Chapter 8

Although Parker had agreed to continue tutoring me, and I had agreed to cooperate, I was still worried that, even though we were both trying, we’d get absolutely nowhere and I would end up with a bad history grade.

My worries, however, seemed to vanish at the end of our first tutoring session.

Walking into history class that same day, I found myself listening to the teacher and actually understanding, for once, what she was talking about. I admit, the content was slightly confusing as I was still not completely caught up, but although there were pieces of the puzzle missing, I knew that with a little time, I would hopefully have no problem at all.

And with my history mark inching up slowly, it seemed that everything else in my life was going right too.

The next two weekends brought the last two track meets of the year with them, as regional training didn’t commence for qualifiers until February.

With my dad and Saige cheering for me during both competitions, I raced my way to every finish line victoriously, making me eligible for regionals, and allowing me to step off the track for the next couple months with a sense of satisfaction and triumph.

As the days of November seemed to pass by with lightning speed, I felt my life in Byrendale slowly coming together.

My dad seemed to be enjoying his new position at his law firm, and looked as though he was gaining the respect of his new co-workers. From the few things he was allowed to tell me about his job, he mentioned being brought onto an unresolved case from a few years ago. According to him, it would make a significant impact on many citizens in this town if everything was brought to rest.

I didn’t know what the issue was or who was directly involved, but I was proud of him for working in a field he was passionate about, and dealing with these top-secret cases that really did make a difference to people in this town.

Saige and I on the other hand were becoming closer as the days passed us by. I had only known her for about a month and a half and it already felt like we had been friends for years.

Sure, I hadn’t told her the specifics about my mother, about how she’d left us without a real warning when I was just a little girl, but she knew that she was no longer in the picture. I also knew that she was keeping some parts of her past to herself as well, specifically those to do with the mystery of Parker, but I could handle that, as I acknowledged the fact that a person’s past didn’t define the person they stood to be in the present.

But, that still left Parker’s past to be a mystery to me.

Every couple of study sessions I could almost feel my brain processing the material he was teaching me. It was as if he spoke in a way that made it both easier for me to understand, and simple to see his passion for the subject shine through.

I would always try to divert the studying in one way or another, asking him about his advanced history class, his art, or just something random, but I could tell that he knew what I was doing. Any time I would veer off track, I could see the side of his mouth lift up in a small smile, as though my questions amused him, but he always seemed to answer every single one.

Whether it was a full blown explanation on how he got hooked on the land of our ancestors, or a word or two about how his day had gone, he replied each time, even asking a question or two of his own before putting the focus back on studying.

The two of us were getting closer, I acknowledged as much, but I didn’t want to broach the subject of his past in fear that he might not want to revisit it, or not trust me enough to talk about it. The latter saddened me, as I felt as though, despite the fact that I was much closer with his cousin, we were on track to becoming good friends.

We would acknowledge each other in the halls, talk on the odd time before class, and during the weeks before the snow started to fall as November came to a close, I would run around the pond and sit down with him as he drew some mornings. Neither of us would make a sound, yet the beauty of nature, the soft sound of my music through my headphones, and the sound of his pencil moving across his page were enough for us to sit and relax in the silence.

As the calendar switched over to December in the blink of an eye, I found myself almost understanding more and more of what my history teacher explained, and it was all thanks to Parker.

“What is with you?” Saige asked as she leant against the locker adjacent to mine after the final bell of the day had rung. “You look like you just came from a chocolate factory and they were handing out endless free samples.”

Rolling my eyes at her sarcasm, I stuffed the remaining books and supplies into my bag and slammed it shut. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied with a small smile before continuing, “But if you want to know why I’m in such a good mood, it’s because I just got my history quiz back that I wrote yesterday and I did better than I expected.”

“Let me guess,” she said as we strolled down the hall, “You got a perfect score.”

Shaking my head, I replied. “Nope, two wrong, but that’s still a lot better than I thought I would’ve got.”

