It's Complicated

Chapter 3

A/N

Last night I had ten minutes of spare time, so I re-read some of the scenes in Raelia, and I discovered how much of a fangirl I really am It's quite sad, really. But I now know it's Shondelle, so sorry if I put Shontelle last time (which I think I did. And I call myself a fan). But anyway, here's chapter three for my one reader. Dedicating this to you, Pensy.

Enjoy! (if you've read my other stories, you'll know)

The academy was a whole lot quieter than I was used to, since I never got back from Kaldoras early.

"Is it normally this quiet?" Antonio whispered. My eyes rolled.

"Like you keep reminding me, it's Kaldoras. No one's here except for those few people who would rather stay at school than go home." He looked pointedly at me. "Hey, I'd rather go home, and my home kinda sucks."

"You would not rather go home, you liar," he accused. I raised my palms in defence.

"Hey, you believe what you like. School's school, however you look at it. And any time away from Finn and Karter is great with me."

"I really need to meet those two," Antonio grumbled.

My grin widened. "Oh, you're gonna regret ever uttering those words."

Finally, we approached Marselle's office. I knocked twice, then Antonio knocked once, because he didn't want to feel 'left out'. Hmm. The door clicked open, and I stood up straighter from my slouched position on the wall.

"Darius!" I exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder. He raised his eyebrows at me. "Hi, Marselle," I added sulkily. Antonio snickered.

"And who might you be?" Ah, right. I was in disguise.

"You might wanna take a seat. This could take a while."

After ages of explaining (okay, maybe it was only like five minutes, but it seemed like forever), we'd got him to agree with our plan.

"As long as you don't actually hear anything too...private," he said sceptically.

"Yessir!" I said, snapping a salute.

"So, you'll be in your usual dorm?"

"Um, yeah."

"What about me?" Antonio broke in. Oh yeah. He was there. Hey, I'm not that observant! Gosh.

"You..." Marselle trailed off, and pulled out a wad of papers from his desk drawer. "Can stay in the empty room on floor eight." I bit back a laugh. That was the top floor, which meant he'd have to walk up the stairs every single night, even after PE and Combat. I pitied the boy. No, really, I did!

"Cool. Eight. Can we go plot our valiant return to Meya now?"

Marselle's eyes twinkled. "Sure, Antonio. May I have a word, Jordan?" Oh no.

"Um, yes?" Wow, Jordan. How articulate. Antonio chuckled, but quickly exited the room.

"Jordan, I'm sure you understand the importance of not getting...too attached, while you're here," Marselle began.

I didn't get it. "What-?"

He cut me off before I could finish asking my question. Rude, man. "You can't let your friends get too close to you, or they might start to suspect. I'll make the teachers aware of our situation, but I would suggest lying low for a while," he gave me a stern look. "Which means none of your stunts to land yourself in detention, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," I replied cheerfully, plastering a grin onto my face.

"Very well." He didn't look convinced. "You also need an alias."

"Uh..." I blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Bob Smith?" All I got in response was an unimpressed look.

"I've got a new folder here for an Oliver Jones," he said. I shrugged.

"Well, I'd like-"

"That wasn't a suggestion."

"Right," I nodded seriously. "Oli Jones. Whatever. Great."

"That's everything. You may go. Remember, no one can know who you are, Jordan. No one. You two should go get some dinner and get settled before everyone comes back from Kaldoras. I expect you'll want to be rested. You can come back tomorrow for Antonio's schedule."

"Yes sir!" I snapped a salute before turning towards the door.

"And Jordan," he called after me. I glanced over my shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"You're rooming with Bear again. He's known you for far longer than Alex or Delucia. And while you may not have shown Bear your 'romantic side' like the other two, he'll know something's up if you act like you normally do."

"Sure...wait. What?"

An amused smile quirked his lips. "Goodnight, Jordan."

"Night..."

Antonio was outside, propped against the corridor wall. He raised his eyebrows when he spotted me. I didn't stop moving, and he was right on my heels.

