Chapter 8
Matt walked out after Ronan, he had to figure out what he had done wrong, he had to figure out what had happened to Kavinsky.
“Could you at least tell me what I said?” Matt asked.
“Who told you, who fucking told you? Was it Skov, that asshole could never keep his mouth shut. Swan, the creepy fuck?” Matt didn’t know how Ronan knew these people, but it explained why he was so familiar, it did not, however, explain why he was so angry.
Ronan had turned around to face Matt, his hands were thrown up in the air. Matt was familiar with this type of anger. It was loud, it was explosive, people said things they regretted.
“Jiang, it was Jiang,” Matt felt entirely wrong about this conversation. Something about it didn’t sit well with him, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. The night had gone too fast, there was too much alcohol in him. In both of them
Ronan seemed to sense the same thing and his anger evaporated. He turned back to face the night sky and the empty parking lot.
“Bastard never did learn to leave the fuck alone. So do they all think it’s my fault then? They told you it was my fault? They all fucking think so,” Ronan didn’t -or couldn’t- look at him. Matt felt the strange need to comfort him
“Ronan, what happened, why are you so upset? What did you do?”
“Kavinsky is fucking dead, okay?”
“What? How?”
“He fucking killed himself, don’t ask me how,”
There was a silence.
Matt opened his mouth to say something and then closed it, because what did you say to that? Kavinsky had always seemed invincible to Matt. Untouchable.
Finally, after what seemed a very fast century, or a very slow second, Matt said “Why.. why would they think it was your fault?”
“How much do you know? How much did they tell you? About Kavinsky? Did you know about the dreams?”
Flashes of memories hit Matt. Red vials and red lipstick, climbing onto this balcony and falling falling falling.
What dreams? Matt thought.
“What dreams?” Matt said
“Right, nothing,”
There was another silence. Matt looked out at the night sky too.
“How does a guy like you know Kavinsky?” Ronan asked, still not moving his eyes from the moon.
“Man, everyone knew Kavinsky, but mostly because he was my dad’s dealer, and later on he was mines, I hung out with him a few times, went to a few of his parties, back when I was young and rich and on top of the world,”
“Shit,” Said Ronan.
“Shit,” Matt agreed.
“Prokopenko’s in a coma,”
“Shit,” Said Matt.
“Shit,” Ronan agreed.
There was a silence, Matt started to feel his own anger building up.
“I, mean,” Matt started “How does a guy like that just die? How do you just do all those things, find all these people, friends, and customers, and clients, find all these rare things, drugs, and cars, and fireworks. Start all these traditions, make a name for yourself and just… give it all away?”
Ronan didn’t say anything.
They looked out onto the parking lot. At all the tiny little cars that didn’t care that a god had died.
It wasn’t a silence, and it wasn’t awkward, it was the melancholy companionship of knowing that someone you both knew was dead.
Kavinsky was dead.
“I'm going back in,”
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Adam woke up happy and glad that he didn’t drink.
He had woken up to some sounds outside the thin walls of the dorm. It sounded like voices, probably stragglers from last night, the one night stands, the people who passed out in the hallway. Nevertheless, he stood up to check.
It was, in fact Neil and Andrew.
“Alright, so quick stop at the supermarket and then we come back here and make food, then we hit the court for practice with Kevin?”
“Junkie,”
“You don't have to say that every time I mention Exy,”
“Who's going to remind you if I don't?”
“Yeah yeah. So, Kevin with a bloody mary, Dan likes tacos, Matt gets pickles and mayonnaise, blueberry muffins and fries for Allison, Nicky likes toast and eggs, Aaron wants the bloody mary mix and ice and… shit. What do the freshman eat for hangovers?”
Adam decided to make his presence known. “Gansey will take some of the eggs and some of the blueberry muffins, Blue likes burritos, just make sure there's no sour cream, or meat. Ronan was blessed with the ability to make a hangover disappear like that,” Adam snapped his fingers.
“Noted,” Neil said.
They started their journey to the dorm elevator. Adam resigned himself to a few hours of trying to go back to sleep without being successful, when Neil turned around.
“Hey, do you want to come with? You could help us pick out ice cream, I don’t know what flavors you and your group like,” He and his group. Adam liked the sound of that.
“Um, sure, though I’m just warning you, Blue only eats yogurt,”
“But we’re getting ice cream,” Neil pointed out
“Trust me, we’re going to need yogurt,”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Neil said bemusedly, he turned around and headed for the stairs, Andrew stayed turned a little longer and fixed Adam with a strange look. It was notable for not the emotion on it, but rather, the lack of emotion. It was very obviously a mask, but that was what made it such a good one, you were so distracted by the mask that you forgot to check what was under it. Adam sent Andrew a smile and continued on past him.
///////////
“Come and get it folks, hangover food galore, thank god we have no practice today,” Nicky shouted to the foxes, who were congregating in the girl’s dorm.
“Nicky, keep it down, I just got, like fifty headaches,” Allison said.
“Water and muffins Allison, water and muffins,” Dan said
Ronan looked at the scene with a smirk. Nicky had tried to keep his eyes off the tantalizing curve of those lips, but his eyes kept finding their way back. Ronan stretched, lazy and slow and all Saturday morning relaxation.
“God Lynch,” He found himself saying “Please tell me you aren’t straight,”
Ronan raised a thin, arched eyebrow at him. “I’m not straight,” Nicky was about to jump for joy “But, like you said yesterday, I’m taken,”
“I did say that, didn’t I,” Nicky floundered.
“Oh, Ronan, you just won me so much money,” Allison said from the couch, mouth full of fries.
“Come on, I’m sure your boyfriend wouldn’t mind if you slacked off a little,” Nicky said, as suggestively as he possibly could.
“Oi, Parrish, would you mind if I-,”
“Don’t even think about it,” Said Adam from the other room.
“Pay up Wilds,”
“Oh come on Allison, I have no cash,”
“Should have thought of that before betting against me,”
Nicky giggled. He was beginning to like the freshmen.