Chapter 3

                “You’re half an hour late.” I gritted through my teeth as Jace slid a chair out across from mine, planking himself down into it.

                “What’s your point?” the arrogant boy raised an eyebrow at me challengingly, crossing his arms as he let out an exaggerated breath of air. “Why don’t you stop complaining for once and just be glad that I showed up?”

                I glared at Jace Wasson, resisting the urge to wrap my fingers around his pretty neck and choke him on the spot. “Think of it this way, I wouldn’t have to complain if you aren’t an hour late every time we’re supposed to meet.”

                Jace snorted unattractively, rolling his eyes. “You don’t ever stop do you?” he asked. “Maybe I would show up on time if you weren’t such a whiny little bitch. Do you think I want to be tutored by someone as demanding as you?”

                I clenched my fists under the table, my nails digging into the flesh of my palms. I took in a deep breath of air, closing my eyes and relaxing before I did something that would get me declined by Brown University. “Just take out your notebook.” I hissed, trying to sound as neutral as possible, considering the fact that I was fuming at the moment. Jace didn’t make any movements, but instead, sulked in his seat and crossed his arms stubbornly. I shot him a glare, having very little patience for people like Jace. “What? What is it now?” I snapped.

                “You need to learn some manners.” The corner’s of Jace’s lips turning upwards into a smirk. “You didn’t even say ‘please’.”

                “Do I have to?” I asked. “I mean, we’re just wasting time here-.”

                “I’m not doing any work until you learn your manners.” Jace gave me a demeaning grin, almost as if he was teasing me. I stared down at him, my eyes narrowing into slits as I pictured myself crushing his arrogant face with watermelons. When Jace noticed that I wasn’t going to speak any time soon, he sighed, shrugging. “Oh well, we can sit here doing nothing for the next two hours. That’s up to you.”

                Deep breaths, Everly.

                “Would you please,” I paused, emphasizing my words as Jace wasted no time in shooting me distinctive looks, “take out your notebook.”

                I was actually proud of myself for not choking and puking my guts out for having to be polite to someone as irritating as Jace Wasson. Jace gave me one last amused look, the glint in his eyes fading away before he reached over to his book bag and pulled out his notebook. He tossed the on the table, the poor thing nearly breaking into two pieces from the impact.

                Just as I had expected, Jace Wasson’s notebook was in a tragic condition. Pages were falling out from the spiral, the cover was torn and the edge looked like someone had bit it. “Are these,” I paused, examining the corner of the notebook carefully, “teeth marks?”

                Jace picked up the notebook from the table, holding it up and close to his face. “Oh yeah!” he grinned, throwing it back onto the center of the table as pages flew out. “There was this one time when Ryan was really hungry.”

                “So he decided to eat your notebook?” I blinked.

                “Apparently.” Jace shrugged.

                “It takes an idiot to know an idiot.” I muttered under my breath before flipping through his notebook. The first few pages had minimal writing on it, and his notes always seemed to get messier and messier down the page. “Why do your notes start off neat then end in scribbles?”

                I looked over at Jace, who seemed too focused on his phone to pay any attention to me. He was tapping away on the screen as he glanced over at his handwriting quickly. “Oh?” he mumbled. “I must’ve fallen asleep while taking the notes.”

                Of course, he was Jace Wasson. It was expected from him.

                As I continued flipping through his notebook, I noticed that the notes stopped after the sixth page. I frowned, flipping through the front to the back once again, trying to see if my eyes were deceiving me. Jace’s notebook only had six pages filled while I’d gone through an entire notebook this semester already? It says a lot about who he is.

                I fished my notebook, much neater than the condition that Jace’s notebook was in, and tossed it to him. He flinched from surprise as the notebook hit against his chest, falling onto his lap. “What the hell is this?” he asked, staring at my red notebook with disgust. “It’s heavy as fuck.”

                I rolled my eyes. “Deal with it, Wasson.” I spat. “I want you to copy every note I have in my book, and transfer is on to your notebook.”

                Jace stared at me with a look of disbelief before bursting into laughter. “Y-You’re kidding, right?” he asked, noticing that I had a straight face. “You’re insane! That’s like copying every word in the dictionary!”

                “Well, you should’ve thought about that before deciding to cut class every day.” I gave him a mocking smile. “I want you to copy all of that by the end of this week, because I’m going to need my notebook back for our midterm in two weeks.”

                Jace glared at me. “You’re a shit tutor.”

                I glared back at him; only, I had a smile on my face. “And you’re a shit student.”

*

                “I’m telling you, Everly, you don’t have to come to counseling with me today.” Julianne sighed, repeating herself for the fourth time today since we’ve gotten in the car. “You could just leave once you drop me off. I’ll call my mom to pick me up.”

                I rolled my eyes, tilting my head to the side. Since Julianne’s gotten in my car, she’s been trying to persuade me not to come to therapy with her. Julianne does this same routine every Sunday, while I’m giving her a ride to therapy. She tells me that I don’t have to wait an hour for her in the waiting room, and I tell her that I seriously don’t mind. “Julianne, we go over this every week.” I let out a deep breath of air, pulling my car into a parking spot. “I’m coming inside with you, whether you like it or not.”

