MIND. ❪ twilight ❫¹

𝐯𝐢𝐢. REVELATIONS & BEACHES

The class had gone quiet. 

No one knew what to say—no one knew which side they were on. It wasn't as if anyone knew Bailey that well, she kept to herself. Sure, she was smart but to blow up at a teacher like that? It did seem a bit arrogant. On the other hand, many thought that Mr. Vander had gone too far. Bailey was the youngest in the class and was now she was currently frozen in her seat staring at the man with a straight face—her eyes quickly filling with tears. 

Bailey had no retort or response to what Mr. Vander has said. Compensating? He thought that she was compensating? He thought that she wasn't smart? It wasn't even about the paper anymore, it wasn't about the grade—it was about the subtext of what he'd said; he's basically called her an idiot. It was the first time in her life that Bailey had been called an idiot. She... she didn't know what to do. What was she supposed to do? What was the appropriate way to react in this sort of situation? How would anyone else handle it? 

She sat there overwhelmed, her eyes stinging, tears threatening to fall. But then Bailey exhaled, her face fell, she stared ahead expressionless. Bailey got up from her seat, picked up her paper and began to stride out of the room. 

"Miss Swan!" Mr. Vander called after her, but she disregarded him and left. 

Bailey spent the rest of the morning hidden away in the library until lunch. She was in the far end of the room, sitting in an aisle that looked practically abandoned. Bailey wasn't even in the mood for reading, instead, she had her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs and she just stared at the ground. 

"Bailey?" she heard his voice; it was Jasper. 

Bailey didn't respond, she didn't move; she just stared. 

He sat down in front of her. It was the first time that they had sat in the same aisle since meeting one another—the first time they were talking face to face without a bookcase in the way. Bailey was continuously unresponsive to Jasper's attempts to get her attention. She just sat there staring, motionless—tears uncontrollably streaming down her face. He didn't understand, why was she having such an extensive reaction, especially considering that when he sensed her emotions they weren't too agonizing; Bailey was merely dissatisfied, sad too.

Jasper reached out to touch her, a wrong move on his part. Bailey immediately flinched away from him. Her eyes became wide and Jasper was struck by her unexpectedly extreme levels of anxiety and distress. She wasn't limp anymore but instead hyperventilating, shaking, and looking around frantically as if she was looking for some sort of escape. 

He tried to soothe her, tried to change her anxiety for relaxation and her distress to security. But it was almost inconsequential. Each time he thought that he had calmed her down, those same hostile feelings would come back with vengeance. 

Jasper wasn't quite sure what do to.

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Jasper had stayed with Bailey in the library for the rest of the day. She hadn't moved at all, she had stopped crying a while ago, he assumed it was because she ran out of tears. Every few minutes he would calm her down, even if it didn't make a difference if he could relieve some of the stress for a moment he was sure she would appreciate it. 

By now he had already called for someone to help, someone who he thought would be more qualified at understanding what was going on. 

"Jasper?" Edward had walked into the library after receiving a call from his brother. He wasn't alone though with him he had Bella Swan, who Jasper had asked him to bring. 

Edward barely had time to assess the situation when he winced at an exceptionally loud voice coming from someone's mind. 

He looked down at Bailey, his eyes widened at the words she was telling herself. The dramatized replaying of what had happened in class. All this internal turmoil, insults she flung at herself, and yet on the outside, she was withdrawn completely. If it hadn't been before her puffy red eyes anyone could have thought she was just zoning out.