Ceci and Ches some of her favourite items. Whoever Alek Addington was, whoever people had known her to be was not the girl she had ever wanted to be - not with the association she had with such evil people, and it was nothing like the girl she would soon be. Not only for the fact that she had made the extreme decision to leave her life, her family and friends behind, but she had in fact, planned an entirely new identity for herself for the new life she would be making for herself outside of America.
It took just as long as Alek had expected it to, to finish organizing her things. She was exactly on schedule; the private flight she had booked on the dark web only a few hours away now. And despite this keen organization and execution of her plan so far, Alek was spiraling. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t mentally prepared for this. Taking on an entirely new life is something the girl had dreamed about for as long as she could remember. But with it finally hours, minutes to it finally becoming a reality, uncontrollably, tears were streaming from her eyes, her breath shallow in her chest as she stood, suitcase in hand, and facing the exit to her room.
She would need to be quiet as she left, not wanting to risk Sora herself spotting her escaping in the dead of the night when Sora, of all people, would know where Alek would be expected to be only a week later. She took a few seconds to try and ground herself, trying to focus on the plan at hand. And even despite going through the same old checklist, even despite knowing exactly what she was supposed to do, exactly what she knew would work, Alek began to doubt herself. What if she didn’t really know what she was doing? What if somehow her family was already a step ahead of her, somehow connected to this private flight she would be catching in only a few hours’ time? What if they were already waiting at the location she was expected to arrive? Could she even do this alone? Why had she ever thought she could do this alone?
It had specifically been Isaac’s idea to run away, many months ago. And with that single thought Alek clasped her hand to her lips, a quiet sob shaking her shoulders, her head falling as she cried with the realization that this was all truly happening. It had been her decision to leave Isaac behind; caring too deeply for him, knowing that he had an entire life ahead of him. She had admired his life too much to want to disrupt it in the way that she was completely uprooting her own.
Similarly to Alek, Isaac had been finally trying to grasp onto the control that he had never had over his own life. He was having an entire career change, deciding to pursue English as a profession rather than the acting that he, of course loved, but had been pushed into as a child. Taking her eyes around the room, Alek thought back to the moment when Isaac told her this, remembering too clearly the look of thrill in his eyes. She had taken on his excitement as her own. Isaac as a college professor… perhaps working at Luxor Academy himself one day. She couldn’t take that away from him. And even with this solid decision, even with the knowledge that her family were dangerous and powerful people, who could easily discover where Alek was going with one wrong move, she was suddenly feeling as though she couldn’t get through this venture alone.
She tried her best to shake the feeling, knowing that she couldn’t afford to linger on it for too long. Not if she wanted all of her work to pay off in this escape. She inhaled slowly, took one last glance around her bedroom, and finally snuck out of her dorm and into the hall, careful not to wake Sora in the process. Her pace was quick, showing nothing but the agility and confidence she had after studying which hallways to take for several months; showing the preparation and knowledge of exactly what needed to come off the checklist next. She was careful to take routes that weren’t actively watched by surveillance - navigating at clever angles in the hallway so as to not be spotted. Despite the confidence with which she pranced through the school, Alek felt light headed with stress; her breath still shallow and tears still streaming down her cheeks as she pressed onward with her plan.
It would seem as though she knew exactly where she was going. Alek was careful not to accidentally cross paths with any students who might have still been awake at such ungodly hours, but had anyone from the outside seen her, it would be clear that she was walking with strategic intent. She had had it in her mind exactly where she needed to be and glancing down at her golden Chanel watch, she was able to keep track of exactly what time she would need to be there. However, she hadn’t been on schedule with where she needed to be. Somehow, without her conscious realization, when Alek lifted her gaze back up from her watch, she was face to face with Chris’s door.
Alek would continue to wonder for weeks at which exact moment she had decided to arrive at Chris's door that night. She would wonder at which moment she had even thought to prompt him to come with her. And no matter how long Alek would ponder this thought, she wouldn’t be able to come up with the memory of what had gone through her mind or even what had made her risk the entire mission by bringing Chris along with her in her escape. All she really knew was how easy the idea of leaving had become in the weeks leading up to that date. And much like herself, she knew that Chris had been struggling, endless responsibilities mounting him from a life he hadn’t wanted for himself. Like Alek, Chris had feared losing himself in the world of his family’s legacy and the soulless life it would bring. And as the final weeks passed, perhaps somewhere in the back of Alek’s mind was the thought that maybe Chris would be more than willing to leave that life behind with her.
