Page 29 of True Blue

I stare at the side of his head as Janette starts explaining the plan she thinks will work best, showing him how each of us can split the research and glancing over at me a few times as she rambles. He listens intently, not looking back over at me, but I saw the look on his face when his eyes met mine. Like nothing had happened, like everything is fine and he hadn’t spent the last twenty-four hours avoiding the shit out of me.

The anger in my blood boils under my skin, mostly directed at myself for being such an idiot. I wanted to ask him out, wanted to see if we could be more than just roommates who sometimes fuck when we’re bored, but clearly, he has already decided we’re not even that anymore, barely even friends at this point. Why else would he just show up to this meeting and actlike nothing has happened, but avoid me as much as possible when others aren’t around?

I turn back to my computer, opening another tab to start researching the sub-topic Janette has assigned me and ignoring the other two sitting at the table. My fingers mash the keys as I type and keyword search the articles and research papers, I find online. Axel merrily does his own research beside me, asking Janette some questions when he hits a wall or gets confused and making me clench my jaw even further each time. His upbeat voice rubs my skin like sandpaper, making me franticly think of an excuse to leave early.

Janette peeks over at me several times as she does her own research, questions playing across her face, though she never vocalizes them. I ignore her concern, feeling like it’s more salt in the wound that she notices something off with me while he acts like everything is normal.

Seconds away from just packing up and saying I have other plans I need to get to; another voice cuts in as a shadow falls over our table.

“Hey guys!” Cassie says, voice overly cheerful and matching the beaming excitement on her face. “Starting your project for Howards?” She directs her question to the group, but her eyes find mine quickly, staying there once she has my attention.

Janette looks up at her in confusion and I hear Axel’s jaw snap shut beside me. I smile, the anger in my gut singing. “Hey, Cass,” I say with a nod. “Yeah, figured we’d get a jump start on it.”

“Us too.” She points over her shoulder, the three of us looking to see the three others from her group sat around another circular table and talking amongst themselves. Cassie leans her hands on our table. “Can’t believe this is worth thirty percent of our grade. We got stuck with Weapons and Armor of the Middle Ages.” She rolls her eyes and I see Axel’s fist clenchon the table next to us. “Which topic did you all pick?” Once again, the question is posed for the whole table, but her eyes never stray from mine. I smile.

“The Impact of Gutenberg’s Printing Press,” I say, rolling my eyes dramatically.

“Oh, that shouldn’t be hard. You guys can get that done super-fast and be done before midterms, probably.” She smiles showing off her straight teeth while her cheeks heat. She doesn’t seem to notice Axel lean back in his chair away from her and cross his arms over his chest. I feel Janette’s eyes on me as well, but I ignore her, keeping my focus on Cassie and the reaction she’s helping me get out of Axel.

I decide to skip straight to the kill. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, Cass, did you want to go out sometime? Maybe we could do dinner sometime next week?” Cassie’s mouth pops into an O, eyes lighting up as her excitement intensifies.

“Yeah! Definitely! That would be so much fun!” Her whole body seems to shake as she nods profusely.

I pull my phone out of my pocket, leaning closer to her. “Here, give me your number and we can figure out the details later.” She takes the phone from my hand after I unlock it, typing quickly into the new contact profile she pulls up in record time.

I text her quick after she hands it back.

Hi, it’s Bentley

Smiling again, I watch her cheeks blush further. “I’ll text you after we’re done with this.” I add a wink, seeing Axel’s hand dig into the striped sleeve of his shirt in my periphery.

Cassie giggles, the sound too loud in my ears, and nods a bunch before turning to Axel and Janette. “See you guys in class,” she says in a high-pitched voice, waving hastily before rushing back to the table her group sits at.

I watch her until she sits down, feeling both Axel and Janette staring at me before I turn and meet his glare first, a satisfied smile set on my face. I glance over at Janette, and the smile falls.

Janette’s furrowed brow and fiery eyes make the satisfaction in my gut spoil. She glares at me, a muscle on the side of her jaw ticking. “I think we’re good for today,” she spits, breaking our eye contact and standing to gather her stuff rapidly into her bag.

I try to think of something to say, but my brain stays blank as I watch her whip around and stalk out of the library. I swallow, the hard ball of anger melting as the ache returns when I turn to look at Axel. He glares at me, still leaning back in his chair and away from the table.

“You happy with yourself?” he mutters, grabbing his laptop and backpack before getting up out of his chair. His words spark a remnant of anger, wanting to rip into him for the last thirty-six hours, but it quickly goes out as the image of Janette storming away from the table replays in my mind. Why was she so upset? My anger sparks a bit when I remember Christopher’s name on her phone again.

The rapid emotional flux leaves me a bit dizzy as my eyes refocus on Axel’s retreating form. He leaves at a more normal pace, but his spine stays ramrod straight as I watch him walk through the foyer and out into a blaze of sunshine, leaving me behind in the shadows.

14

“Hi, babe,” Christopher says, smiling as I meet him at the front doors of West Tower. I lift the sides of my mouth, turning and walking straight back toward the elevator.

My mood has been terrible for the last week, according to Layla. Probably due to the image of Bentley flirting with Cassie two feet from me and Axel. The boys didn’t sit near me in class this week, not even sitting next to each other. I know the display had pissed off Axel too, but I couldn’t tell if it was a protective thing because he could tell I’m attracted to Bentley or something else. But since he’s not answering my texts with more than a few one-word answers, I’m thinking they had their own little fight.

Layla even mentioned how similar our moods have been. She keeps asking if something happened last weekend, but all that happened was Christopher showed up and ate half of my food while complaining again about the cafeteria food. Plus, my mood had soured before Christopher even stepped foot on campus last week.

Leaning against the back of the elevator, Christopher crowds me, putting his hands on my hips and jostling me a little. “Cheer up.I’mhere!”

I bite my tongue to stop myself from rolling my eyes. The elevator starts moving.

He ducks down a bit, fake pouting. “Why the bad mood?”

I fold my arms between us and try to wipe the frown off my face. “No bad mood.” Christopher quirks an eyebrow. “Just hungry,” I say quickly to cover.

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