23 Chapter 23

'Something is definitely up,' Kiefer thought while tossing and turning on his bed.

Once again, he recalled the way Elijah was looking at Jacob. The way he looked at Jacob was more than that of a friend, and it was making Kiefer uncomfortable.

'And Jacob... He didn't look as uncomfortable with him compared to when he was with the others. He was less formal and polite with Elijah compared to when he was talking to the other guys. It's as if... they were already close to each other or something...' The alpha thought as he stared blankly at the wall he was facing.

That thought remained in Kiefer's mind until he fell asleep overthinking about it. The next day came, and just as he had suspected last night, Elijah and Jacob really did look pretty close to each other.

'How? And why are they close? They never really talked before,' Kiefer thought as he placed his bag on his chair while looking at Elijah who was now following Jacob to his seat.

"We're going to the arcade this weekend. Come with us. It's gonna be fun," Elijah beamed as he watched Jacob place his bag on the side of his desk.

"Which day is it?" The omega asked as he pulled his chair and sat. "On Saturday. Are you free?" Elijah asked, still smiling at him.

"Hmm..." Jacob tried remembering if he had something to do during the weekend and realized that he was only planning to buy a book and go through the drills that he had answered last time during the tutoring session with Leo.

"Yeah. Sure, I'll come," the omega responded and smiled a little. "Really? Great! I'll text you when and where we're gonna meet up," Elijah excitedly said, glad that Jacob is coming.

Jacob nodded, still smiling a little, and watched Elijah go back to his seat. While he watched him walk, his eyes caught Kiefer staring at them with a weird look in his eyes.

Jacob felt confused.

'Is he mad about something?' He thought to himself while looking at Kiefer who was now glaring at Elijah.

'Earlier too... He wasn't as talkative as usual while we walked to school together,' Jacob thought, remembering how the alpha was earlier.

While Jacob wanted to ask Kiefer about what was bothering him, he couldn't bring himself to. Kiefer always had an avoidant personality and it was pretty hard for Jacob to ask him about it because he knew that it wouldn't be easy to get the alpha to answer him honestly.

They were still teenagers, sure, but Kiefer was more like a child mentally. It was like he only aged physically and not mentally.

Hanging out with Kiefer is fun and all but it gets a little hard when he suddenly becomes avoidant and distant towards Jacob.

'I'll try talking to him once the chance arises,' Jacob thought as he looked away and took his notebooks out to review a little before class starts.

Just like that, their day went just as usual except that Kiefer was being a lot quieter than usual. It was the same during their tutoring session that even Leo felt awkward around him.

"Did you guys fight?" Leo whispered to Jacob's ear.

Jacob glanced in the direction of the bathroom inside his room where Kiefer was and let out a sigh.

"No. I don't even know what's going on with him right now," Jacob answered honestly as he looked at the sheet of paper in front of him, looking at the problem sets he hasn't answered yet.

Leo leaned in a little and whispered, "Please ask him what's going on. I'm pretty sure he's gonna listen to you. I tried talking to him earlier but..."

Leo's words were cut off when someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder and aggressively pushed him, making the swivel chair he was seated in flip and fall to the floor along with his body.

"Ow..." Leo groaned as he looked up to see who it was who pushed him like that.

"What the hell? Do you usually get that close to your students?" Kiefer glared down at him, clenching his jaw in anger.

The way he looked at him made Leo feel shivers run down his spine. It wasn't just because of the way his eyes looked but also because of the pheromones he was letting out.

He was angry.

Really angry.

"Kiefer!" Jacob yelled his name, his voice almost resounding in the room.

He stood up and grabbed Kiefer's arm, turning his body towards him so he could face him.

"What the hell is up with you? Are you insane? Why would you do that?" Jacob asked him while glaring at him, furious.

It's been a long time since the last time Jacob felt that angry. It wasn't just because he pushed Leo down, but also because of Kiefer's behavior lately.

"Move," the omega said as he pushed him and made his way to Leo, who was still on the floor.

"I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Are you hurt somewhere?" Jacob asked, worried, as he helped Leo stand up.

"It's okay. I'm fine. My wrist just hurts a little from falling, but it's all good," Leo responded as he slowly stood up with Jacob's help.

"Hah!" Kiefer scoffed, finding the situation stupid.

"I shouldn't have concerned myself with you. Isn't that right?" He said and gritted his teeth. "You're old enough to be dating a grown man since you're already eighteen. Sorry for getting in the way," he continued and grabbed his backpack, leaving Jacob's room right away after doing so.

Jacob just watched him leave. He expected Kiefer to slam the door, but he just left it open and that pissed him off more.

"Haaaa..." Jacob let out a sharp sigh and clenched his jaw, trying to calm himself down because he knew that if he didn't, he might just go after Kiefer and punch him in the gut.

"Fucking annoying..." He mumbled to himself, cursing for the first time in a while.

The omega stood up and shut the door, locking it in case Kiefer comes back again. He then walked back to Leo and got him seated on the swivel chair that he just lifted back up.

"I'm really, really sorry. He can be a little childish at times," Jacob said with an apologetic expression on his face.

"It's okay, really," Leo awkwardly chuckled upon hearing the omega apologize on Kiefer's behalf.

"Would you like to take some suppressants? You might have gotten affected by his pheromones," Jacob said as he quickly went through his drawer to grab his suppressants.

"It's okay. That was nothing," Leo responded and smiled a little, finding Jacob's kindness really sweet.

"No, no. I shouldn't have asked you if you wanted some suppressants. You should really take one tablet just in case," Jacob said as he took out a small bottle from his drawer.

"Even if you take your suppressants regularly, his pheromones might take an effect later when you go home. It's going to be dangerous walking around like that," he continued as he faced Leo.

"You're still an omega, after all."