“Did I do something to offend you?” I turned completely in my seat so I could face him, force him to look at me fully and answer me.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise, cocking his head to take in my harsh tone.
“Excuse me?” His deep voice reverberated, sending chills up my spine. He wasn’t threatening me, but I got the feeling that if he wanted to hurt me, he could.
“You ditched me last week for our study session and have been doing a superb job at ignoring me and acting like I don’t exist. I’m just trying to figure out what exactly I did to offend you so much. Did you get back with your girlfriend? Does she not like you talking to other girls?”
The words came out in a rush, my cheeks heating as I realized just how much his indifference toward me had hurt my feelings. How pathetic.
He took a deep breath, his eyes creasing in thought, about to respond when Mr. Phillips began passing out the quiz, shushing students as they put away their notes.
I cringed, suddenly embarrassed by my outburst, and quickly turned in my seat, shoving my things away as I waited for the quiz to land on my desk. I rubbed my eyes roughly, trying to will the angry, frustrated tears that pricked the back of my eyes to disappear. Maybe I should have stayed home sick today.
As soon as the quiz landed in front of me, I threw all of my attention at it, trying to focus on remembering the things I had stayed up late studying. About two questions in, a folded-up piece of paper slid my way, finding a safe spot underneath my quiz. I glanced over to Alaric, whose eyes remained glued to his quiz, no one the wiser that he had just passed me a note.
Any focus I had fizzled as I worked to finish the quiz quickly so I could turn the quiz in and read Alaric’s note. I gently shoved the note into my jacket pocket when Mr. Phillips wasn’t looking.
When I turned my quiz in, I excused myself to the bathroom to read the note and gather myself. My head was still pounding, and a splash of cold water sounded really good.
I walked quickly to the nearest bathroom, barricading myself in the first stall before pulling out the note that felt like it was burning a hole in my pocket.
No, I’m not back with my ex. And you haven’t done anything to deserve this. But if I told you why I’m keeping my distance, you wouldn’t sleep tonight.
I sat back on the toilet, headache forgotten for the moment, as I took in his words. If he told me the truth, I wouldn’t sleep tonight? What did that mean? I sat there, rereading the note several times before stuffing it back into my pocket and leaving the stall. I stood at the sink, washing my hands before splashing cold water on my face and neck as the words ricocheted in my brain like a ping-pong ball.
I slowly made my way back to class and slid into my seat noiselessly. Alaric was sitting at his laptop, reading the next chapter in the textbook, his eyes never wavering to mine. I quietly took out a piece of paper and scribbled a response before sliding and tucking it underneath the corner of his MacBook.
What the hell does that mean? Don’t speak in riddles. Just tell me what’s up.
As soon as Alaric grabbed the note and read it quickly, a new thought occurred to me. I gripped the amulet that still hung around my neck, the heat and pressure of it against my palm calming. What if the person Nana was telling me to go to was Alaric? What if he was or knew whoever this person was who walked where I now stand?
I waited the rest ofthe period for Alaric to respond, to slip me another piece of paper, but to no avail. Alaric had read my note, quickly stuffing it into his jacket pocket without even looking at me. He ignored me the rest of class, and when the bell rang, he was out of the door before I could even blink.
“What an odd one,” Sara-Kate replied after I told her about my sort of confrontation with Alaric at our regular spot in the library after school. This had been our first chance to really talk since Sara-Kate spent her lunch period with the other drama students who were still reeling from Ashe’s death.
“Yeah, what do you think the note means?” I pushed the note he had given me closer for her to inspect.
She shrugged, glancing at the note, before dismissing it. “Sounds like he’s trying to play the broody, mysterious type. It’s kind of hot.”
I scoffed in disbelief. “No, it’s annoying is what it is. He acts like he hates me, but then claims it’s really to protect me.”
“The boy is complicated,” Sara-Kate responded, her tone dismissive as if that were a reasonable explanation. “You know these teenage boys and their hormones. Makes them crazy.”
I shook my head, pocketing the note once again. I don’t know why I didn’t just throw it away, but I didn’t. I liked knowing it was there, crumbled in the corner of my pocket. We eventually settled into a comfortable silence as we both began looking over our pre-calc notes and started on the homework. A few minutes passed before Sara-Kate looked up, slamming her pencil down on the table.
“I’m bored and snacky. Want to sneak into the teacher’s lounge and grab something?”
I looked up, surprised. “The teacher’s lounge? Isn’t that off-limits to students?”
Sara-Kate rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but they’re all gone now and they have the flavor of Sun Chips I love. Please!”
I sighed, looking around the library and noticing we were a few of the only students there. The teacher’s lounge was right off the library on the third floor, tucked away on purpose so teachers could have a place of respite.
“If there's a teacher, we abort the mission.”
“I swear!” Sara-Kate hooked her pinky with mine in a solemn oath.
We giggled as we stood from our desk, quietly making our way to the stairs on the north end of the library that would take us to the third floor. Students typically didn’t go to the third floor as it only housed the teacher’s lounge, some storage, and the archives of special editions that the school owned. You couldn’t check them out, but you could look at them with a reservation and a teacher's recommendation saying it was for a school assignment. Otherwise, the third floor was pretty much off-limits.
