Chapter 10

Sometimes it felt like math class with Miss Moss was a sort of hell specifically designed to torture and cause me pain. A few lessons with Artemis weren't enough for me to become some sort of math whiz, they were just enough that every quiz I got back didn't have the ominous words, 'see me after class' written on them. My work was even sloppier than usual; after all there were much more important things to think about than the volume of a triangle.

I breathed a sigh of relief as class finally ended and we were all allowed to go to lunch. Joshua heard me, and laughed.

"Don't worry," he said. "You'll get the hang of it eventually."

"That's what you said last week," I pointed out.

"And I still stand by it," he said. "Some people just take a bit longer to get the hang of certain things."

We entered the cafeteria, grabbed some food and made our way to where Scott and Artemis were already seated. I sat down next to Artemis, who was busy texting someone on his phone.

"Why the long face?" Scott asked.

"Maths," I explained. "I'm pretty sure there's a test coming up and I'd like to actually pass for once."

"I'm sure that with my tutelage, you'll get a decent mark," Artemis said. He reached over and patted my hand, just once, before gathering his things and standing up.

"I'll see you all later," he said, and walked off.

Scott and Joshua watched him as he left the cafeteria, then both simultaneously turned to me.

"What was that?" Joshua asked.

"What was what?" I said, trying to act innocent.

"Dude, the hand touching," Joshua said. "That was way out of character for Fowl."

"I see what's going on here," Scott said. "You want to hit that! I want to let you know that I'm completely cool with you being gay, or whatever, but why would you want to get it on with Artemis?" He frowned. "I don't really see the appeal of a skinny, pale guy with an attitude problem."

"Well, I don't see the appeal of juggling a bunch of blonde girls," I said.

"Jeez, no need to get so defensive," Scott held up his hands in a sign of peace.

"What happened?" Joshua asked. "I mean, only a weekend has passed and we come back to find you and Artemis being all touchy feely."

"We barely held hands," I protested. "And I didn't see Artemis all weekend."

"But something has to have happened," Joshua said.

"Alright, fine," I said. "During the movie, on Friday night, Artemis held my hand."

"Wait, Artemis held your hand," Joshua said. "Not the other way round."

"That's right," I nodded.

Joshua and Scott turned to each other with wide eyes.

"Interesting development," Joshua said.

"It seems the plot has thickened," Scott said.

"What the hell are you two on about?"

"What I'm getting at," Scott said, "Is that Artemis is into you, and you need to get him into your bed, as soon as possible. Tonight, if you can manage it. Maybe Fowl won't be such a tight ass after he gets some…"

"You're disgusting," I said. I grabbed my stuff and left the table.

As I was walking down the corridor, I felt someone slam into me from behind, catapulting me towards the brick wall. I managed to hold my arms up in front of me before my face hit the wall and I turned around to see Richard. He grabbed at me to try and push me back into the wall, but I fought back and we grappled with each other for a while before I tripped on the hem of my pants, and he managed to push me back into the wall and hold me there.

"What the hell where you doing sitting with Artemis?" he demanded.

I shoved at him, but I wasn't able to push him away from me.

"That's none of your business," I said.

Richard pulled me away from the wall then shoved me back into it again, hard. That was going to bruise.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him," Richard said. "He's mine."

I kicked at Richard's feet and managed to knock him, then jumped down on him and pinned him to the floor.

"Artemis is a person," I said, "You can't just claim ownership over him."

Richard glared up at me. There was something weird about his eyes, I couldn't really put my finger on it, but his pupils just seemed… off.

"Dude, what the hell, are you high?"

I jumped away from him and took a few steps back while he was still lying, winded, on the floor.

"What the fuck are talking about," he spat at me.

I shook my head. "Whatever, man, just leave me and Artemis alone." I stomped down hard on his stomach and he wheezed. "Got it?"

"Fuck you," he said.

I continued on my way down the corridor, sparing Richard a single glance before I turned a corner and he disappeared from my view.

"Hey, Artemis, wait up!"

I jogged over to where Artemis was standing, watching me expectantly.

"I've got a bit of a question," I said. "Do you think that maybe Richard might be on something? Maybe something illegal? Could that explain why he acts so, well, creepy?"

Artemis raised both eyebrows and I immediately felt the need to explain.

"It's just that I got a close look at his eyes before and there was something really weird about his pupils," I said. I paused for a second as I noticed that Artemis had tightened the grip he had on his bag, enough so that his knuckles stood out.

"I, uh, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that doing drugs can make your pupils bigger or something."

Artemis moved quicker than I thought he could and next thing I knew, he was gripping my head with both his hands, staring into my eyes.

"Artemis, what-"

"Shut up, and don't blink," Artemis said.

I did as I was told, obviously. After all, it was Artemis telling me what to do. Eventually Artemis let out a little sigh of what sounded like relief and let go of my face.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"Nothing important," Artemis said. "I should go. I have somewhere I need to be."

He walked off and I watched him go, still incredibly confused. What the hell was going on?

A/N – Sorry this took a bit longer to update than I expected. Hope you all enjoy the chapter and please review to let me know what you think.