[CONTENTID1] Thirteen [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

Monday comes all too soon.

You don't sleep well the night before, tossing and turning until dawn. The first rays of the sun diffuse a sickish gray glow against the white walls of your room, making you imagine smoke for a while. You shudder into your layers of blankets, and shake your head, trying to cast away the image of ash falling at your feet. After a few more hours of rolling around, the sun rises fully, and you give up on all prospects of rest. It's not like you've been sleeping well these past few days, anyways, and insomnia is your dearest friend.

You pull the sheets away from your body and sit there for a few moments, rubbing your aching temples. You wistfully recall how easy it was to drift off in Jungkook's bed all those weeks ago. How warm and safe you felt, curled up in his scent, with the heat of his presence mere meters from you.

You let yourself imagine how nice it would be to slip into the hospital and climb in bed with him. No one would know, and he certainly wouldn't mind. And then you might be see something other than his body dissolving into blackness every time you close your eyes. You rub your sleepless eyes to shake yourself out of it. Jungkook's still recovering in the hospital. You need to let him rest.

You rise to your feet and begin to get dressed in a trancelike manner. You button up your blazer and smooth out your stockings. You pause at the sight of Namjoon's embroidered jacket hanging on the back of your chair. He had told you to wear it around, but you cringe at the thought of throwing around his status for protection at this school. He's done enough for you, as it is. Instead, you toss the jacket into you "to-be-dry-cleaned" laundry bag, with a mental note to take it to the Laundromat tonight.

Then you fix your tie and run a brush through your hair. You meet your own eyes in the mirror. They are cold and gray, weighed down with heavy bags. You smile grimly at the familiarity. It was like the last few months at this school were a fluke, and you're finally becoming yourself again.

All prepared, you exit your room, then pause in the hall. Normally, you'd wait for Sooyoung to get up every morning to walk to first period astronomy together… But she hasn't spoken to you since the incident on Saturday morning… You wish she would. You miss her so much.

You take a deep breath, then summon all your courage to walk down the hall and rap your knuckles against the ominous wooden door. There is no response, and you hear no hint of her heavy snoring on the other end. She has already left without you. Your stomach sinks, but you shake it off. You're sure she has her reasons for this.

It's raining heavily outside when you descend the stairs and exit the building. The wind makes the rain batter against your clothing, soaking you to the bone, even with your umbrella held above your head, but you relish this weather. The umbrella protects your anonymity and the rain washes away all traces of ash that lingers on the asphalt. For the first time, no one stares you down in terror as you rush through the storm to your first class.

Everyone is soaked and complaining about the rain when you arrive. A senior wind mage tries to dry off her clothes in the front of the room, but the torpid breeze she manages to conjure has no effect on her ruined blazer. For a minute, it feels like everything is normal. Like Saturday morning never happened.

Your eyes quickly pick out the bouncy pigtails trademark of Sooyoung from where she sits at your usual spot near the front. You sidestep a student angrily dumping the water from inside his shoe, and approach her with an award-winning smile.

"Sooyoung!" you exclaim, trying to act normal, "You got here early! How did your hair stay so nice through all this rain?"

Sooyoung turns to you, and her eyes examine your face carefully. There is no expression in those normally warm brown eyes of hers. Your breathing skids to a stop, but still, you're hopeful. She's your best friend, after all, and you wait for her face to break out into a huge smile with a chorus of "just kidding!"

Instead, hardens, "How could you have lied to me all these months?"

It feels like you've been slapped. The smile slides off your face at once, "Sooyoung… I'm sorry," you sigh, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me, you soulsucker freak!" She yells at you.

You yank your hand back as if burned. At once, the classroom falls silent and you feel the heat of dozens of pairs of eyes on the back of your head. But you only have eyes for Sooyoung. Your mouth opens and closes, grasping for the right words to say. For something that will make that snarl of utter repulsion on her face disappear. But you come up short and she snatches her books off the desk and marches away.

Each click of her boots on the linoleum feels like a shot to the heart. You slip into her abandoned seat and stare down at the lingering burn scars on your hands that Jin has yet to heal away. A loud yawn to your left catches your attention. You look up in surprise to find Yoongi sliding into the seat next to you.

"Do we have to sit in the first row?" he complains, "Professor Chae's gonna notice when I fall asleep."

Everyone's still staring, and he's perfectly aware of it. But it's Min Yoongi and he doesn't give a damn.

You duck your head in embarrassment, "I'm sorry, sunbae."

He gives you a dirty look, "Yah, it's 'oppa' now, remember?"

"Oppa," you repeat back at once, chastised.

He rolls his eyes and flips open his textbook with distaste, "What the hell are we even learning in this class?"

The rest of the day passes relatively smoothly. No one dares to mess with you when you have the senior ice mage at your side. Yoongi isn't known for his tolerant ways, after all, and no one would dare test his patience. You still receive looks and dirty glares up and down the halls, but no one says anything, and for that, you're grateful. Everything seems to go well… until you reach the elemental class.

Namjoon jumps to his feet as soon as he notices you and Yoongi walking through the door, "Hey, babe," he greets you with an exaggerated hug, making you blush, "How was your day?"

You glance over at Yoongi in embarrassment, but the ice mage has already walked off, disinterested, "Um… It's been fine, sun—uh—oppa… How was yours?" You politely ask.

He grins at that, dazzling you with the sight of his dimples, "It was great. I got the top score for the O-Chem midterm. But that's as expected," he says, casually swinging an arm around your shoulders.

Every single elemental student watches you with hawk-like eyes as Namjoon leads you across the room. "Oh… That's great, oppa," you nervously say as you take the offered seat next to his desk.

"Namjoon!" An angry voice yells out.

The two of you look up in surprise to find the only other lightning mage on campus, Aorn charging at you, her waist-length blue hair flying behind her like a cape. Suddenly, tension seeps into the atmosphere and you can feel Namjoon stiffening beside you. You have no idea what's going on and glance at him in confusion.

"Oh, hello, Aorn-noona," he greets, his voice mild. But you notice the way the hand on your arm clenches into a fist.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She growls, slapping both hands onto his desk.

He raises an eyebrow, "I'm waiting for class to start," he says, his tone carefully tepid, "Is there a problem, noona?"

"Damn right there is," She practically snarls, "What the hell are you doing with her?"

You cringe and try to turn away, but Namjoon snatches your hand in his, locking you in your seat, "What are you talking about, noona?" he says, smiling innocently at her, "Aren't I allowed to sit with my girlfriend?"

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