Black Cat

Preliminary Chapter One, I hope whoever decides to read this likes it, give us (Me and my co-writer Alex) your input and review if you have the time. This Chapter is a little short for my taste but I want to get the story online. =]


Soundless footfall hit the cold wood floor ever so lightly it was as if only a dark shadow was moving across the room. A leap, a pounce, a furry little alarm clock woke it's master with a light but demanding "meow" as it was furiously hungry. Artemis, a boy at the age of 17, woke from a light sleep rubbing his eyes lightly growling at his pet's intrusion.

"Shadowwww..." he whined the black cat's name out for waking him up for school. It was an intelligent cat and it knew it wanted food. So, dutifully but remorsefully, Artemis left the warm cozy confines of his bed's plush covers and marched to where the cat's food was kept and fed him. Soon after happy mewls were spilling out of the cat’s mouth, the boy walked upstairs into his large bathroom and took a long hot shower.

He washed away last night's reminiscent sweat and the previous day's dirt from his form. It was a Monday and Artemis hated Monday’s. He didn't really mind school all that much, but he hated readjusting to waking up at 6 in the morning so he could begin his daily routine and get to school on time. He washed his hair and his body thoroughly before stepping out of the shower and drying off his long shaggy light, almost white-blonde hair. He let it dry naturally the rest of the ways, letting it look a bit wild but yet orderly in its own way. He put on a pair of slightly baggy jeans that did nothing for his figure as well as a red hoodie since it was fall and the weather was turning cold. He slipped on some ordinary black skate shoes (vans specifically) and grabbed his messenger bag walking outside to meet his slightly older friend.

Jayden stood at the end of Artemis's driveway with his arms crossed around his chest, hugging himself lightly against the chilly air. He wore a dark blue long-sleeved shirt that hugged snugly against his chest as well as a pair of blue jeans, yet he was still cold. He tossed his head to get his black hair off his face and fixed his dark brown eyes on his best friend.

"Arty..." he whined. "Hurry up and get your car started. I'm cooold...” Jayden whined.

"Are you driving today or am I?" Artemis asked simply, fixing his icy blue eyes on his friend's deep brown eyes. "And if you're cold why don't you wear something a little less thin?" He asked for probably what seemed like the millionth time. Jayden never wore really heavy clothes but yet always whined when he was freezing. It didn't make any sense to the conservative-thinking Artemis.

"Because I don't look pretty in hoodies," Jayden said, wrinkling his nose at Artemis's hoodie. "And could you drive? My mom's taking my car to get the oil changed today. Why she wouldn't let me get that done on Saturday, I will never know..."

"And what's wrong with my hoodie?" Artemis said, frowning slightly at the off-handed attack on his choice of style. He stood there waiting for his answer, leaning against his simple car. It was a Honda Accord, a few years old, but Artemis didn't care as long as it ran smoothly and got decent gas mileage. He'd let Jayden suffer until he got an answer about his hoodie.

Jayden stuck out his tongue, knowing that Artemis would stand there and let him shiver until the end of the world.

"For your information, Arty, you know you have a nice body, and I know it, but no one else knows it because you never show it off. You'd look a lot nicer if you wore something that wasn't five sizes too big every once in a while."

"It is not five sizes to big for me--it's only a medium!" Artemis pouted at Jayden. They always "fought" if that's what you could call it. It wasn't really fighting, just friendly squabbling. It's how they made it through the day often.

"Just ‘cause I don't flaunt myself around every person to meet to get in their pants for a night or two..." Artemis trailed off; it was easy to tell the disgust in Artemis’s voice.

Jayden walked around to the passenger's side of the car and stood with his hand on the door handle expectantly as if it would magically open saying, "At least I'm getting some," he mumbled, glaring at the ground, knowing that that wasn't exactly true, either. In all honesty, he hadn't even kissed anyone in a record-breaking six months.