                The two of us got out of the parking lot while I locked the car from my set of keys. We made our way into of office building, pressing the upper button as we waited for the elevator to come. “I just don’t want you to feel like you’re forced to come with me every week.” Julianne muttered once the elevator doors opened while a couple bickering stepping out.

                I snorted, clicking the button to go on the third floor. “Jules, what better have I got to do on a Sunday afternoon?” I asked, a smile cracking across Julianne’s face. “Go to church? Make oatmeal cookies with my mother?”

                Julianne laughed, fixing her blonde hair that went out of place with a single bobby pin. “Okay, Everly.” She grinned. “Your point has been made.”

                The elevator doors opened, waiting for us to step out. Julianne made her way to the receptionist’s desk, who offered her a small smile. I watched as Julianne signed in for her scheduled appointment, the receptionist making small talk with her. I still remembered last week, when Reina let out that the receptionists have been gossiping about Dr. Roberts’ clients, specifically Julianne. I took in a sharp breath, turning my cheek being I made a rude remark to the receptionists.

                Once Julianne was finished signing in, she came back over to where I was as we both found empty seats in the waiting area next door. Upon opening the door, I found Reina sitting in the exact spot where she was a week ago, flipping through another teen advice magazine. She glanced up slightly, noticing Julianne and I before a grin spread across her lips, stained with red lip color. “Everly and Julianne,” she paused, light twinkling in her eyes, “how are you guys?” 

                Julianne smiled, opening her mouth to greet Reina, but was ultimately cut off by Dr. Roberts, who swung the door open. “Julianne? I’m ready to see you now.” She smiled, noticing Reina and I in the waiting room. “I’ll be right with you after Julianne’s finished, Reina. And Everly, nice to see you again.”

                I nodded, giving her a slight smile before Julianne entered Dr. Roberts’ office, the door closing behind. It didn’t take long for Reina to smack her bubblegum, toss her magazine back into her bag and turn her attention to me. “Please tell me you saw how Dr. Roberts’ fly was down.” She spoke in a hushed tone. “I mean, that thing was all the way down, like she hadn’t even bothered to zip up her pants after she took a dump in the toilet. I even saw those hideous Mother Theresa granny panties she’s wearing.”

                My eyes went wide, gawking at Reina’s clear bluntness. Now it was obvious that Reina and Jace had to be related, because they were both straight forward right to the point. I gulped, erasing the mental image that Reina gifted me with as I cleared my throat. “I wasn’t exactly,” I paused, trying to find the right words. Reina gave me a wide smile, waiting for my response, clearly amused by my reaction, “staring- down there.”

                “Down where?” a voice suddenly interrupted us.

              Reina narrowed her eyes over my shoulder, letting out a sigh. “Why are you here, Jace? I told you to wait in the car.” Reina snapped.

                “I was,” Jace paused, a smirk overcastting his face when his gaze fell upon mine, “but I found out that the conversation between you and Everly here is much more interesting. Tell me, Everly, what do you mean by ‘down there’?”

                My cheeks turned to flames, engulfing into an unpleasant, scarlet red. I shot Jace a glare, feeling immediate irritation from our unsuccessful tutoring session just a few days earlier. “It’s none of your business.” I snapped, my eyes narrowing into slits. “You should go back into whatever hole you crawled out of.”

                “Wow, Everly.” Jace said sarcastically, making me even angrier by placing his palm against his chest. “I’m offended by your shitty insults.”

                I clenched my fists, feeling myself tremble with frustration towards this single, human being. “You little son of a-.”

                “Whoa, whoa,” Reina stopped the two of us, giving Jace and I suspicious looks,” am I missing something here? How the hell do you two know each other?”

                Jace gave me one of his infamous smirks, once again. “Reina, I think it’s about time you meet my new calculus tutor.”

                Reina’s eyes went wide as she let out a gasp. “You’re kidding, right?” she asked me, clamping a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing. “Oh my God, I actually feel bad for you! Jace has to be the most uncooperative piece of shit, ever!”

                Jace was obviously not expecting his sister to turn against him, letting out a groan. I, on the other hand, chuckled, not worrying about the fact that Jace was sending me murderous glares. He was probably going come an hour late for our tutoring session on Monday just to get back at me for blandly laughing directly to his face. “Funny, Reina.” Jace spat at his sister, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Anyways, I came up here to tell you that Ryan’s coming with us to get lunch after this.”

                Reina immediately seemed alarmed, her eyes snapping up to her brother’s. “What?” she shrieked. “He can’t come!”

                Jace didn’t seem to have a care in the world, shrugging. “Why the fuck not?”

                “I told Lana to meet us outside the pizza place across the street from here. Do you even know how fucking annoying Lana gets when she’s around your stupid friend?” Reina’s eyes darkened dangerously. Reina began to mimic her friend, Lana’s, actions. “Oh, Ryan’s hair is so silky! I swear his abs are about to rip out of his shirt! Oh, I wish I could pour chocolate syrup all over that God given body!  Like bitch, I really don’t give a fuck!”