“I thought you were struggling in that class.”

“I was,” I shrugged, “But I guess hard work pays off.”

Saige stopped mid stride, causing me to pause and turn to look at her questioningly. “Okay, either you took some placebos that made you believe you could learn everything in a night, or my cousin is seriously having an effect on you.”

“Oh ha, ha.”

Laughing, the two of us continued towards the front entrance of the school, and we would’ve been home free, if only I hadn’t heard the annoying clack of high-heels from behind us, paired with the voice of someone calling my name.

“Jillian, Jillian!” a womanly voice pronounced, and when I stopped short to turn around, I saw my history teacher walking towards us in a hurry. “ I’m glad I caught you.”

“Hey Mrs.” I greeted, trailing off in confusion. Why did she want to talk to me now, instead of a couple of minutes ago when I was actually in her class? “Did I forget something in class?”

She shook her head in response. “Oh no, no. I was just going over the marks quickly before I packed up and I saw that your grade as improved tremendously since you started here more than a month ago.”

“Oh, well, I have a good tutor I guess.” I responded as I felt a light dust of pink grace my cheeks at her compliment.

As she nodded in understanding, she continued. “That’s good dear,” she said. “So, I was thinking that you could write the first test tomorrow during our class period. I’ve put it off long enough because I’ve seen you struggling to keep up, but now it looks like you’ve done the studying needed and you’re good to go.”

“Oh, umm, yea, that’d be fine.” I replied, trying to act calm when really I was freaking out inside.

It had been weeks since I last reviewed some of the material that she had apparently taught at the beginning of the semester, and with all the new material I had been studying, along with my other class work, I had completely forgotten about the fact that I still had a test to write.

“Great,” my history teacher chirped, “Come see me tomorrow if you have any last minute questions before the test and I’ll help you sort everything out.”

With a short goodbye, she turned her back to the both of us and headed back towards her classroom, the constant clacking of her high heels even more annoying the second time around.

“So,” Saige started as I stood still beside her, my mind reeling with the events of the last minute or two, “What now?”

“Now, I cram.”

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That night after arriving home, I couldn’t help myself when I pushed my history work to the side and procrastinated to the best of my abilities.

Changing into my workout clothes, I headed into the basement, which just a couple of weeks ago, my dad and I had worked together to transform into a home gym. Both of us used to buy a gym membership during the winter months back home, but with the extra house space, we decided to make use of it.

Ignoring the weights and machines my dad often used at night, I climbed straight onto the elliptical and stayed on it for a half an hour before switching over to the treadmill.

When my usual workout regimen was finished, I headed back upstairs and stayed in the kitchen for a couple of minutes, scrounging through the cupboards for something to eat.

As my dad walked through the front door and quickly started on dinner, I headed upstairs, once again ignoring the backpack that lay untouched beside my bed, and showered to remove the dirt and grime that had built up over the course of the day.

After dinner however, there was no hiding from it. It was as though the second I stepped into my room with a full stomach my backpack was calling out to me, telling me to get to work and stop with the procrastination.

For the hours that followed I had my history textbook opened on my bed as I recorded dates, names, events and random facts that seemed important as music played quietly from my phone on my bedside table.

As the time on my phone inched closer and closer to midnight, I find myself yawning and my concentration slipping away, so as I pushed my books to the floor and slipped underneath my covers, I hoped that I had done enough studying to get a good grade.

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“So, how did the studying go last night?” Saige asked as students filed past us to get to the cafeteria.

We were currently at my locker, but I had yet to break the news to her that I wouldn’t be eating in the cafeteria with her today, needing the extra bit of study help with Parker before my test last period.

“It was long,” I stated, slamming my locker door before leaning back on it. “I pretty much put it off until after dinner, and then after that, I was looking at dates and names for probably four or five hours.”

