The Hunter Mage

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

It was a new day, Vernon yawned as he forced himself out of bed. It was either that or Sir Phillip flinging him out of it. The latter didn't sound very appealing to him. He did what he had to do and soon found himself walking out of the room for breakfast and then on to the courtyard.

The day passed faster than he expected and he somehow managed to have fun. He was glad to be in the room though and even though he wanted to join the others after the first dinner, he decided against it. However, he didn't go to sleep, as usual, rather he just laid on the bed as he waited for the second to the last bell of the day to ring. There were a lot of activities to participate in but none that he had found himself willing to try.

Not long after he laid in bed waiting for either sleep or the bell, he heard footsteps. They didn't sound like the rest of the haphazard ones as everyone was roaming around the room doing their business, not considering that the noise they were distributing might be just a tiny bit loud.

These footsteps however didn't sound like the rest but what caught his attention the most was that the footsteps sounded like they had a purpose and the purpose was in his direction. He felt himself freeze at the idea that somebody was walking up to him.

He pushed the thought away and attributed it to him being paranoid. He wanted to turn around to confirm for himself but he soon figured that that would probably worsen his predicament and that the person would probably go away if he didn't move. They would probably just think he was sleeping.

"Vernon!" He heard Dev call and he jerked before he could stop himself. Even though it was obvious to anyone that he was awake, he did not reply to Dev's call.

"Vernon!" He repeated. "I know you're awake. We all saw you shake a couple of seconds ago. Stop pretending like you are asleep."

Vernon rolled his eyes and groaned loudly. "What?" He yelled as he turned around to face Dev. He was expecting to see more of his roommates but only Dev stood beside his bed.

However, he could tell immediately that the rest of the boys in the room were in on it because even though they tried to act natural, they wouldn't stop staring in his direction. To be honest, as curious as he was to what this was all about, he would be glad if this wasn't happening right now. Still, he pulled himself up to see where this was going.

"Um," stuttered Dev who seemed to have lost all his confidence at Vernon's attack. "Why wouldn't you try to patch things up with Nevil even though he has tried to be friends with you again?"

Vernon's reaction was instantaneous, his mouth fell open and he immediately turned his head in Nevil's direction. "What did you just say?" Today wasn't the day.

"I asked Nevil why you guys aren't talking and he explained to me but he also said he has been trying to talk to you but you have been ignoring him." Dev further explained.

Vernon groaned and dragged his hands across his face. He opened his mouth to respond but he didn't speak to Dev as he spoke but rather directed his response to Nevil. "That's a lie. That's a very big lie. I don't even know why he wouldn't talk to me and frankly, I don't care."

He finished his statement with a scoff, fell onto his bed, and quickly rolled on his side so he was facing the wall again. "Vernon!" Dev yelled, shaking him.

"What?" Vernon groaned.

"We are not done talking." Dev returned.

"Well, I am. You can keep talking without me." Vernon muttered, he could feel the sides of his eyes burning and was afraid if he didn't get a grip his eyes would start glowing, or worse he could start crying.

"It is not a lie, I did try to talk to you." Nevil's voice called out.

Vernon reacted before he could stop himself. One moment he was lying down another moment, he was sitting upright and pointing at Nevil. "When was this?" He asked a little too forcefully that he felt the words scrape the back of his throat.

"Earlier today and yesterday," Nevil returned.

Vernon could feel his eyes turn even redder but thankfully they weren't glowing, at least not yet. He wasn't ready for this but somehow he wasn't lying back on his bed and facing the wall. "Where?"

"Out on the courtyard," Nevil said as didn't meet his gaze anymore.

"What were we doing when you spoke to me and I didn't answer?" Vernon was already feeling numb and frankly, at this point, he didn't care all that too much about what this was about but the fact that Nevil was lying bothered him. He couldn't even comprehend or think of why Nevil would.

"We were just about to try to grow a plant from scratch. Just when Pam placed the seed in front of us, I waved at you but you looked away." Nevil explained in a rush.

Vernon wanted further explanation but he wasn't about to stress he just wanted to confirm that Nevil never said a word to him. "What about the second time, did you speak to me?" Vernon asked. He was acting a little too chill for how he felt.

"No, I waved still," Nevil replied and bent his head. Vernon wasn't sure if it was out of embarrassment but he didn't really care.

"So, you never walked up to me and spoke to me?" Vernon countered.

"No," Nevil shook his head and gasps flew around the room. Vernon felt his curiosity spike but he quelled it down. Apparently, they already had a conversation before bringing this to him.

"What about what Vernon's mother did to Nevil?" Jay suddenly butted in and voices arose trying to shut him down.