                Jace rolled his eyes. “What’s your point?” he asked, tapping away on the phone that he seemed to always be glued to. “I don’t care.”

                “And the award for the shittiest brother goes to,” I cut in between the two sibling’s argument, letting out a drum roll, “Jace Wasson!”

                Reina snorted, glaring at her brother. “You see?” she pointed at me. “Even Everly thinks I’m right. You should listen to your tutor more often.”

                “Yeah? Well Everly also uses colored highlighters to mark her notes.” Jace shot me a look. “Her opinion is invalidated.”

                I reached my hand out, smacking Jace across the shoulder, hard. “Hey, I worked hard on those notes.” I retorted, suddenly realizing something. Slowly, a smile spread across my lips as Jace gave me a look of confusion. “But Jace, it’s nice to know that you’re actually going over my notes.” 

                “Of course!” Jace heaved sarcastically. “Out of everything she decides to defend, it’s her dumb, color coordinated notes.”

                “For the second and last time, my notes aren’t dumb, you twat!” I hissed.

                Reina let out a sharp breath of air, silencing the bickering between Jace and I. She smacked her glossy lips together, a devious smirk slowly forming across her pouty fuchsia coated lips. “You two fight like an old, married couple.” Reina snickered, tossing her sleek, black hair over her shoulder. “I’m pretty sure couple’s counseling is available on the second floor.”

                I almost instantly felt my cheeks ignite on fire. I avoided looking Jace in the eyes as I narrowed my eyes over at Reina, sending her a look. Reina simply giggled at my reaction, shrugging her shoulders simply as a response. Reina was suddenly distracted by the vibration from her phone against her palms. Her eyes scanned over the text message she received before her eyes darted back up to her brother’s. “Lana just texted me,” Reina muttered, tapping away on her phone, “she’s coming to lunch for sure, so you better do something about Ryan. I’m not about to have Lana drooling all over him and making me lose my appetite today.”

                “This is stupid. Can’t you just tell Lana to stop having sexual fantasies over Ryan?” Jace asked, clearly annoyed by his sister’s friend. “She’s thirteen, Ryan’s four years older than her. Nothing is ever going to happen between them, so might as well crash and burn Lana’s dreams now.”

                The door to Dr. Roberts’ office suddenly opened, Julianne stepping out and closing the door behind her. When she looked up, a wave of surprise flashed across her face to see Jace with us in the waiting room. Julianne gave him a small smile before her eyes locked with mine. I could tell that she was giving me suggestive looks, and in return, I placed my hands around my neck, pretending to gag. “Are you having a seizure?” Jace asked bluntly. “What the hell are you doing?”

                “It’s none of your concern.” I snapped, almost immediately. I got up from my seat next to Reina, giving her a small wave. Once I turned to Jace, I let out an exaggerated sigh, raising an eyebrow at him. “Try not to be late on Monday after school, yeah?”

                At first, Jace had no words.

                Once I began to walk away with Julianne towards the exit, Jace quickly called out, “No promises!”

*

                Julianne’s breathing was heavy and ragged. Her fists had drawn up a ball, tightened against her bed sheets. Tears were leaking from her eyes, soaking into the sweater I had quickly thrown on to run over to her house. Julianne’s bedroom was dimly lit by the moonlight peaking through her sheer curtains, just giving me a glimpse of the pain in her bright eyes. Her shoulders were shaking uncontrollably as she let out silent wails. I held her tightly, her cold hands trembling against my skin.

                “It’s okay, Jules.” I hushed soothingly. “You can go back to sleep. They’re gone now.”

                Julianne’s breathing slowly became slower and slower, and her heart rate decreased dramatically within a matter of minutes. It didn’t take long for her to fall back asleep, peacefully this time. Since I’ve been visiting Julianne’s house every night when she started to get nightmares from the incident, I’ve learned that Julianne quickly falls back asleep if you played with her hair.

                Just as a lock of Julianne’s blonde hair slipped through the tips of my fingers, her bedroom door slowly creaked open. Standing by the doorway was her mother, dressed in a silk robe and cozy slippers. Julianne’s mother looked as if she had been awake for a while now. “Everly,” she greeted quietly, trying her best not to wake up her daughter, “she had another nightmare?”

                I glanced down at Julianne, whose head had slipped down on my lap. Her eyes were closed, and the look of worry was no longer on her face. I smiled at Julianne’s mother softly, “Yeah.”

                Julianne’s mother nodded slowly. “I heard her waking up an hour ago.” She whispered. “I, myself, would try to get her to go back to sleep, but we all know that it’s useless. Julianne can only go back to sleep if you’re here.”

                I smiled, holding back a yawn. “Julianne’s my best friend.”

                Julianne’s mother smiled, nodding. “From my point of view, the two of you are more like sisters.” She paused, taking a moment to touch her daughter’s forehead. Julianne’s mother gently stroked her cheek before bending down to peck her lightly. Before she left through the doorway, she turned back to me. “Everly, thank you.”