"What was that about?" He asked curiously. I shrugged, looking back at the headmaster's door.

"I really don't know," I muttered. "But apparently, my headmaster knows more about my love life than I do."

Antonio snickered, and I scowled at him. "That's when you know your life is sad. You're being stalked by a teacher."

"I now officially know how Alex felt for all that time," I stated.

"Who's Alex?"

I sighed as we walked into . "I suppose I should fill you in before everyone gets back. What do I have to lose? My life already sucks."

"Well, it could always get worse." I stared at him blankly.

"How?" I asked sulkily, sitting down at a random table and picking up a menu. He held back a grin.

"You could be dead. Have an incurable disease. Or..." He trailed off, picking up his own menu.

"Or what?"

"You could never be able to eat pizza again," he finished as a plate of it appeared in front of him.

"Right," I replied sceptically.

It was the day. The day everyone came back to the academy. Naturally, I couldn't keep my feet still at breakfast the next day, much to Antonio's chagrin.

"Dude, can you please stop tapping your foot? It's driving me crazy," he groaned, rubbing his temples. My mouth split into an unholy grin, and I sped up the tapping. I skewered another piece of bacon with my fork, and had it halfway to my mouth when a spoonful of scrambled egg hit me in the face.

Blinking, I slowly raised my eyes. Antonio had his spoon (who eats eggs with a spoon, anyway?) over his shoulder, grinning his head off.

"Oh, you wanna fight, Alvarez?" I regrettably lowered my bacon, and picked up my menu. "Well, forget it. I'm not in the mood."

"You're no fun, Sparky."

"Yeah," I murmured. "No fun at all." Quickly scanning the options, I selected the spaghetti. Yep, I was officially evil.

"Spaghetti for breakfast, dude? What's up with...oh. Oh, no, Jordan, can't we work something out-" He was cut off by a forkful of pasta landing on his head. "Gross!" Before he could retaliate, I darted to the other side of the cafeteria, suddenly really glad there wasn't anyone serving food to tell us off. Flipping a table with my Finn-detention gained strength, I ducked behind it and snatched a stray menu, ready to up my stock. Just as I raised my head, I got hammered by mashed potatoes. Right in the ear, too.

"You're going down, Alvarez!" I shouted, lobbing some random food item over his shelter. I grinned as I heard his angry shriek. The fight went on for a while, since we hadn't really had much fun when we were stuck with Aven. He wasn't really the 'fun' type of guy.

I'd just got my hands on a whipped cream can, and was spraying Antonio while he lamely tried to shield himself when I heard the door open. A glance at my TCD revealed it was arrival time. "Oh, crap! Antonio, we gotta-" I was silenced by a chunk of ice cream hitting me.

I weighed my options. Common sense or revenge?

Screw it. "You're gonna get it, 'Varez!" I yelled. "Just you wait!" I aimed my can again, and started chasing him around the room. While we were running, I admired my handiwork. He was a mess. Then again, I probably was too. A loud voice broke the chaos.

"I guess brunch's out." I froze, and didn't dare turning my head towards the door, knowing who it was that stood there.

"Too bad. I was hungry." I recognized that voice, too. Even if it hadn't been too long since we'd started talking.

An incredulous scoff rang through the room. "How could you still be hungry? If Gammy heard that, she'd be offended."

"You'd think the new students could hold off for one day, at least," Marselle grumbled. I chewed my lip. Crap. Why did the headmaster escort three students to the cafeteria? It didn't make sense. Stupid academy. Slowly, I met Antonio's gaze, and he nodded subtlely. I turned towards the newcomers, and flashed a wave. Then dropped my hand, thinking it was too Jordan-like.

"Oliver Jones," I said awkwardly. "Charmed." Then winced at how lame that seemed.

"Antonio. Garcia," he added. I shot him a 'what the hell' look. He ignored me.

