Paradox (Unearthly Paradox Series Book 1)

Chapter 18

Jett stalked over to the coffee table, picked up his phone, and called someone. A few seconds later, Jett's mouth started moving rapidly, as though he was chewing someone out.

Shoving the phone into his pocket, he headed out the back door and disappeared off the screen. Telling myself that I just wanted to make sure he was all right, I slid out of bed and shuffled to the balcony door. I slid it open a couple of inches and stuck my ear to the crack. Silence.

After a few minutes, I started to feel kind of silly, so I decided to study for my next exam. I climbed back into bed with my textbook, but my mind was on other things. No matter how much I didn't want it to be true, I knew that I was going to fail. The odds of my actually passing my year twelve exams were virtually impossible—thanks to the black-eyed boy downstairs.

"Speaking of..." I opened up the browser on my tablet and looked up "black-eyed people." I used several different search terms, but I didn't find anything new, just demons and supernatural stuff. Bringing Jett's image to the forefront of my mind, I couldn't help but laugh. There was no way on earth that boy was a demon.

I switched on the TV and flipped to the local news. The reporter was talking to some Schoolies helpers group. They were discussing all the safety measures they were taking, which they hoped would cut down the police arrests by half. Yeah, right! They'd said that every year, and each Schoolie was worse than the year before when it came to crime. It wasn't the actual Schoolies that were the problem, it was the toolies—the older people who thought they were young enough to join in the festivities but who were really just tools.

Just as the weather report came on, there was a knock at my door, then it opened.

Jett stood in the threshold, holding up a tub of ice cream and two spoons. "Peace?"

"How can I say no when you've brought such a great offering?" Actually, I could think of a better offering, but ice cream would have to do.

Clearly relieved, he smiled and came over to the bed. I sat up and turned around to fluff my pillow.

Jett put a hand on my shoulder. "I got it." He positioned it expertly.

"Thanks." I leaned back against the pillow.

Jett climbed in the other side, sitting much closer to me than last time. "Here." He handed me a spoon.

"One tub, two spoons?"

He smiled. "You worried about germs?"

I almost said I had no idea where his mouth had been. Yeah, that would've been the ultimate setback. And really, I wanted his mouth all over me, but sharing was probably as close as I was going to get to kissing him. "Not at all."

"Good." He dug his spoon in and scooped some ice cream into his mouth then tipped the tub in my direction.

I took a bite. The weather report had finished, so I changed the channel to my favourite soapie.

Jett nudged my arm. "Seriously?"

I swallowed. "Seriously."

He threw his head back and groaned. "You're going to be the death of me."

Fighting desperately to keep the grin off my face, I said, "Get used to it. It's one of my favourite shows." I realised I had insinuated that he would be watching a lot more episodes with me, and I was glad he didn't call me out on it.

Jett let out a dramatic sigh. "I get to pick what we watch next."

"As long as it's The Big Bang Theory." From the corner of my eyes, I saw his lips tighten as he tried to hide a smile.