"I don't know what your problem is," Zander, Jayden's younger brother, said, absently cleaning his nails as he stood in the door frame leading into Jayden's dorm. "You've been like this since before I even got here, and you still can't tell her. Heck, Sian has been getting more game than you, and he's not that muchcooler than you."
Jayden hadn't ever understood how Zander had always been the most popular out of the three brothers. His dirty blonde hair was combed back in an attempt to look rugged, but still shone of overly applied gel. He tried wearing things like leather jackets and black jeans to attempt to look tougher, but still hadn't grown out of his baby face enough to look like anything more than a child wearing his father's suit for 'dress-up'.
"She doesn't know who I am, and she wouldn't like me," Jayden answered. He flipped absently through his textbook, Fundamentals of Lithomancy and Crystal Casting. He rolled his eyes. Why must Zander try to give me relationship advice all the time? "Most light mages look down on dark mages like me. It's a moot point anyways."
"Geez, Bro. That stings. We don't all care about that. Steph especially." Zander said, grinning. "I think it's more likely that her friends wouldn't like you. They're awfully protective of Steph, and some of them are... well..." Zander trailed off, smiling sheepishly. "Lets say they don't like me."
"Stephanie. She doesn't like people calling her Steph." Jayden sighed, putting his head in his hands. It had been so long. Four years of this. He thought. Constantly reaching for the light, but always being a step behind. Why can't I just get over it? Jayden knew the love was irrational. He knew that she'd never love him. He knew that it was wishful thinking to believe he might even be able to talk to her. It infuriated him that he was so weak. So stupid.
"You have Advanced Focus Studies with her, right? Just ask her to be your partner in a project after break or something," Zander said, leaning against the doorway. "That is, if you're lucky enough to be in her class again."
"How would that help me?"
"She gets to know you, I guess. You can flirt. It works for me, at least." Zander stood up, moving towards the door. "It's the only fun thing to do in class."
Jayden sighed. Neither of his two brothers took their education very seriously, despite their talents in their magic fields and the prestigious academy they were taking classes from. Sian was too focused on his swimming career and and his newly-started beard to worry about getting grades too far above the average he needed to stay at the academy, and Zander never tried to get better than a C because it was 'too much effort'. Jayden was just trying to get decent grades so that he could move on with his life eventually. Go to a dark mage college and choose his career path, get a good job in the shadows of society, and exist by himself without other people around. He wasn't as charismatic as Zander, or athletic as Sian. He just... was. Most people tended to forget about him, which he didn't mind overall. He wasn't exactly memorable, what with his brown hair that need a haircut so bad, it looked like it was beginning to fray, dull grey eyes he kept aimed at the ground to avoid eye contact, and a stature most would call lanky. Even so, it was better to be forgotten than to be hated. He was already a step ahead of some of the other dark mages in that regard.
In spite of that, It all drained him. He despised the way that everything seemed predestined at Medeis Academy. At first, he'd been happy to simply conform. To let his existence as a dark mage determine his whole life. Then, he'd met Stephanie, and everything seemed to change.
Jayden closed his eyes, imagining her. Stephanie always smelled like the earth. The warm scent of dirt and flowers always coming off of her ebony skin, filling the room with its perfume. Her smile was warm, like the sun, and lit up any room. She seemed whole, everything about her radiating with joy, warmth, and innocence. She was kind. She was free. She was happy.
And Jayden loved her. She was everything that he wasn't. Everything that he wanted to be.
"Either way, my suggestion still stands. It's either you take action and talk to her, or you forget about it and never find out if she even has the possibility of liking you," Zander said, turning out of the room and into the hall. "Either way, you'll probably lose. Stephanie is too hot and popular for a nerd like you."
"What light mage isn't?" Jayden rolled his eyes and opened his textbook again. "Thanks, Zander. I'll see you later." He had his last final that day, and needed to study one more chapter for it.
Jayden awoke the next morning, a pool of drool forming over the page he'd been reading. So much for studying... he thought, rubbing his eyes as Newton, his roommate, opened his closet with a creak.
"Everything alright, Jay?" He asked, wearing nothing but boxer shorts. Jayden turned back to the book, trying to give him a bit of privacy. He took his shirt and dabbed at the puddle of drool, hoping it hadn't done too much damage to the book.
"Just a test. I'll do fine," Jayden said. He wished he'd gotten at least a bit more studying in. Based on where to book had been open, he'd only really read half of the chapter, and he didn't remember all of what he'd read.
"What class?"
"Advanced Focus Studies Part One. I was reading about crystals last night, but I apparently fell asleep in the middle," Jayden said. "It's the final test before summer break."
"Oh yeah. I remember that final. Just keep in mind that it's the geometric shape if the crystal that matters, not the actual type. Any hexagonal crystal works the same, and any pentagonal crystal works the same. Just account for the power balances of the types, and you're golden."
"You... still remember all this from last year?" Jayden asked, raising his eyebrows. Newton was a strange mage. Utterly silent out in public, but rather open in front of Jayden after being his roommate for three years. It'd taken him up until this year for him to start having regular conversations, but he always seemed to have the advice to survive any class in the entire school. Even the ones he hadn't taken.
"Heck yeah. Best class I took all year." Newton rifled through his drawers, choosing one of his many black band shirts and putting it on. It matched his hair nearly perfectly, red streaks and all. "Now, which crystal has the strongest power for dark magic?"
