𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 - || 𝐱. 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐞.||

↳ 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫. 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

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warning: long chapter! petty rivalry, unedited, mentions of heights (and falling from high places), attempted murder, jackson's f(l)at ass, jackie doesn't take her attempted murder seriously

please let me know if i missed any!

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Stanza 1 & 4, Lines 1-3 & 13-19

"You follow he haunted footsteps through the darkness,
Her grey eyes so daring, her dark hair so alluring
The bright moon behind her shows you her real beauty,

"Your eyes dart to hers, dancing in the dark
Her small smile spread and she gives you a glance
You take a step towards you, and she is gone
Suddenly, as if she just disappeared, or never existed at all
Two words float back to you on the wind,
Haunting you for the rest of your days
'Night Queen"

Queen of the Night, Jessica Millsaps

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Jacqueline woke up the same way she did every morning. With existential dread, bags beneath her eyes--that were definitely not designer--and with Enid Sinclair hovering over her face with the biggest smile that would've brought Sun God, Apollo, to his knees.

The half-Korean girl groaned as she found herself snuggling into her comforter, the afternoon glaring down the pair. She tried pulling her sheets over her head, trying to keep the sleep in her eyes as the Sinclair girl did her best to wrestle the blankets off of her.

Surprise, surprise. Werewolf strength won.

Jacqueline shrieked as Enid successfully pulled piles of warmth off of her body, the blonde  werewolf crying out in glee to see her half-awake roommate for the day. The Van de Sand girl attempted her retaliation against the heavy-handed werewolf, but was kept in place as her naturally bubbly roommate engulfed her in a hug as a greeting. The dark-haired beauty could only exhale in defeat, a small frown etched onto her pretty features as Enid began dragging her away from the comfort of her sheets.

"Morning, sleepyhead!" Enid chimed as she began to routinely pull her sleepy roommate, rather used to yanking the girl out of bed with her unfathomable strength. Jacqueline had a terrible habit of sleeping in and forgetting to take care of herself, sometimes even going on a few days without eating or drinking anything. She confided in Enid that it never really bothered her since she took good care of her hygiene before bed and always ate big meals, but the werewolf hated it.

Ever since she found out about it last semester, she began dreaming of chewing Morpheus' legs off--Jacqueline's father being mortified, despite his appearance being unknown to her--to show her protest against her best friend's unhealthy lifestyle. Wordlessly, Morpheus granted Jacqueline night offs where she could wake up and be a part of Nevermore's judgmental and heated hierarchy.

"Five more minutes." Jacqueline groaned as she slumped in Enid's arms, the Sinclair girl dragging her away and upright into the vanity chair that sat close to the stairs that led down into Wednesday's half of the dormitory. The dark-haired beauty gently kicked the ground that her heels dragged against, her head lulling to the side as she yawned before yelping as her werewolf best friend picked up a brush a dragged it roughly across her scalp.

"You seriously need to convince your dad to take you off the night shift. They can't be good for your complexion." Enid fussed as she thumbed through different make-up, skin and hair products that were strewn across the dark-haired beauty's vanity. She watched Jacqueline pick up a hair tie and keep it between her teeth as she puled her long hair into a loose bun. "Next thing you know, you'll be shedding hair more than I do."

Jacqueline stared at her reflection in the mirror, sunken eyes staring back at her. She was tired, beyond that. She was fucking exhausted with hundreds of thoughts running through her mind after her late night encounter with Xavier Thorpe and hundreds of people after him who's nightmares didn't seem to interest her. Her mind was stuck on him, absolutely perplexed by the idea of him hearing her.

That wasn't normal, so why the hell was he the only one that could.

The half-Korean girl didn't bother to pick up the tube of concealer that sat in her open makeup bag to cover the red splotches beneath her eyes. She could only rub at them as Enid did her best to tame the thickness of her hair, then gently rubbing at the skin on her face. She was slightly discolored, more pale than pink, but had remnants of mascara product beneath her eyes.

Blinking at her reflection, Jacqueline picked up a rose-tinted chapstick and applied it to her lips delicately, rolling her lips over her teeth.

"Remind me, we definitely need a girls day and soon." The Van de Sand girl grumbled quietly as she patted her cheeks, watching Enid through the mirror put the brush down before fluffing her hair. Neither girls had sisters to do such things with, nor were given much room to explore much girl time, but when introduced to each other during their first semester, Enid became keen on quality girl time. "It's Jackson's turn, so I'm in the clear until this weekend, but he kinda sucks at the nightmare shift."

The blonde werewolf handed Jacqueline a tube of moisturizer before squeezing some of the product on her hand to touch up her own face. Jacqueline dotted it along her forehead cheeks and chin before patting it into her skin.

"Well, thank God for that." The Sinclair girl breathed a sigh of relief with a laugh, putting her hands to her best friend's shoulders eagerly. Her reflection smiled back at Jacqueline's indifferent expression, watching her slowly rubbing in some color corrector with her index finger. Snatching the product from her hands, Enid gawked over the K-beauty product before silently asking for her to do hers. "You really do a number on the kids at school alone, you might as well give them a break."

Jacqueline couldn't stop the suppression of a smile on her face as her mind wandered to the screams of terrors that echoed through Nevermore's halls, it was almost like she was the conductor to their orchestra. She remembered waking up halfway through her shift to Enid nervously pacing in front of the window--much to Wednesday's dismay--as her fellow werewolves would howl in pain over Jacqueline's night terrors.