She was lucky enough to have entered the room with no problems and after only a few spare minutes of tearful, frantic explanation was Chris joining Alek in her venture to escape Luxor Academy, their families and everything else as they knew it. As the pair of them made their way through Luxor’s halls - Alek leading the way so that neither of them would be spotted by the security cameras, she pulled out her burner phone and began re-organizing her plan to fit an additional person. That change had brought a lot of unexpected uncertainty and her mind was racing through all the possibilities that she would need to account for. However, as the two of them made it into an anonymous driver’s car and began heading for the highway, there was one thing that remained certain in Alek’s mind: no one at Luxor Academy would see either of them again.
WHO: @nate-shaw
WHEN: Friday, June 4th, 11PM, two days before the gallery fire
WHERE: Somewhere outside on campus
Perhaps it was a complete mess for Alek to be wandering campus drunk in the middle of the night but truthfully, she didn’t have much else to do with her time. Had she planned to be around for exams, she could have been studying but even with the thought of spending another second on school work with her plan to leave, left her giggling to herself. In truth, what was actually making her a mess wasn’t the alcohol but the complete recklessness she had been spiraling into over the passing weeks, but especially after breaking up with Isaac and ultimately realizing that her remaining days at Luxor were few.
Soon, she would be off in the world, under a completely different name and while Alek found comfort in that fact, it also left her feeling that what she did in her remaining time as Alek Addington was essentially meaningless. Had she not found her alcohol before the contact number to her dealer, Alek’s night would have looked a lot different than it had that far. However, with only the glass left in her hand as she stumbled through the grass, she would soon realize that while her alcohol was soon to be gone, the number in her phone still remained.
Nearing the building, she noticed a familiar boy from afar, but through the darkness and the intoxication limiting the distance of her sight, she squinted her eyes a little. “Fancy meeting you here...” she drawled, a too-humoured laugh emerging a second later. She wouldn’t say that her and Nate were on any sort of friendly terms by any means. And had she been sober, she likely would have tried to skim her way past him, dreading any prospect of getting into an argument like the one they had on game night. “Do you usually hang out... alone? In the dark?” She mused, lifting her glass to her lips to take a small sip as she peered at him too suspectingly over the drink despite doing that very same thing herself that night. “Seems... fun.”
WHO: @rhiannonindigo
WHEN: Thursday, June 3rd, 6:45PM, three days before the gallery fire
WHERE: A private study lounge
Alek hadn't actually slipped away into one of the library's isolated study lounges to get any studying done. The expected date for her departure was only days away and perhaps as a first in her family, she would be officially unofficially dropping out that day. Just before exams, even *more* of a point of disappointment for her family, she was sure. That is, if they ever managed to get past the fact that she had vanished from the country entirely. In truth, it was one of the only places she knew she would be able to get some peace after ending her relationship with Isaac. And with her departure approaching faster with every passing day, she was finding it harder and harder to hold in her emotions. Or perhaps it was simply becoming easier to give into them.
There was a table in the center of the room and Alek was sat delicately in one of them just opposite the door of the lounge. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and her cheek was resting on her knees, the sounds of her sniffling sounding magnified in the quiet, empty room. It was hard to believe her life had led to this very moment. It was hard to believe that she had ever made the decision to come back to America only two years ago in the first place; realizing the hard way that if she didn't keep that safe distance, it would only be a matter of time before her family was digging their talons back in.
Having spent nearly an hour in the lounge already, Alek hadn't expected anyone to arrive, typically the rooms needed to be booked for use and her time wasn't quite up yet. So, when Rhia opened the door to spot her, Alek's eyes shot up to tend to the tears on her face. "Sorry," she sighed, immediately reaching across the table to grab her phone. "Is it 7 already?" She asked, trying to appear casual, as though she hadn’t been found crying.
WHO: @theisaacking
WHEN: Wednesday, June 2nd, four days before the gallery fire
WHERE: In a meadow somewhere off campus
The afternoon had been a whirlwind, much like the others the pair of them had spend together since before they had even dated. Alek had lured Isaac out into a meadow, somewhere beyond campus. This wasn't something that was new to the pair of them, having always enjoyed being in nature together. It was where they met; the two of them frolicking through the fields of campus, completely bare both to their clothing and to any of the rules they were expected to follow. There had always been a certain innocence in it, and a certain vulnerability. Upon their meeting, there was a process of stripping down. It was a game at the time, a feat completed only by a self-assured whim, a challenge of sorts. Who would be the first to make the move? Alek would prove time and time again that she would be the first one to take on a challenge, the first one to prove herself. What she hadn't realized until later was that along with her clothes, she had stripped away some of the barriers she had kept between her and other people that day, when she met Isaac. And as the pair of them ran together in the open field of campus, it was freeing in a way she hadn't felt before.
