Chapter 7

                “So, let’s be completely honest here with each other.” I started off, unable to stop grinning like a maniac since the moment I walked into Julianne’s bedroom later that week. “Julianne Hart, what are your opinions of a certain blonde male specimen, specifically named Ryan?”

                Julianne was turned from me, so I could only catch a glimpse of the side of her face. But even through that, I could see Julianne’s cheeks glowing- turning all warm and red. I bit my lip from excitement, trying to hold back a squeal. Could you blame me, though? Julianne hasn’t dated anyone for the longest time, let alone have a tiny crush on someone. Ever since it happened, everyone in the male population decided to keep their distance from Julianne. None of them had enough balls to date someone like Julianne. I didn’t see what their problem was, though. Julianne might’ve been through some tough times, but she was still human. She was soft spoken, incredibly smart and exceptionally beautiful.

                “Hmm, Ryan?” Julianne asked, looking at me as if she didn’t know who or what I was talking about. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

                I raised an eyebrow teasingly. “Oh, really? The name Ryan Leighton doesn’t ring any bells?” I asked as Julianne shook her head innocently. “Are you sure? I’m pretty sure Ryan Leighton was the guy you were ogling over the other day at lunch.”

                Julianne’s eyes widened as she snapped her head over at me with a look of disbelief. “What?!” she screeched, grabbing a pillow from her bed to toss over at me. “I was not ogling over Ryan!”

                I chuckled, clutching my stomach from laughing so hard. “Are you sure, Jules?” I asked, provoking her even more. “From my perspective, you were looking at him the way a fat kid looks at cake.”

              Just when I thought that Julianne’s cheeks couldn’t turn any redder, they flush into a deep, scarlet shade. “What?!” she squealed. “Do you think he noticed that?”

                My jaw drops as an eager gasp escapes my parted lips. “Julianne Hart, you like someone!” I beamed, biting my lower lip from excessive excitement. “You like Ryan!”

                Julianne groaned, burying her face into her palms. “Everly,” she muttered, looking at me with a playful glare, “I’ve talked to him once. It would be absurd if I’ve managed to develop a crush on someone within an hour over lunch.”

                I shrugged, grinning from ear to ear. “I don’t know, Julianne.” I paused, poking her arm gently. “You never know what could happen between you two. Ryan seems like a nice guy.”

                Julianne narrowed her eyes, suddenly looking gloomy as her gaze fixated on her beige carpet. She fumbled with her fingers that were placed on her lap, taking in a deep breath of air. “Ryan would never be interested in someone like me, Everly.” She started off. I opened my mouth to protest against her statement, but she beat me to it. “He has girls falling over his feet; he could pick any girl he wants. He’d be completely insane if he chose someone like me. I should just get over him now while it’s just a stupid crush that I have for him.”

                Moments like these are when I wish that all the negativity that Julianne has gone through would just disappear. Ever since students from our school found out about Julianne’s depression, they’ve rebuffed her, made her feel unwelcomed. All of the unnecessary comments made about her have really taken its toll Julianne’s confidence. “Jules,” I sighed, holding her palm in mine, “you’re amazing and Ryan would be an idiot if he ever chose some dumb bimbo over you. And I’m not just saying this because I’m your best friend, okay? I’m saying this because it’s the truth. You really should give it a shot with Ryan, from what Jace has told me, he’s a really good guy.”

                Julianne looked extremely hesitant, emotions flashing through her eyes. Finally, after what seemed like the longest time, she nodded. “Okay.” She whispered.

*

                When Jace didn’t show up to class, I automatically assumed that he just bailed like he always did. But when he didn’t show up in the library for our regular tutoring sessions after I’d waited thirty minutes, I began to worry. Jace had been consistently on time after school ever since I confronted him for being late so often, so of course I was curious as to where he was or why he was running late. My phone was right beside my textbook, and I contemplated on whether to call him or not. We swapped numbers the first week I tutored him, but we never called or texted each other. After all, I didn’t see any point in using his number anyways.

                After waiting for another ten minutes, I grew impatient. I snatched my phone from the wooden table, scrolling down my contacts list to ring Jace up. I pressed the phone against my ear, suddenly feeling aggravated. After letting it ring for a while, Jace’s voice came on the line. I cursed loudly when I realized that it was just his voicemail.

                I groaned, gathering all of my books, shoving them into my bag. How could he just stand me up like this without any notice? Angry and incredibly frustrated, I made my way out of the library, cursing Jace for eternity in hell. I didn’t realize where I was heading until I collided with another figure, sending the two of us to the pavement.

                “Sorry.” I quickly muttered, gathering the two books that had fallen out of my bag. I expected that to be the end of our encounter, but I was stopped when a hand grasped onto my wrist, stopping me from any movement.

                “Everly?” I looked up at the figure I’d bumped into just as the hand was released from my arm. Ryan gave me a look of uncertainty, staring down at the watch that was clasped around his left wrist. “It’s nearly an hour after school, what are you still doing here?”

                “I could ask you the same thing.” I countered.