"I love my job." The half-Korean girl mused with a sweet smile, making the Sinclair girl frown at her and swatting her shoulder. Enid skipped down the spiral stairs that located down to the Addams girl's side of the room before letting out a scream as Jacqueline jumped the protective barrier--Weems had tried baby-proofing her loft with baby gates once before giving in and buying the Sandman girl a stronger fence--and landed to her feet with a crouch.

It wasn't much of a far fall, considering the half-God properties in her blood kept her safe from most dangerous risks. Falls from being nine feet in the air was light work for her.

Especially since Jacqueline used to dissipate into thin air, leaving black sand and smoke in her wake when freefalling from New York's skyscrapers.

Just as the two girls were about to exit the dormitory—Enid looping her arm with Jacqueline's—the Addams girl with a bleak expression written on her face told Jacqueline that Wednesday dreaded the classes she had been given for the semester. The half-Korean girl assumed that Weems had put her in chairs that were free, seeing as most of the best classes and their seats were taken almost immediately.

"You're late. Is this a daily occurrence?" Wednesday asked with a passing glance, though every time Jacqueline did manage to catch her eye, it always felt more judgmental than curious.

"A girl needs her beauty sleep." Jacqueline defended with a shrug of her shoulders, dark eyes briefly following their dismissive roommate. The two didn't have a proper introduction of each other, both quite snarky—and more bitter, on Wednesday's side—but that didn't seem to deter from Enid's mission of making the trio friends.

They were all pretty different than the last. Enid was bright-eyed and bushy tailed--no pun intended--with short blonde hair with brightly dyed ends that seemed to brighten up every smile she sent anybody's way.

Innocent and pure, was what Jacqueline would describe her as, since she never allowed limits define her. Naïve and blissfully ignorant would be what Wednesday would describe her as, like the Sinclair girl had never been in the real world where negative intentions and emotions existed.

Jacqueline was laid back and amused fairly easily. Her hair--dark, untamed and thick--would bounce with her when she laughed at inappropriate times, invaded others' privacy--just a little bit--and was full of rebuttals and snarky remarks.

She's just so sweet and cuddly, Enid would gasp, like a teddy bear, since Jacqueline liked lounging around, face down into her bedsheets while she'd rest. This was the time Enid usually had her way, Jacqueline allowing her to apply whatever skincare or nail polish to her fingernails, wordlessly. Disregarding personal safety and temperamental, Wednesday would regard her as, watching her tilt herself lifelessly over dangerous ledges and scream into her pillow when things got too heated in her own head.

Wednesday was neither like her two roommates, neither relaxed like Jacqueline or preppy like Enid. She was eccentrically gothic and thought methodically, like murder and all things morbid ran through her very veins. Two pig-tails tamed her dark hair, bangs hiding the dangerous intent behind her eyes while she glared at you.

Scary and intimidating, would be Jacqueline's assumption of her, watching the Addams girl unpack meat cleavers, a heavy typewriter and murder-on-the-go starter kits like she was a horror book writer looking for live victims. Misunderstood and indifferent, would be what Enid would call her, sympathizing how hard it must be being the new girl to a year that is so close to being over.

"If I do find you alone here, I cannot guarantee your safety." Wednesday warned with the indifference in her tone never wavering, making Enid stand stiffly as she remembered her promise last night to smother her in her sleep. The blonde looked at her best friend fretfully, watching Jacqueline narrow her almond-shaped eyes at the nonchalant girl.

Enid labored a heavy sigh.

"If I find you cut my hair in my sleep, your privacy will be invaded." Jacqueline promised with a tone of venom, equally as serious as Wednesday's threat.

Jacqueline promised herself she wouldn't invade the privacy of people she loved and made this pact when she was younger. She was young, impressionable and uncontrollable, especially when the terrors that unleashed in her wake were terribly gruesome that she didn't want to share that side to her powers with people she cared about. Her aunt and uncle became off limits to visit, her younger brothers, Arthur and Dexter, were family favorites so they were out of the question, and now, Enid Sinclair and Wednesday Addams (if provoked, she might give the latter a visit).

"Alright, alright. Both of you, stop fighting." The Sinclair girl demanded with a sigh, gently putting a hand to both girls' shoulders and gave them both her bright-eyed smile, one that seemed to bounce her blonde hair with blue and pink dyed ends. Wednesday shook her off as quickly as she made contact with her. "Can we please just get along?"

"Fine." Wednesday muttered shortly, her tone clipped as if she had enough of the conversation. Enid could only nod, somewhat satisfied with the Addams girl's response before turning to Jacqueline, raising a suspecting eyebrow in her direction. The Van de Sand girl could only huff with a semi-permanent frown on her pretty features, sparing a small glance at the monotonous girl who looked her up and down in silence.

"Whatever." Jacqueline bared her teeth, dark eyes staring daggers into the wall next to her.

"Be nice. Both of you." Enid warned, giving both Wednesday and Jacqueline a pointed look that dared either girls to go against her. Wednesday could only roll her sunken eyes in response, going into her side of the room to pick up her specially-tailored uniform from the trunk at the end of her bed. With clasped hands, their werewolf roommate beamed. "Grab your gear, Jackie. We're gonna take Wednesday to go fencing!"

Jacqueline sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to get out of Enid's insistence on her attendance to afterschool clubs, and dissipated back into her loft. Only then, did she pause and looked out the window, half-listening to the conversation below her.