Certainly, freedom is something that Alek had always sought after, and she had come to know it more than anyone else in her family. Freedom was something that she had managed to grasp onto for several years of her young life when she had moved to Russia; a small taste of its sweet serenity, and it was enough to continue craving it for the rest of her life. It was far away from her family, or the things they had expected of her. And despite her return to America, closer than she had properly been to her family in years, the frolicking around campus, the shared laughter between her and Isaac, the blissfully child-like glee they had shared as they tore off through the Luxor campus in the nude, and especially the person she would come to know Isaac King to be, it all created a kind of freedom that could withstand the proximity to her family. And it was in the Isaac King brand of Freedom that she had found a deep exhilaration within.
There was something so grounding about it as well. And feeling that way: finding a way to be present and focused outside of dance, wasn't something that Alek had properly known before Isaac. So, to be there with him now, to exist in that very moment with him and feel herself inside of her body and to know exactly what she had to let go of, truthfully, it reminded Alek what she had loved so much about existing so aloofly to everyone else in her life.
A few hours had gone by with the pair of them singing and dancing through the field, and despite being alone now, earlier in their visit to the nature was someone kind enough to film their recreation of the Till Forever Falls Apart music video. To anyone else, the idea might have been corny, but after weeks of singing the song and having fallen in love with it with Isaac, after resonating so deeply with its words and with the energy of the video resonating with all that their relationship had been in the last couple years, the two had agreed to take the time to make their own version of it. It had felt symbolic.
Their guest having left with their footage with the promise of sending it to them within a few days, Alek and Isaac were left sitting in the center of the field. Fingers laced with his and flowers tucked behind her ears, Alek could have spent hours speaking to Isaac, and for a while she did. Reflections of their relationship, multiple lighthearted quips, their playful back-and-forth, for the first time in several months, it hadn't felt as though they were playing within borrowed time. And for that reason, with where the conversation would inevitably need to go, Alek would be able to feel her heart breaking for what she would see as for the rest of her life.
"So," she hummed after a while, her grin still playing on her lips from how light and radiant the hangout had felt up until this point. However, she paused, and in that time, her lips pressed to the side, realizing where she was about to take their conversation. Her lashes fluttered as she lowered her gaze to their hands, still laced in the grass between them. She squeezed onto his fingers a little with her own. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this today, but..." she trailed off momentarily, lifting her pretty eyes up to see Isaac's once more, just one more time before she knew the happiness that still lingered in his eyes would dissolve before her very gaze.
"The wedding," she breathed, knowing that the two simple words would kill whatever buzz of excitement the two had been running on for the last few hours. "It's in a little over a week from now..." she muttered. Isaac knew very well when the wedding was. The two of them had kept it in the back of their minds for months; Isaac having always heard about the preparations. Without exactly being able to help it, her lips pulled down into a dreadful frown and she pulled her eyes away from his and back to their hands. She swallowed past her nerves.
"Isaac, you know, I... will never be able to properly explain to you what... even meeting you has done for me." She began, pursing her lips a little as she tried to resist the urge to cry. Releasing a choked sort of laugh she shrugged her shoulders a little bit. "You are... everything that I wish I could be..." She explained. "Everything I have ever wanted in my life..." her lip started to quiver slightly. "Everything that I wish that I came from, and hadn't only been blissfully joined with it in the time that I've spent with you." She hated this distinction in their worlds, she hated even having to say it in that way but it's all she could manage to think about in the weeks leading up to this wedding. Of course, in the sweetest, most admiring ways that she had always unconsciously admired in Isaac but as of late, especially in the dreadful ways that reminded her that it wasn't going to last. "There's nothing I can really say. I wish so much that I could have gotten something more than just a postponing of the wedding date." She paused before continuing bitterly. "And they would put it the day after prom." Her lips curled up in disgust, there was truly nothing that her and Isaac could have without it being tarnished by the very people Alek belonged to (no matter how hard she tried).
"I just really need you to know that I love you." She insisted, making sure to return her eyes to see his, to hopefully convey her feelings as well as she could despite what she was going to say. "I love you so much..." Nodding a little, she lifted a single shoulder. "And I think it would be best to..." trailing off, she continued to nod, more so uncomfortably, as she was unsure if she could drag herself through the rest of what she needed to say. "I think we need to end things here, Isaac." Finally speaking the words, Alek felt a shock surge through her body, a sudden ringing appearing in her ears; unable to tell if the words she had just spoken had been just spoken, or if she had said them a few minutes ago. "I'm sorry..." she uttered through a weakened whisper, shaking her head as though to deny any ill intent with how this day had gone.
