My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 42: Back to the past (3)

"Should we check up on him?" Ivy asked.

"Nah—I’m pretty sure he’s fine—"

"I’ll go check up on him!" Benjamin cut off Karina and got up from the booth, heading toward the bathroom.

Anastasia tilted her head, then glanced at her phone as if reading something important.

"Hey guys, come look at this!"

She held out her phone for everyone to see.

Curious, they all leaned in to look at the screen.

The Bondspire website was open, and on it, a large text declared: Year 1 Classes.

Karina’s eyes widened.

"Wait, this is our classes!"

Everyone wondered how they’d decide which student went where.

They scrolled down. Class A appeared first—and unsurprisingly, Adrien’s name sat at the very top.

They scrolled further. Class B had none of their group’s names.

Class C? Also empty.

They moved through Class D, E, F, G, H...

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Karina screamed at the screen.

Each class only held ten students. And With only one hundred first-years surviving the previous massacre, the classes for this years only went up to J.

When they reached Class I, all their hearts dropped.

None of their names appeared.

Jaster’s entire group—including Benjamin and Anastasia—had landed at the very bottom.

Jay felt the frustration building. There was no point staring at the screen anymore, so he laid back against the booth and closed his eyes.

"Well... at least we’re all together?" Anastasia tried to lift everyone’s spirits.

Finally, they scrolled to the bottom of the page, where all their names were gathered.

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Class J

• Annie Jefferson (Absent sick)

• Anastasia Brooklyn

• Benjamin Osteen

• Ivy Clark

• Jay Allister

• Jaster Barret (Absent sick)

• Joshua Borne

• Karina Gomez

• Tia Nina

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Just as expected, they recognized most of the names.

Except for three.

Ivy’s eyes lit up when she saw Annie Jefferson.

"Isn’t that the famous lawyer family? The Jeffersons?"

Anastasia nodded eagerly. "Yeah! I think I heard about them during that whole Silver Train incident."

But beyond Annie, no one knew who Joshua or Tia were.

"Hey guys!"

Just as the group was about to spiral into complaints about their class placement, Anastasia pulled them back in.

"The website says we need to go to the school to find our assigned classroom."

Karina rolled her eyes and flopped lazily against the booth. "Why bother? We’re Class J. We’re probably getting the ugliest, dirtiest room in the whole building."

"Hey, don’t lose hope yet. Remember what Jade said back at the field?"

Ivy tried to cheer Karina up.

"That we can still climb the class rankings?"

Karina tilted her head. Ivy nodded with a smile.

"Exactly. That’s why we should all go to the school together!"

Karina smiled at Ivy’s newfound courage. She liked seeing this side of her—so much better than the timid, shy girl from before.

Despite her laziness, Karina pushed herself up from the booth, all because Ivy radiated that warm, positive energy.

"Let’s go."

They were about to leave the restaurant when something tugged at the back of their minds.

Then it hit Anastasia.

"WHERE’S MY BENNY?!"

---

Reza splashed cold water on his flushed face. He stared at himself in the mirror, then sighed, looking down at the sink.

He had always hated his tanned skin. Growing up, people with his complexion were considered dirty—not black, but not white either. If he could, he’d dye his skin a different color entirely.

That was why Reza didn’t think he was good enough for Ben.

That sweet, white, Christian boy—who was also pathetically weak, not to mention.

Compared to Reza’s wild, messy lifestyle, he felt embarrassed just being near Ben. Especially with his own traumatic history involving religious parents.

"Reza, are you okay?"

The bathroom door slammed open, and Ben came rushing in.

Reza’s eyes widened. The boy had actually followed him.

Benjamin, still clutching the inhaler, approached carefully.

"Don’t worry, I’ve never used this one before. It’s completely clean...."

Reza felt like he might pass out just from being this close to him.

He started hyperventilating. Benjamin rose on his tiptoes to reach Reza’s face, then slowly guided the inhaler toward the man’s tomato-red cheeks. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Reza stood frozen, expression blank, as Ben carefully positioned the inhaler at his lips.

Ben’s voice came out low and calm.

"Take it easy. I’m sure it’ll go in."

Reza’s heart exploded. His soul plummeted straight to the bottomless pit of hell.

WHAT A CHOICE OF WORDS!

Ben pressed down, and the cloud of medication rushed into Reza’s mouth and down his throat.

Reza, whose heart had been pounding faster than the speed of light, finally began to calm down.

His eyes widened at the effect, then fluttered closed.

For one blissful moment, Reza felt peace. True, absolute peace.

When he opened his eyes again, he met the Christian boy’s dark blue gaze.

"How is it?" Benjamin asked, smiling in a way that could pierce through titans. A strand of hair fell loose, partially covering one eye.

Reza’s heart exploded again—but this time, it was peaceful.

"It feels great..." Reza was completely in the zone.

His hand drifted slowly to Ben’s waist. He smiled dreamily.

"Uhh... Reza?" Ben’s voice wavered with confusion as Reza’s large hand completely enveloped his small waist.

Benjamin’s eyes darted around. Now it was his turn to feel the awkwardness.

Reza leaned in, his breath warm against Ben’s ear.

"May I CROSS you, pretty boy?" His voice dropped to a seductive murmur.

Benjamin’s eyes shot wide open. He started slowly pushing away from the man’s embrace.

"Uhhh.... Reza, this is really awkward..."

But Reza couldn’t think straight anymore. He leaned in, aiming for a kiss.

Benjamin’s eyes bulged. The closer Reza got, the further Ben leaned back.

Just as Reza was about to make contact—

THUD

The bathroom door swung open, revealing Jay.

"Hey guys, we gotta get to the school because—" Jay stopped mid-sentence, taking in the scene before him.

"Uhhhhh..." Ben and Reza said in unison. They glanced at each other, then immediately pushed apart.

Ben gasped for air while Reza stood there, shock plastered across his face.

"Wait—Ben, I didn’t mean to!" Finally regaining his senses, Reza reached out, but Ben stepped back.

"No.... It’s fine." Benjamin clutched the cross around his neck and stormed out of the bathroom, shoving past Jay on his way.

Reza slapped his forehead.

"DAMN IT—I WAS SO STUPID!"

Jay stood there, stunned by what he’d witnessed. But the shock quickly faded, replaced by the realization that he’d just stumbled onto gold.

"Uh... Reza, we need to get to the school—"

"FUCK OFF, JAY!" Reza stormed out too, shoving Jay aside just as Ben had done.

But the silver-haired man wasn’t angry. If anything, he was thrilled.

A wicked smile spread across his face as he pulled out his phone.

He typed quickly, muttering under his breath.

"Finally. Got something dirty on you...."

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Notes:

♡ For blackmail, or threat XOX ♤

Note 1: Reza and Benjamin have a secret relationship together. Exposing this couple could ruin Benjamin’s innocent Christian background. And for Reza, it’ll simply make him hate himself even more lololol.

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