The Addams girl didn't pause as she continued to take out her uniform and helmet, both tailored to for her color scheme of blacks, leaving behind the traditional white uniform that most students wore. Color offended Wednesday's eyes as it seemed, the monochromatic girl squinting as she would stare Enid down when she was in her pajamas, or even her day clothes.

"I see no reason why your presence is needed to escort me." She stated plainly, almost robotic as she picked up her uniform with a scrutinizing squint. The blonde werewolf ignores her, leaning towards her with her  manicured hands behind her back and a small smile playing on her pink lips.

"You're still new and I thought it'd be nice for you and Jackie to properly get to know each other." Enid beamed as she took in the looks of both girls, Wednesday raising a brow as Jacqueline groaned, catching the words 'you', 'Jackie' and 'each other'. The blonde werewolf gave her a pointed look before smiling back at Wednesday. "You know, especially since she bailed on us the other day."

"What did she do to our window?" Jacqueline blinked while staring at the large circle window that she was used to seeing a bright mirage of color seep through and cover every corner of the room. Their window was divided the way their room was: Enid took on the left half as Wednesday took over the right and Jacqueline remained right above them.

She couldn't help but notice that clean line that split the bottom half of the window in half; one side creating rainbows and the other clean and colorless. The space right above the divided bottom half was still intact, the window pane was frosted over, leaving a distorted and blurry figure whenever looking through it.

It made her furrow her brows as she took in the halved rooms all together, her own section of the room above their heads. It made sense that she took over her half of the window as well.

"She didn't like the color." Enid grumbled with a soft sigh at the sigh of her rainbow mural over the panel glass being dismissed by their gloomier counterpart. It only seemed to owe her a glowering look from the Addams girl, who dismissively spared a glance at the window her roommates were staring at.

She considered herself quite generous that she didn't take over Jacqueline's half off the window as well. Though she was fond of the lack of color it provided her, she thought the frosted over pane was distracting.

"Allow me to remind you that this room is shared. You have your half, I have mine." Wednesday pointed out with boredom trapped in her dark and sunken eyes, picking up her uniform and some other gear beneath her arms as she made her way to the door. Enid quickly stopped her, standing in the monotonous girl's way before she could leave.

Wednesday silently glared at her, forcing her to wait for the Van de Sand girl as she brought out a white uniform, just like the one in Enid's hands.

"So, I does that mean I get to put more stuff in the room? What if I wanted to put a massive dreamcatcher in the room?" Jacqueline quizzed with a crooked smile, imagining a massive dreamcatcher that would be seated exactly in the middle of the room. Enid would hate it--unless it would coordinate with her half and match her creepy unicorn collection--and she could only imagine Wednesday wishing her the worst if it blocked her side.

"I welcome nightmares, so do your worst." The monochromatic girl dared her without any ounce of fear attached to her, making Jacqueline frown and open her mouth to retort, but the Sinclair girl with dyed hair intervened quickly before any insults could be exchanged.

If there was one thing Jacqueline hated, it would be to be underestimated.

And she had enough of that from Xavier Thorpe already.

"Don't engage." Enid mediated before referring back to her problem with the big dreamcatcher that the Van de Sand girl wanted to install. "You already gave me one! Why do we need a bigger one?"

It was true, Jacqueline had gifted Enid a pink dreamcatcher with all sorts of frills and colors that matched with her side of the dormitory perfectly. The blonde hung it above her bed to keep the nightmares that Jacqueline couldn't account for at bay, especially since it was a powerful warning sign for the half-Korean girl to keep out and not become another nightmare trapped in its webs.

"Because I wanna see how Weems will get it out of the dorms." Jacqueline cackled at the thought of the posh and elegant Headmistress of Nevermore stressing over how to get rid of it. She made gestures with her hands, grinning ear-to-ear at the thought of Headmistress Weems go crazy over superstition and paranoia, just like the rest of the other pranks she was known to pull over the older woman. "You break one of those suckers, it'll be bad luck for the rest of your nights."

"Are you superstitious?" Wednesday mused with a glint of interest in her eyes, wondering what exactly would take to break the confidence the half-Korean girl seemed to let run through her veins like liquid gold. Their blonde-headed werewolf seemed to oblivious to this, eyes glinting with the interest to see what the two could bond over.

"I'm half a God, superstition is kinda at the end of my list of fears." Jacqueline snorted with a curl of her lips, making Enid roll her eyes at her reckless friend's remark. She knew the Van de Sand girl didn't fear much in this world, especially when she could just poof herself out of any real danger--hence why she could confidently jump from cliffs and willingly put herself at any sword's end.

"And, theoretically, what would be at the top?" Wednesday marveled aloud, sparing Jacqueline an intimidating stare that made the Sandman girl raise a brow in question at what the Addams girl may be implying. It made Enid nervously laugh before giving her gloomier counterpart a soft glare, scolding her under her breath for tempting the half-blood.

"Wednesday." Enid warned as the trio moved as a unit through the open hallway out of Ophelia Hall and into the locker rooms nearby, changing out of their uniforms and into their uniforms for their class to come.

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Jacqueline never officially joined the fencing team since she never attended school at normal hours. She always seemed to catch the very end of them, which Coach Vlad understood--for as long the Van de Sand girl kept her distance from him and his dreams--and was happy to keep the half-blooded girl up to date and spar with her.

Especially since Jacqueline was quite the heavy-handed fighter and took the sport quite seriously.

Coach Vlad--being as old as he is--had taught a handful of half-blooded champions through his years of teaching, deducing that only half-blood children should spar with other half-bloods. The ADHD most half-God children had was complex, practically rewiring their brains to fight with the cooped up energy that made Jacqueline relentless.

