Bitterly

Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

Sleep did not come easy. In fact I only slept about an hour, on and off. Not only that, but my parents and Pierre kept checking up on me. So light would fill the room for a couple seconds every hour. 

"Rise and shine," Paul whispered sweetly as he snuck into my window. I'd been staring straight up at the ceiling trying to think of what I'd say to the Council. What would they want me to say? Would Dahlia and Maine be there? "You didn't get any sleep, did you?"

I avoided Paul's gaze and turned my back to him. All of this was already hard enough without the thought of him kissing me looming over my mind all day. 

"You'll go to school and be normal," Paul reiterated the plan to me. "Let me do the rest, okay? You won't get in trouble anymore I promise you."

"Get out so I can shower," I flipped the covers off a little angrily. Thankfully he didn't question me on my sour mood.  The shower water was so hot my skin turned a bright red and I frowned at my reflection in the mirror. After throwing on some jeans and a white sweater I marched out of the bathroom, still a little peeved that Paul was acting like everything was fine and dandy. 

"I brought out your favorite boots," Paul lifted up my small black booties that had heels and a purple buckle. He'd seen me searching for them and held them up with a warm smile on his face. His eyes shined, hopeful. I only snatched them away and yanked them on before grabbing my backpack. 

"I didn't do any homework," I mentioned absentmindedly. 

"Leave that to me," he shrugged and winked. I resisted the urge to feel gooey inside. He didn't deserve my warm fuzzy feelings. This is one of the first few sane days I've had in a long while. I refuse to let Paul make me crazy once again. What had I ever seen in the boy in the first place? He was basically a stalker. I didn't need him to like me back. Hell, that kiss was one of the worst things to ever happen to me. 

Lying to myself was so hard I was balling up my fists so that my nails fun into the palms of my hands. 

"I'll meet you at your locker, okay?" He got up and hopped out my window. I grumbled all the way downstairs and my brother kept poking fun at me as I was driven to school. Mom didn't  bother speaking to me, so I was in the back listening to loud music. 

Like Paul had promised he was standing there waiting for me at his locker across the hall from my. He was leaning against the wall with his hands tucked into his pockets lazily. What I didn't notice was Fane standing right beside my locker with his wide open. He did a double take at me and engulfed me into a deep hug when I was close enough. 

"What's this," he pulled at my necklace when he leaned back to look at me fully. 

"Amethyst," Paul said dryly, coming over to us. "It's enchanted to warn of danger."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help," Fane looked back over to me after Paul interrupted. "As soon as you were taken I was need to report to heaven."

"You're a messenger," I said, understanding. "I get it."

"We're leaving at eleven, Fane," Paul interrupted again. I sent him a slight glare. "So after period three meet us outside."

Fane nodded and Paul proceeded to walk away. 

I sighed and went to open my locker when Fane stopped me from doing so. He pulled out a familiar looking folder. 

"This is your homework," he told me. "Paul called me at midnight last night and made me do it. He stole this from your backpack."

I let out a small snort and smiled at him. "Thank you."

"So what's with you and him," Fane asked, trying to seem nonchalant. Fane wasn't a huge talker. When I flashed him a look he elaborated. "You look at him as if you want to skin him alive, Nova. What happened with Paul?"