"Hey".
Alexander glanced back from his desk and saw who was talking, but he didn't respond.
"What are you doing?".
"Nothing", Alexander curtly replied.
"It doesn't look like nothing".
Alexander had his computer switched on, a book open, and a pen in hand.
"What do you want?" Alexander asked, cutting the small talk, but still not turning his chair.
"I'm just wondering what my little brother is doing", Edward Burrell said with a smile.
Edward Burrell, the middle child of the Burrell family. He looked just like Alexander. The same complexion, same eyes, same hair colour. The only difference was that Edward was an inch shorter than Alexander and had his hair down instead of brushing it to the side like Alexander.
"I'm revising", Alexander coldly replied, not giving him a look.
Edward crept further into the room and sat on the edge of Alexander's bed.
"Do you need to revise that much? It's winter break", Edward asked, gazing around the room.
Alexander didn't give him an answer and kept touching pen to paper.
"I didn't revise as much as you did", Edward told him, trying to peer over to see what Alexander was writing.
"Maybe that's why you didn't do well", Alexander wittingly replied.
Edward smirked and let out a little laugh through his nose, "I don't think that's why", he quietly said.
There was a little silent pause after that. Edward let the moment settle for a bit before asking,
"How is the academy? You liking it?".
"I'm doing perfect, that's all that matters", Alexander replied, continuing to write and wanting Edward to leave him alone.
"That's… good", Edward said, unsure what he meant by perfect. "But are you enjoying yourself?"
Alexander stalled and stopped writing, "Yeah… But I'm not wasting my time there having fun".
Edward silently sighed, not liking Alexander's answers.
"Alex, you don't have to be perfect. You don't have to put this unnecessary pressure on yourself".
"I'm not feeling any pressure", Alexander replied, taking offence and furrowing his brows.
Edward let that comment slide, "I know you want to keep up the family image and not disappoint dad, but you don't have to force yourself to be perfect just because dad wants you to".
"You're only saying this because you disappointed him", Alexander said, still not making eye contact with Edward.
"I did disappoint him", Edward replied without hesitation, not embarrassed. "But look at Eleanor. She did everything to keep the perfect family image, and it broke her. Once she got married, she didn't blink twice to leave. She doesn't speak to dad anymore, only mom and me sometimes".
Alexander didn't talk back. Only his pen kept moving, slower than before, though.
"What I'm saying is there's no point trying to be this perfect image for the family because at the end of the day, no one cares. Family image means nothing. What other people think of us doesn't matter. If you wanna aim for first place, do it for yourself, not for the family name", Edward continued. "And when you do it for yourself, have fun while doing it".
Alexander kept his brows furrowed as he didn't like the mini lecture, but noted it mentally. He didn't completely ignore his brother. Even though he didn't look at his brother the same way as he did a couple of years ago, he still had some respect for him. His big brother will always be his big brother.
"So how many points are you ahead of second place?" Edward asked, wanting to talk more and keep the conversation up.
Alexander kept quiet, but it was a different type of quiet. It wasn't a quiet that Alexander was ignoring him, but a quiet that he didn't want to answer, and Edward noticed.
"Are you first?" Edward uncertainly asked.
After a long serving of silence,
"….no".
Edward's eyes widened. He automatically presumed his brother was first. It was always like that in the past. Whatever Alexander did, he was the best at it. Constant first places in everything. Edward couldn't remember a time he wasn't in first place.
"Who's at the top of the leaderboard?" Edward curiously asked, sitting up straight.
"I don't know his name", Alexander arrogantly replied.
Edward smirked, with teeth showing. In that response, he felt a bit of nostalgia of the bitterness he used to get from Alexander when he used to beat him at something when they were younger.
"Show me your phone. Let me see the leaderboard".
Alexander froze. In that response, he felt a bit of nostalgia of the authority that his brother had over him when they were younger. He didn't hate it. On the contrary, he liked having a strong authority figure guiding him.
Alexander picked up his phone from the desk, unlocked it and opened the academy app. If Edward had said 'Can I see the leaderboard?' Alexander would've rejected. But hearing that command made him instinctively listen. Alexander didn't look at Edward as he passed the phone to him. Edward took the phone and gently smiled at the screen, feeling another wave of nostalgia seeing the academy app. Edward's face broke into a full smile after seeing another face with a smile next to the number one position.
"He looks like an interesting guy. And he's in 1-C", Edward said, raising his brows, clicking on the profile picture. "You should be friends with him".
Alexander went back to being quiet. This time, he was ignoring him. From Alexander's body language, Edward could tell that getting a reply now would be tricky. He knew his little brother too well.
"Don't worry, you'll overtake him next semester. You're only 300 points behind", Edward said, fishing for a response, but also being genuine.
"I'm not worrying. I know I'll overtake him", Alexander replied, taking the bait and protecting his pride.
"Heheh, I know you will", Edward quietly laughed.
He looked back down at the screen and focused on one face.