It was like being told to not play with a specific kid at the playground, letting one play all by themselves because they played rougher than the other kids. But, it wasn't Jacqueline's fault for her dark eyes locking in on all the right place that secured her victory. It wasn't her fault she hit harder and how her senses would heighten. Or, how her focus would draw to every muscle in her opponent's body to anticipate their next attack.

She was the child no parent would let their precious, soft-brained babies around because her ADHD was absolutely terrible, much worse than her older brother.

Today, Jacqueline seemed to catch one of the earlier practices, arriving fashionably late as she trailed behind Enid and Wednesday. Her mask was fixed onto her pretty features, dark hair drawn back into a loose bun at the back of her head. She was watching with filtrated vision of all her classmates sparing with sabres in hand and dragging against each other.

Her breath hitched, a similar sensation of the way guilt would gnaw at her stomach, or the familiar tickle in her throat after her opera rehearsals at a specific pair of eyes on her. It was unpleasant, but welcoming, but the girl behind the mask could only stand straighter when catching eyes with a familiar pair of hazel ones that used to make her feel warm, but now force her to stiffen.

Xavier Thorpe had peeled off his fencing mask, shaking out his brown hair as he stared at the trio as they breezed passed the other matches with disregard. His tall, slender figure was easy to notice as he was much taller than the other students in their grade, his tongue wetting his lips as his hazel eyes casted downwards to the new players in their arena. Though his eyes fleeted over the Addams girl for a fraction of a second, Jacqueline couldn't help but stare back the same way the Thorpe boy stared at her.

Ripping her gaze away from the long-haired artist across the room, Jacqueline took a few steps forwards and kept her gaze locked ahead of her. She suddenly felt absurdly warm in her fencing uniform, the fabric suddenly tight on her skin and the chestplate she wore becoming uncomfortable. Jacqueline hated how she could still feel his wandering eyes on her retreating figure, gaze curious as if she were to bear her entire soul to him for the next time they were to meet.

She hated how she could hear the gear turning in his head, like he knew the girl behind the mask without having to see her face.

Jacqueline shook off his eyes, blinking behind her mask as she took in a few short breaths. Her focus finally shifting from Xavier's and narrowing on another target, hearing the slight pants in their breaths and the sharp noise of sabres striking each other. It seemed that Wednesday's presence--who stood a few steps ahead of her--deterred Bianca Barclay's focus off of her victory from Rowan, staring blankly as the blue-eyed girl would beam and flaunt.

Enid always filled her in on whatever was happening during school, and that included Bianca Barclay. Other than being known as the Head Siren at Nevermore, being unbelievably popular and the ex-girlfriend to Xavier Thorpe, Enid told her she was the best fencer in their grade.

With how skilled the Barclay girl was, Jacqueline couldn't believe how cocky she was.

"You must be the psychopath they let in." Bianca greeted Wednesday with a sickly sweet smile, head tilted in an almost innocent manner. The Addams girl didn't seem to care all that much about her taunts and retorts, simply regarding the overconfident girl before them with a raised brow. The Barclay girl's blue eyes seemed to jump to the person that stood quite close to the monotonous girl before smirking. "I see Weems was quick to assign you a body guard."

Wednesday and Jacqueline shared a look, one more bored as the other was more taunting. It was as if the latter was wondering how far the monochromatic girl was willing to go. An unspoken, but mutual alliance had formed between the two girls over their one common denominator; their equal hatred for mean girls that sat on their high horses.

"You must be the self-appointed Queen Bee." Wednesday observed without an once of emotion expressed, though her tone clipped and taut as she regarded the dark-skinned girl carefully. Her gaze was fleeting, but it was as if she could easily read her like an open book, seeking out every and any weakness just rom the way she stood. "Interesting thing about bees, pull out their stingers and they drop dead."

Bianca's smile dropped as fast as Wednesday put her foot down against her foiled attempts to be superior to every newcomer Nevermore welcomed. If the attention wasn't on the pair before, it surely was now. Everyone seemed to disregard their masks, preferring to have a perfect view of the dark-sinned girl being cornered by Wednesday Addams.

The former looked around with a twisted frown before resting her eyes on the giggling figure in white behind the Hispanic girl, her voice slightly muffled and deepened from the mask she wore. Bianca narrowed her eyes on the figure as she tried to muster a comeback to either put the monochromatic girl, or the giggling one behind her, to rest.

"What? Bite more off than you can chew?" The deepened and taunting voice ridiculed the siren, making her nostrils flare and pull back her shoulders. She shook her head as she glared at the giggling figure, a gloved hand covering the part of their mask where their mouth would be. Bianca pointed a jabbing finger at the figure with a heated glare.

"Stay out of this, Jackson." Bianca growled with a piercing gaze as Jacqueline--who was now associated as Jackson in the eyes of everyone else--smiled behind her mask. It wasn't until Bianca's scowl slowly became a smirk, looking the figure up and down. "You know, what? I'd like to see you try."

Jacqueline's eyebrows raised as she bit back a smile at her assumption. She thought she could use this to her advantage, especially against someone like Bianca Barclay who hadn't bother to confirm, nor deny who she was asking to put herself up against. She was high-strung and overconfident, something that was often seen as a weakness in any real fight. Ares said so himself, despite the God of War being a loudmouth 90% of the time.

The Van de Sand girl looked back at Coach Vlad for permission, the middle-aged teacher pursing his lips in thought as he looked back at her, then at Bianca, who could only smirk smugly.