“Yikes,” she commented as we headed down the hall, but as she kept walking towards the cafeteria like the majority of students that were still wondering the halls, I stopped off when we reached the hallway that led to the art room. Looking back when she realized I was no longer beside her, she sent a look of confusion. “Did your legs stop working or something? The cafeteria’s this way.”

“Actually,” I started sheepishly, nodding down towards the art room.

I didn’t have to say another word for Saige to understand what was going on. “Let me guess,” she sighed, although I could see a smile playing on the edge of her lips, “You’re ditching me for my cousin.”

“Sorry Saige, I just really want to get a good grade on this test, but I promise, tomorrow I’m all yours.”

She rolled her eyes. “Spare me,” she said teasingly, “But I’m holding you to that, and if you don’t want me to think that you’re secretly hooking up with Parker, you better not bail again.”

“I’m not hooking up with Parker!”

“Uh huh, sure.” she said, once again with a teasing intent, before turning and heading towards the cafeteria.

Rolling my eyes at my friend’s sarcastic nature, I couldn’t help but smile as I headed towards the art room.

It wasn’t all that shocking to see the door closed, but just like so many more lunch times of the past, I turned the knob without a second thought before bringing my hand up to knock as I simultaneously pushed it open.

“Knock, knock.” I said, eyeing Parker as his head snapped up from his sketchbook in surprise. “Are you busy?”

“Oh, hey Jill.” he replied, closing his sketchbook so that his pencil was still marking his page. “And not really, why? Shouldn’t you be eating lunch with Saige?”

“Well, actually I was hoping you could help me out with a bit of last minute studying.” I responded.

“But I thought your test was a few days ago.” he said in confusion. “Saige told me last night that you got a good mark.”

Choosing to ignore the fact that my supposed friend was gossiping to my tutor about what my grades were, I replied. “Yea, but my teacher finally realized that I never actually wrote the first unit test after I got here, and she basically cornered me yesterday before I could leave to tell me that I was writing it today during class.” I explained. “I spent hours last night studying but I just wanted to go over some things that might be on the test to make sure I actually understand them.”

“Oh,” Parker said as I stopped talking and looked to him with my best puppy dog face. “Sure,” he replied, pushing his sketchbook to the side and nodding to the desk next to him.

Smiling, I quickly sat down and pushed my desk next to his, just like I always did when we studied during lunch.

“So,” he started, sliding my textbook towards him and out of my reach, “Let’s see how much you actually know.”

After a few simple questions about when the first world war started, when it ended, and the two opposing alliances that made up the war, I was starting to calm down as I realized that all the studying I had done hadn’t been a complete waste.

“Okay, now lets see if you know the more detailed stuff.” Parker said, searching the first couple chapters of my textbook before he settled on a particular page that was out of my line of sight. “Although the war had been brewing for a while, what triggered Austria-Hungary to fire the first war shots?”

And unlike a month ago where I would’ve grabbed a random reply out of thin air, the answer came to mind in a matter of seconds.

“On June 28th of 1914, exactly a month before the war officially started, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, leading the Austro-Hungarians in a crisis and forcing them to take action.”

Although the action was small, I could see Parker’s eyebrows lift in surprise at my answer, and I felt accomplished knowing that I had answered correctly.

“That’s right.” he replied, his voice sounding somewhat congratulatory. “Now onto something a little more difficult… what happened on April 15, 1915 that violated the Hague Convention?”

Even though it took me a couple of seconds to remember the event he was talking about, the answer soon came to mind.

“The Germans used chlorine gas on the Western Front in the Second Battle of Ypres.”

“And what did this trigger?” he questioned further.

“It triggered the use of several different poisonous gases by both sides, bringing a new terror to the war.”

And so it went on.

For the next half an hour or so he would flip the pages of my textbook and fire questions at me that I, surprisingly, knew the answers to. On the odd time that he would ask me something I didn’t quite know, or didn’t study at all, he would try to explain it to me in simple terms so that I’d at least have some recollection of it while writing the test last period.

