Chapter 15 

Coyote POV: Levi

       Most of the time when I was sketching or painting or doing anything else art related, it took a lot to distract me from it. Unless someone actually spoke to me, I could completely tune out everything that was happening around me.

       Except for right now.

       I was constantly hearing the basketball hit the backboard of the hoop and not go in. I glanced up from my sketch, seeing Uriah get more and more frustrated with each miss.

       This was very unlike Uriah. He may have missed the shot once in a while but never this frequently. I didn't even think he made a single shot at all.

       Uriah got too frustrated and ended up throwing the basketball across the gymnasium, letting it hit the wall before he trudged over to the bleachers and sat down on the first bench.

       I placed my sketchbook down on the bench I was on before walking down the bleachers to sit down beside Uriah. "Are you okay?" I asked.

       Uriah sighed. "Sort of. It's just the whole election thing in the Tiger house is actually stressing me out and I don't get stressed out. I've been trying my hardest to talk to Nevaeh but she's either always with Wayne and the others or she ignores me."

       "And you're worried you won't be able to get the majority of the vote," I said.

       "Yeah," Uriah said. "Don't get me wrong, it's not going to be the end of the world if I lose the election but I'm tired of the way Wayne acts. He thinks he's basically the ruler of the of the whole school, not just the Tigers."

       "You still have time to try to talk to Nevaeh," I said. 

       "But it probably won't happen if she just keeps ignoring me," Uriah said. "If I don't convince her to vote for me then Wayne is probably just going to stay being captain until he graduates."

       "Or he gets kicked out of the school," I said. "Ooh, we should try that. Getting him kicked out of the school. That way, he can't torment anyone any longer."

       Uriah chuckled. "As much as I would love that, I'm pretty sure it takes a lot to get kicked out of the school. You know, since we're a school for the gifted."

       "Okay, but can we torment him instead?" I asked. "We do everything he does to us, but worse."

       "No. Well... No, we shouldn't."

       "I sensed some doubt there."

       Uriah hesitated for a bit before saying, "Here's the deal. If he wins the election and continues being the captain, we'll torment him then."

       "Deal," I said. "I really hope you do win the election, though."

       "I'm normally a confident person but I'm actually doubting it right now," Uriah said. "Not unless I can find something that would really prove how much of a horrible captain Wayne is. But even then, I doubt his friends will care. He pretty much has this in the bag."

       I wanted to try to convince Uriah that he could win the election if he tried but he was right. Wayne's friends weren't going to care if there was a reason why Wayne absolutely shouldn't be captain.

       Uriah gently held my hand in his when he noticed I wasn't saying anything. "I know we just started out and you're not really keen on keeping it a secret because you want to brag about how amazing I am..."

       "I really don't."

       "But I promise that whatever the outcome of the election is, we won't sneak around."

       I furrowed my eyebrows. "Even if Wayne wins?"

       "Well, I also promised that we would torment him if he wins," Uriah said. "And I'm pretty sure me seeing someone in another house will get him really angry. Sounds like a plan?"

       I smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

       Uriah smiled back before pressing his lips on mine.

       Kissing in the gymnasium where quite a few students, especially the Tigers, went in whenever they wanted might not have been the best idea.

       "Uriah?" someone suddenly said, causing the two of us to pull apart and look at the entrance to see who was there.

       Nevaeh.

       "Mr. Hicks wants everyone in the cafeteria," Nevaeh said. "Said he has an announcement for everyone."

       "Okay," Uriah said. 

       Nevaeh didn't say another word as she walked away and I felt like I saw a tiny bit of hurt on her face.

       "You should go and talk to her before she gets back to the cafeteria," I said. "I have to pack up my sketching stuff anyway."

       Uriah nodded and got up from the bench before hurrying after Nevaeh. If for some reason she was upset about me and Uriah, then there was going to be now hope convincing her to vote for Uriah.

       Wayne would stay the captain of the Tiger house.

       I went back to the bench where my sketching stuff were and gathered it all up before leaving the gymnasium. A bit further in the hallway were Uriah and Nevaeh arguing and from where I was standing, I could clearly hear them.

       "I don't want to listen to anything you have to say," Nevaeh said. "You were just using me, weren't you? Only dating me to hide your true feelings?"

       "That isn't true," Uriah said.

       "You're gay, Uriah!"

       "I'm not gay!"

       "Okay, so you just go around kissing Astrid's brother because you're straight?" Nevaeh asked.

       "You do know there are other sexualities other than gay and straight, right?" Uriah asked. "Like bisexual or pansexual. Or just not caring about labels. I don't care about people's genders. I just like people for who they are, so no, I wasn't using you to hide my true feelings. You know, like you did."

       "What are you talking about?" Nevaeh asked.

       "You do know you're not fooling anyone about your 'secret' relationship with Wayne, right?" Uriah asked. "You know, the relationship that started while you were still dating me."

       Nevaeh didn't say anything in defense. She knew there was no point.

       "I'm not mad about it," Uriah said. "I just wish you saved us both the trouble and broke up with me before you started dating him. But... Why are you still hiding your relationship with him, even when you've been together for a few months now?"

       "Because it's never the best idea to be dating someone when you're a captain," Nevaeh said.

       "So what about Pearl and Ester?" Uriah asked. "They've been together for almost two years. And Dove and Piano have been together for almost one year. They never had any problems."

