"RUN, RUN, RUN, HEHEHE," I squealed, running around. I hadn’t made it ten steps before arms reached out and picked me up.
"Oh no, you don't. What did the doctor say, Jewel?"
I pouted, turning to Father who raised an eyebrow at me. "But Daddy. It's boring when I can't play! I don't like sitting all day in the boring room. I want Brother," I whined, my eyes already filling with tears.
He sighed, pulling me to his chest. "Sweetie, don't cry. It going to hurt your head and make the pain worse. Gabriel will be here any minute to come play with you. I can play with you now though if you like?" he offered.
I frowned up at him. "You fell asleep at my tea party last time."
His cheeks went red and he coughed. "That was because Father was tired and the tea made me sleepy."
I grinned, pressing my hands to his cheeks. "That's because there was a sleeping spell in it," I whispered before doing my best evil laugh. Father smiled, kissing me on my bandaged forehead.
I had been playing with a group of kids, using magic and spells when one of the boys crashed into me. I fell and my head hit a hard rock. One minute I was playing, and the next I was waking up in the hospital with a pretty nurse and toys. I was living the life, or that's what Gabriel said.
Mommy had to work late today so Father was here watching me until Brother arrived.
"Is our Princess wreaking havoc in the halls at this time of night?” I heard Gabriel’s voice.
I squealed, wriggling in my Father's embrace so he’d let me down. He sighed, lowering me to the ground but didn't let go. "Walking, not running,” he stressed.
"Yes, Daddy!" I cheered and he let me go. I laughed evilly and ran to Gabriel who shook his head but did so with a wide smile on his face.
He knelt down and opened his arms wide and I hugged him tightly. Then he lifted me up and I squeezed his neck.
"Jewel, you're going to choke your brother," Father pointed out.
I frowned, looking back at Father with a sad face. "But I missed him so much.". Father smiled before coming over to brush my cheek. "Alright, but let him breathe a little."
"Hehehe. Okay, Daddy." I rested my head on Gabriel's shoulder.
"You missed me that much?" Gabriel asked with a smile.
"Very much. It's boring without you," I mumbled.
"But Father was here."
"He fell asleep at my last tea party." I lifted my head and turned to point an accusing finger at Father. He looked sheepishly away.
Gabriel laughed. "Oh did he? Don't worry, I won't fall asleep. You want to play now?"
I took a second to think of what I wanted to do but yawned instead. "No. I wanna sleep," I mumbled, resting my head back on his shoulder. Gabriel patted my back and I felt safe in his arms, closing my eyes.
He was with me for the entire week until today because he had a test at school he couldn’t miss. I'd been having weird dreams and Mommy and Daddy said I couldn't bump my head again or I might begin to shake uncontrollably like I had when I first hit my head.
I didn't remember it, but from my dreams I knew exactly what it felt like. It was like having tiny spiders crawl all over your arms and legs, or like the feeling when Alice’s fox tail brushed against my skin when I was half asleep.
With Alice's fox tail, it tickled and made me happy, but the weird spider crawling feeling scared me to the point I felt I wouldn't wake up from the nightmare. It would become so hard to breathe and I would hear people talking and shouting. I didn't like those dreams and when I finally would wake, I'd cry until Gabriel or Mommy came to comfort me.
Father wasn't good at dealing with me crying. Gabriel explained it was because Father hated seeing me in pain, so he had a hard time and couldn't console me for long.
"Meow." I peeked my eyes open again and saw I was in my pink princess bed instead of in Gabriel's arms. Alice licked my face, cuddling next to my face in her cat form. I wanted to get up and find Gabriel, but I was scared the creeping feeling would return. A gentle hand brushed my cheek and I looked up to see Mother's smile.
"It's okay Jewel. Mommy is here,” she reassured me.
I smiled and another face came into view, gold eyes meeting mine. "Logan," I whispered.
He gave me a wide smile before he yawned, rubbing his eyes. "Hey, Jewel. I'm going to sleep right next to you and fight the evil weird se-se...the seize thing away. So just relax. I'll make sure no one hurts my precious Princess."
I smiled and finally calmed, feeling safe again. "Okay. Thank you, my Prince," I whispered. He brushed my cheek with his hand and the motion felt nice and calming. My eyes finally closed as I submitted to the darkness of sleep.
I was safe with my family and prince Logan.
Something brushed against my cheek, and I forced open my heavy eyelids. Everything was blurry and even though I squinted, it made no difference in clearing my vision.