“Okay, last question,” he said, glancing down at my textbook quickly before looking back to me. “Although the war halted on the 11th of November in 1918, when was the Treaty of Versailles signed, which formally brought an end to the war?”

“Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles on June 28th, 1919, exactly five years after Franz Ferdinand was assassinated.”

“Correct.” Parker smiled, closing the textbook and sliding it back to me. “I don’t see why you’re so worried, you’re going to do just fine on the test.” he continued with encouragement.

“Yea, but I’m just worried that I’m going to be flipping through the pages on the test and come across a question worth the most marks and not know what to write.”

“You have Mrs. Whealey, don’t you?” he inquired, and I nodded in response. “Well from what I remember her tests aren’t all that difficult. I mean, you have to know you’re stuff, but since you seem to, it shouldn’t be that bad. I know that she sometimes makes a small question at the end of the test asking everyone to write a letter to a loved one as though they were a soldier in the trenches, but other than that, it’s just pure knowledge and no little tricks.”

With his words of encouragement, I could feel some of the nerves and feelings of anxiousness leave my body, although some remained.

“Thanks, I needed that.”

“Not a problem.” he replied, moving his hand across his desk to fiddle with the edges of his sketchbook.

“So,” I said, breaking the silence after a couple of seconds. “Why do you hide your drawings from everybody?”

Parker’s eyes snapped up at my question to meet mine, and clearly widened as he stammered out a response. “What… do... you mean?”

“I mean, that a month ago your art teacher told me that you had a passion for art and that’s why she let you stay in here, but I’ve never seen any of your work up in the hallways or on the bulletin boards where other students work is displayed.” I explained. “Actually, with all the time you spend with your face in that sketchbook, I’m surprised that some of your drawings haven’t smudged onto your skin.”

“Actually they have, it just adds a bit of character to the drawings and a couple of extra minutes scrubbing my hands clean each night.” he replied.

Shaking my head in amusement, I accepted his witty comeback but pushed for a real answer. “But really, why have I never seen your stuff hanging anywhere special?”

“Well, they’re kind of personal.” he said, opening up, as I could tell his tone was sincere. “Before Freya died I’d let some of my friends see my drawings, but I also knew that most of them thought I was girly for preferring to sketch in my room rather than go out and throw a football around.

After she was gone, it was like one of the only people who believed the talent I had was special had disappeared. Obviously my art teacher still got to see my work, but after everything else happened, I gave up drawing for a couple of years. I only really started back up again this summer when I moved in with Saige and my aunt. I don’t even have an art class this semester, so I’m glad that my old teacher even remembered me and let’s me use this room.”

His reply has a lot more detailed and in depth than I was expecting, but it made me realize that he had gone through the ringer with a lot of things, and obviously his drawing was one of them.

It didn’t escape me, the fact that he said he only moved in with Saige this past summer, which left the questions as to what happened to his parents, and what he had been doing for the years before that, up in the air.

“Wait, you don’t have art this semester?” I asked, and he shook his head in reply, confirming what I thought I had heard. “Then what classes do you have?” I continued questioningly, bringing a lighter tone to our conversation, and steering it away from the serious topics that we had been close to approaching.

Although he didn’t say it, I could see by the way that his posture relaxed, that he was happy for my diversion of conversation.

“I have AP History, Law, English, and a spare,” he replied, “I don’t have art until next semester, and I was glad to even get that worked into my timetable.”

Noticing the lack of sciences in his schedule, I decided to voice my thoughts. “So, what are you thinking of doing next year if you aren’t leaning towards science?” I asked, my naturally curiosity taking over me.

He shrugged as he began to speak. “I’m not exactly sure, but I know that I really like history and art, so I was looking into a couple of fields I could go into with those majors, but I ‘m still looking really.” he replied. “I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to get into college truthfully.”

“Why not?” I asked. From my knowledge he got good grades in history, and it was obvious he had the talents of a future artist, so what was picking at my mind was, why wouldn’t he be accepted.