       "Well, it's what Wayne wants and I trust him," Nevaeh said. "Look, I'm not going to say anything about you and Astrid's brother. You're clearly hiding it for a reason. But you know when Wayne finds out, he won't be happy, right?"

       "Which is why he doesn't deserve to be the captain," Uriah said. "He's a great athlete, yes, but his leadership skills... Not that great. You don't see Dove getting mad that Levi talks to me and Astrid."

       Nevaeh was silent for a bit. "Yeah, I know he's not the greatest," she said silently. "He may be my boyfriend but I'm an unbiased person. If I vote for you... You can't tell him."

       "He might figure it out," Uriah said. "If I win, it would be you, Nixie, or Dakota that's the final vote. But he is an idiot so he might not figure it out."

        "He's smarter than you give him credit for," Nevaeh said. "Seriously though. Don't say anything if I do."

       "Yeah, promise," Uriah said.

       As she walked away, I walked over to Uriah. "Well, that seemed easier than you were making it out to be."

       "Yeah..." Uriah said slowly. "Something's up."

       "You mean she's lying?" I asked. 

       "No, something else," Uriah said. "I thought I would be able to convince her but that easily? I didn't even ask her to vote for me. She just said she might."

       "So... Issues with Wayne?" I asked.

       "That's a possibility," Uriah said. "Come on, we should get to the cafeteria."

       Once we got there, we noticed everyone was sitting with their houses so I went to where the Coyotes were sitting. I sat down on the side of Piano Dove wasn't sitting at and he immediately leaned towards me. "For you two wanting to keep your rendezvous a secret, showing up together might not be the best thing."

       "I was sketching," I said, putting all my sketching stuff on the table. "See?"

       "Ooh, that's a good alibi," Piano said. "So I might have some information that can help that boyfriend of yours win the election in the Tiger house."

       "Really?" I asked. "What is it?"

       "My squad is still investigation because there might be more to it but so far--"

       "Wait, your squad?"

       "Yes, my investigation squad. The members are top secret though. Anyway, so far, we know that Wayne wasn't supposed to be the captain of the Tiger house. Mr. Hicks had another student planned until Wayne's parents made a very generous contribution to the school. Very generous. We're taking bank." 

       "So... Kind of like a bribery?" I asked. 

       "Exactly," Piano said. "They could have simply helped pay for what they did without a single word but they clearly made Wayne being captain part of the deal. And you want to know who the intended captain is? Because let me tell you, he still goes to the school. In fact, if he gets enough votes, he will become captain."

       "Uriah?" I asked. "He was supposed to be captain?"

       "He was," Piano said. "And Mr. Hicks seemed a bit disappointed when Uriah said he'll run in the election. Almost as if his plan would be foiled. Which it possibly will be. Tell Uriah the next time you have a rendezvous but make sure you tell him not to bring it up unless Wayne wins the election. That way, he can use it against everyone and possibly get some students mad at the unfairness."

       "Got it," I said.

       How could Mr. Hicks just take a bribery like that? Was being captain of a house in the school really that big of a deal?

       And did Wayne know about the payment his parents made?

       When all the other students showed up, Mr. Hicks cleared his throat to get silence in the cafeteria. "For those who have attended this school before, you already know what this announcement is about. The relay race. Now, for the new students, don't worry. It's not your ordinary relay race. There will be a bunch of challenges you will have to complete, each having to do with the strength of each house so for some challenges, one house will have the advantage while the others don't. And the winning house gets a very special prize this year."

       "A pizza party?" Piano asked. "A barbeque? Ooh, a luau?"

       "None of those, Mr. Keys," Mr. Hicks said.

       "Ooh, Mr. Keys makes me sound important," Piano said.

       Mr. Hicks sighed before continuing. "The challenge will take place the day after the Tiger's election because the captains play a huge part in the relay and we'll need to know who will be leading the Tiger house. So now, if I were you, I would try your hardest to try and get to know the abilities of the other houses the best you could. You never know if you'll have to use some computer engineering or if you'll have to learn a dance routine."

       Once he walked away, everyone broke into chatter. "Well, we lose," Dove said. "Computer engineering? How can we learn the basics of that before the relay?"

       "Simple," Piano said. "We use our secret weapon." He patted my back.

       "Wait, hold on," I said. "How am I the secret weapon?"

       It was such a secret even I didn't know about it.

       "Because you can easily learn the basics of all the other houses' strengths with that eidetic memory of yours," Piano said.

       "How did you know I have an eidetic memory?" I asked.

       "Levi, bro, you should know by now that I know everything about everyone," Piano said. "So in a way, that gives us a better shot too. There will be some challenges where only a select few from each house will participate so I will know exactly who each house chooses. Trust me. We got this relay challenge."

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i've been trying to decide what house i would belong too and i'm really conflicted. i would either belong to the owls or the coyotes, and i'm leaning towards the coyotes even though the owl's house colour is yellow and yellow is my favourite.

like that shouldn't even matter but apparently, it does to me. i might just be a little snake and switch the colours so owls are purple and coyotes are yellow. i chose the colours for a reason by either would work. both yellow and purple does mean creativity, which the coyotes are, and yellow also means intelligence (which the owls excel in) but purple also means wisdom (which the animal owl usually represents)

i love how my biggest concern right now (besides my food drawer being empty and me not having any money for food) is whether the owls or coyotes should be purple.