"Bianca, are you sure?" Coach Vlad intervened, looking between the two girls curiously, but Bianca didn't seem to back down from the challenge. Rather, she pointed her sabre in Jacqueline's direction, though assuming it was Jackson who dared to step up against her.

"There has to be a reason why he doesn't come to class." Bianca mused with a devious look behind her blue eyes, twirling the sabre in her hand almost menacingly. It was like the siren was testing her, every bite of her words meaning to lure Jacqueline to just bite her head off. "Maybe he's just scared."

Scoffing, the half-Korean girl beneath the mask was ready to turn on her heel and leave the fencing arena, but a grip on her forearm stopped her. Jacqueline's head tilted downwards to the shorter girl, Wednesday gripping her arm with unbridled curiosity and some frustration swirling in her dark irises.

"Don't lose." Was all Wednesday could offer as a counter to Jacqueline leaving the arena with all eyes on her, including Bianca's smug look that the dark-haired beauty wanted to wipe off. The Sandman girl looked at Wednesday's dead stare and turned back to Bianca, who pouted at the notice of the girl's back turned to her.

Tongue touching her cheek, Jacqueline kicked out her feet with every daring step she took, giving one last look to Coach Vlad who usually discouraged sparring with other Nevermore students. Though, today, he only seemed to shrug as both girls seemed to give their consent to going head-to-head with each other.

Wednesday took a few steps backwards and into the sidelines and Jacqueline readied herself on the mat, getting into an appropriate fencing stance as she invited the Barclay girl to stand parallel to her by a nod of her head.

"Let's dance, fish breath." With Jacqueline's voice muffled, the siren squinted at her before strapping the protective mask over her head and getting into the correct starting position. On Coach Vlad's call, Bianca hit her sabre with her own before lunging at her, Jacqueline quickly evading every elegant sweep that Bianca had thrown her way.

She had to admit, the Barclay girl was good at what she did, but even the half-Korean girl behind the mask could see her aiming for the easier spots on the body. She wasn't in for the kill, she was in for the easy points.

Jacqueline served every strike with a vigorous force that had made the Barclay girl lose her balance, every strike she made against her sabre reverberating through her entire being. Despite Bianca's agility, ducking and dodging at every stab and prod Jacqueline gestures, the Van de Sand girl did an aerial over her rod that finished Bianca's sequence and prodded the protective tip of her wand at her lower back, just at the center of her spine.

A fatal move, Wednesday deduced as she stood taller almost proudly. Jacqueline caught her eye behind the mask, the pair slowly nodding at each other in acknowledgment.

"First point to Van de Sand." Coach Vlad announced, nodding to Jacqueline in assurance. The Van de Sand girl's lips tilted upwards, making Bianca scoff as she pulled herself away from her inital stance. She took her place before the dark-haired beauty, blue eyes watching her every move as Jacqueline rolled her shoulders in anticipation.

"You've gotten better." Bianca retorted with some snark laced through her words, making Jacqueline laugh softly before starting the match with a powerful lunge, narrowly missing the dark-skinned girl's shoulder and quickly getting into a comfortable stance to jump and flip over every attack.

"And somehow, you've gotten worse." Jacqueline retorted back with a grin, jumping over the sweep of her sabre and tucking herself into a ball to roll away. Landing back at her feet, Bianca made quick strides to strike the girl in such a compromising position, but the Sandman girl flipped onto her back, jumping and back onto her feet with her sabre out protectively. "Are we gonna fight, or are you gonna sit on your ass, fishstick?"

Bianca's nose flared as she readied herself, watchful eyes catching Jacqueline's quick footwork and blade slashing against her own before extending her arm. The metal wand bounced atop the Van de Sand girl's head, but it was enough for the middle-aged fencing teacher to call it as a point.

"The scores are even." Coach Vlad announced, the other students that filled up the fencing arena now eagerly pausing their own matches to watch the Barclay girl go head-to-head with the Van de Sand twin. Jacqueline's breathed a laugh as Bianca drove out her sabre from the top of her head, the metal rod just bouncing off of her mask. Despite the miss in precision, Jacqueline guessed that Bianca never made precise strikes, especially since she depended on close calls.

"Beginner's luck." Bianca hummed, referring to Jacqueline's first point with a bitter sweet smile. It was obvious that she was being condescending, especially with everyone watching them like hawks watching their prey. It only seemed to make the dark-haired beauty humorlessly laugh at the siren's efforts to intimidate her.

"Has it ever occurred to you that I let you have that point?" Jacqueline countered as they circled each other, like two predators in a cage. There was an echo of giggles and whispers at her statement, making Bianca's jaw clench as she took calculating steps.

"You wanna make this more interesting?" Bianca offered, a tempting proposal that she knew the masked fencer before her couldn't refuse at the tip of her tongue. She couldn't hold back the smirk that played on her lips, watching Jacqueline's head perk up at her words. Like Jacqueline, the Barclay girl was confident in her abilities, but even the Sandman girl knew how dangerous it was to be too sure of yourself. "No rules."

"So, I can kick you?" Jacqueline asked innocently with a bite to her words, mimicking the way Bianca would bat her eyes, but now pouting behind her mask. The siren rolled her blue eyes, a scowl settling on her lips as she pointed the thin, metal rod at the half-Korean girl.

"We'll see if you can live up to that trash you're spewing out." Bianca countered before picking up the pace at her every move, charging at Jacqueline with everything she had. Every clang from their swords colliding sounded throughout the entire room, everyone around them gawking and sitting on the edge of their seats at every dodge and charge in confidence through both girls' tactics.