Just as Parker visibly tensed, and looked to be closing himself off once more, the bell rung loudly through the speaker system.

It was hard not to notice the way that Parker relaxed at the sound, as if it was a gift from God that he didn’t have to answer my question, but that just fueled my curiosity even more.

“That, Jillian, is a story for another day.” he replied, slipping his sketchbook into his bag as he stood up. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yea, see you.” I said, still slightly dumbfounded, as I stayed seated in the desk while Parker disappeared into the hall of wandering students.

‘He said it was a story for another day,’ I thought, shaking myself out of my stunned state as I headed towards the library for a couple more minutes of quiet study time before my test.

‘But when exactly would that day come?’

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The moments before walking into the history classroom had been some of the most nerve-wracking of my days at Freedyn High. I felt my hands shaking slightly and my leg bouncing in anticipation. I knew in my mind and in my heart that I was ready, and that I could ace it, but somewhere between the two, the connection was lost as I was reduced to a withering mess.

However, as soon as I took a seat at the back of the room and Mrs. Whealey dropped the test onto my desk, the nerves vanished. I pulled out a pen from my bag, first writing my name in the top corner of the page, and then breezed through the test without much problem.

Like every normal student, I didn’t quite know the answers to a few of the multiple choice questions and some of the fill in the blank left me stumped to come up with a name or date, but overall, as I walked out of the classroom an hour later, I felt accomplished and proud.

Sitting in biology the next day, the last thing I expected was for Mrs. Whealey to ask to speak to me in her classroom just minutes before the lunch bell was set to ring. I was set to see her in a few hours for class anyways, so why would that have crossed my mind?

But for some reason, there I was, walking towards the history classroom with a million questions whirling around inside my brain.

Most prominently: why?

“You wanted to see me Mrs.?” I asked timidly, standing in the doorway of the classroom as I waited for her to acknowledge me.

Her attention shifted at the sound of my voice, from the papers she was marking, to me. “Yes Jillian,” she replied, waving me in before starting to shuffle through a few loose papers on the side of her desk. “I just wanted to ask you if you actually studied for the test yesterday?”

Well… that didn’t sound too good.

“Umm… yes.” I mumbled, worried that I had been overconfident and ended up with a bad grade. “I studied at home and then at lunch with Parker.”

“Well,” she started, sliding my test, already marked, towards me. “It seems like your studying paid off. Good job.”

A smile formed on my face as I saw a giant, red A- circled on the top right corner of my test. Picking it up and flipping through it, I noticed that there were corrections here and there, red marks where I had failed to fully explain a concept or misread the question, but overall, I focused on the little red checkmarks that covered the pages.

“Thank you.” I said with glee, just as the lunch bell rang overhead.

She nodded in acceptance and smiled. “Now you’d better get to lunch,” she advised as the halls started to fill up with the endless hustle and bustle of students, “I’ll see you in class.”

With a quick goodbye I was out of the classroom in a hurry, struggling to get past the students that crowded the halls as I headed to find the one person I had to thank for this grade.

“Hey,” Saige said, looking at me as if I was crazy, when really, I was just trying to squeeze past her. “Why are you in such a rush?”

“Sorry,” I said, not answering her question as I pushed by her quickly, “I’ll meet you in the cafeteria.” I yelled over my shoulder as I continued on my pursuit.

Just as the art room entered my sights, I noticed that kids were still filing out of the room from classes, which left me stumped as to where Parker would be.

“Jillian?” a voice asked in confusion, and when I turned around, I came face to face with the guy I was searching for.

“Just the guy I was looking for.” I said with a smile.

“Okay…” he trailed off with an ounce of confusion, “And why exactly were you looking for me? You don’t have another surprise test today, do you?”

Shaking my head, I replied. “No, no, but I do have you to thank for the mark I got on my test yesterday.” I said with appreciation, handing my test over to him. “I would’ve never gotten that mark if you hadn’t helped me study.”

