Colliding Rulers

Richness (3.2)

Third Person's P.O.V

Alex's energy was draining them more and more as each day passed. Every day was a test of patience for Alex.

"We're enemies. What are you on about?" Gevia asked, shaking her head.

Deep inside, Gevia was happy that Alex was by her side. It was clenching Gevia's insides. Joshua's disappearance made it look more like they were being given privacy. Joshua knew exactly what he was doing. He wandered off, went to stare at the wide variety of food. He was drooling, almost visible now.

People were starting to get weirded out by Joshua. Talking among themselves with confused faces. They didn't know who Joshua was with, so they openly judged him based on his rundown clothes. He had worn a very worn out shirt, and tattered shoes. Joshua had style, but his clothes were just really old.

"Oh, gosh. They all look so beautiful." Joshua said to himself when, suddenly, someone joined Joshua.

"They do and they all taste heavenly." it was a man with a cute smile on his face. Joshua and that guy were of the same height, and they all shared the same love for food.

The spark in that guy's eyes was the same as the spark in Joshua's eyes. Together, they understood that they both loved food, not to the extent that they were food, but because of the different flavors colliding and becoming one big bang. They both silently agreed on one thing, to eat as much as they could.

"Bet," the guy said.

"Bet." Joshua agreed and they started grabbing food here and there.

The bystanders watched as two food-crazed men paced along the table full of food, just grabbing anything that they could get their hands on. They were ready to dig in as soon as they grabbed the food, but they waited until they could get to a table. They finished at the same time and looked at each other in the eyes, with a victorious smile.

"Do you want to eat it with me?" the guy asked, in awe that someone actually liked food the same way that he did. His cold heart was touched that he had found his soulmate. His heart was filled with thoughts of Joshua, who mysteriously appeared in front of him. He had no background and attended the gala in his worn out clothes. He was the surprise that nobody expected.

The guy's mind was filled with Joshua's origin. He wanted to make sure that Joshua was happy with his trip to the island, but that was it. He knew already that his attention would be on Joshua and not on the gala. He had sworn that the gala would be as boring as it could ever be, running for that number one spot of being the most boring gala ever, but he didn't expect Joshua to come over. He was swept off of his feet.

"I thought we were already going to do that, since we had this kind of vibe going on." Joshua's assumption made it to the strange guy's heart, tugging on the strings as easily as tugging on guitars. His confidence was leaking out, straining everyone's eyes with his blinding toothy grin.

The guy responded with an intended smile,

"Yes, of course. Shall we?" the guy's thick British accent made it evident that he had come from London. Joshua didn't mind that the guy was a total stranger. For him, just sharing the same interest as food is enough for him to trust the guy. He nonchalantly followed the guy to a well-designed table with a bouquet in the middle.

The table was differently designed than the rest. Joshua noticed how that table was a bit more elite than the rest. He wasn't so stupid as to not realize that this guy that he was with was richer than anyone else. He gulped, unsure whether to hide his true self or to be more conservative.

Joshua knew a thing or two about rich people. One and foremost would be to not piss them off. Gevia was also lacking in terms of prudence. Gevia shouted carelessly, pointing and blaming others so nonchalantly as if it was a daily thing in her life. Gevia was so easily irritated before that it was one of the reasons why she was inherently avoided in school.

Just from that, Joshua knew that pissing them off was off the list. He wanted to, at least, stir out of trouble concerning rich people. He cautiously sat down, and that was noticed by the guy that he was with. Not far from where they were, Gevia and Alex saw Joshua. They curiously watched Joshua's next move, interested in Joshua's course of action.

"Your friend is doing pretty good," Alex complimented.

"He's witty, and he adapts to the situation better than me," Alex scoffed.

"You bet he is. I was even surprised."

They take turns looking at Joshua and the guy.

"You don't have to worry about making a mistake when you're with me. I'm not some shitty person." the guy said, not close to calming Joshua down.

"They all say that, but then turn into some monster afterwards." Joshua started eating as he was hungry. His cautious self was now going back inside his scrawny body.

The guy, almost as if bewitched by Joshua's charms, stared at Joshua eating, forgetting that he had food in front of him, which had never happened before. The guy's priority was food. It was and had always been food. He never cared for anybody else. His attention has never been snatched by anything other than food, much less snatched by a person. Not until that very moment.

Joshua heartily ate to his heart and stomach's content. Food was everything that was running inside Joshua's mind. He forgot about Gevia, and the guy right in front of him.

"Monster? Your choice of words is brilliant. I like it." the guy grabbed his fork and started eating, but slowly, not wanting to divert his eyes from looking at Joshua. Joshua nodded, but without looking at the guy.

"What's your name?" the mysterious guy asked.

"Joshua."

"Where do you study?" he asked.

Joshua was so preoccupied with food that he was already giving out personal information to a total stranger. He didn't seem to mind that he was talking to someone that he had just met.

"I go to the same school as Gevia and Alex. We're classmates." the guy smiled happily.

As if he had plans in his mind, he was thankful that he knew all of Alex's and Gevia's basic information. They weren't exactly close, but they weren't total strangers. They knew something about one another.

"I reckon you're best friends, seeing how you got to tag along." the guy easily slides in, stealthily cooking out information from Joshua. He was so good at subtly digging up information from people that even Joshua didn't realize what was going on. Joshua kept on eating, not minding the questions.

"I wouldn't deny that part, but I wouldn't also be here if it only meant that. I also have school to attend to, you know." Joshua was putting up a fight.

"Oh? And what other reason could there be?" Joshua was, inevitably, provoked by the tone of the guy's voice. He didn't seem to like what the guy's tone was insinuating.

The guy smiles, happily knowing that his fake provoking was working. It got Joshua worked up, feeling the need to defend himself against such accusations. Joshua stopped eating and stared directly into the guy's eyes without knowing what it could mean to the other person. Joshua's bravery intrigued the guy even more.

"I'm also Gevia's personal designer and hairdresser."

"Aren't you a little too young to be doing that?"

Joshua inhaled and exhaled, calming his nerves down. He wasn't going to have a fight with someone he had just met, even more so, that they shared the same interest when it came to food. Almost all of their food choices were the same. Surprisingly, his words didn't get to Joshua that much. It never reached Joshua's core, so it was easy for Joshua to calm down.

"Gevia and I both know what my abilities are. It was never a question of bonds, but of skills. Both of us knew that friendship isn't going to save and solve everything. We live for reason." the guy smirked, stood up and sat beside Joshua.

Joshua was surprised by the said actions and leaned away from the guy.

"Ooh, he took a liking to your friend." Alex said, wiping the side of their mouth with a napkin.

"Okay, first of all, he has a name, so please use that instead of 'your friend'? And second of all, yes, I think the captain has some competition now."

Alex hummed, liking the feisty Gevia. They clear their throat and looked at where Joshua and the guy were.

"They'll be in big trouble. Guess we'll have a new transfer student."