"Jewel?" I turned my head slightly to the right, Maximus’ voice sounding close.
"Ma...xi?" I whispered; my throat felt dry and hurt after forcing out that single word.
"Hey, don’t speak yet. Let me get you some water and your glasses. Braxton brought them over this evening since you left them in the test locker," Maximus explained.
I wanted to nod, but my body felt stiff. I took deep breaths and tried to ignore the steady dripping sound coming from my left. It reminded me too much of the hospital when I was young. I never really liked IVs, so the reminder made my nerves spike. I didn't feel like my boyish self, my heightened level of anxiety and nervousness not at all how I would feel when I was a guy.
It was strange to say the least that I had more confidence as a male, but it was probably a mental thing more than anything. My impression of a male was that they didn't show emotions like fear and worry, but I knew they experienced them and they could be just as powerful and nerve-wracking. I guessed that having watched my father and brother, and the way our culture had stressed such things all played a role in my current mindset.
I wished it wasn't that way, but that was something I'd have to work towards and remind myself of whenever I went from Jewel to Jinn.
Maximus was back, his footsteps alerting me of his return. I felt him slide my glasses onto my face and I opened my eyes to see a clearer view of what looked to be Brax and Maximus’ room. I blinked a few times, noticing Logan's arms crossed, resting on the edge of the bed with his head laying on his arms as he slept. I realized he must have been on his knees and and just fell asleep there. Alice was curled up next to him in her fox form and Koa was perched on the end of the bed.
Logan looked exhausted even though he was sleeping. His hair was a mess and I noticed a section of dark bruising on his right hand where it poked out from beneath his rested head.
"Jewel, here." Maximus brought the straw to my lips and I mentally sighed as the cool liquid entered my mouth, drinking it slowly as I reflected on when I was younger in the hospital. I drank about half when Maximus said I should wait a bit to drink the rest.
I nodded slightly, my head feeling numb and weird, but at least the headache was gone. Maximus smiled, putting the glass on the nightstand.
I took the chance to look down at my body, noticing I was sitting at a 45-degree angle with pillows keeping me in that position and I was indeed in my female form. I frowned, cautiously moving my head to check the markings on my left shoulder; the flower faint design was still present which left me even more confused, wondering if I did the spell wrong.
"If you're wondering why you're female, Ms. Landsford voided your spell. It worked just fine but you were expelling too much mana and we didn't want you getting weaker than you already were," Maximus explained.
I relaxed back in the comfy pillows. "Oh."
"How are you feeling?" Maximus reached out and took my hand to rest in his. I glanced at his hand in mine, the comfort of feeling his warmth and the show of worry and compassion from his actions and the relieved expression on his face.
"Would it be strange to say I don't know? Numb? I’m...just trying to play catch up and it’s not working." My memories were all jumbled up and weren't planning on falling in order without me working up a headache.
"You want a recap?" Maximus smiled.
I matched his smile with a weak one of my own. "Yes please."
He nodded, squeezing my hand. His thumb rubbed the back of my hand as he began to explain. "We had our test for Physical Studies and our team was matched up with Eric, Andrew, and Nick. You and Zane were matched with Andrew and Eric, while Nick and I were delegators on the side. You fought and the goal was to push the other team out of the arena. The plan was to create a burst of energy that would push both sides back but you would have a stable net to catch and prevent you from being forced out of the arena."
I frowned, slowly remembering bits and pieces but my mind was still only at the beginning of the match. "Um...what went wrong then? Sounds like a flawless plan."
Maximus’ expression darkened and he glanced away. I copied his frown. "Why are you mad?"
"Zane was no help and purposely didn't fight back. He created a cement wall instead of a net," Maximus revealed through gritted teeth.
"My brain may be slow right now, but that sounds a bit stupid. The afterburst from the combined power from both forces would send us flying into the wall and could break a bone or two if it was hard enough," I concluded.
Maximus met my gaze with a sympathetic smile and my brain caught on. "Don't tell me..." I trailed off when Maximus nodded.
"You noticed Zane was looking to the sidelines over at his new friends, who he confessed yesterday told him to do it. They reassured him they would use their connections to get him a good grade since he knew he wouldn't score well if the test ended up being long range spells."
"But...he could have just said so. It still doesn't explain the cement wall," I added.
"He said he didn't remember how to make a net," Maximus huffed.