“But you already knew everything when I quizzed you yesterday,” he argued, flipping through my test quickly before handing it back to me. “This test was all you.”

“I’m not just talking about the help you gave my yesterday,” I said, taking the test and shoving into my bag. “I’m talking about all the help you’ve been giving me for the last month. History is, or I guess was, a total blur for me, and thanks to you, it’s not anymore.”

“Oh, umm, you’re welcome I guess.” he stammered out in reply, his cheeks flushing a light hue of pink.

“So, since today is a day of celebration,” I stated, “I’d say that you should come eat lunch with me and Saige. My treat.”

“That’s not necessary,” he replied as he shook his head, “I’m perfectly fine here for the next hour.” he continued, nodding towards the art room beside us.

“So,” I said, “You’re turning down a free lunch?”

“Ummm… yes.”

Although his reply seemed affirmative, I could hear the questioning tone in his voice that suggested he was considering it.

“Oh come on, it’s just me and Saige, so there’s nothing to be worried about.” I explained, “Plus, I bet you get lonely sometimes during lunch, so why not come eat with us for a change?”

After a couple of seconds of me looking at him with my version of a pleading pout, the silence was broken as Parker sighed in defeat. “Fine,” he replied, making me smile in accomplishment, “But it’s only because of the free food.”

I gasped in fake shock. “And not the company?” I asked teasingly.

A smile appeared on his face and he shook his head in amusement, nudging my shoulder with his. “Just walk.” he said, his amusement slipping into his voice.

Walking into the cafeteria side by side, I ignored the mindless chatter that filled up the air and headed towards the line.

“So,” I started, turning towards him as the line slowly started to dwindle down, “What do you want to eat?” I asked, trying to catch a glimpse of what was available.

“It doesn’t matter,” he replied with a shrug, his gaze constantly flickering out to the hundreds of students that surrounded us. “I’ll eat anything.”

“So, meat pie is okay then?” I asked innocently, making up something that I found utterly disgusting.

His facial expression shifted to one of disgust, and I knew that I had gotten him.

He sighed. “Fine,” he replied, “I’ll have two pieces of pizza and a chocolate milk.”

“Better.” I approved, sending him a smile before putting in both of our orders.

Once I had paid for both of our meals, as promised, I directed Parker towards the table that Saige and I usually occupied when I wasn’t studying. Sure enough, Saige was already half way through her lunch while she simultaneously played a game on her phone. Placing my full tray on the table, her eyes snapped up in surprise, softening when she realized it was just me.

“Oh, hey Jillian.” she greeted before her face scrunched up in confusion as Parker sat down beside me. “And Parker…”

Parker waved at his cousin in reply before taking one piece of pizza off my tray in a hurry.

“I hope you don’t mind,” I said, “But I invited Parker to eat with us.”

“No, I don’t mind, I just…” she trailed off, and by her voice, I could tell that she was, in fact, caught off guard, “Don’t you think people will talk when they see him eating with us. No offense Parker.”

“Non-taken.” he muttered quietly in between bites, and I could tell just by the way that his mood had changed, that he had been slightly offended.

“It’s just that, he hasn’t even stepped foot in the cafeteria since the first day of school.” she explained quietly, “When he came back this year a lot of people were ragging on him about his past, and since then, he’s always spent the hour in the art room.”

Shocked that he had basically been bullied out of the cafeteria, I turned to him. “Is that true?” I asked, and when I saw his head nod slightly, my heart clenched for the guy who obviously had a past, but it shouldn’t be affecting his future.

As I started eating my lunch and let the conversation drop, a lull came over our table, but that just made me all the more aware of the mumbling and chattering around us.

While at first I thought the chatter was nothing more than mindless nonsense, the more I listened, the more I heard.

“What is the freak doing here?”

“Does he really think he can just eat in here and nobody’s going to say anything?”

