Caught in between

Chapter 6 - Bottled up

[Leila Ramirez POV]

Jace just helped me. Did that really just happen?

I walk away from Jace with Austin, confused, but smiling like an idiot. JACE JUST HELPED ME! I turn around when I hear him shout behind me, "I might have helped you. But don't think I'm softening on the bet!" He's walking backwards, away from me.

"And you shouldn't think that I want you to lose any less than I did before." I shout back as the distance between us increases.

"Won't stop me from winning!" He turns his back to me and walks away. I do too.

"Cocky ass." I mutter and giggle.

"What was that all about, anyways." Austin interrogates, the creases on his forehead showing how he seriously didn't like that whole situation. I stop abruptly and turn to fully face him.

"Nothing to worry about, okay?" I say, hoping my calm tone convinces him of its truth. I elbow his arm gently and smile when his expression remained stern. "Austin?"

He puts his hand on my shoulder. "You're sure it was nothing?"

"If it was something, I would tell you wouldn't I?"

He smiles and lets out a breath, seeming relieved by my words. We carry on walking.

"So what happened to Janel, anyways?"

"She was gone by the time I walked out. Just disappeared." I recall the events, confused at how she vanished so quickly.

"And that's when Jace showed up, I'm guessing." Austin grimaces.

I sigh a breath of annoyance and stare at him. Seriously Austin?

"Sorry." He looks down.

"As I was saying." I continue. "About Janel, I'm going to check if she went home."

"Oh okay." He responds. "You should go alone, though. I've got some stuff to do."

He's already parting ways before I can reply. "Ermmm. Okay?"

-------------------------

"Janel?"

"What are you doing here?" She sighs.

"You're mum let me in..." I walk towards her, where she's sitting on her bed and scrolling through her Instagram feed on her phone. "Are you okay?"

"What makes you think otherwise?"

"I don't know..." I struggle to form the right words. "You've seemed pretty upset recently. I can't seem to realise why."

"Look, I'm really not in the mood."

I wondered if she was purposefully remaining nonchalant in order to refrain from putting her real emotions on display. " I thought, maybe, when you walked out today, that I had something to do with it."

She quickly showed emotions of concern when I said that, almost instinctively. "No, Leila. It's not you! How could you think that?"

"So what is it then?"

"It's me. It's just personal stuff."