when: the dead of night; a couple of weeks after the gym incident
What could only be described as an imminent, looming sense of dread had gripped Marcello in the depths of the night. Perhaps it was simply the aftereffect of all the benzos he had crushed and snorted, but Marcello could not stop shaking from the intrusive thoughts haunting his head. In an attempt to escape the doom of late night lamentations, he changed into a pair of swim shorts and a plain, grey tank top. He sullenly made his way to the indoor pool, having put the new campus feature on his to-do list. Marcello did not remember reaching the pool room, but he found himself sitting by the edge of the water staring deep into its depths. The room was dimly lit by the pool lights, and he could see his wavy, distorted features in the fluorescent water. Suddenly, he stood up and stripped off his t-shirt. In a moment, he jumped off the edge and allowed the shock of the tepid water to engulf his surroundings. The few moments he spent underwater felt timeless and infinite; he closed his eyes and embraced the nothingness for however long it would last. Upon reaching the surface, he heard echoing footsteps coming from the hall. Marcello swam to the edge and peeked over its surface to watch the entrance, awaiting the appearance of whomever the footsteps had belonged to. “Hey,” he greeted upon their arrival, drifting away from the pool’s edge. “I don’t suppose you care to join me,” Marcello called, before diving underwater and taking long strides across the pool. He broke the surface, glancing back at the other person.
Perhaps the first sign of defiance against what her life was becoming could have been noted in the very fact that Alek had been out of bed when she knew very well what time she would need to be up in the morning. The early classes loomed over her head, the assignments and the keen awareness of how much energy she needed to try to maintain. And every time an ounce of her day-to-day stressors crept into her mind, they almost coaxed a certain contentment out of her as a result of her choices. From a young age, the girl had always been one for breaking rules, for derailing structure. Half of her childhood had been dedicated to taking an entirely different path than the one that had been expected of her long before she was even born and made responsible for anything. It had been a pinch too long since Alek had stirred up any trouble into her life. Although, somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that in only a few months’ time, she would be stirring up more trouble in her life than she ever had before, there was something particularly satisfying about beginning to dismantle her structure as she knew it. Even if, perhaps regrettably, she had managed to find some sort of comfort in the structure she had created for herself.
Making her way into the pool room, Alek emerged from the entrance, having not expected to be greeted by a voice. She hesitated in her spot, hearing his proposal but only able to see a dark silhouette against the glow of the water. Unconsciously, she shifted her chin downward, peering with a subtle intrigue, her lashes fluttering over her doe eyes only a few times before she continued approaching the poolside. “Well, I suppose I should.” She mused smoothly, given that it had already been her plan to swim before realizing that she would have a guest. Instead however, she took a seat at the edge of the pool, slipping her legs into the water; suddenly unsure how deeply she wanted to indulge in her rebellion that night. She remained silent for a few seconds, simply watching as he made his way through the water, watching as the water rippled with this movements. A slow grin pulled at her lips. “Do you night swim often?”
It hadn’t taken Isaac too long to realize that the way things were left between himself and Alek after The Crusade’s ultimatum just wasn’t sitting right in the pit of his stomach. He’d been so wrapped up in his own feelings regarding his own guilt over the events that had transpired, that he hadn’t exactly given her much of a chance to be heard in what she was trying to say. Maybe it was stretching things to say that he had snapped at her, but he had certainly been dismissive of her attempts to make him see that he wasn’t at fault. Now that he had taken some time to process his feelings, he could see the validity to the points she had been trying to make, but even that aside, he could see that the only thing he should actually feel guilty for was pushing her away when all she was trying to do was be there for him.
Knowing Alek the way that he did, Isaac knew that the first place that he should look for her at almost any given time was the dance studio; this instinct proved a good one to follow when he found her there. Not wanting to interrupt or distract, he exhaled a small sigh, before lowering himself down to sit on the floor in the hall across from the door to the studio. He was fully prepared to wait there for as long as it would take until she was done so he could apologize; even if that ended up meaning waiting there all day.
It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Alek to stay after class, always taking at least thirty minutes of additional pointers from her teacher. Since returning to the school the summer prior, she had fallen out of the habit of stretching and rolling out her muscles in the studio itself; always waiting to meet up with Isaac to have a chance to see him amid their busy schedules. Within the last few days however, Alek found herself doing her entire routine in the studio, even if every last dancer had left to proceed with their day. Slipping her foam roller into her bag, she swapped her shoes and began making her way out of the studio. Just lifting her water bottle to her lips, her eyes flitted across Isaac, only spotting him mid-drink. She blinked uncomfortably, having not expected to see him and wondering how long he had been waiting in the hall. After a quick sip, she lowered the bottle from her lips and needlessly smoothed her hair that was already in a tight bun. Idly, she brought her hand up to the strap of her bag and gripped onto it. Though she hadn’t made the conscious choice to approach him, she felt her legs guiding her way up to him and almost felt some part of her mind trying to resist. “Hey...” she peeped smoothly. “Fancy seeing you here.” After a quick pause, she gestured down the hall with her thumb. “Just about to go...” she paused, “ice my feet...” she figured he’d come along.
