Fontaine Academy

Chapter 19

Patrick

My father had been hounding me to do better and reclaim my place at the top since he found out Jules had outdone me in math. When the results of the history quiz came out he finally backed off. He didn’t seem to care all that much about how I beat her this time. The only way I know he knows the whole story is because he commended me on my “out-of-the-box problem solving skills”.

It was obvious he was referring to how she wasn’t able to take the quiz.Unfortunately I can’t take the credit for that. They say to find the culprit, look at the person who gained the most out of the situation. In this situation that would be me but I am not the one who locked her in the storage room.

The only reason I even found out about what happened is because right after I finished the quiz I hacked into the system. I just wanted to see how she had answered and how long it took her. That’s when I noticed she hadn’t attempted the quiz. I checked again after midnight and it was still the same.

The next day I heard she had been called to the dean’s office and found out through the dean’s secretary what they spoke about.

Whoever did it disabled the cameras around that area so they couldn’t be identified. Honestly I am not that curious about who they are. My guess is, it is either one of my friends or an admirer or maybe someone else she pissed off.

I wish I could have proven myself against her fairly but what is done is done. I will take the win and let my father continue to think I am some type of wicked mastermind.

Just as I sit down for dinner I get a text.

“Bad news?” Tiago asks from across the table.

We are both grabbing an early dinner so we are the only ones at our usual table.

“I just got the reminder about the hunt. I honestly kind of forgot about it.” I say.

“You don’t look excited, did you have other plans?”

“Not really. Just not really feeling like hunting.” I say staring at the stake on my plate.
For a minute I swear it turns bloody right before my eyes. I blink and the image vanishes.

“Hey, you okay?” Tiago asks.

“Yeah, fine.”

After a pause he says; “You don’t have to worry, it won’t be anything like last time. No one from the order will be there tonight. When it’s just us it is more about camping than anything else.”

Just thinking back to last time sends shivers down my spine.

The hunt took place after finals last year.  At that point we had been part of the junior order since the beginning of year but that was the first time I was attending a hunt. I had attended the welcoming ceremony and hung out with the other junior members a couple of times but never attended a hunt. Hunting just isn’t really my thing, I only joined because dad insisted it was tradition.

That hunt was different because the order would be present. It was supposed to be some kind of father-son bonding experience. I didn’t really understand how we were supposed to bond over a carcass, I still don’t. Dad knew I was a bit squeamish about that type of thing but he warned me not to embarrass him.

I tried my best I really did but I couldn’t bring myself to actually shoot the animals. My shots always went wide which infuriated my dad because he knew I am usually a decent shot.

After several missed shots he put me on ‘mercy’ duty. He would do the shooting and if that didn’t kill them it was my job to finish them off.

He ignored my protests and showed me how to do it. I did everything on auto pilot so that I didn’t think about what I was doing. Dad praised calling me a natural which only made me feel physically ill but by that point I had become numb to everything.

It was only after it was all over and Tiago had helped me back to my room that the numbness faded. I spent that first hour with my head in the toilet, first throwing up and then dry heaving as my mind replayed everything on a loop.

Tiago stuck to me the entire time. When I couldn’t sleep because of the nightmares, he would stay up with me. When I grew too exhausted to fight off the sleep but still afraid of the unbearable nightmares, he would sleep over in my room.

This went on for a month spilling into our break. I was a nightmare to be around but Tiago didn’t complain and instead dragged me along to his family’s vacation just so that I didn’t have to go home. We both knew it wouldn’t be a good idea for me to go home in that state.

I really have the best best-friend anyone can ask for.

“Thank you.” I say.

“Hmm? You are thanking me for the order not coming for the hunt?” he asks.

“No. For being my friend.”

“Aww, you are welcome Patty.” He says, a big stupid grin on his face.

“You just had to go and ruin it. I take it back.” I sigh.

“Rude.”

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A/N

I might have enjoyed putting Patrick through it a smidge too much 😅

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- Oli 💌