“Gross!” Stewart was shoved roughly away from his resting place, his eyes shooting open the moment his head smacked the car’s window.
He blinked back at Martin in reply, light-headed and still dazed from his slumber. Martin glowered back at him. There was a dark circle on the shoulder of his shirt.
“You drooled on me!”
Stewart’s heart leaped in his chest. He remembered this moment. So it had worked, after all. Truthfully, he hadn’t been sure it would.
He wiped the string of drool from his mouth and grimaced. Martin was right. This was gross. “Sorry.”
Martin leaned as far away as the backseat would allow him. “Seriously, it’s like you’re a baby! Always falling asleep in the car and drooling on me. I’m glad you’re leaving again.”
Stewart frowned. “I’m not always drooling on you. It w-was just the once.”
Martin rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t matter. Once is plenty.”
Martin turned away from him and looked to the window instead. Stewart decided that ended the conversation for now and turned to his own window. If he was right about when this was exactly, he’d gone back a bit further than he’d planned. He’d hoped to make it back to when the police were still investigating. That way, he could talk up how suspicious Mobius was and clear up any false accusations about Whitaker. Maybe, if he could find a way to do it without drawing too much attention to himself, he could even warn Whitaker of the danger he was in, too, while he was at it.
Alec Rafferty disappeared in November. His body was found in February.
If, as Stewart suspected, he was being dropped off at the academy to begin the year…
It was August.
“We’re almost there,” Arthur interrupted his train of thought and made eye contact with Stewart in the mirror, “nervous at all?”
Stewart shrugged. “I’ve been away before.”
“You’re usually away,” Martin grumbled, low enough that Stewart wondered if he was supposed to hear it.
Stewart wasn’t nervous, but his head was spinning still. He had a lot more things to consider now. Since he’d come back so early, the situation was entirely different.
He was the only one who knew that Alec Rafferty would die soon. Now he had time to investigate. He had time to find evidence. Some kind of motive. Something convincing that screamed MOBIUS VON ROSEN.
And this way he could keep Whitaker Wesling completely out of harm’s way. The problem would be solved as long as he kept Whitaker away from the other boys and Arabella. After all, it wouldn’t make sense to frame a stranger for such an intimate, tragic crime. His only fear was how that would open himself up for the framing, since he and Mobius were already on such bad terms. But in that case, he could also easily avoid Arabella.
Yeah. Yeah, this could work.
He just had to keep him away from Alec and Mobius.
Easy.
Rosen Garde Academy, being a school for the obscenely rich and powerful, offered its students individual rooms instead of forcing them to shack up with a random classmate. Still, it wasn’t unheard of for people to share rooms despite this. After all, sharing a room is a good method to establish and keep connections.
Because that’s what the school was for. Connections.
Unlike Arthur, who had shared rooms with multiple different people during his time at the academy, no one expected Stewart to do so. His family had deemed him incapable of making any meaningful connections long ago. In fact, the only reason he was even allowed to enroll in the academy was because it might be seen as an insult if he didn’t. If his parents had their way, he would be kept at home where no one could hear a word he said. But the damage he would do to the Fulton’s reputation because of his speech impairment was nothing compared to the damage that not sending their child there would cause. So, here he was.
Stewart would have his single room for the entire year, and so would Whitaker Wesling. This was for the opposite reason. As Arthur had described, the Weslings were a good family. They didn’t need to establish connections in the way others, like the Fultons, did. Being old money, they already had connections with everyone who mattered.
So, why send a Wesling to a place like Rosen Garde at all?
Simple. To establish dominance. And, of course, to stay on top of the oncoming trends, especially in the art world.
Stewart threw his things on his bed and considered his plan. Given their different positions, it wouldn’t be strange for Stewart to approach Whitaker in an attempt to curry favor with the Weslings. Brown nosing seemed like the perfect excuse for him to sidle up to Whitaker’s side and latch on to him like a leech. In a place like this, it wouldn’t be strange at all.
Okay. So it was decided. He would find Whitaker’s room and introduce himself.
Stewart made himself as presentable as possible, brushing his fingers through his short, bristly hair and scrubbing any clinging proof of sleep from his face. He wasn’t actually sure which room was Whitaker’s, so he made the rounds and introduced himself briefly to everyone he ran into. He tried his best to ignore the slimy feeling in his stomach that told him his parents would hate him for doing this.
He only made it through five introductions before finding the room he wanted. The door was already half ajar when he knocked, and from it he could hear voices. No one inside stopped talking or came to open the door all the way to see who it was. Maybe he hadn’t knocked loud enough?
Stewart flung the door all the way opened and leaned casually in the entry. “Greetings.”
