Chapter 26; In Hindsight, Maybe Challenging Andrew Wasn't A Good Idea

"It's both a blessing and a curse to feel everything so deeply."

~ David Jones, Love and Space Dust

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Alice's P.O.V

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    Ray and I promised each other that we wouldn't ever mention our little moment ever again. What happened in the cave, stays in the cave. Ray went back to his tent and I went back to the tree house acting as if nothing ever happend. Which was really hard. Everything makes sense now that Ray has confessed his feelings towards me, but it also made it more complicated.

    My heart is conflicted. I love Ray, but not like that. So where does that put us? We aren't friends or lovers. How can one be "just friends" with someone who loves you? Or vice versa? And what about Peter? I have to stay focused on The Game. This incident will just drive me off track. I can't afford to fall in love at this point.

    My heart is split into two. One part longs for Ray, and the other longs for Peter. Is it possible for that to happen? And are my feelings towards them real? Am I like Tessa Grey, where Ray is Jem and Peter is Will? What would Tessa chose? I don't deny that I feel a certain attraction towards Peter, but I can't pinpoint the feeling. Is it love or is it just the moments that Peter and I had finally taking it's toll?

    And all this happened just because I read "The Child Thief". How did my life get so complicated?

    "Alice!" Peter shouts, his voice like a hard slap, bringing me back to reality.    I blink. "What?"    "Have you even been listening to a single word I've been saying?" he asks.    I sit up on the bed and nod. "Yes," I say, then I shake my head. "No."    He sighs. "I said, "you'll be training with the other Lost Boys today"."

    "Okay, sure," I say.    "Are you alright with that?" he asks.    Am I alright with that? After my incident with Ray?    "Yeah," I say. "Yeah, I'll be fine."    "Felix will be leading the training lesson," he says. "So you don't have to worry about anything."    Sure, five hours of training with Ray and The Bloodlust Trio, what could possibly go wrong?

****

    "Hey, look!" Andrew hollers, gesturing with the sword in his hand. "The runt's girlfriend is here."    I sigh, walking up to the crowd of Lost Boys. In the center of the crowd is Felix, demonstrating how to block a side cut with his sword. He makes eye contact with me and nods, acknowledging my presence in the group.

    Felix continues teaching the younger Lost Boys the rules of dueling. None of which is new to me and I decide to tune him out, sizing up The Trio instead. Andrew stands a few meters away from me, as always, he's flanked by the two brothers. Andrew's face is expressionless, no doubt he's bored out of his mind. I recall what Peter told me about Andrew's skill in dueling.

    "He's the last person you'd want to be in fight with," Peter says. "He'll beat you within seconds even Felix can't match Andrew's skill with the blade."    "How'd he get so good at sword fighting?" I ask.    "Felix and I taught him everything he knows," Peter explains proudly.    "So the student has become the master?"    "Sadly, yes," Peter says.

    Jerome flanks Andrew's right while his brother, Hunter, flanks his left. Jerome scrutinizes Ray and whispers something to Andrew. It must've been amusing to Andrew as he laughs outloud. Hunter remains unfazed by their joke, focused on Felix's explanation with a neural expression. Andrew examines the crowd and his eyes land on me.

    He smirks, realizing that I've been staring at him. "Like what you see?" he mouths.    "Of course," I mouth. "Not."    "Feisty," he mouths. "Just the way I like my girls."    I scrunch up my face in disgust.    "Get into your pairs," Felix announces.

    After a few minutes, I'm the only one left without a partner. All the other Lost Boys are partnered with another boy, save Andrew, he's partnered with Hunter and Jerome. Andrew looks like he's about to ditch the brothers and partner up with me. I pray a collective prayer to every god, superhero and fictional character that he won't chose to be partnered with me. But it is futile as Andrew starts to head towards my direction.

    Thankfully, Ray comes to my rescue.    "Come on partner," he says, looping his free hand in mine. "Let's go."    I follow him without another word. I wait until we're out of earshot to thank him. "You literally just saved my life," I say.    "Anything for you— Anything for a friend."

    I pretend not to notice his slip up. "Have you dueled before?"    "Yes," Ray replies, nodding his head. He brings me to the end of the training grounds, where there are a lesser amount of Lost Boys. We both get into our fighting stances.    "Ready?" he asks me.    "Totally," I say, nodding my head.

****

    I parry Ray's sidecut with the blunt side of my blade. I block the rest of his blows with ease, but then feel guilty for making him look bad in front of his peers. I purposely losen my grip on my sword so he'll be able to knock it out of my hand. I hope my act will be realistic enough, although I think I've had enough practices with Peter to make something look real and genuine.

    I'm not even out of breath when Ray disarms me. But I can't say the same for Ray, his dark green shirt is soaked with sweat and he's panting for air.    "Do you want to rest for awhile?" I ask, feigning exhaustion for his sake.    He nods, driving the point of the sword into the ground and resting his body weight on pommel.

    I re-tie my hair up in a messy bun, tucking the loose hair behind my ear. In my peripheral vision, I can see Andrew walking up to us, followed by his two goons.    "You should get a better partner," Andrew says, observing Ray's current state. "One that can match your level of skill."    I flash him a fake smile. "Thanks, but no. I prefer dueling with Ray."