                Ryan laughed, running a hand through his blonde hair. “I had detention.” He muttered sheepishly. “I was allowed to leave fifteen minutes early since I became friends with the detention monitor after seeing him there so often. What about you?”

                A grumble made its way past my lips as I rolled my eyes. “I was waiting for your idiot of a best friend in the library.” I emitted a sigh. “Speaking of him, do you have any idea where he could be? I tried calling him but he wouldn’t answer.”

                Ryan stared at me for the longest time with a frown before a sign of recognition flashed across his face. Ryan immediately started cursing under his breath, mumbling on with incoherent words. “Shit, it totally slipped my mind.” He said to himself before turning his attention back onto me. “I was supposed to tell you during lunch today that Jace wouldn’t be in school for the entire day.”

                A wave of uneasiness washed over me as I cleared my throat, narrowing my eyes over at Ryan with caution. “Is everything okay?” I asked. “I’m sure he would’ve told me himself if everything was fine, but since he sent you as a messenger, I’m assuming that things-.”

                Ryan rubbed the back of his neck, biting on his lower lip. Judging from Ryan’s actions, I could tell clearly that he was hesitant to tell me what was wrong. “Look, it’s really complicated.” He sighed. “But, if you really want to know, I could drive you over to Jace’s house.”

                I pursed my lips, shaking my head. “No, it’s fine. I wouldn’t want to bother him if he’s busy.”

                “Look, just come with me.” Ryan insisted. “I’m on my way there, anyways.”

                Before I could protest, Ryan had already turned his back on me and started walking towards the school parking lot. I had no choice but to follow him.

                While Ryan was driving towards Jace’s house, an eerie silence wavered its way between the two of us. Ryan was focused on driving, both hands placed firmly on the steering wheel. Occasionally, I’d catch Ryan tapping his fingers against the wheel, following the rhythm to whatever song was playing on his radio. I figured that there was a long, dreading wait until we got to Jace’s house, judging from the traffic that we were currently stuck in.

I cleared my throat, wanting to drive away the unpleasant silence. I decided that there was only one safe question to ask Ryan at the moment. “So, you and Jace have been friends for a long time?”

                Ryan looked over at me, evidently astounded that I decided to speak up. As Ryan recovered, he slowly nodded, pressing down on his brakes as we came to another halt. “Yeah, we have.” He paused. “We’ve known each other since we were six. The two of us met at baseball camp.”

                I raised an eyebrow. “Baseball camp, huh?” I asked. “Do you two still play?”

                Ryan snorted, shaking his head. “No.” he replied. “We quit after a year.”

                “Why did you guys quit?” I frowned.

                “We found swimming.” Ryan simply said. “Jace and I competed and we always won.”

                I don’t know why, but the idea of Jace wearing tiny Speedos made me crack up. Ryan glanced over at me with a curious expression before brushing it off after he saw that I was trying to muffle my laughter. After I composed myself, I asked more questions. “I’m assuming that you guys gave up on swimming, as well?”

                Ryan nodded. “You’re right.” He muttered. “I guess we couldn’t just settle on one sport because there were just so many out there that we haven’t experienced.”

                “So what are you guys training in now?” I inquired.

                “Nothing.” Ryan said. “We stopped two years ago, when Jace and I turned fifteen.”

                That suddenly got me interested. “What? Why did you guys stop?”

                Ryan turned to give me a sad smile as he pulled his car up on the Wasson Resident’s driveway. “Family issues.” He explained briefly. “You’re about to find out now.”

                We walked onto the front steps of the house that I’ve been to a few times now and rang the doorbell. It took a while, but when Jace finally opened the door for us, I couldn’t register the surprised look on his face when he saw that Ryan had bought company with him. He let us inside without a word, closing the door behind him. When Ryan and I finally kicked off our shoes, Jace turned to us with a look of anger- mostly directed to Ryan. “Ryan, what the fuck is she doing here?” Jace seethed through his teeth.

                I raised an eyebrow, giving Jace a sarcastic wave with my hand. “Hello to you too, Jace.” I snapped. “Yes, it’s great to finally see you.”

                Jace glared at me, bluntly ignoring me before he went back to scolding Ryan. “Well, what are you going to tell me, Leighton?”

                Ryan rolled his eyes. “Relax, man. I was on my way here when I saw Everly leaving school, an hour after it’s ended.” He explained. “And do you know what she tells me when I ask her what she’s doing there? She tells me that she was waiting for you, for an entire fucking hour.”

               “And whose fault is that?” Jace immediately fought back. “I specifically told you to tell her I wasn’t going to show up. But of course, why was I stupid enough to trust you? You can’t even tell apart your left and your right side.”

                Ryan looked offended. “What?!” he gasped. “I totally can!”

                I decided to intervene before Jace and Ryan took things to another level. Jace has made it clear that he doesn’t want me at his house, so why not just leave and uncomplicated things? “You know what?” I backed away from the two of them. “I’m just going to leave.”

                Ryan frowned, holding onto my arm. “Wait, why?”

