𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐘 | 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙥𝙝 𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙨

Chapter 13

I try to keep my cool but
My life turns in slow motion
Bye bye baby blue
I wish you could see the wicked truth

The Other Side of Paradise - Glass Animals

The presentation goes well, other than a few mishaps here and there. Even Marcelin was surprised at the quality of our project.

The kiss still sticks to my brain as I sit on one of the benches, feet dangling as the memories flash around in my brain. The rain, the feeling of his lips upon mine, the way his hands nipped and pulled at my dress.

My ears and cheeks burn up and I giggle stupidly to myself like an idiot. I'm barely reading the book in front of me simply because it's caused me to be that distracted.

Oh Joseph Descamps, the effect you have on me.

"Madeline!" Someone yells, and I look up to find Simone walking towards me, Pichon right behind her. She doesn't look happy at all, and I couldn't help but wonder why she was feeling that way. As far as I know, her and Lamaziere got an average grade for their project.

"What the hell?" She demands, and I furrow my brows in confusion. Simone sits down next to me on the bench, and she points over at Pichon. "Pichon just told me that he saw you and Joseph Descamps kissing near the infirmary. Is that true?"

My eyes widen at her words and I look over at Pichon, then back at Simone. "What? How- When did you even see us?"

Pichon stammers, not really giving me a specific answer. His eyes are darting and he's avoiding my eye contact, and I can tell that he's basically sweating buckets just from standing here. Simone looks at me with a look of worry and a mix of concern/disappointment, and I honestly don't know what to answer.

"You can go Pichon, we need to talk in private." I beckon, and I've never seen Pichon run away faster. With a hefty sigh, I direct my attention back to Simone.

I owe her the explanation, at least...

As I finish telling everything, Simone is slack-jawed and speechless. It takes her a few minutes to regain her composure, and she places a hand on top of mine. "I... Wow. Maddy, I just want you to watch out. Descamps is not someone you just make a bond with that quickly."

I nod, and try not to shy away from her eye-contact. "He's a sly man, but I know that I can't stop you from doing anything you want to." She says, and quickly adds: "I won't tell Michèle, don't worry."

I just keep on nodding, and I guess I can understand where she's coming from. "I'm sorry for not telling you, I just... I mean, to be completely honest, it just slipped my mind." I admit, and Simone lets out a chuckle. "How do you even forget that?"

It lifts off a bit of weight that someone knows about this, but at the same time, the thoughts are bugging my brain. If it comes out, I'm sure that I won't hear the end of it until I graduate.

That's only if I ever get to graduate.

"You can just end it," Simone randomly states, and I look up at her in a mixture of surprise and confusion. "With Joseph. He's bad news and you only kissed once, so it shouldn't be that hard, right?" She suggests, and I hesitate. Was it really the right thing to do?