Jayden paused, running his hands through his hair. This was the section he definitely didn't read last night. "Ruby? Because it's a rare-"
Newton cut him off. "Nope. Diamond. General rule- the harder the crystal, the better it is for dark magic. The opposite is true for light mages, which often utilize small slabs of talc as focuses." Newton closed his closet, grabbed a brush, and ran it through his hair a few times, leaving more static than neatness behind. "I gotta run. You'll do fine, Jay. You're a smart guy."
Jayden sighed. "Thanks for your help. I'll try and remember what you told me."
Newton smiled, slung his pack over his shoulder. The cloth was practically bursting at the seams, wands, small staffs, and different crystals tugging on the worn cloth adamantly.
"You gonna fix that bag anytime soon?" Jayden asked, gesturing at it.
"Gotta find a light mage I trust enough to do it first," Newton said just before the door closed again behind him. Jayden sighed, and opened his own closet. Class started in just a few minutes.
Jayden marked the last question on his test, thanking Newton with every pen stroke he made.
"Pens down!" The teacher said, a sharp ringing going off from the front. Ms. Peiria slammed her quarter staff against the floor, the ringing coming from the carved tip ceasing. She then turned it sideways, twisting it in her hands, and sat back as the papers flew towards her and gathered themselves into a neat pile at the front.
Jayden looked ahead. There she was. Just three seats ahead of me. He could almost smell the scent of flowers coming from her.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. He reminded himself. You're not good enough for her.
Ms. Peiria took the stack of papers, regarding it over her pinched nose and equally pinched glasses. "Very good," She finally said, placing the stack onto her desk and facing the class. "Now, it's very important that we all discuss one more thing today, before the bell rings-" Jayden instinctively sat up taller as she scanned the room, her eyes seeming to linger on the other dark mages in to room, most of them gathered at the back. "I hope you all are prepared to move on once break is finished. Advanced Focus Studies Part Two is a difficult class, and it starts with a project that requires you to know a lot about focuses. I don't recommend letting your books collect dust all summer break."
A murmur rippled throughout the class. Part Two was infamous for either being one of the best or worst classes you could take. It required you to make your own focuses, and then practice using them for a variety of tasks. Most of all, it was infamous for making light and dark mages work together, which sometimes had interesting results after years and years of being raised, taught, and trained apart. It either made best friends or worst enemies. Newton rarely spoke of what his experiences were, but Jayden had always figured they had leaned towards the latter. He had never even heard Newton's partner's name.
The bell rung, snapping Jayden out of his thoughts. Students everywhere cheered and bustled, gathering their books and hurriedly escaping the classroom. Jayden followed them, letting the crowd sweep him away.
He still had to pack for break.
Jayden sat out front with his bags, waiting for his brothers to join him, and eventually for their mother to come pick them up. Newton had left long ago, driving away in his car, packed full of magical memorabilia. Jayden silently hoped that he and Newton could be roommates again the next term.
"Hey. You're.. Jayden, right?" He wheeled around, suddenly coming face-to-face with a smiling young woman. "You're brothers have mentioned you. And I think we've met before."
"Y-yes, that's me..." He stammered out, hurriedly standing up. "Stephanie, right?" He knew it was true.
She nodded. "Mind if I sit with you? My mother is supposed to come by any minute now." She plopped her bag down without an answer, leaning against it like it was a pillow.
Jayden sat down again, suddenly very aware of how close she was. She was talking to him.
"Did you have a good year?" She asked. She didn't even look up. This was completely normal to her. Small Talk.
Jayden nodded. "I learned a lot about casting."
Stephanie smiled. Suddenly, everything seemed brighter. "Next year we actually get to apply it. I'm more excited for that."
"Do you think Part Two will be a good class?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Kate Wiles- do you know her?"
Jayden nodded. Kate Wiles was one of the few dark mages to be able to break into the light mage society and make friends.
Stephanie settled against her bag, crossing her legs. "Well, I was hoping to work with her next term, but she's probably going to end up working with her boyfriend. They already got their schedules, and are in the same class." She sighed and smiled slightly. 'I'm afraid I just don't know all that many dark mages."
Jayden furrowed his eyebrows. Does she know that I'm one? If she knows me through my brothers, she might think i'm a light mage like they are.
She turned to him, looking him in the eyes. "Do you know any good ones?"
Jayden blinked. "Yes. I spend a lot of time around them." He hoped she'd catch the hint. It was somewhat rude to misinterpret someone's mage type, and he didn't want to outright call her impolite. He didn't want to hurt her.
Stephanie grinned. "That's why you're never around me and the others. You probably have lots of friends there! Who do you think you might work with?"
"I'm actually-" He began to object when a car pulled up and a dark, plump woman came out, waving at Stephanie.
"Aw, darn. That's my mum. I'd really better get going if I don't want to hear an earful about 'stalling' her later on. Have a great summer!" She picked up her bags and ran down the steps.
"Bye," Jayden said, the words coming out to quietly and too late. She jumped into the car, and disappeared.
Zander and Sian approached, laughing to themselves.
"It's good to see you finally talking to her," Zander said, nudging him. "It go well?"
Jayden just sighed and put his head in his hands. "She thinks I'm a light mage."
Sian scoffed. "You didn't correct her? Seriously?"
Jayden crossed his arms. "I was about to, but then she had to run off..." I really should have just told her outright.
"So, when are you gonna tell her?" Zander asked, placing his bags down and sitting next to Jayden.
"I probably never will talk to her again," Jayden answered. "It'd be a lot better that way."