𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐄, 𝐈'𝐌 𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐘, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐬

chapter | 5

Elodie knew that she was probably being dramatic, but also couldn't understand why Wilhelm, Madison and Felice were being such downers about Elodie making friends with August. They clearly had something against August, and if they weren't going to tell her, then Elodie had no other choice but to seek out answers from August himself.

They met outside the dorms, by the steps. Elodie had been waiting for August for no more than five minutes before he turned up. However, he was in a hurry. "Can we make this quick, please?" He asked, as he settled down beside Elodie, "I'm not trying to brush you off or anything, but rowing practice is about to start, is all".

"It's okay, I just had a quick question, that's all," Elodie replied, as August spotted a few of his friends from across the quad. They called out to August, and the boy was on his feet in seconds.

Elodie's shoulders dropped, as did her expression, as August moved off to meet his friends halfway. They embraced happily, wide smiles on their faces as they interacted with one another. Elodie was too far away now to hear their conversation, but she realised that she probably wasn't going to be able to speak with August that day. Before she stood to leave, however, she heard a phone vibrate beside her.

Looking down she found it was August's phone, vibrating against the concrete steps. Elodie wasn't one to snoop, but her eyes were locked on the screen as it lit up. There was a new message from Sara....the name rang out in Elodie's head, before the memories of the other day came flooding back to her. Sara, she was Simon's sister. They'd met on the first day. Elodie wasn't going to think anything of it; obviously, people could be friends with other people. Her mind changed, however, when the red heart popped up on August's lock screen.

Now, Elodie was unsure what to think.

She had only been at Hillerska two days, and making friends was difficult, but developing a crush was much easier. Elodie still was unsure if her feelings for August were completely platonic, but she realised then it might not even matter; he already had a girl in his life.

She stood to leave, but apparently August was finished with his friends, because he came rushing back to where Elodie stood. "Sorry, the guys would have bugged us otherwise. What did you need to ask me?" He asked, sounding, and looking, genuinely curious.

Elodie swallowed sharply, as she shrugged causally. "Don't even worry about it, it isn't a big deal. You have to get to practice, don't let me hold up," She replied, as she tried hard to keep her voice relaxed and controlled.

"It's alright, I can be a couple minutes late," August promised, "What's up?"

"You know, it really doesn't matter. I should head off, I have a ton of homework already and I don't want to get behind in my classes. See you around, August". 

The last class of the day was upon her, and Elodie couldn't walk fast enough. The day had been exhausting; between avoiding Wilhelm, Felice and Madison, while also avoiding August, Elodie found herself dodging behind corners and keeping her head down in the hallways. Finally, though, she reached her science classroom, and dipped inside before she could be seen.

She knew for a fact that neither Wilhelm, Felice or Madison took this class, and that August was a third year, so he couldn't take this class. Going through her timetable in her head as she searched for an empty seat, Elodie realised this might be the only class she would consider safe now; all her other ones were shared with people she was avoiding.

As she looked for somewhere to sit, she heard a faint whisper, beckoning her over to the middle of the class. As Elodie looked around, she laid eyes on the tanned boy with the curly brown hair; Simon. Quickly, she shuffled over to him.

"You looked a little lost," Simon said sheepishly, "I figured I'd offer you a seat, unless of course you're on Wilhelm's side, that is".

"I wasn't aware there were sides," Elodie admitted, as she placed her stuff on the desk and took her seat, "And I thought you would be sitting with your sister, uh, what's her name? Sara?" She asked, trying hard to recall the girl she had met on her first day. Her name felt odd to say, Elodie thought. Maybe she was still hung up about the fact that Sara was texting August all the time, or that August and she were involved. Elodie decided the best course of action was to put the whole situation out of her mind; she was in class, a place where distractions weren't allowed.

"Sara doesn't take this class," Simon replied, "And there aren't any sides, I guess, but Felice and Madison have made it clear who they stand with. Maybe there are sides," He shrugged, "Anyhow, you're welcome to sit here if you would like".

Elodie felt comfortable in Simon's presence, and because of it, the class appeared to fly by in mere minutes, as opposed to being an entire hour. They hung out afterwards, too. They met up with Sara and chilled in the quad as the sun began to sink beneath the horizon line. They avoided subjects like Wilhelm and the royal family in general.

It had been a rough few days, but Elodie was finally starting to feel like she was settling in. Over the next few days she stuck by Simon and Sara, putting August and Wilhelm and everyone else out of her mind. It was peaceful for a few days. That was, until August began his mission to win back Elodie's friendship. 

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(970 words)

this chapter was shit and quickly written, the others will hopefully be better :/