I go to my locker to exchange some books, turning the combination with more force than needed.
“Lola?”
I turn.
It’s Marcus Collins. Tall, lanky, with dark-rimmed glasses and a nervous smile that makes him appear younger than he is. We had biology together last year. He is sweet and harmless. The kind of guy who always offers to be your lab partner and actually does his share of the work instead of making you do everything while he plays on his phone.
He stops a few feet away, his backpack hanging off one shoulder. The expression on his face shows he’s not quite sure if he should have approached me.
“Hey,” he says, taking a step forward. “I wanted to ask... how’s your dad? I heard he was in the hospital.”
Something softens in my chest because this is what normal people do. They show concern and ask about your sick parent. They don’t ice you out in the car and later disappear to smoke weed behind a dumpster.
“He’s…” I start to say, with a genuine smile tugging at my lips. But I don’t get to finish because suddenly Jace is there, out of nowhere, as if he materialized from the shadows to ruin this one normal moment.
He moves quickly, grabbing Marcus by the front of his shirt and slamming him back against the lockers with a loud metallic crash that echoes down the hallway like a gunshot.
Marcus’s backpack hits the floor. His glasses slide crooked on his face.
“Stay the fuck away from her,” Jace growls, voice low and dangerous. The kind of voice that makes people take a step back involuntarily.
Marcus’s eyes widen behind his crooked glasses as his hands rise in quick surrender. His fingers shake slightly.
“I… I was just—”
“I don’t give a fuck what you were doing,” Jace cuts him off, leaning in closer until their faces are only inches apart. “You don’t talk to her. You don’t look at her. You don’t even fucking breathe in her direction. Got it?”
Marcus nods frantically, his face turning pale. Adam’s apple moves as he swallows hard. He looks like he might actually pass out. “Yeah… Yeah, I got it.”
“Jace,” I say, my voice coming out sharp and loud.
He turns his head and looks at me. His eyes are dark and unreadable, but there’s something else there too—a hint of something simmering beneath the surface that I can’t quite identify.
The whole hallway has gone quiet. Conversations have stopped mid-sentence. Locker doors hang open, forgotten. Everyone is watching us as if we are the main event at some twisted high school gladiator match.
Phones are probably already out, recording this for whatever social media drama will unfold later. I can almost hear thenotifications pinging already. Jace Cooper loses his shit in the hallway. Who’s the girl? Is that Lola Bellamy?
Jace holds my gaze for a long moment. His shoulders are tense. His hand remains fisted in Marcus’s shirt. He releases Marcus, shoving him back against the lockers one last time for good measure before stepping away.
Marcus stumbles slightly, catching himself against the metal lockers. His glasses are still crooked, and his shirt is wrinkled where Jace grabbed him.
Jace turns and walks down the hallway as if nothing happened. As if he didn’t slam a harmless guy against the lockers for asking about my dad.
I watch him go, my heart pounding in my chest so hard I can feel it in my throat. Anger, confusion, and something else I can’t name all twist together until I can’t tell which emotion is winning.
And then I see her.
Nicole.
She is leaning against the wall a few lockers down, hips cocked, arms crossed over her chest. Watching me with those sharp, calculating eyes that always make it seem as if she can see straight through to every insecurity I try to hide.
When our eyes meet, she smirks. The kind of smirk that shows she knows exactly what just happened, that she saw everything, and that she’s filing it away for later.
She pushes off the wall with a graceful roll of her shoulder and follows Jace down the hallway, her hips swaying with every step. Her blonde ponytail bounces behind her. She moves with the kind of confidence that comes from knowing every guy in this school has looked at her at least once. Including Jace.
My stomach hurts because I know where they are headed. I know what happens when Jace disappears around corners and Nicole follows.
I just stand there in the middle of the hallway with my locker door still hanging open and my books against my chest, staring at the spot where Jace disappeared around the corner. With Nicole right behind him.
