"It's definitely an infinitive." Ronan said, as he looked over Michael's shoulder.
"Yes, I know that already," Michael replied, as he scrutinised the words on the textbook, "But I'm still not sure about what the order should be."
Ronan paused for a second in deep thought. "Hmmm…what about Horatia potest parare cenam?"
Michael chuckled, "Well, at least you got the cases right for the words. Which itself is an achievement. You know, with all the nominative, accusative, ablative cases and whatever," Michael mumbled off shyly, looking down as he blushed. "But your order is the one used in English and I'm fairly certain it's not right. I'm pretty sure the verb should be at the end of the sentence."
Ronan was only half listening as he was studying Michael's face as he talked. Gosh, he's so cute when he's rambling on.
"Well, I don't know why you're so dedicated to Latin," Ronan teased jokingly.
"Weren't you the one who was lecturing me on how it's still important to learn and acquire knowledge even though I'm a vampire now?" Michael replied, a smirk forming onto his face, "And there's no need to be jealous, I'm more dedicated to you."
Michael leapt from the chair and gave Ronan a kiss. Ronan was surprised at the bold, unexpected gesture but quickly softened into Michael's embrace, as he ran his fingers through Michael's pale blonde hair. Gosh. I am the luckiest guy on this planet. Michael gazed into Ronan's eyes, and then gave him another kiss, which Ronan returned. They continued until Michael pulled away suddenly.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot! We have swim team training!"
Ronan's face filled with panic. "How could we have forgotten?!" he exclaimed, "Blakely's gonna kill us!"
Michael glanced at the clock. "Looks like we have a minute."
Ronan peered out the window. "Well luckily for us, no one's outside right now, so we can, you know…" Ronan trailed off with a wink.
Michael nodded and supersped out the door. Ronan was quick to follow.
They reached St. Sebastian's within a few seconds. "Phew," Michael breathed, grinning at Ronan as he entered the building.
Most of the other members of the team were already there: Fritz, Alexei, and Diego. Michael and Ronan took their usual spots, just before Morgandy walked through the door. Immediately the air grew thick with tension as Ronan caught sight of his ex-boyfriend. Michael's could hear Ronan almost imperceptibly growl, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Relax" he called out telepathically. "Remember that the Well wiped his memory. He doesn't remember anything about the past you shared, so don't cause a scene."
The response came back a few seconds later. "I know, love. But that doesn't make his betrayal any less painful".
"What are you guys all doing there sitting on your lazy backsides!" Blakely bellowed. No one had noticed him entering. "If you want to win the National Swim Team Competition then you better work for it! Alexei! Diego! Start doing laps! I have a quick thing I have to attend to before I can focus on you three" he said, eyeing the remaining three boys. And with that comment, he left as abruptly as he had arrived.
Michael rested his head on Ronan's shoulder.
"Man, I love swimming but sometimes the stench of chlorine is so hard to bear. Especially since we're vampires with supernatural senses of smell." Michael said telepathically.
Ronan tried hard not to chuckle at the comment. "I agree. I much prefer swimming in the ocean with its magnificent salty, yet fresh smell. The same beautiful scent which lingers in the air when we're together on Inishtrahull Island."
"Awww, Ro! So romantic!" Michael looked Ronan in the eye.
"Can't we talk normally?" he whispered out loud, "I want to hear the sound of your voice."
"Anything you want, love" Ronan replied. They watched as Alexei and Diego completed another lap of the pool and tumble-turned to start their next one.
"Ugh, for now we'll have to put up with the stench of chlorine," Michael complained as he turned his head back to face his boyfriend. "Ciaran would probably valiantly defend it, and talk about how the chlorine breaks down into many different chemicals like hypochlorous acid which kill microorganisms and bacteria by attacking the lipids in their cell walls or something like that, being the scientist that he is!" Michael burst out laughing at his own joke and when he finally looked up after wiping the joyful tears out of his eyes, he was surprised to see that Ronan was not. In fact, it looked like he had seen a ghost.
"What's wrong?" Michael asked, suddenly anxious.
"Ciaran. Where is he?"
Michael looked around and realised that Ciaran, who was also part of the swim team, was nowhere in sight. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty that he hadn't even noticed his friend's absence until Ronan had pointed it out.
"Relax, Ronan," he finally said, "he probably has some science thing going on right now. He's a good boy. He wouldn't miss out training unless he had a valid reason."
"You really think so?"
"Yes." Michael gave Ronan a hug to comfort him.
"Okay I'm back!" Blakely's voice boomed through the air.
Elsewhere, Saorise was bored. She had read through all of the magazines in her room, tied (and untied!) her hair in all the different braids she knew until she found the one which suited her mood (Dutch braid it is then!), and even organised her wardrobe (which was when she finally realised how bored she was if she was doing a task which she loathed so much!).
"Ugh. Why does Ciaran have to take so long?" she moaned to herself as she stared at the ceiling on her bed. "You know what? I'm done waiting. I'm going to check up on how he's doing."
As she walked to towards St Albert's, she caught sight of Morgandy through the windows of the gymnasium. It was strange to think that only a few weeks ago she had looked upon that face with such tender but naïve love and desire. Now it only served as an indelible reminder of the deception which she had faced. Can't believe he lied to me all this time. Can't believe that he's one of Them.
Wind flew through Saorise's hair as she opened the door to St Albert's. "Ciaran! You better be done!" she jokingly threatened. She began making her way to the laboratory section. "Ciaran?" she called out again. Silence. "Ciaran, if you think that it's funny to…" The syllable died in her throat as she froze at sight of the chaotic scene which lay before her. The whole room was completely trashed. Microscopes lay on the ground, loose sheets of paper were spread out in haphazard positions, and shards of glass from broken scientific instruments were scattered around the area. But what caught her attention was the bright scarlet, viscous pool of blood on the floor, still fresh and a by-product of whatever event had transpired. The sight of the blood horrified her to her core and a pit of apprehension formed in her stomach as the obvious question formed in her mind. What on earth had happened here? And worse still, where was Ciaran?