"We learn that kind of thing in primary school. I knew how to do that when I was three." I mumbled the second part and Maximus grinned.
"You were a prodigy child, huh?"
"Is that the term used everywhere? I thought my family just called me that for fun."
"Ya, it's an actual term for a child showing fast mana development. Brax and I were often called that,” he admitted. I wanted him to expand more on his childhood but I put it on the back burner so I could learn more about what had happened.
"Hmm...so I guess I flew back into the wall."
"Yes and hit your head really hard. Nixon used a teleport spell to bring us to the nurses' office and when we got you into bed, you had a seizure," Maximus explained with a frown.
I bit my lip, shivering at the word. I didn't like talking about my seizures. I hadn't had one in years, but I guess hitting my head must have triggered it.
Maximus squeezed my hand, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Logan explained you hate talking about it, so we don't need to. I just wanted to catch you up on things."
I nodded, glancing at the IV pole with distaste. "Do I need that?"
"Well, now that you're awake, not really. Do you want it out?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Okay hold on." Maximus stood up, letting go of my hand. I assumed he was going to get Savannah but he came to my left side, pressing a few buttons on the monitor before checking the site where the IV was.
"What are you doing?" I asked quietly, not wanting to wake Logan and the familiars.
"Taking your IV out,” he replied calmly.
"Um...I don't think that's legal," I pointed out. He gave me a sexy smirk and grabbed a pair of gloves. I watched as he turned off the machine. Then he put his gloves on and checked the area of the IV site once more before he began pulling at the clear tape.
I glanced away; I hated watching when they pulled the IV out. Sure, it wasn't as gruesome as my mind was making it out to be, but it still grossed me out. I felt him pull it out, then a cool feeling of something cleaning the area. When I looked back, he was placing a cotton on it after having cleaned the area with an alcohol swab. Then he put a pink bandage with hearts on it.
I raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned. "I thought you'd like pink more than the the basic ugly bandaids,” he confessed and I smiled.
"How did you know how to do that?"
He gave me sad smile. "My mom was sick a lot when I was little. She was so unwell, but we couldn't afford to let her stay in the hospital if her condition wasn't progressing. We moved her to homecare and there were days she'd pull out her IV when she was upset. I got myself trained to be able to insert it in case anything happened and a nurse couldn't travel down,” he revealed.
My shoulders sank at his words and as much as I tried to hide my sadness, I failed miserably. He smiled, shaking his head and moving a few strands of my hair out of my face.
"It's okay. She's not suffering anymore,” he whispered.
I slowly moved over to one half of the bed, thankfully not waking Logan. I patted the bed for Maximus to sit next to me. He was hesitant but took me up on my offer, sliding his legs beneath the sheet and relaxing next to me.
"She's not? Did the illness get better?"
He smiled. "No. She's in heaven with my dad."
My mouth opened to respond, to say something comforting like 'I'm sorry,' or apologize for bringing it up, but no words came out. Losing someone was so hard and I had yet to move on from Gabriel's death.
Maximus moved his arm to pull me gently to rest on his shoulder. "Hey, don't give me that face. I've...almost come to terms with it. She was sick for a long time and that's kind of the reason why I met the Parks. Brax was my first friend since no one wanted to chill with the fat kid with a sick mom."
"What?" I glanced up at him, horrified that kids would do such a thing. Sure, I had my share of bad rumors spread about me and after Father's and then Gabriel's death, I saw the true side of people, but I would never be able to deal with people coming to my face and saying those words.
"Kids aren't nice when you don't fit in with the cool crowd," Maximus pointed out.
"But...that doesn't give them the right to tease you," I countered.
"I know, Jewel. Just...that’s how it was. I was the perfect target for any bully. When I met Brax, he noticed how closed off I was. I rarely talked, I had to deal with my dying mother and the reality my father was already gone. I guess I grew up fast but gained weight because I had to make my own meals which was hard and we didn't have a lot of money after Mom's treatment."
He sighed, using his free hand to ruffle his hair and looking up and the ceiling, as if to stop the tears I noticed in his eyes.
"It's something I hate talking about. I actually haven't told anyone else but here I am randomly spilling my guts to you. I just...hated life back then. The bullying happened every day, I was called a pig and because I had a wider frame and not bulky fit thighs, they nicknamed me My-thigh-us. I thought they meant Mythus, talking about ancient gods and their power but it was simply a term they used to make fun of my fat thighs. It sucked balls and I was lonely..."