Before Bianca could thrust out her sabre, Jacqueline was faster and picked up on her next move. The Van de Sand girl jumped to her feet quickly, one foot extending to kick at the Barclay's girl's dominant hand and forcing a gasp out of her. The sabre flew out of her hands in a panic, the hand drawing back to her chest as Jacqueline's hand extended out to catch it by it's hilt, her body then locking in a lunged position with her dominant arm pointing her sabre into Bianca's chestplate. Her fingers twirled the hilt with such precision before her grip became cold once more. Bianca's sabre was extended behind her, eyes catching the slightest movement inching towards her and pointing at the intruder.

"You know, if this were a real sword, I'd cut off your dick." Jacqueline stated without missing a beat, making Bianca furrow her brows in confusion at the masked girl as she had thrown her own off. However, it wasn't until she looked to the side of her and gasped, finding the lost sabre she had dropped in Jacqueline's hand. It's tip was pointing outwards and towards the lower stomach of Coach Vlad, who was keen to break up the fight if Jacqueline played too hard.

While one arm extended, armed and protruding Bianca's chestplate, Coach Vlad could only laugh at the skilled twin's words, carefully moving away from her other armed hand away from him. Bianca stared at the masked fencer with an incredulous look upon her pretty features, thinking of how and when she must've seen Coach Vlad when all her focus was put into putting her down.

"At ease." Coach Vlad announced with his Russian accent clear and commanding, allowing Jacqueline's arms to drop and rest at her side. Her fingers skillfully twirled both sabres in her hands before handing them off to the middle-aged man in a red and blue tracksuit, leaving her unarmed. Enid giggled as silence filled the room, jumping on the Van de Sand girl's back with her hands on her shoulders.

"I should've warned you. She doesn't play nice." Enid piped up with a beam of a smile, feeling an abundance of joy running through her veins at her best friend's victory against the Barclay girl. The blonde had stood at the sidelines and away from action with Yoko, a Japanese girl who wore dark shades 24/7 like every other vampire attending Nevermore.

She was sure Jacqueline could handle herself in a sword fight, especially when the werewolf's ass was handed back to her one too many times by the daughter of Morpheus. It ran through her blood to fight the way she did, but she didn't feel an ounce of guilt to watch Bianca underestimate her half-blooded roommate and fall on her ass to the heavy-handed fencer.

"She?" Bianca's eyes widened, her voice slightly raising at the possibility of someone else, no, some other girl better than she was at such a strategic sport. "But, isn't that-"

"I never said I was Jackson." Jacqueline's muffled voice uttered with a smirk Bianca could only imagine. The students that packed themselves off to the side to watch the match between the Van de Sand girl versus the Barclay siren, who eyed the mysterious fencer eagerly. Despite the deep tone the mask provided her, Xavier breathed a laugh of both surprise and awe, watching the masked fencer peel the obstruction from her pretty features, revealing a beautiful girl with a teasing smile.

Jacqueline shook out her hair, whipping it backwards that allowed the dark tresses that were once kept in a loose bun to cascade down her shoulders like waterfalls. Usually, Jacqueline would keep a headband or hair tie to keep her bangs from shrouding her vision, but she simply pushed it back up with her free hand. The cheeky smile she had on enchanted Xavier to allow his eyes to roam over every detail of the Van de Sand girl.

Her almond-shaped eyes, now shining brown in the afternoon sun that streamed from the open windows, seemed to smile while she did. She was enjoying her victory, bringing a glow to her skin that Xavier wished her could put to pen and paper. But even he knew that despite his talent, he would never truly capture her beauty.

"Looks like Jackie might steal your number one spot, Bi." Yoko mused with a slight giggle at her friend's angered expression, only dialling down to a small smile, her fingers pressed to her lips when Bianca shot her a deadly glare. The Barclay girl looked back at Jacqueline in disgust.

"You." Bianca spat, her venomous tone foaming at her mouth that could only make Jacqueline return the same smug look the dark-skinned girl had given her moments ago.

"Me." Jacqueline retorted in delight, her eyes smiling as she did, making Bianca scoff. The half-blood girl didn't seem to hide her amusement just as her opponent didn't hide from her. "C'mon, don't make me look stupid."

Extended before her was the Van de Sand girl's open palm, wanting to help her up, but Bianca felt as though she was too prideful to accept the hand of her opponent. She remembered how she somewhat resented Jacqueline over the years, remembered how this Sandman twin preferred to hide than be in the spotlight.

Well, up until this semester anyway.

She knew Jacqueline saw this as some sort of joke. A good game in her eyes where she got to exercise her skills, but to Bianca, losing to the half-Korean girl was like a bitter taste in her mouth that seemed to resurface. She hated it, and she hated her.

Bianca slapped Jacqueline's open hand away from her, watching with a look of disgust and some pride glinting in her eyes as she watched her face fall and her peers voice gasps that filled the silence.

Xavier stepped forward, unsure of as to why, but did so anyway, hazel-green eyes locked on Jacqueline as she stood to her full height. Ajax held his breath, their history known to him, and kept a hand on his best friend's shoulder to keep him in place.

Standing up on her own, Jacqueline retracted her hand and back to her side. Her face didn't hold any source of malice towards the siren, but more so watched her pride crumble with a look of unsureness behind her dark eyes.