                Before I could reply to Ryan’s question, I noticed how Jace’s eyes watched as Ryan’s hand clasped over my wrist with burning rage. Was that jealousy or was I just being delusional?

                “I’m clearly not wanted here, so I might as well just leave instead of wasting everyone’s time.” I said quickly, taking my mind off of what I’d just saw. I concluded that I was just exaggerating, blowing things way out of proportion. After all, I didn’t want to be the one to get my hopes up for absolutely nothing.

               Ryan immediately turned to point the finger at Jace, whose features had noticeably softened. “See?” Ryan blamed. “Look what you did. You made Everly feel unwelcomed.”

                “No, you really didn’t do anything-.” I got cut off.

                “Stay.” Jace finally sighed, throwing his hands up in the air with defeat. “You can stay.”

                Ryan cheered, a grin spreading across his face foolishly. “Great! Since that’s settled now, I’m going to make myself a drink in the kitchen.”

                Jace and I watched as Ryan sprinted off into the kitchen. Not a second later, we heard glass being shattered as Ryan cursed loudly. Jace had his palms against his forehead, shaking his head at his best friend.

                “Look, I really don’t want to be a bother.” I said softly, giving Jace a small smile. “I honestly don’t mind if you don’t want me here right now.”

                Jace hovered over me, an impassive look on his face. Before I knew it, he had his hands on my hips, slowly backing me up against the wall. My eyes widened when I realized what was going on as I felt my insides panic. “Jace, what are you doing?” I managed to whisper.

                Jace was really close to me.

                And when I meant that he was really close to me, I meant that he was really, really close to me.

                Jace had somehow managed to find a way to close the gap between our bodies, pressing up against me as he pinned me against the wall. I watched in a state of shock as Jace lowered his head down to mine, his nose barely brushing against mine. I bit my lip as I watched his eyes, noticing them flicker down every so often. That only made my heart beat faster than it already was going.

                “I would never make you feel unwanted.” Jace whispered, his cool breath fanning against my upper lip gently. I noticed for the first time since I got here how tired he looked. His eyes were dull, and there were evident dark circles. Jace’s skin was paler than I last remembered, and he looked like he hadn’t eaten anything for a while now.

                “Are you okay?” I asked quietly.

                Jace looked me straight in the eye. He was so close that I could almost see every detail in them- how they were slowly starting to brighten up. “I am now.”

                Jace and I were broken up shortly after we heard footsteps pacing down the stairs. We immediately sprung apart from each other, staring up at a much disheveled Reina. Her hair was tangled, stacked on the top of her head in an effortless bun, and her eyes shown that she hadn’t been resting well in days. Reina gave the two of us a scowl, glaring between us before returning back upstairs without a word. Shortly after she left, we heard the sound of a door slamming.

                “What’s up with Reina?” I asked with concern, ignoring the fact that just seconds ago, Jace and I were pressed up against one another.

                Jace gestured for me to follow him to his living room, where Ryan was watching a movie with his legs kicked up to the coffee table. In his hand was a can of beer and on his lap was a bowl of popcorn. “Did you tell her yet?” Ryan asked without removing his eyes from the screen.

                I frowned, turning to Jace. “Tell me what?”

                Jace rolled his eyes, reaching over to grab the remote off the table. He turned off the television, much to Ryan’s dismay. “I’m about to tell her now.”

                What the hell was going on?

                “You aren’t a part of some secret alliance, right?” I asked with caution. “God, please tell me you aren’t out to kill me.”

                Ryan choked on his popcorn, releasing a laugh. Jace shot him a look before turning to me with a shake of his head. “What?” Jace asked. “No, where the hell did you even get that from? I’m trying to tell you why I bailed on you today.”

                I suddenly felt like an idiot as I nodded slowly. “Oh, right.” I muttered under my breath. “You can continue.”

                “So you know how Reina goes to therapy every Sunday, where you see her with Julianne?” Jace asks as I nod. “Well, she goes because she is bi-polar. She has been since she was eleven.”

                It was pretty blunt the way Jace said it. So naturally, it took a while for me to process. When we were in the car one night when Jace was driving me home, he accidentally told me that Reina was bi-polar, but he never went into detail about it. But now that he was, so suddenly especially, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it.

                “Is that why Reina’s not allowed to be home herself?” I asked quietly.

                Ryan nodded. “Bingo.”

              “It’s because she has unpredictable episodes where she just blows up out of nowhere with all these mood swings.” Jace explained. “She just had a maniac episode last night. She was really pissed off and cursing everybody out. As you could tell from before, she’s still pretty irritated.”

                I nodded slowly, understanding completely. I was no longer mad that Jace kept me waiting for an hour. This relates to Julianne in a way, especially when she gets nightmares and can’t go back to sleep unless I’m there to console her. I knew how much it sucked to have someone you love go through that. “Wow.” I mumbled. “That sucks.”

                Ryan chuckled from the rear end of the couch, a mouthful of popcorn muffling his words. “Ha!” he laughed. “Only you would say that.”

                There was a loud bang coming from upstairs as Jace groaned, getting up from his seat. “I should go check on her.”