Page 45 of The Boy Who Loved Wicked
“Phoenix,” Theory mumbled, but I couldn’t make much of her words through the ringing in my ears.
“I’m leading the class somewhere, Mr. Mic—”
“—You’re not qualified to lead us anywhere!” I heaved forward, pounding my fist on my desk.
“Mr. Michaelson!” Terror and sadness filled his frantic eyes.
“You’re a liar,” I hissed.
“Enough!” His neck tensed and pushed from his shoulders. The tendons stretched to capacity, ready to snap, and the color returned to his face.
I sagged, returning to my senses—and my body. I stared at the round-eyed, puzzled faces around us.
The bell rang, and the “uh-oh’s,” and “you’re in deep shit, Michaelson,” had already started around the room as my classmates cleared out.
“Stay, seated, Mr. Michaelson,” Sebastian warned and a few whistles rang through the air.
Theory gave a nervous smile, then left, the door clicking closed behind her.
Sebastian lowered to his chair. His movements riddled with the type of exhaustion that stemmed from the fruitless search for answers. He twisted the chalk between his fingers as he struggled for a place to start. “You knew,” he settled on. “I can only imagine how, but you knew and didn’t tell me.”
“Can you really blame me for delayingthis?”
“No. I don’t blame you.” He roughly loosened his tie.
“What now, Bash?” I tucked my bottom lip between my teeth, clocking the ceiling, hoping my tears went back in the direction they came from.
“God, I don’t know. Tell me what to do here, Phoenix?” He moved to the door and locked it before resting his back against the wood, blocking the square window that would allow anyone to peer in. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“What does this mean for us?” I asked.
“I don’t know—”
“—Bullshit.”
“What would you have me do?” he asked with his arms held out.
“Do you still love me?”
“Of course I do.” He pushed off the door, but then remembering the window, stopped himself from coming to me. “Shit. Can you come by after school?”
“Yes.” This was a good sign. We could figure it out. Come up with a plan. This didn’t have to be the end of us.
“I’ll be waiting.” The door knob jiggled, voices came from the other side, and I nodded before he unlocked it.
Chapter 15
Sebastian
“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”
~Plato
Once, as a child, I disobeyed my father’s instructions to wait for his driver to fetch me from school. I wanted to walk home by myself like some of the other kids. We didn’t live terribly far away, but what should have been a twenty-minute walk ended up taking an hour.
I could’ve stopped in a store to ask for directions. Asked to use a passerby’s phone to call home. Knocked on a door. I know now that wasn’t really being lost at all. It was a game ofcan I figure this out on my own before asking for help. I had been lost by choice. How grateful I should’ve been for having that option.
This was nothing like that.