“What a waste of space.”

“It should’ve been him, not his sister.”

“Why did they even let him out?”

Even though the last comment confused me slightly, I glanced to my right to see Parker’s shoulders hunched up in a defensive position, but before I could say anything, a shadow fell over our table, forcing me to look away and face a couple of guys.

“What do you think your doing Collins?” the guy at the front said, backed up by his other friends who wore identical Freedyn High football jackets, “I vaguely remember that you belong somewhere else, and no girl, no matter how hot, can change that.” He finished, eyeing me up and down as Parker ducked his head in embarrassment.

“Well, this girl thinks you should shut your mouth before something unfortunate happens.” I replied disgusted at the guy in front of me.

“You threatening me new girl?”

“Maybe you wouldn’t feel threatened if you actually had some brains and knew when to walk away.”

“Come on guys, we gotta go see coach,” the meathead said, “But Collins, just remember that it should be you in that grave, not Freya. You’re a waste of space and you should’ve stayed away from this town for as long as you could.”

As the football players headed out of the cafeteria, I looked to Parker to see that he looked embarrassed, angry, and ready to explode.

“Parker…” I started, but before I could utter another word, he stood up from the table without another word and stomped out of the cafeteria.

When I got up to follow him, Saige grabbed a hold of my wrist. “Just give him some time to calm down.” she suggested, but I ignored her words of advice and headed after him.

Walking through the cafeteria doors, it didn’t take me long to find him as he was leaning against a row of lockers a little ways down the empty hall.

“Hey,” I said quietly as I approached him. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” he laughed, but the pain in his laugh threw a wrench through heart.

“For forcing you to come and eat in the cafeteria.” I replied apologetically. “I didn’t know that there was a reason you avoided the everybody at lunch, well actually I did, but I just didn’t think it was that severe. And those guys…”

Parker put a hand over my mouth at that instant, putting a stop to my blabbering. “It’s fine Jillian, besides,” he said, moving his hand back to his side, “I was the one who knew how harsh some of the kids at this school could be, and I’ve been dealing with them for the past couple of months, but I was the one who agreed to lunch. And besides, before the jerks showed up, I had a nice lunch.”

“You barely said a word, and even I could hear the mumbling everyone around us was doing.”

“Yea, but the company was good.” he replied, winking as he referenced my joke before lunch.

I smiled at him, and before I knew what was happening, I was being pulled towards Parker and I was wrapped in his arms. Although I didn’t know what was happening, or why this was happening, it didn’t change the fact that he obviously needed the comfort.

However, before I had the chance to return the hug, he pulled back and dug his hands into his pants pockets.

“What was that for?” I asked, still a little dazed from the smell of his cologne, which smelled mighty good if I do say so myself.

He shrugged, although I did note the tips of his ears were turning a light shade of pink, as though he had just come inside form a cold winter storm. “Just to say thanks,” he replied, the side of his mouth lifting up slightly as he continued, “For sticking up for me with those guys."

“They were jerks,” I replied, adjusting my bag on my shoulder, “It was nothing.”

“Still, thanks.” he said. “But I think that I’ll stick to the art room during lunch from now on.”

I laughed lightly at his attempt to avoid the events that had just played out, and before I knew it, we were saying farewell for the time being and he was walking away.

I realized in that moment that I really didn’t know Parker, not truly. I knew he liked history and art, and there was something big about his past that both him and Saige were keeping to themselves, but that was pretty much it. I didn’t know the important things.

But as I watched him turn the corner and disappear from my sight, I told myself that I would get closer to him, and maybe, just maybe, he would let me see his true colours.

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So… it hasn’t been exactly a month, but it’s still been a long time since I last updated. Basically, I was going to upload last week, but I got a new laptop and was having a little fun playing with it.

Anyways, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as it had tons of Parker/Jillian moments! Tell me what you think in the comment section below, click the vote button, and fan me if you want notifications to when I update again :) x