"Yeah but the only thing you're getting are quickies to get yourself off, whether it's by a hand or a mouth, you don't even kiss anyone anymore cause that'd make it more like a real relationship." He bit back--he knew his friend's sex habits very well, they talked about it was often and it was a pretty open subject in the first place. He sighed and got into the car at the same time Jayden did. He continued with, "Besides, I wouldn't want all the extra attention by my drastic change in appearance form one day to the next unlike someone." He started up the car idly.

Jayden stuck out his bottom lip in a pout saying, “You’re so mean to me, Arty. Here, let me turn up the heater. Maybe it will melt some ice off that frigid heart of yours."

"I doubt it. Global warming only happens so quickly. Give it a few thousand years or so and we might notice a difference." He replied sarcastically, turning down the heat a tad. This was another petty thing they fought over, temperature. Artemis was a warm person by nature and Jayden was constantly cold. Coincidence? Artemis started to believe nothing was a coincidence with Jayden. He sighed again and drove out into the street; there wasn't that much traffic except for the people heading for school and work. Their school wasn't that far away but it gave them time to "chat" or argue as it may be.

Jayden drew a smiley face in the frosty window speaking in almost a loud whisper, "I need to remember to bring a blanket with me. Geez, it's not even winter and I'm already freezing my ass off."

"Why don't you just get one of your thousands of boyfriends to keep you warm?" He bit out a little too spitefully for his own tastes. Jayden fooled around wayy too much, even if it wasn't actually sex. He continued toward their school, it wasn't all that cold out, but Jayden loved to over-dramatize everything.

Jayden looked slightly hurt at Artemis's tone, but he quickly brushed it off. "All right, maybe I will." He wiped the smiley face from the window just as they pulled into the school parking lot. "I'll see you later, Artemis." He jumped out of the car and practically ran into the school, desperately seeking warmth.

Artemis felt a little sad that he probably hurt Jayden's feelings, but he did usually deserve it. Artemis walked into school, taking his time before heading to homeroom. He waited for the teacher to begin the day as usual so he could get back home and do whatever needed being done.

A few hours later, Jayden headed to lunch feeling rather refreshed, having slept through his morning classes. He shrugged off scores of invitations to sit at other tables as he headed toward Artemis. "Hey, Arty," he said cheerfully upon reaching said boy. "Did you miss me?"

"Oh yes, I couldn't live without you for that whole three hours, I almost committed suicide—I swear." He responded with almost no emotion, just slight sarcasm. He moved over a little to give Jayden some space to sit but he sat right up against Artemis anyways, like usual. He could never have enough bodily contact, never. Artemis continued eating the school's chicken tenders which were actually decent in quality. Artemis still didn't understand how they stayed friends for a little over six years, they were so different yet so awkwardly compatible it was scary. Following that line of thinking, the only reason that anybody really seemed to pay attention to Artemis was because Jayden was always there, and everybody absolutely adored him. Why? Artemis still didn’t know.

Jayden glanced over at Artemis. He had always preferred Artemis's company to anyone else's. For being such an extrovert, Jayden found it amusing that he was best friends with someone as crowd-shy as Artemis. He nuzzled closer against him, taking full advantage of the blonde's inexhaustible source of body heat. "I missed you, too, Arty," he said around a mouthful of chicken.

Artemis suffered, well not truly, from Jayden's nuzzling. He actually liked the cold feel against his skin. Truth be told, he has had a small crush on Jayden for a while now, but it normally doesn't surface in his mind. They always act the same around each other and whatnot but even if he "liked" Jayden in that way he knew it'd have a horrible outcome were they to start a true relationship. Jayden was a horrid influence and a relationship with him (not that he'd ever have a real relationship according to his track record) went against every rational thought in Artemis's mind. Artemis didn't really think he was gay per se so he never even brought that little fact up with Jayden. He just liked whomever he found himself attracted to, which happened to be none other than the drama-king himself.