"Riiight. Nice meeting you. Come on, guys, let's go." I could tell what Dix thought of Antonio and I from her look. And there was no recognition there. I tried to keep my face neutral, but I ended up looking away just in case it crumpled. I didn't dare look at Alex or Bear. Antonio tried to catch my eye, but I shrugged him off.

"I'm gonna go clean up. Uh, maybe see you three 'round," I muttered, and ducked out of the room, chucking the whipped cream to Antonio as I passed him. I picked a piece of lettuce out of my wig (which is as weird as it sounds), and contemplated the likelihood of Marselle letting me bunk with Antonio. Maybe ignoring them altogether would be easier, so I wouldn't have to see their blank faces each time they saw me. I decided what the heck, and hooked my arm through Marselle's when I walked by him. "I wanna talk to you," I muttered. He didn't protest, and farewelled my friends.

"Meet you in your room, Toni," I called over my shoulder.

"What did you want to talk about, Oliver?" Darius asked, but I was pretty sure he already knew.

"I need a room change," I said simply.

He didn't look surprised. "Now, Oli-"

"Don't call me that!" I snapped. Then I regained my composure. "Look, I've changed my mind. I don't want to change. I need to. I can't face them without them knowing who I am. It...it hurts too much," I finished desperately.

His expression softened. "I know. I know this is hard for you, but I can't reprogramme you to another dorm while you're still in the system. So you'll have to stay where you are, I'm afraid."

I saw it coming. I probably should've stopped there, but did I? No! My time with Aven had taught me to make the most of the times when you could argue. Plus, I was desperate, which was probably a bad look for me, but whatever. Hey, I wasn't even actually me! I was Oliver Jones.

"Professor, even though I'm a big boy doesn't mean I can handle everything. Have you been Claimed? No. Have you considered suicide? Another no? Or, or, how about seen your friends not recognize you and think you're a loser. Still a no? Well-"

"Jordan," he said loudly. I shut up. "It was your choice to fake being a student at Akarnae, correct?" I opened my mouth to reply, but he didn't let me. "You could've just staked it out from afar. Or, even better, invisibly, with your gift." Well, that was true. Did he have a point here? "You chose to come back and see your friends, so you have to deal with the consequences of that." Did Alex not get annoyed at this guy every time she talked to him about her problems? Because I was sure frustrated.

Before I could retort, some interrupted.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but if you're done speaking, could I talk to Oli?" Alex asked politely. Marselle gave me a pointed look, then stepped back.

"Sure. Go ahead," he replied bemusedly, and I internally scowled as he walked away. Alex turned to me.

"Hey, we were wondering, since you were new, if you and your friend wanted to come with us to the Rec Room to hang out, or maybe we could give you a tour?" This was where I had to decide whether to be a d**k and decline, or go with them like the all-around nice guy I was (if Antonio could hear my thoughts right now, he would've laughed his butt off. But he couldn't, and he wasn't).

"Uh, well...a tour would be good," I replied lamely. Alex smiled.

"Cool. Meet us by the entrance in an hour after you get cleaned up, because I'm pretty sure you need it." I touched the food in my hair.

"Probably." I turned, then paused halfway. "Thanks. Let's just, uh, forget about that whole food fight thing, yeah? Sorry about your brunch, by the way," I added like the chivalrous guy I was. Antonio probably would've busted his gut by now.

Alex grinned wryly. "Forget about what? And no worries; my best friend used to do stuff like that all..." her voice broke, and her face closed off. I watched her curiously. "Never mind. See you later." And then she walked away, back to Dix and Bear.

Assuming she was talking about me - well, okay, who else would she be talking about? - she obviously was still recovering from it. Which, weirdly enough, actually comforted me, because it showed me she really cared about me. Now, before you think I'm going sappy on you, stop thinking it right there. I wouldn't turn this into a sappy story about the true meaning of friendship, because who'd want to read that rubbish? Not me.

Anyway.

I headed up to my room with a warm feeling - and no, I was pretty sure it wasn't the pasta on my head.