"Stupid half-blood." Bianca spat as she dusted herself off, going the extra mile to just walk past Jacqueline and harshly bumping shoulders with the daughter of Morpheus. It made the half-blooded girl scoff before turning on her heel to call out to her with a jut of her chin.

"Hey. That's half God to you." Jacqueline argued with a squint of her eyes, making the others softly laugh under their breaths at their bickering and gasping at the Van de Sand girl's correction to her title.

Despite the fact running through her veins, Jacqueline, nor Jackson, had properly been claimed yet. Morpheus had kept them a secret to the Gods and his enemies as he did not want them to part of prophecies and do the Zeus and the others favors. Doing either usually resulted in the early deaths of half-bloods, risking their lives all the same to fulfill a foretold scripture to keep the Gods at arms-reach with the mortals.

"You're still half normie." Kent defended with his nose high and deep frown set in, retaliating against the Van de Sand girl, who only dissipated before his very eyes and appeared behind him. Her lips were dangerously close to his ear, her whisper against his skin making his blood run cold like ice and her voice feeling like hot stones were placed against his cool skin.

"Maybe... but that just means all of you is just ignorant." The half-blood girl mused quietly, a small grin curling at her lips as she reiterated the words in her head. It made Kent look over the shoulder she was perched over, feeling her move to the opposite ear as he did so. "That's how idiots like you stay. Blissfully ignorant."

Jacqueline pulled away from Kent's ear with a crooked smile, patting his shoulder with a heavy hand before deciding to leave the fencing arena with a bright-eyed smile. With one arm looping around her helmet protectively, the half-Korean girl strutted out of the practice space with her head held up high, dark hair swaying behind her.

Ajax raised his hand as she exited, the Van de Sand girl high-fiving it with her own as she simultaneously looked past the gorgon and at his best friend. Xavier Thorpe raised a brow at the passing girl as she winked in his direction, another delighted giggle leaving her as her body dissipated into smoke and black sand.

The sound of her laughter echoing in the room as she left, making Bianca huff and exit the space as well with gritted teeth. Divinia and Kent followed the head siren out, leaving Coach Vlad bark orders of pairing up once more to finish the day's practice, but Xavier couldn't move. His eyes remained on the spot where she once stood, his mouth running dry as the smoke, like charcoal, began to fade into the air.

Ajax smacked the top of his chest before motioning for the Thorpe boy back onto the mat, used to the Van de Sand's girl's disappearing act.

"Is she new?" Nicholas Scratch, a warlock, mumbled beneath his breath, loud enough for the Petropolus boy by his side to hear. His eyes had just been trailing after the Van de Sand girl, now only lifting to spare a glance at the gorgon and the Thorpe boy.

"Dude, are you serious? That's Jacqueline Van de Sand, Jackson's sister!" Ajax chuckled, dimples poking at his cheeks as the gorgon patted the warlock's chest, motioning with his head for Xavier to take his place on the fencing mat parallel to him.

"I thought she was a myth." Another student, Gar Logan, a shapeshifter, guffawed before he was dragged away by his friend Rachel, the pair returning back to their sparring mat and leaving Xavier to be consumed by his own thoughts.

Jacqueline, Jacqueline, Jacqueline...

"Jacqueline..." Xavier repeated the name, testing it on his tongue, but found himself curling his lips at the familiarity. He breathed a laugh before nodding, saying it once more, blissfully unaware of the Petropolus boy's curious gaze with parted lips.

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

The world was prettier when it rained. Jacqueline had always thought as much since the perfect day was always associated with a bright yellow sun and blue skies, but rainier days were never a good thing. It was comforting to hear the patter of rain against windowpanes and sidewalks, the smell of the earth permeating through the air that brought Jacqueline to the familiar scene in her home city, Queens, New York, where she'd stomp in puddles with her brothers and the only brightness that illuminated the city would be either from the neon signs or the bright yellow rain boots her Auntie Z had gotten her.

Well, it was more like, passed down to her, since it belonged to their first son, Franklin, but didn't fit Jackson nor her second youngest sibling, Arthur, yet. So, it was hers in the mean time.

Jacqueline couldn't jump in the puddles this time as she had slipped back into her Nevermore uniform, her Mary Jane shoes just toeing at the water. She thought it was pretty ugly with the bright purple striped jacket and oddly long skirt that reached her knees. She looked like Beetlejuice's unpaid intern as she pulled at the turtleneck that set atop her white dress shirt, her legs feeling the bite of the wind of the spring air through her sheer black tights and white leg warmers that clung loosely to her calves.

Music blasted through her earbuds in place of a headband that usually kept the loose hair in place, the Weeknd singing to her as she nodded her head to the beat. Her shoulder was pressed against a pillar as she watched the rain cascade before her in droplets, her fingers dancing across the screen of her phone as she sent Jackson ugly pictures of himself to coax him out of his daydreaming and spend the rest of the day with her.

Enid—dragging Wednesday in tow—went to hang out with her other circle of friends, which consisted of a few other werewolves, psychics and a small collection of vampires, like Yoko. Jacqueline thought that was pretty funny to see the Fangs and Furs social circles collide, considering the normie belief that the circles hated each other.

Her only encounter with vampires and werewolves prior to Nevermore would probably be Twilight, hence why Jacqueline was half-convinced vampires sparkled in the day and Jacob and Edward hate each other.

Jacqueline failed to notice the lurking figure behind her, who eyed her in awe with lips parted with a light of familiarity striking his hazel eyes. Tucking a strand of his brown hair behind his ear, he fumbled behind the Van de Sand girl, who could only hum to whatever song seemed to capture her interest at the moment. He held a black umbrella in his off hand, taking careful steps to not scare the girl by not allowing the plastic tip to drag against the concrete.