Jayden pulled his math homework out of his bag and spread it out over the table. He was terrible at math. He had attempted most of the problems the night before, but there were a few he had to leave blank. "Arty... Help me, please?" He turned an adorable pout on Artemis, hoping against hope that his best friend would, inevitably, help him with his work.

"What's in it for me Jayde?" He asked quirking a single questioning eyebrow at Jayden's pout that he just-so-happened to be used to.

"Hmm... Well, you wouldn't want to see adorable little me fail, would you?" He noticed the look Artemis was giving him and he quickly added, "And I'll give you a quarter!"

Artemis scoffed at the quarter idea, not only was a quarter worth virtually nothing in today's society but he would never even see the quarter. "Will you wear a heat-enveloping hoodie tomorrow to school if I do this?" Artemis asked thoughtfully, hoping his friend wouldn't be fucking cold for at least one school day. Not including the lack of whining he'd probably be doing since he would actually be warm. Wait; scratch that he'd just whine at having to wear the damned hoodie and not something more slut-worthy. Artemis sighed internally at his own thoughts as Jayden began to answer him.

"Well...maybe not a hoodie...but I'll at least wear a jacket for you." He huffed and added, "if you insist." He wrinkled his nose at having to wear something that would take away from his natural good looks, but...at least he would be warm.

"Fine," he compromised. He went about not only solving Jayden's math homework, but teaching him what he was obviously doing wrong as well. He didn't necessarily enjoy teaching but he was good at it. This was probably because Jayden always seemed to need help with something or another. It helped keep Artemis's grades up in any case or scenario. "Understand now?"

Jayden shook his head happily. "Yeah! Thanks, Artemis! It always makes so much more sense when you explain it. I swear Mr. McKain isn't even speaking English!"

Artemis shrugged, “Or if you actually stayed awake and attentive in his classes you might get the same results. You're either napping or staring at some new target of yours whenever you're in almost any class. Makes it difficult to process the information." Artemis said nonchalantly. Artemis never really beat around the bush so to speak. He was straightforward and generally level-headed. If not a little oblivious to more teenage-esque things. For example, he never saw the coveting glances he got from various students--Artemis looked incredible and many people knew it, thought he himself didn't really know it. That was just how he always was from the time Jayden had met him and from then on.

"I don't pay attention because I don't understand a single word he says!" Jayden finished his math homework and put his book away. "Besides, how could I concentrate when someone as beautiful as you is sitting right next to me?" He laughed and winked at Artemis.

"Me, beautiful? You have to be kidding me. I'm about as beautiful as a dead possum." He rolled his pretty icy blue eyes at the wink. The only reason Jayden was even in any of his advanced classes was probably because of Artemis--Jayden was intelligent, yes, but he needed a kick in the rear and some one-on-one, no not sexual, help to learn the stuff.

Jayden rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Arty. You know you're hot as hell." He pulled tonight's history homework from his bag and got a head start on it, knowing that he would probably be swamped with math homework.

"I do not!" Artemis scowled and pouted, when someone other than Jayden came up behind him and sat on his other side smiling at him… If Artemis could remember correctly his name was Evan...or something like that… He'd only seen him once or twice. He began to say something breaking Artemis’s musings about him.

Evan smiled at Artemis. The two were in the same lit class, and he had been working up the courage to sit by Artemis at lunch for some time now. He was a natural extrovert, so he found it somewhat odd that he had such a hard time doing it, but...Jayden was just so...intimidating! "Hey, Artemis," he said smoothly, "accidentally" brushing his leg up against the blonde's. "I'm Evan. We're in the same lit class. I was wondering...did you understand yesterday's lecture?"

"Yeah, more or less, it wasn't that bad" he responded remembering that this boy sat behind him in lit class now. He knew he'd seen him somewhere before. It was his obliviousness creeping back up again—there were only about fifteen people in his lit class too, so he really should've remembered him.