I lifted my hand and wiped the tear that had escaped his eyes. He smiled, looking down to meet my gaze. I didn't want him thinking I felt sorry for him, I despised bullying and the lingering effects it had because I myself had experienced those effects, even to this day.
"Once I started opening up to Brax, he found out I was getting bullied. It was shortly after my mom had died and I was forced to go to school the next day while they figured out which foster care I'd be placed in. I didn't know what was going to happen to me, or what my future would hold, and I was frightened they would throw away all the memories of my parents. They hadn’t been bad people, they just both had an illness that they couldn't conquer, yet I felt I was being penalized for it. When I got to school, instead of people saying ‘sorry for your loss,’ they laughed."
He took a deep, calming breath and continued. "They laughed and laughed as if my mother's death was funny. No one knew the pain I held in my heart, but they thought it was hilarious. I stood there in shame and cried, wishing I could just fade away to be with my parents. That's when Brax showed up at my school and beat the shit out of the bully who always started the taunting. When the teachers got involved, Brax explained everything that had happened."
"Wow...did the teachers apologize for not noticing?" I wondered.
"They didn't believe us at first. They thought I was making things up since a few students involved were from well-off families. They thought I was jealous of their quality of life, because mine was spiraling down into nothing. That's where Kage comes in." Maximus smirked.
"Kage?" I asked.
Maximus nodded. "Brax told his parents that I was getting bullied, but said they doubted the school would believe him because there was no evidence. Kage loves taking pictures and had a little camera his parents bought him for his 9th birthday. Apparently, Brax would sneak Kage out of school and they came to my school and began tracking the times I got bullied, taking tons of pictures. So when the bullies tried to throw me under the bus and tell me I was making lies up to get sympathy and prolong my time in foster care, Brax and his parents arrived with all the photos they developed from Kage's camera with a timeline for every event. They compared it with video surveillance and it matched perfectly."
"Justice," I cheered softly, wishing I could have been there myself to punch the living daylights out of all those bullies.
Maximus chuckled, his hand playing with my hair. "Ya, justice did feel good."
"What happened after that? Did you have to go to a new family? If Kage was nine, that means you were ten and Brax was eleven," I considered, remembering Brax and Maximus were one year apart, and Kage was younger than Maximus.
"I transferred to Brax's school and his parents took me in. I didn't change my last name or anything, simply because I wanted to keep my parents’ legacy. The Parks paid for my parents’ lingering medical bills and paid off the house. I was able to go there whenever I missed my parents, but I lived with Brax and his family from then onward. They're like family now, that's why we're so close."
"Are you upset about what Zane did?" I asked.
Maximus was silent for a full minute before answering. "I'm upset that he's putting himself into a position where he will either get bullied into doing more reckless things or be thrown away like trash and will have no one to support him when he needs to get back up. I'm more angered at the fact you got seriously hurt due to his selfishness."
"So his new friends told him to not help during the exam, and I guess he thought if he played the 'I don't know how to create a net' excuse, the situation would work itself out. But then he realized creating a cement wall of such height was mana costing and he couldn't summon a wind sheet strong enough to prevent me from hitting the wall as hard as I did," I summarized, playing out the situation through my words since my brain was still playing catch up.
"Essentially yes. He could have used wind or levitation magic to halt your movement. I couldn't interfere or we would have been disqualified. You shot the others out of the arena and won, by the way." Maximus winked and I giggled.
"Excellent."
"That sounded more diabolical then it should have," Maximus commented.
I glanced back at Logan who stirred slightly. "Precious...Jewel,” he whispered, before falling back to sleep. I glanced at his bruised hand again, not liking how purple and discolored it looked.
"Did Logan snap?" I asked.
"As in, did he beat the shit out of Zane before Brax and Nixon could? Yes, and those two had to pull Logan off Zane and lock him in a room for three hours. I think after he broke the fourth light bulb Savannah finally told him if he didn't stop messing with the electricity, she'd ban him from seeing you. That’s when he calmed down," Maximus revealed.
I sighed, feeling bad for Logan. He had a really bad temper when it came to me getting hurt and as much as I told him to work on his "talking" skills, it always ended up with him teaching the person a lesson with his fist instead.
"That's just how Logan is, but how did Zane take it? Is he here?" I asked.
"He's not," Maximus admitted. I turned my head to look at him and he had a stern look on his face. "He's at a friend’s place."
