Five Mark

After that first day, I figured out how to ignore Dustin pretty fucking quick. And as soon as classes started, it got even easier.

Our schedules seemed to be almost opposite of one another. I was up and heading to class while he was still passed out. By the time I was done with classes, he was gone to his or at practice for the rest of the night. There were whole weeks that went by where we didn't speak a word to each other.

And that was just fine with me.

The moment I set foot in class, I had a massive mound of work thrust upon my shoulders. While most capstone projects began in the second semester, that wasn't the case for witches. Ours was a year-long affair. Me and those like me were immediately buried under a mountain of research. And my project was the most ambitious in my entire class.

Magic that manipulated time and space was some of the most difficult in the world and disastrous should it be done wrong. So, I decided that was my project. I wanted to create a single spell that would take me back to any point in time that I wanted without messing up the future. In essence, I had to split the timeline, create an offshoot, and the moment I wanted to come back, terminate it so it wouldn't create some sort of space-time paradox. Whatever that meant.

Surprise, surprise, that required a fuck ton of math. So, I spent every waking moment of my life doing calculations and drawing magical charts. By the end of the year, if I got it right, I would have an entire tome full of these charts, sigils, and equations. And that one book would be reusable forever, granting me the power to visit the past and see it for myself. Such a thing had never been undertaken successfully and would guarantee me a life of fame and fortune among my superiors.

Maybe that would finally get my father's attention.

But I tried not to think about that as often as possible. Every time my father's face popped into my head, I inevitably made a mistake and had to start over on the page that I'd been working on.

In fact, that exact thing had already happened five times tonight, and I was just about sick of it. There was a pile of expensive and ruined parchment in my wastepaper basket, and a deep sense of irritation seeping into my bones. Besides, it was too loud outside to concentrate anyway, even with the windows closed.

Tonight was the homecoming game, and that meant everyone was out at the stadium screaming their faces off or wandering campus drunk. Thanks to my roommate, I now had a healthy disdain for all sports, real or imaginary. But this was one of those rare occasions when I was feeling a bit lonely. Maybe I should go out and enjoy the festivities with my friends. They'd invited me, but I turned them down prematurely. I didn't need to watch the game, but I could at least get a couple of drinks, eat some shitty deep-fried food, and have a good time for once.

You only went to college once, right?

With a sigh, I snapped my partially finished spellbook closed. I had two whole semesters to work on the damn thing anyway, if I ever accomplished it to begin with. Thankfully, a project as ambitious as mine guaranteed a decent grade even if the magic didn't work.

I pulled on one of my favorite dark hoodies and a pair of black boots. A quick glance in the mirror told me I looked goth as hell, but I was kind of okay with that. I didn't dress in black because I thought it was cool or because I was trying to fit into some witchy aesthetic. Mostly, it was because people left you alone when you looked like that. Everyone wanted to be friends with the witches on campus because they wanted favors. And I just wasn't into being used. That's why I only had one best friend, and I put up with his friends when they were around. It wasn't much of a social life, but I wasn't really looking for any more than that.

Campus wasn't massive, so the walk to the stadium didn't take long. As I got closer, the roars got louder. Every few minutes or so, a massive shout would rise up from the crowd. I figured there was some sort of sportball thing happening, like a goal or whatever.

As I stepped through the gate, I cast a small tracking spell to find my friend. My vision blurred for a split second before righting itself once more. In my periphery, I saw a small red glow. Glancing up over the crowd, the red shifted and stopped as it landed on a familiar figure. I smiled, dismissed the spell with a wave of my hand, and began to climb the stadium bleachers.

"Is there any room for me?" I called out over the crowd as I got close.

"Mark!" Those big brown eyes and long pointed ears turned in my direction. "You came!"

"Yeah," I grumbled, sidling up beside him. "I figured I can't sit in my room and work all the time."

He gave me a vicious amount of side-eye. "Looks like someone's finally taking my advice."

"I do my best not to take advice from Fae creatures," I replied. "But sometimes it turns out to be useful."

"I say lots of useful things, I'll have you know."

"Of course you do, Todd. And they usually come at a cost."

"It's not my fault people don't know how to avoid Fae deals," he smirked. "But you know I never keep the things I take for long."

"Except for that one guy's virginity."

"Oh, come on! He begged me for that one. He only lasted thirty seconds after I put it in his butt, anyway. If I was an evil fairy, I'd give him his virginity back."

A roar rose up around us, and Todd leaned right into shouting along with them, his fist pumping in the air.

"Hell yeah!" he cried, nudging my shoulder. "We're ahead by fourteen points now!"

I furrowed my brows, giving a shrug. "Yay?"

Todd gave me another look. "You just came down here for the food, didn't you?"

"Yes, and I haven't gotten any yet." I gestured toward the stairs. "You want to? My treat."

"I will never turn down free food." He glanced back at the others sitting next to him. "Be back in a few minutes!"

They replied, but I didn't hear them as the crowd roared again. I'd only been there thirty seconds, and I was already getting a headache. Thankfully, Todd was following close behind me as I headed back down the stairs. The intensity of the noise died away as we reached the pavement at the bottom of the bleachers and walked toward the concession stand on the far side of the field.

