The Breaking ➝ Isaac Lahey

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Aspen caught Isaac taking the stool next to her and bit her cheek as she forced herself to go through the agonizing minutes of being partnered with him.

"Hello again," he rasped quietly, adjusting his leather jacket as he watched Aspen work. The crease on her head was forming, and he willed himself not to flatten it out with his thumb. He was pretty sure she would slice it off anyway.

"That's cute." he said, once he caught onto her intentional plan to ignore him. "according to Boyd and Erica, you were real talkative at the game."

Aspen continued working until she paused completely. She tilted her head with mouth agape and a lifted brow. "Seriously? You're jealous of Matt?"

Isaac scoffed and shook his head, turning the dial on the bunsen burner. "Only stating the obvious flirting. You were batting your eyelashes at him."

"Oh my go--it's what you call blinking Isaac." Aspen poured her mixture in the vial over the burner, watching as it began to foam over. "So you're keeping tabs on me now? What am I a lab rat?"

Isaac lets out a laugh that he disguises as a scoff. "It's not like I asked. They just told me, and I couldn't help but notice that he's not your type."

"You have no idea what my type is," she grumbled under her breath, uncapping her pen to jot down what she saw.

"I totally do," Isaac grabbed her pen once she set it down to add more ingredients to the liquid, and he placed the cap on again.

"Really?" Aspen mocked interest, glaring once she noticed he capped her pen when she went to use it again.

"Mhmm," Isaac hummed lowly, making Aspen shiver when she realized how close he was. His leather-clad arms brushed her bare shoulder. She flinched away when she felt Isaac grab the tip of her hair to tickle her cheek. She swatted at his hand, leaving him to chuckle.

"Then what's my type?" she sneered, eyes finally meeting his.

This satisfied Isaac significantly, and he grinned sheepishly, leaning on his elbow to get closer. "Me," he whispered, clicking the cap back on her pen.

Aspen flushed on the spot. Her head tilted to the side, tongue pushing against the inside of her cheek as she kept down a smile. He gave her an expression as if he'd made his point from her reaction.

"Sorry arrogant jackasses aren't my thing but thanks." Aspen finally said, snatching her pen from his hand, "and quit capping my pen."

As her hand pulled away, he noticed the red nail indents in her palm. He knew she had no control, but he hated seeing that she resorted back to her old habits to keep her power at bay.

"Ease up, gotta have control, remember?" he raised his eyebrows, teasing her, but she wasn't as receptive to his tone as he had hoped.

She sent him a sideways glare and twisted the dial to the burner to cool. "I'm in control," she confirmed slowly. "if you weren't trying to kill my friend, I might be a little more stress-free."

Aspen looked up to see Lydia utterly oblivious to the intensity in the room. Isaca followed her line of sight before he looked back at her. Aspen met his eyes before diverting her attention to the work before her, letting out a breath of frustration through her nose. The time was ticking especially slow for no convenient reason.

"You don't think it's her." Isaac gathered.

"I think the worst thing she's done is shoot down a particular freshman and tell him to get a car," she drawled, raising her eyebrows. Isaac did his best to suppress a smile and failed.