"Please don't tell me he went back to the same friends that fucked him over?"
"You guessed it, Precious," Maximus grumbled.
I groaned; the amount of stupidity involved in this situation could induce headaches. "I can't believe this."
"Neither can we. I think he believes he'll have to suck up to them since his grade wasn't revealed yet," Maximus explained.
"It wasn't? But mine was? Did you get your grade?" I asked.
"Yes. We both passed, scoring perfect for bravery, quick thinking, and swift intervention. You demonstrated an act of selflessness which in real life could have cost you your life and they said my act of intervention by pointing out Zane's wrongs is what a commander on a mage warrior team would have done. I guess others in the past haven't voiced their concerns during tests."
"Was Zane's grade delayed because of the incident?"
"I think so. I'm not really sure. I believe Zane thinks it’s because his 'friends' are going to help him out."
"That could totally backfire," I pointed out.
"I know, but I hope it happens," Maximus admitted.
I glanced at him. "You’re okay with him doing poorly or potentially failing?"
"Yes." His tone was confident.
I blinked in confusion. "But...why?"
"You got seriously hurt, Jewel. You didn't just get a few scratches. You hit your head so hard you were bleeding internally. We're lucky we didn't have to get outsiders involved, but Savannah used to help in surgical procedures with magic involvement and was able to stop the bleed before it got too severe." Maximus sounded extremely upset.
I was silent, not liking his harsh tone. He noticed and took a deep breath.
"Jewel. You've known us for three weeks now, and have probably noticed Brax is the cool type right?" Maximus asked.
"Well...yea. He has the 'do not mess with me or I'll wreck shit up' appearance," I admitted.
Maximus grinned. "He doesn't like showing his emotions unless he's pissed or really troubled by something. I haven’t seen him so worried in years and when he's concerned, he goes from confident to the clumsiest person on the planet."
"What?" I asked, trying not to be mean but couldn't help but snicker. I couldn't imagine Brax being clumsy at all. He just had a dominant nature to him.
"Yup. He already tripped up the stairs twice yesterday and the day before walked straight into the wall when he tried to come in here." Maximus chuckled.
"Oh no. That isn't good. Wait...how long have I been unconscious for?" I furrowed my brow in confusion.
"Today is Sunday, Precious, so four days."
My eyes went wide. "I missed four days! How am I gonna catch up?" I whispered, unsure whether to feel worried or happy I got to skip a few classes. This technically counted as resting, right?
"You've been excused. The other professors were notified and Nixon, Kage, and I made notes for you, Brax, and Logan."
"Brax and Logan? They missed class?" I inquired.
"They've been alternating watching you," Maximus confessed.
"They didn't have to," I mumbled, looking at Logan and suddenly understanding why he looked so exhausted.
"Jewel."
I lifted my head and Maximus kissed my forehead. The kiss was a bit lower than the previous, avoiding the bandage and the softness of his lips made me shiver. At least I knew my body’s hormones were working just fine.
"They wanted to, and the only reason we weren’t able to was because Ms. Landsford scolded us after we all skipped Thursday classes." Maximus grinned confidently.
I giggled at his prideful expression. "So proud," I emphasized with a smile before yawning.
"Are you hungry or want to sleep?" Maximus asked.
"I think I'll sleep. I don't have an appetite," I confessed.
"Okay." I wondered if he was going to leave, making me grip his shirt with my free hand. "Do you mind staying?" I asked.
He smirked. "I wasn't going to leave you,” he reassured me with a soft expression. I relaxed, feeling relieved before resting my head on his chest, while his hand rubbed up and down my arm soothingly.
"Thanks, Maximus." I really did feel grateful. He didn't need to stay, none of them did. Aside from Logan and my small advances with Nixon and Brax, I hadn't gotten time to get to really know everyone, let alone be cared for like we were actually lovers. But deep inside I was extremely happy, overjoyed that these men were willing to take care of me at my lowest and accept my flaws and weaknesses.
"You're welcome, Jewel and just call me Maxi, if it makes you more comfortable,” he encouraged and I grinned.
“Maxi, Maxi, Maxi," I whispered.
"Okay, not that often,” he amended. I giggled before I thought about what we'd have to do with Zane.
Tomorrow was Monday which meant we'd be entering the fourth week of classes and midterms were approaching. We would have to figure something out and get him out of that crowd.
The real problem? Would he let us?