"I don't know you, but... I hope you can become friends with my little brother".
"How are you enjoying your little academy life?".
Adam sat up in his bed and blankly stared at who was talking.
"Why do you care?" Adam asked.
"You're my son", Scott Ledge replied, standing in the middle of the room in a clean black suit.
"This is the first time you've asked how my life has been", Adam said in his monotone voice.
"This is the first time you've gone against me", Scott efficiently replied, using his line against him. "I don't know what you're doing, it's only natural I ask".
Scott Ledge. Adam's father. An entrepreneur owning multiple businesses. He has connections from all over. He is well known by a certain demographic, but a regular person wouldn't know him. Despite Ryan saying that he was a 'famous' entrepreneur, he is not that famous.
"So in the past, you knew how I was doing?".
"Yes, because you listened to me", Scott bluntly replied. "I knew you were doing fine before".
Adam kept his same blank expression with the same dead, bland eyes.
"I still don't understand why you've gone there", Scott said, shaking his head. "You don't even need the 100k. You've got more than that in your bank account".
"It's not about the money", Adam bitterly said in a lower tone, looking away.
"What is it about then?" Scott sternly asked, just about hearing him.
Adam hung his head, "You wouldn't understand", he condescendingly yet timidly said.
Scott tilted his head slightly, taking in what Adam said, "You're right, I don't understand because it makes no sense", he replied. "If you do what I say, there will be no problems".
"Do what you say? I'm not your puppet", Adam said, quickly picking his head up. That response came from his heart.
"You're not. You're my son", Scott replied, pointing at him, not wavering. "I'm trying to show you how to get the perfect life".
"Perfect?" Adam questioned. "When did you decide that?".
Scott looked at him, bemused, "Look at my life. Look at what I have. How is it not perfect?".
"You don't have a happy family".
Scott's eyelids flickered, and his eyebrows furrowed.
"You have 'everything' but mom still left you", Adam said with a bit of fire in his tone. "How is your life perfect without a happy partner or family?".
"I didn't love her to begin with", Scott said, pulling a face with disgust, trying to disprove him.
"Neither did she… but I'm sure she was willing to try to love someone like you", Adam said, staring into his eyes.
Scott was thinking now. His responses weren't as quick as before.
"You still feel sorry for that ungrateful woman after all this time?".
"Yes. Her marriage to you was arranged. She probably had dreams of marrying someone who cared for her, but she ended up with you".
Adam's responses, on the other hand, were instant.
"If you care so much about her, go stay with her", Scott sharply said, waving his hand.
"I can't… because I look exactly like you", Adam said, emphasising the you. "I'm sure she doesn't want anything to do with you. And I'm sure she doesn't want a son like me. Not like how I am now".
Scott looked at Adam with disappointment. A lot of things were going through his head. Wondering how Adam got like this. He was questioning if this was Adam by the way he was talking.
"I can't even blame puberty, you're too old", Scott said, under his breath, shaking his head with a hand on his forehead. "What are you going to do when you graduate from that academy? Are you going to run back to me?".
"No", Adam curtly replied.
Scott waited for a longer answer, but that's all Adam had to offer.
"What are you going to do?" Scott repeated, harsher.
"You'll find out", Adam mumbled, averting his eyes.
"What?" Scott asked, not hearing him.
"You don't need to know", Adam clearly said, bringing his eyes back to him.
Scott Ledge rolled his eyes, "Whatever. I'll let you have your fun. I'm sure this is just a phase. You'll realise how useless what you're doing is", he said. "Just know when you do come crawling back to me, I'm not going to happily just accept you. I want an apology".
"I'm never apologising to you", Adam thought. He wasn't brave enough to say that.
"I'm not going to bother asking if you're doing well", Scott said. "I put you in the lowest class. You're not doing anything down there".
"You put me down there because you were scared I would do too well", Adam replied, wanting one last hit.
"Scared?" Scott scoffed. "You're my son. I expect no less", he said, not phased by the comment. "But don't get ahead of yourself. I know there's a bunch of kids better than you in there. Hungrier than you. You're too spoiled".
"I'm spoilt?" Adam questioned, raising his eyebrows. "You know nothing about me".
Bzt!
Scott felt his pocket vibrate. He took his phone out of his pocket and checked it. He sighed. Out of relief or frustration, who knows? Either way, He found a way out of this conversation.
"Whatever. You're young. You're lost right now. It'll be a matter of time before you come back to your senses", Scott said, wasting no time and turning around. "For your sake, I'll stay out of your business and let you do your 'best' at the academy", he continued, mocking Adam slightly.
"Stay out of my business? You've stayed out of my life the majority of it. I'll be more than fine", Adam thought.
Scott left the room, staring down at his phone, and closed the door behind him. Leaving Adam alone in the empty room.
Adam sat on his bed, looking down at the floor, feeling something. He felt a fire that he thought had been lit. It wasn't strong enough before, but now he felt it. He was motivated more than ever.
"You don't even know what I have planned".