The people in the room stopped. There were three of them. One was Whitaker Wesling himself, perched atop his currently bare mattress. The other two were the last people he’d wanted to see there. Mobius was lounging on a beanbag chair while Alec had his arms shoved inside a box. He could feel the animosity from their gazes instantly, and it took all of his willpower not to shrink back. Whitaker, on the other hand, clearly didn’t share the same feeling. No, his eyes were wide and curious. His head was tilted to the side, his long wavy hair spilling over his shoulder. He was waiting for him to continue.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” Stewart took a bold step into the room, “Stewart Fulton.”
Whitaker smiled politely, but didn’t rise from his seat. “Whitaker Wesling. It’s a pleasure.”
Another step. Stewart nodded. “I’d say the same.”
Now that he was closer, he could see that the other boy had two moles on the right side of his face. They were angled in a way that mimicked a tear track. In a strange way, Stewart found himself charmed by it.
This wasn’t his first time meeting Whitaker. How had he not noticed before?
From the beanbag, Mobius scoffed. “I didn’t expect someone like you to start ass-kissing so soon.”
“Are you kidding?” Alec laughed as he pulled something out of the box and tossed it to Whitaker on the bed, “Of course he has to! The guy hasn’t shown his face in years. Honestly, Stewart, I thought your family was so ashamed of you they did the world a favor and were keeping you locked up in the attic or something.”
Stewart rolled his eyes. “I don’t know how they do thing in the R…R-Rafferty house, but the Fultons aren’t the type to do something that deplorable. No, y-you haven’t seen me because I went abroad for a bit. Sorry it took me so long to grace you with my presence again, I didn’t know you’d miss me so much.”
He winked at Alec for good measure. That was the right call to make, as his pale face quickly flushed a bright, agitated red. Alec grit his teeth and turned away. If there was one thing Stewart remembered about him, it was that he wasn’t any good at comebacks.
Whitaker’s eyes were alight with intrigue at the conversation between the three of them. Whatever Alec had thrown at him was still balled in his hands. “Friend of yours?”
“No.” Alec scowled, returning to his rummaging.
“Not in the least,” Mobius added, “I wouldn’t get too close to him either if I were you, Whit.”
Stewart frowned. “That’s cruel of you to say w…w-when I’m right here.”
Whitaker turned the fullness of his gaze to Stewart, as if considering him like a kid would consider an interesting bug on the ground. “Any idea why I should be avoiding you, Stewart?”
He knew exactly why he should be avoided, but he wasn’t stupid enough to list them when asked. Instead, he shrugged. “Can’t say I do. This is all an unexpected attack on my character.”
“Don’t talk to him, Whitaker,” Alec threw something from the box at Stewart this time. Stewart didn’t have the time to dodge, but there was nothing to worry about. It was just a fitted sheet. More of an annoyance than anything, “you won’t get anything out of it.”
“I only came to introduce myself!”
“Well, you’ve done that already, so you can go.” Mobius waved his hand dismissively at him, commanding as if the beanbag he sat in was a throne. “Don’t worry, we’ll fill Whitaker in on all the finer details about you.”
“Don’t strain yourself trying to think of anything,” Stewart replied, dropping the tangled sheet on the floor. “Goodbye, W-Whitaker.”
Whitaker smiled. It looked real, but Stewart wasn’t an expert on facial expressions. “See you around, Stewart.”
Stewart made his exit.
That definitely could have gone better. He really should have considered the possibility that they already knew each other. After all, a lot of time had passed since he’d last been on the social scene. He had no idea what anyone’s connections were anymore. It really was just his luck that they were already so closely acquainted.
Stewart flopped onto his own bed and sighed. He would need to think of a new plan. Keeping Whitaker away from his friends didn’t seem like much of an option now, and neither did weaseling his way into Whitaker’s inner circle.
Could he warn him about Arabella instead? If Whitaker showed no interest in Arabella, no one would have any reason to suspect him of killing Alec over her.
That might also be a difficult endeavor. He’d have to get Whitaker alone to talk to him. If he tried to talk to him in public, he was sure that Mobius and Alec would continue being a barrier against him. No, it would definitely be easier to convince him if he was by himself. But how to get him alone?
Well, Stewart supposed, if it came down to it…
He knew where he lived.
Author's Note: Hello again everyone and welcome to the beginning of Part 2! Next chapter our cast of characters will be complete with the reintroduction of Arabella Struck. Then we'll be digging into the mystery before it even happens. Can Stewart keep Whitaker away from Arabella, or will he be too charmed by her to heed the warnings? Can Stewart find evidence to support his theory about Mobius? It's a long time between August and November... Anyway, thank you for reading this far! If you're enjoying the story please feel free to leave a comment down below! P.S. I know it asks for your email address in the submission form but that's not actually visible on the published comment so it shouldn't be anything to worry about (wink wonk)
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