    Felix chooses that moment to show up, cutting into our conversation. "Andrew's right," he says. "You should partner up with him, he's the only one who comes close to matching your skills."    "I don't think Andrew and I have the same level of skill," I say.    He gives me a look. "Your act isn't fooling anyone," he says. "We've all seen you practicing with Pan from time to time."

    I curse under my breath. "Fine, but who will Ray be partnered with?"    "Me," he says.    I give Ray a look, asking him if he's alright with that arrangement. He gives me a faint smile and nods as if saying, "Go ahead. I'll be fine, it's just Felix".    I glance at Andrew, who's looking rather amused at our exchange.

    "Come on, Andrew," I say, walking away, searching for another space to practice. "Let's get this over and done with."    The Lost Boys' eyes are on us. I overhear some of them placing bets on who'll win.    "If Alice loses, I'll do your chores for a week," whispers Phillip.    "I'll take over your night shift if Andrew loses to her," Daniel says.

    I spot Ray talking to another boy, Troye, if I'm not mistaken. "Five weeks' worth of hunting that Alice will win."

    "I bet you two weeks' worth of chores that Alice won't last for five minutes," Jerome says to Hunter.    His brother thinks about it for awhile, then nods. "You're on."

    Andrew stands opposite me, he swings his sword in a full arc. He's obviously looking foward to this. "Scared, Alice?"    I smirk. "You wish."    Game on.

    The boys have stopped dueling and are now staring at us. Andrew and I get into our fighting stances. As soon as we get into our preferred stance I can tell that he's going to attack first. I clench my free hand, waiting for him to make his move. Which he does, just like I predicted.

    I block his side cut with my sword and retaliate, swinging my sword under his legs. Sadly, Andrew anticipated my move and jumps. I swing my sword in a wide arc, distancing myself from his blows. I get into a defensive stance. I parry Andrew's overhead cut and attempt to thrust my blade foward, he blocks it easily.

    It seems like I've met my match but I refuse to let him beat me. I bring my hand back and swipe it forward. The blade of my sword hits Andrew's sword with a metallic clang.    Felix runs towards us and puts up his hands. "Alright, that's enough for today."

    I nod to Andrew. "Good game."    "Yeah," he says. "But I would've won if Felix hadn't interrupted us."    I scoff. "Arrogant much?"    "No," he says. "I'm just better than you."    "How 'bout we duel again tomorrow and see who wins," I say.    What the hell am I saying?    "You're on," he says, grinning.

****

    "I heard that you and Andrew dueled earlier today," Peter says.    I look up from my book. "Yup."    "It's a pity I missed it," he says.    "I wouldn't be too upset," I say, my eyes darting across the pages of my book. "We'll be dueling again tomorrow."    "I'll be looking forward to it." he says, standing up.

    "Where are you going?" I ask, looking up at him.    "It's time for the bonfire," he replies, stopping at the door. "You coming?"    "In a second," I say, placing my book on the table as I stand up.    Peter places his arm around my waist and teleports us out of the tree house.

    "Do you think you'll beat Andrew in your duel tomorrow?" Peter asks as we sit onto the logs.    "I'm not sure," I answer truthfully. "Andrew's really good with a sword."    He takes his flute out of his pocket. "Do you mind if I play something? It'll help you calm your nerves."    "Go ahead. I don't mind at all," I say.    He smiles and places the flute to his lips.

    I feel a wave of emotions wash over me as soon as he plays the first note. I lean in, staring at his lips. I was almost tempted to kiss him, I probably would have, if he didn't stop playing.    I pull back, slightly dizzy as if I were coming out of a trance. "Why'd you stop?"    A sad look crossing his face but it is then replaced with a grin.

    Sad? Why would he be sad? Is it because I didn't want to kiss him? Or did I just imagine it?

    Instead of answering my question, he stands up and walks towards Felix.    "Yes, Pan?" Felix asks.    "Gather the Lost Boys," he orders. "There are novices on my island."    Felix nods and proceeds to round up the boys up.    "Peter? Is everything alright?" I ask, gently grabbing his forearm.    "Everything's perfect," he says.    "Then why'd you ask Felix to gather up the Lost Boys?"

    "Because," Peter says, smirking. "We have guests."

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Oh my gawd, three updates in three days? I'm on a roll. Can I get a hell yeah! xD I think someone spiked the pizza I ate, that might explain why I'm so hyper *runs around the house screaming* *knocks into a bookcase* *books fall onto me* *dies*

Hahaha, yeah someone definitely spiked my pizza.

I hope you guys liked this chapter. Feel free to dm me if you wanna talk or fangirl about it. I'm always up for a I-hate-you-why-are-you-doing-this-to-me-the-feels-are-killing-me-fest.

Well I'm gonna eat more pizza, byeeeeee *eats the entire box of pizza* don't judge me.

~ Alice xx

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Who's your favorite boy in The Bloodlust Trio?

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Vote, comment, rate, do whatever you want <3

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Edited: 23.11.2017