The Blind Teacher's Bait

Chapter 18~ Care

I settled down on the blue stool beside James and watched as Car wiggled off in her black ripped shorts over to Lani at the cooker.

"Hey, idiot," I greeted James teasingly, he hadn't noticed my presence until I poked him in the arm. He sat up straight, eyes dancing with amusement as he replied.

"Fool." He mirrored my tone completely as he dropped the pencil. I glanced at what he had been working on and noticed it looked like a caricature of me.

He drew me, emphasizing the tallness and I wore my normal outfit of jeans, a tee and sneakers. I had my hair up in a ponytail and had on my normal cross bag, it pictured my normal, everyday look. It was beautiful and intricately detailed beyond the point of amazement.

"Oh wow," I breathed out, taking the sketch and running a hand on the surface slowly. I felt like I was supposed to pay to see something this amazing. "James this is so beautiful."

"Yes, Jules, you can say it now." A slow grin crept to his face as he gazed at me with his chin on his palm. "James you're amazing. You can use talented and handsome too, I'm not particularly picky."

"I'm never going to say that," I told him, looking back down at the drawing.

"Was worth a shot."

A sudden voice at our back cut into our conversation and the sketch pad flew out of my hands and was sitting in Car's owns before I could react. She studied it for a moment, eyes narrowed before reaching over to smack James across the head hard with it.

He groaned. "You know, for someone who's here because of me, you should try being nicer to me." James had really surprised us all and had gone all out for her trip but he was wealthy, a fact we tended to forget since he was so cool with everyone.

"How come Jules gets and I don't?" She accused.

"Carmen, I can draw you if you want," he assured her, still rubbing the back of his head and frowning. He wasn't actually mad, I had never seen James actually get mad at anyone before.

"Really?" She perked up, eyes bright. "Can it be --"

"No, it can't be nude," he finished for her which earned him another hit with the sketch pad before she stalked back to Lani with her shoulders high.

I looked between his face and her back, her blonde hair was sitting in damp waves on her back, soaking her purple clothe slightly. "What goes on between you two exactly?"

"I have no idea," he replied, honestly, rubbing his head once again.

I was about to open my mouth to speak when Liz cut in from across the marble island. "Hey, guys, did you hear the news?" Her platinum pixie cut hair was immaculately combed and light makeup perfect, she seemed set for a dinner with the Queen in her matching purple blouse and flare skirt. That was just Liz Swiss, never to be caught unfresh.

"What again?" Her twin asked, the opposite of her bright, perky self. If she was the sun, he would be the moon. She, day, he would be night. But the thing was that their differences complimented each other perfectly.

"Remember the guys that raped Mia Robinson? They struck again last night." Her words were followed by a collective gasp from everyone in the kitchen. I felt as though something uncomfortable had been lodged in my throat and I wanted to retch it out.

Liz continued gravely. "Yeah, they attacked another PCA student again, Camille Stems, she's in her first year. She died instantly."

"Sweet Jesus!" Lani exclaimed, turning with wide eyes to stare at Liz as if to ascertain if her claim was actually true. The rest of us just sat there quietly, the news hitting everyone differently.