Unwanted Attention

Chapter 3: Bird brain

"Alright. Class dismissed. Have a great weekend"

A sigh escaped Jasper as she stood up and shoved her chair under the desk. She waited for everyone else to leave before exiting herself, not wanting to get caught in the messy crowd. Plus it gave her a moment to think.

It had been almost two weeks since Hawks had come in with that woman. Jasper assumed it was either because of her, or he had stopped ruining cars. It didn't hurt that it might be her fault, not in the slightest. She had bigger things to worry about then upsetting some pro hero.

She put her earbuds in as she exited the classroom, turning on the loudest song she could find in her playlist. She was in her own thoughts now, couldn't hear or focus on anything else.

Which was great for her, but not so great for the winged hero that had landed behind her the second she hit the paved sidewalk in the campus courtyard.

"Hey kid!" He greeted, a friendly smile on his face. He had come to apologize for the incident, though it had been awhile.

He frowned when he didn't get a response, but quickly put his smile back on and tried again. "Are you ignoring me, kid? Thats kinda rude, y'know" he teased.

Still, no reply.

Leaned over and looked at her from the side, trying to figure out what was happening. Then he noticed them: the yellow earbuds poking out from her ears. Not to mention her eyes were locked on her phone for the moment.

He chuckled a bit and shrugged, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets, resolving to walk with her until she noticed him. He waved to a few college students that noticed him, not surprised due to the fact that he was still in his hero uniform. He posed for a few pictures with some girls, still somehow keeping up with Jasper.

It wasn't until a girl ran into the automotive student and knocked her over that she was forced out of her focus. Her hands shot out to break her fall, digging into the concrete and causing a stinging sensation to shoot through her palms. She groaned, looking around for the things that had ultimately flown from her hands.

A gloved hand grabbed her notebook before she could even reach for it. She recognized that glove.

"You okay kid?" His smiling face brought nothing but irritation to Jasper's body. She looked around and noticed the students around her snapping pictures of the pro, and she quickly realized what had happened.

"I'd be better if you weren't here" she grumbled, snatching her notebook back before standing up completely. She was already walking off before Keigo could even register what she had said.

He quickly jogged after her, dodging fans and cameras as he caught up. "Kid! Kid wait up" he called out, slowing to a brisk walk once he was along side her. Man she moved fast.

"Don't you have some autographs to sign? Villains to go arrest? Something?" She didn't look at him once, just opening the door to one of the various buildings on campus.

"I'm on a break from patrol. I came to see you" He smiled again leaning down just a little to be more at eye level with her. She glanced over at him, emerald meeting gold for one moment before returning to the hall in front of her.

"If you came for an apology, I'm sorry. Sorry for saying what I did to your girlfriend or whatever.." her tone was genuinely remorseful, even if she wasn't looking at him.

His gloved hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder to stop her, causing her to look up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You don't need to apologize. You were right. She admitted to it when she broke up with me" He smiled cheerfully at her, as if his heart hadn't been hurt by it a few days ago. He was over it already. "I came to apologize to you. For what she di-"

"I deserved it. Not that big of a deal" she shrugged and pulled his hand off of her shoulder. She didn't want his apologies. She wanted to forget about it.

He looked at his glove for a moment, where she had grabbed it. There was a smudge of red on it..

"Kid...your hands. Are you okay?" He reached out and practically yanked her hand back, looking it over. She stumbled and glared at him, looking down at her palm.

She had scraped it up from falling, and small bits of blood leaked from the abrasions. Pieces of dirt and other things were stuck in the butt of her hand. She winced as his thumb slid across her hand to brush away the debris.

"I probably just scraped em when I fell. I can clean them up in the bathroom" Jasper tried to pull her hand away, but his grip stayed firm. "Please. Let go."

He looked up from her bleeding palm and sighed, releasing her. He frowned as she just shoved her hand into her hoodie pocket, watching her hiss in pain again.

"Thanks...Now I have class. Bye, Hawks" the amount of distaste in her voice almost broke him, but he just smiled and waved goodbye.

He shook his head and looked towards the glass doors that led out of the building, his frown returning when he saw a few students with cameras quickly running off at the sight of him heading in their direction.

"Well shit.."

_________________________________

"You have got to be kidding me...That damn bird brained...AGH" a school newspaper was thrown across the autoshop, causing other students to step back.

It had only been a day or so since Hawks had come to see her, and the school paper had already made a story about it. Sure, it was a smaller story, but it was raising questions that Jasper didn't exactly want being raised.

Not to mention the amount of people trying to be buddy buddy now that it seemed she was close to the pro hero. Her automotive professor allowed her to hide out in the workshop, but people were still trying to talk to her.

She almost wanted to go to the newspaper club and beg them to get rid of the story...but that would only bring more suspicion. So, she decided she'd have to live with it for now. She just hoped the pro wouldn't show up again.

Little did she know, this was about to get a LOT bigger than the school paper.