Page 31 of His Untoward Hate

“I’m the leader, remember?” Sky retorted.

“And so?” She raised a brow and crossed her hands over her chest. “The leader should guide his teammate…In the right way,” she said with conviction.

“Going to where I was seated doesn’t mean negligence. And the leader must be obeyed,” Sky said sternly.

“I’ll g-o to him, Miss L-eizel,” Jude interrupted, not wanting to increase the tension between them just because of a nonsense discussion.

Jude let out a heavy sigh. Closing his eyes briefly as if praying for courage, he forced himself to stand and slowly walked toward the back, where Sky was seated. His gaze stayed fixed on the floor, but halfway there, he passed by Jasper and caught him subtly smiling at him. Jude shyly returned it with a tiny smile of his own, subtle enough that no one else would notice.

Jude was not fond of coffee, yet his heart was pounding wildly as if he had consumed several cups. He carried a notebook and a pen with him, trying to ease his nervousness by fidgeting with the pen and gripping it tightly. He was surprised when he reached Sky’s seat and saw that a vacant chair had already been placed there, positioned so they would be sitting face-to-face. Jude felt terrified. His whole body was literally trembling.

“Can you just quickly sit down faggot!”

“Hey! Watch your words, Sky Granger!” Miss Leizel yelled, and Sky only rolled his eyes.

“You’re a troublemaker,” he said sharply, though his voice was low now.

Jude sat down apprehensively, keeping his head lowered as he stared at the armchair.

They were silent for a couple of minutes until Sky slammed the arm of his chair, making Jude jolt in fright. Thankfully, the teacher went outside a couple of minutes ago for the restroom.

“What now fag? Don’t tell me you came here just to be quiet?”

“I-m sorry,”

“Don’t fucking apo—” he cut off his own words. “You know you can do all the work. Why am I even wasting my time with you?” Sky was about to stand up, but Jude stopped him by gently grabbing the hem of his long sleeve.

Sky Granger immediately froze in his seat.

“I need you,” Jude suddenly spoke, lifting his gaze to meet his eyes.

For the first time, he found himself staring at Sky longer than expected. He tried, with all his might, to fight his monstrous gaze.

Undeniably, his eyes were beautiful. They were like Jasper’s, yet different at the same time. Sky’s eyes carried more tiny flecks of gold beside his pupils, surrounded by a piercing shade of light green around the iris that made them look strikingly vivid. Jasper, on the other hand, had lighter hazel eyes with only a few golden flecks resting around his black dot.

Sky, on the other hand, also stared deeply into Jude’s eyes. His eyes were breathtaking. Jude’s eyes were colored grey, but with some shade of blue and white in the iris, in beautiful contrast.

Sky felt lost in them.

Sky’s brows furrowed even more, but Jude could see the softness that slowly appeared in his eyes. Jude tried to read them, only to find himself getting lost in them too.

Realization plummeted when the teacher arrived. Jude quickly broke their eye contact after what felt like an entire minute of staring at each other. He immediately released the hem of Sky’s sleeve as well. Thankfully, they were seated at the far end of the row, where no one seemed to be paying attention to them. Mostly, students really wanted to avoid sitting beside Sky Granger.

“I a-m really s-orry. I can’t do this alone. I mean, I h-ave no l-aptop or computer at home. M-aybe you can let me borrow yours, and…and by then I will do all the work,” Jude stuttered horribly.

The previous year, their research group consisted of five members, and four of them owned laptops, making it easy for him to borrow one whenever he needed it. But now, the group was down to two. So, he had no choice.

Jude felt a spectacle of himself.

Why did I say that? Why had I even asked him to borrow, as if he would care at all? He doesn’t care. Jude scolded himself for even entertaining the thought.

It took Sky a while before he finally responded.

“You can come to my house to do the work right after class,” he said. “I’ll wait for you outside the school,” he continued, as if he were really determined to do it. “…Just this time fag, just this time,” Sky repeated before abruptly dismissing the class without ethics, leaving Jude completely stunned as the teacher’s voice rang out in frustration, threatening detention.

14

“It’s okay,” Jude mumbled to himself as he stared at his reflection in the dirty mirror before stepping out of the bathroom.