This is not good. Sei told himself as he walked through the hallway toward the cafeteria. If it had been someone at the compound who could read minds, there wouldn't have been a problem, since he shared everything with them. But it was someone at school, someone he had to lie to every time he saw him. How much has he already heard?
Sei stopped walking and covered his face with his hand. He had no idea what to do. He couldn't just stop going to Chemistry. There had to be a way through this.
"Sei!"
He looked up quickly when he heard his name. Eduard was walking toward him, a serious look on his face.
Great. Sei thought. Then he shook his head. Blank mind. Uh… Brick wall. Brick wall. Brick Wall.
Eduard made a strange face at him. "Stop that." He said; a hint of laughter in his voice. "I can't talk to you if all you focus on is a brick wall."
Sei narrowed his eyes at Eduard, but he did stop thinking the two words over and over. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Well, first off," Eduard began as they started walking toward the cafeteria. "I want you to know that I can control when I read someone's mind. I only ever do it if someone's actions worry me and they won't tell me on their own."
"Okay…" Sei was a little relieved. The compound was his home, and he had no odd feelings toward it. There was no way that Eduard had read his mind while he was thinking about it.
"Will you have lunch with me today?" Eduard asked as they entered the cafeteria. It was mostly empty, since second period hadn't actually ended yet. "I kind of have to tell my friends that I got a girl pregnant, and I don't know how they'll take it."
Sei was a little surprised. So he wants me to be there? Isn't that the job of a close friend? He didn't like the idea of having to be there for someone. He liked to stick to himself for that very reason. If he didn't have to be there for someone, then he couldn't let that person down.
But he also knew that, now that he'd been asked, he couldn't say no. A little reluctantly, he nodded. "Sure."
Get me out of here! Sei screamed. For a split second he wondered if he wanted Eduard to be reading his mind. Then he shook his head at himself. It was still a little creepy to think about.
Sei and Eduard were sitting at the table in the dark back corner. Sei had forgotten that Eduard was part of Ivan's group of friends. Alfred's warning flashed in his mind. 'That whole group is dangerous.' He looked around for a way to escape as Ivan and the rest of the group approached.
"Eduard, who's this?" Ivan asked, narrowing his eyes at Sei.
"He's my lab partner." Eduard suddenly sounded nervous and hesitant. "His name's Sei Gea."
Ivan's eyes widened. Then he nodded and sat down, as did the rest of the group. Sei noticed that Ravis wasn't with them. He guessed that the small boy had taken Peter's advice and taken his lunch elsewhere.
"So you and Eduard play with chemicals together?" Ivan asked.
Sei gulped, but tried to hide how scared he was. "Uh… yeah." He had read somewhere that humor was good at hiding other emotions. "But mostly it's just him stopping me before I drink them."
Ivan cracked a smile. "Well, careful. He's been distracted lately." He looked over at Eduard and raised an eyebrow.
Eduard stiffened and looked away. "Yeah, well, I've had a lot to think about."
Sei turned to Natasha. "Hey, we're in English together first period, right?" He didn't know why, but he gave her a slight smile.
She didn't return the smile. Instead, she glared at him while tightening her hold on Ivan's arm. Sei guessed that they were dating. She looked at him like he was a piece of trash, but he didn't care. "Yeah, so what?"
"Um…" He didn't even know why he had mentioned it. "Well, what did you think of that assignment today?"
"I didn't have to." She said. "It's Danielle Thomson's problem now."
"Natasha!" The other girl in their group cried out. Sei noticed with mild interest that when she spoke, her large breasts bounced. "I thought you weren't going to buy your assignments from other students anymore."
"Don't worry, Katyusha." Natasha said with an evil glint in her eye. "I didn't buy anything."
Eduard nudged Sei and he looked up. "Thank you." He mouthed, nodding in the direction of the exchange that had started between the two girls. Sei gave a half smile in response. He hadn't meant to start them on a road of morality.
"So, Sei." Ivan started, an eerie smile on his face. "Why have you decided to join us today?"
"Um…" Sei shrugged, keeping his expression apathetic. On the inside, he was trying to figure out what to say. He didn't think it was a good idea to tell them that Eduard had invited him. "I…"
"I invited him." Eduard said. He looked like he was going to say more, but he stopped. He just looked down at his food and poked at it.
"Hm…" Ivan turned to his food as well. They all did.
As Sei ate his lunch, he noticed how different it was here from at Alfred's table. He slightly glanced in their direction and saw that they were all laughing. There was a conversation going on among them, and Sei could almost guess that it was centered on the whole fish that Kiku was holding.
I wish I was eating with them again. Sei found himself thinking. Then he shook himself. Of course, I would rather be eating alone than anything. He corrected himself. Then he glanced back at Alfred's table. But if I had to eat with someone, I would prefer to eat with them.
"Eduard," The final member of Ivan's group finally spoke up. He had a nervous sounding voice. "Why have you been so distracted lately."
Sei stopped eating and looked at Eduard. He was surprised when the taller boy looked down at him before answering. Sei nodded, trying to look encouraging.
Eduard sighed and turned to face the rest of the table. "I got Bella pregnant." He told them.
The reaction that this got was the farthest thing from what Sei had been expecting, and it reminded him of why he tried not to expect certain outcomes.
Everyone started to laugh.