Going back

20|| Emotions

AN: here's chapter 20. Enjoy, people.

Jax was rarely confused when it came to human emotions.

It was a trait many of his friends, especially Iris, envied. No matter the situation, he could always be counted on to deduce the other person's emotions and intentions- and would usually be correct.

When people would ask how he developed such an intuition, he would press a finger to his lips and wink. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

In all honesty, he didn't know how the hell he managed it.

He was especially good at reading his closest friends- like Iris. When she would withdraw into her shell, people would say it was best to leave her alone. Actually, they didn't know what to do, and didn't have the balls to admit when they were wrong, so would try to escape the situation.

But Jax knew the exact right words to say. He knew when to pause, when to prod, when to whisper and when to shout. It was like an artist inscribing large, colourful arcs on a blank canvas when he drew these words from an unknown source. Initially, it looked like a mess but, upon stepping back to see the whole painting, people realised it was a beautiful painting of growth and kindness.

Now, however? Jax couldn't find the right words to say. For the first time, he hesitated- should I speak? Should I stay silent? Should I even try to approach her?

A thousand questions crammed into his mind, none of them capable of answering the sheet of equations in front of him. Tapping his pen on the table, he glanced at the slow-moving hand on the clock and willed it to tick faster.

Next to him, a blonde boy was bent over his own work, but seemed to have completed it a while back. He was doodling something in the margins- was that an Oreo?

Under the pretext of getting something out of his pencil case, Jax studied the boy out of the corner of his eye. His features were familiar, but he struggled to place their exact location.

"Sorry, do I have something on my face?"

Jax jumped back, eyes wide and a hundred excuses on the tip of his tongue. What came out instead was a question, "Are you one of the stepbrothers?"

The boy raised a brow and leaned back, confused. "I'm sorry?"

"Iris's stepbrother," Jax clarified with an embarrassed cough. "Sorry, I just thought I recognised you from somewhere."

The boy's confusion cleared and was replaced with a smile. "Ah, you must be the best friend Iris was talking about- Jax, right? I'm Oscar. Nice to meet you."

"You too." Jax smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. Iris has clearly told him about me, so why didn't she tell me about him?

"So." Oscar swung on the back-legs of his chair, resting only a single hand on the desk for support. "Did you have something you wanted to ask?"

"What makes you think that?" Jax was instantly on the defensive, grey eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Oscar waved his free hand as if he was swatting away a fly. "Call it intuition. Spit it out- what do you want to know?"

Jax chewed the inside of his cheek and turned away. "Is... how is Iris doing?"

"Well, she's not going great, but that's to be expected after the fight she had with David- her father." Oscar shrugged and swung back further. "Oh and the physical fight she had. But she's obviously told you about that."

"Iris was in a fight?"

"Yeah. She didn't tell you about it?"

"Oh no, yeah she did. It's just been a while." Bitterness swelled in the pit of Jax's stomach, wrangling with the ugly green monster and sucking all the breath out of his lungs.

Oscar eyed him with a brow raised in confusion. "But it wasn't that long ago— ah!" He let out a cry as his chair swung back to far and he crashed against the wall.

The teacher looked up with a wearied sigh. "That's the third time this week, Oscar. Please stop swinging on your chair before you get seriously hurt."

"Sorry," Oscar mumbled with an impish grin, rubbing the back of his head. "I guess I lost my balance."

Jax rolled his eyes and turned back to his sheet, scratching out some numbers he'd idly written. His heart thudded against his chest like it was trying to claw out of the cage that ensnared it. With wide eyes, he pressed against the painful spot and tried to quell the fear he'd been feeling since Iris walked away from him and Alex that day. I don't want to drift apart- I can't. But I also don't want to choose. Yet it seems like I will have to- after all, she got hurt and kept it as a secret.

"Hey." Oscar's low voice brushed against his ear and Jax flinched. "I understand that you're upset Iris didn't tell you something, but really, was pulling the leg of my chair necessary?"

How did he know? I was careful. Jax's breath caught in his lungs and his head snapped to the side.

Oscar stared at him, resting his head on a closed fist with a brilliant smile adorned on his angelic face. However, the right corner of his lip pulled a little further back in a knowing smirk, and his brown eyes were slanted as if mocking Jax.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jax lied, his left hand clenching into a tight fist under the table.

I have to be careful of this one.

***********

I've tried to flesh out the personalities of the side characters more in this version- what do you guys think?

I hope you guys liked it!

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)