In the background, the crowd roared again, and the band struck up some song that sounded like all the rest. If you asked me, I thought they sounded like a herd of angry elephants. But I'd found out the hard way that I shouldn't say things like that out loud. There was nothing like having your life threatened by a bunch of band nerds. Most of them were some sort of nature spirit, too, so I didn't doubt their capabilities.

"I can't believe I'm actually seeing you this year," Todd said as we stepped into the long line awaiting the concession stand. "After you blew me off during the first week, I figured you were going to be tied up until graduation."

"I didn't blow you off," I scoffed. "I… was busy."

"Look, I know witches go through pretty rigorous schooling," he shrugged. "And especially those of you with scholarships to defend. But nothing says you needed to take on an impossible task for your capstone. You're setting yourself up to fail and you don't get to have any fun in the process."

"It's not impossible."

Todd lifted an eyebrow in my direction. "Literally, nobody has ever accomplished what you're trying to do. And those who got close disappeared and never returned. Presumed dead was the exact wording in the files I helped you pull last year."

"None of them were–"

"As smart as you?" Todd scoffed. "Is that what you were going to say?"

I turned up my nose at him. "I was going to say driven."

"That's literally their entire problem and yours. Every witch who's ever lived has a chip on their shoulder. They need to prove some idiotic idea that they're more powerful than everyone else. And what for? All witches do is go to parties or sit around in a mansion all day." He stopped, thinking it over. "Alright. That doesn't sound that bad. But still!"

"I'm not doing it because I want notoriety."

"No. You're doing it because you want your father to realize you exist."

I clamped my mouth shut. He was right, of course. Todd had been my closest friend since the first day I set foot on campus. My only friend, actually. He knew everything there was to know about me. I'd given all that information up willingly, without any of his Fae tricks. I trusted him more than anyone.

But that also meant he could cut me to the bone with a handful of words.

Todd sighed loudly. "Look, Mark. I'm not trying to make you feel bad or whatever. All I'm saying is that your dad is a fucking prick. You don't need to nearly kill yourself just to get him to notice you. Even if you somehow manage to pull all this off and win his affection, I think you'll find that his attention comes with a lot of expectations and hollow words. He's just going to move the goalpost on you, so you'll never be enough."

I didn't answer. I couldn't. His words rang with an amount of truth that frightened me down to my core. But that didn't mean I could just give up. Sure, I hated my father. I was well aware of that. However, that didn't mean I didn't need his attention. I was the eldest son. The only son, in fact. And it was my job to carry the family name into further greatness.

Breaking the known boundaries of magic was the only way to do that.

"So, I hear you have a roommate this year."

I shook my head, trying to refocus on what was in front of me. "What? Oh yeah. Unfortunately."

"I heard he's pretty hot stuff, too."

"He's annoying, is what he is."

"Oh, come on! You have to think he's hot. He's the captain of the football team, for crying out loud! I'm sure he's got biceps on his goddamn dick!"

The thought of Dustin's cock made my own twitch in my jeans. I stuffed my hands in my hoodie, trying to look irritated as I pulled the fabric lower to hide my growing boner.

"He's a fucking asshole, and I wish I'd never met him."

"Everybody else seems to love him." Todd looked over his shoulder to the football field. "I wouldn't mind getting a piece of him if you know what I mean."

My response was drowned out as the crowd began to roar. But this time, it wasn't just a cheer. It was a growing cacophony that only got louder. I shifted to the side, following Todd's gaze out to the football field. There was one hulking figure with a football tucked under his arm, and he was booking it to the end of the field. Several other figures tried to catch up, but no matter what they did, they couldn't keep pace. The figure took the last few strides, entering into the last box on the field near the goalpost.

The cries from the crowd were deafening. I could barely hear myself think. Even Todd was cheering. However, my attention was drawn to the figure that had scored. He was wearing our colors, and his teammates rushed him, scooping him up into the air. With a flourish, he pulled his helmet off and hoisted it in the air, crying back at the crowd with just as much enthusiasm.

It was him. Dustin was the one that had scored, his teammates parading him across the field on their shoulders. His hair was damp with sweat, plastered against his forehead from the helmet. Even from a distance, I could see the green of his eyes shining brightly in the massive lights. His face was filled with joy, and I realized, for the first time, how much I liked his smile.

"Fuck yeah!" Todd yelled, pumping his fist in the air. "That'll win the game!"

I glanced at the scoreboard. "It still says there's two minutes left."

"We're three touchdowns ahead at the end of the fourth quarter," he replied. "There's no way the other team will catch up in time."

"That means nothing to me."

"It means," he emphasized. "That your roommate just scored the winning goal for the homecoming game. He's gonna be the king of the school by tomorrow morning."

"Great," I huffed. "I'm sure that'll make studying super easy."

But, deep inside my chest, I felt a little sparkle of happiness at his accomplishment. It was good that at least one of us was doing well at their appointed tasks.

I bet his father knew he existed.

And me… well, I was far too aware of Dustin's existence. No matter what I did, I couldn't shake my thoughts of him. Not to mention, his boxers were still buried in my suitcase without any plans to ever return them.

However, as I watched him paraded across the field, I allowed that little glimmer of longing to die. If he was to be the king of the school by tomorrow, I wouldn't even be on his radar.

I guess I'd be studying at the library until it all died down.