I huffed in disbelief and shook my head.
“What the heck is wrong with you?” I snapped. I jumped to my feet and grabbed my bag. As I swung it over my shoulder, the strap landed on my hair in a way that made it almost impossible to move my head. It was extremely painful, and I wanted to fix it, but I was worried trying to do so would ruin the moment, so I left it and tried not to let the pain show on my face.
“I’m sorry,” Jaxon said. He held his hands out in a placating gesture. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You really think that’s why I’m mad?” I was trying to keep my voice down, not wanting to draw more attention to us, but I was practically yelling by that point. “Because you somehow offended me by asking me out?”
“Um…” Jaxon stared at me, his eyes cartoonishly round behind his glasses.
“You know, Ireallyhate Lewis right now, but you are just as much of an insensitive jerk as he is.” Without giving him a chance to respond, I stormed out of the room. The entire way down the hallway, I wanted to move my bag off my hair, but I imagined Jaxon staring after me as I walked away and didn’t want to risk it, no matter how much it hurt. I could hear Jaxon calling my name as I walked away, but I just ignored him, as I had gotten very used to doing over the past few years.
But one thing about the interaction continued to bother me, even after he was long out of earshot. That wasn’t the first time Jaxon had seriously asked me out, nor did I think it would be the last, but something about it had seemed different this time… and I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.
two
I didn’t feellike going to any of my classes for the rest of the day, but I also didn’t want to bail on Madison for our bus ride home together, so I hid in the library for the rest of the afternoon. I would have just stayed in the common room, but I couldn’t stand to be anywhere near Jaxon.
The library was in the oldest part of the school. About half the school was comprised of an old mansion, while the rest of it was from various additions over the years. You could tell what era each part of it was made in as you walked around since they didn’t even attempt to keep the interior look cohesive. The library was at the side of the building, with windows that overlooked the gardens, and it had always been my favourite room in the school. Tucked in the back corner was a little nook that seemed useless. It was about five feet by five feet and was completely empty, save for the window with a sill that was just big enough to sit on. When you sat there, nobody could see you.
I’d discovered the nook when I was in the ninth grade and soon began claiming it during every break that I’d had. I didn’t go in there as much over the past couple of years, as I’d gotten more busy and started using my breaks as a time to catch up on homework or head girl duties. And once I became a senior andgained access to the common room, I’d all but forgotten about this safe little space.
The window seat was smaller than I remembered but I still managed to fit. I sat with my legs stretched out along the window and leaned my head against the glass. The gardens were blooming with flowers, making the view colourful. I loved this time of year; as nice as the trees looked when covered in snow, there was nothing quite like the beauty of spring.
“I wondered if I might find you here.”
My heart sank at the sound of his voice, and I felt a little nauseous. Lewis Stone had already ruined my morning, did he really feel the need to ruin my afternoon too?
“What do you want?” I asked. I refused to actually look at him, but I could see him a little in the reflection of the window. His black hair was tousled, his tie was loosened so much that I was pretty sure it was a uniform infraction, and his hands were sitting casually in his pockets. It was like he was trying to give off the air of being relaxed and like he didn’t have a care in the world, but I knew that wasn’t true.
“I wanted to apologize,” he said slowly.
“Not accepted,” I said immediately. “Bye.”
“Violet—”
“Just get out of here, Lew,” I interrupted. I wasn’t interested in hearing all of his pathetic excuses for his actions. When I went to find him earlier, I was hoping to make amends after our fight the other day. Instead, all he did was scream at me and hurt me in a way that almost nobody had before.
“If you would just listen to me?—”
“No!” I snapped. My hand clenched in a fist, almost involuntarily. I waited a moment to make sure the librarian wasn’t going to come tell us off for being too loud. We were pretty far from her desk, another one of the perks of the nook,but it still wasn’t a good idea to talk too loudly. “You made your opinion of me pretty clear so just go.”
“You don’t understand!” he said. There was passion in his voice; passion that would turn to extreme anger if I didn’t give in soon. I never noticed before how easy it was to rile him up but now it was impossible for me not to.
“Get out of here, Lewis,” I said. I finally looked at him. “Now.”
“We need to talk, Violet,” he said.
“She told you to get lost,” a voice said from behind him. I leaned around Lewis to see who was there. I was half-expecting to see Jaxon there, having followed me from the common room, but instead, I saw his best friend, Sabrina. She was standing with her arms crossed over her chest and was staring at Lewis with a deadly expression. Her black and pink hair was pulled in a tight ponytail and she was wearing dark makeup, both of which made her look like she was ready for a fight.
“Nobody asked you, Brooks,” Lewis sneered. “This is a personal matter.”
“Doesn’t matter what you think it is,” Sabrina said. “She told you to leave.”
Lewis glared at her for another few seconds before his gaze turned to look at me pleadingly.
“Just talk to me, Violet,” he said. “We can figure this out.”
“No,” I said coldly. “We can’t.”