Jayden glared slightly at the intruder, but soon went back to his homework. What did he care if amazingly handsome boys came and talked to his best friend? Evan looked relieved. "Hey, do you think you can help me, then? It's just this whole grammar thing...I'm terrible at it!" He hid his lie behind a huge grin. He wasn't bad at grammar at all; he just wanted some time to talk to this heart throb.

"Oh, sure, why not?" Artemis said giving a jovial and friendly smile, "When would want you be able to get together to explain it...I'm guessing it'd have to be pretty soon though 'cause we have that quiz on Thursday..." He assessed to the other boy, now waiting from an answer while surveying him. He had Dark brown hair, it almost looked black. His eyes were a lighter golden-brown and they suited him quite nicely. He wasn't very tan but he had some color and he was slightly taller then Artemis. Overall he was probably one of the better-looking guys in school. Not only that but he also got decent grades if Artemis remembered correctly.

"How about tomorrow afternoon?" Evan hoped he didn't sound too eager. He toned himself down a little and said, "Tomorrow is the only night that I don't have to work this week, so...I hope that's okay with you?"

"Sure, I'm pretty much free." He responded and then idly asked, “Where do you work?" He would admit to himself that he was slightly curious about this boy, I mean he was somewhat hot...he guessed. Jayden seemed to be looking a lot at him too, though for some reason it didn't seem like lust this time. Odd. Artemis brushed off this thought quickly though as Evan began to speak.

"I work at that small bookstore, Page Turners...but on weekends, I volunteer at the library." He noticed that Jayden was giving him the evil eye and felt his stomach drop. He knew for a fact that Jayden could easily kick his ass if he found out he was trying to seduce his best friend...but he still had to try. Artemis was just too sweet and adorable and absolutely gorgeous to pass up.

"Oh, you like reading a lot then?" Artemis perked up a lot at this, grinning broadly at Evan. He wondered only momentarily why someone who most likely read a lot still had problem with grammar but passed it off thinking maybe it was just that one lecture..

Evan realized his mistake a little too late but knew he could pass it off. "Yeah, I read all the time...but the grammar just doesn't stick, you know? And I'm a terrible speller!" 'At least the spelling part is true,' he mused.

“Awww, that's cool. I have issues with certain grammar rules myself." He consoled, unconsciously scooting a little closer to Evan. He was naturally warm to other people minus Jayden--but that's only because he's comfortable enough to be colder to him. He tried to flip his hair out of his eyes a little as it fell in his face somewhat annoyingly.

Jayden tried to concentrate on his homework and block out Evan's poor attempt at flirting...until he felt Artemis's warmth move away. He felt jealousy pour through his veins at the thought of someone taking his best friend away. He bit his lip, however, determined not to make a big deal out of something that would probably never happen. He and Artemis had been best friends for six years, and no pompous jerk was going to break them apart. Evan, on the other hand, merely grinned even wider as he felt Artemis scoot closer. "So...tomorrow, then? Where do you want to meet?"

"I dunno, your place or mine would probably be easiest and most comfortable." He replied thoughtfully waiting for Evan’s input on the suggestion.

"I live about thirty minutes away from the school," said Evan. "Would your place be more convenient, then?" He felt a rush of joy at the prospect of being alone with Artemis, and he could hardly keep the excitement out of his voice.

"Yeah, my house is only a few minutes from here, so I guess we could head there. You could probably stay for dinner or something too if we need the time. Can't promise you too much of a meal though..." He smiled light-heartedly at his own comment towards Evan.

"That sounds great! You have no idea how much I appreciate this, Artemis. I don't know what I would do without you." He winked before standing up and heading back toward his own table.

Jayden watched him go with narrowed eyes, a low growl threatening to emit from his throat. He had had enough practice through the years in recognizing lust and flirting to know that Evan was lusting after Artemis, no matter how subtle he had kept it. He willed himself to relax, however, knowing full well that even if Evan made a move on Artemis, the blonde would definitely be able to handle himself, right?