Carefully plucking the wire from her ear, Xavier grinned almost bashfully as he came face-to-face with the half-Korean girl, who only stared back at him in amusement. He held the earbud in her hand, the pair awfully close as they smiled at each other, Jaqueline smiling slightly at the familiar strum in her chest and the butterflies that ricocheted off her ribcage.

"I guess you really underestimated me." Xavier whispered with his own amused smile, a laugh bubbling from his chest as he used the rest of his fingers that weren't clutching the earbud to wave in her direction. "Hey, Jacqueline."

Xavier Thorpe, though now more properly re-introduced into Jacqueline's life, was a sight for sore eyes with his pretty smile with dimples poking at his cheeks and tender eyes. His chin-length hair was more of a chestnut-color now that Jacqueline could see him up close without the interference of light and shadow and his eyes were more green that brown, just like the forest that sat at the foot of Nevermore. His skin was warm and slightly tanned, and even with their proximity, she could feel the heat that radiated off of him that warmed the cool skin of her cheeks.

"You know, when you said that you'd find me, I didn't think I'd be this soon." Jacqueline mused with a tilted grin, her head softly hitting the pillar she had leaned against. The pair stared at each other with interest, both taking in every detail in the fear of not ever getting a chance like this against. Jacqueline could trace the lines in her skin, the slightly chapped look to his lips from the cold and the small mole next to his nose.

How could one change so much despite not changing much at all?

Xavier found himself tracing the shape of her lips, the same familiar grin that he'd imagine when she'd tease him. Or, find himself gazing back into the light in her eyes that expressed more than the minimal movement of her pretty features.

"Maybe try and keep a lower profile next time." The Thorpe boy teased her with no bite to his words, offering the earbud back to her with nimble fingers. Jacqueline reached for it, her fingers carefully encasing his own to hold the piece, causing the long-haired boy's breath to hitch at the foreign, but welcoming warmth that radiated from the simple action.

Tearing his eyes off of their nearly encased hands, he looked at Jacqueline with a baited breath, finding her already staring back at him with a small smile from the sensation. With a soft inhale, the Van de Sand girl pulled her hand from his, taking the earbud with her to gather in her hands and put into the pocket of her skirt.

Xavier's hand still remained in the air where hers had once met his, his hand chasing after hers to hold it there for a second longer before quickly retracting it. He put his hand into his pocket coolly, following Jacqueline easily with long strides as she pushed herself off of the pillar and continued to walk the lonely halls.

He stood by her side, catching the half-Korean girl's gaze flutter to the side of his face before breathing a laugh to herself.

"Am I taking lessons on low-profiling by a guy who dreams of a girl he's just met? You're as easy to read as an open book." Jacqueline snorted with a tilt of her lips, making the Thorpe boy roll his green eyes at her remark. He couldn't ignore the heat at the tip of his ears and the flustered laugh that left him, his nervous habit of tucking a long strand behind his ear making the Van de Sand girl smile to herself.

"Could be because you're someone who likes to spy on people in their dreams." Xavier offered as an explanation with a shrug to his shoulders. Jacqueline paused in her steady steps beneath the shade just as he did, the Thorpe boy looking down at the shorter girl with a raised brow making her pout as she thought, then waving her hand out in dismissal.

"It's not my problem you make it so easy." Jacqueline concluded with a shrug, making the Thorpe boy shake his head at her response. She was exactly as she presented herself then in his dreams, nonchalant, snarky and smart-mouthed, so he didn't expect much to change about her. He easily trailed beside her with long strides as she took fast steps to keep up with him.

"You need an umbrella?"

As the dead end of the corridor neared, Xavier was quick to offer his own umbrella to help the half-Korean girl cross the empty lot of the school into another department. Just as he opened the black umbrella, he nodded his head for her to get under it, letting the rain pelt down on the plastic cover and bring the half-Korean girl with him.

"I can get across just fine." Jacqueline affirmed with a sure nod as she poked her head and hand out of the safety of the dry area, feeling the careful droplets that formed puddles into her palms. Xavier didn't seem to take no for an answer, following the Van de Sand girl as she trailed out of the little protection the school offered and into the brisk air of the Jericho's spring showers.

"Yeah, just like what you pulled after today's match? It's pretty creepy knowing you could anywhere up here and here." Xavier mused with a knowing smirk, thinking how Jacqueline seemed to make habit of dissipating into thin air to creep up on others and leave the room with such dramatic flare. Jacqueline stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation at his words, making him stress a hand through his hair before clearing his throat. "It was, uh, impressive. Going up against Bianca like that."

Jacqueline took his compliment bashfully and modestly as she knew someone like Bianca was a well skilled opponent. Although the Van de Sand girl thought herself like Bianca, who worked hard to get to where she was--with Coach Vlad, Ajax and Jackson handing her her own ass on a silverplatter in their earlier days at Nevermore--she could never admit she was better than anyone else in a field that could literally be life-or-death.

Overconfidence and underestimation kills on the battlefield, Coach Vlad had told her while taking jabs at her that would've kept her tumbling backwards. Whether it'll kill you or your opponent, you cannot take the 50/50 risk.

"I'm surprised I even won. I don't usually attend classes." Jacqueline mused with a thoughtful nod, reminding herself to attend more of her lectures to catch up. She hated spending the hours when she awoke from deep sleep to cram lessons into her brain, more so hating the fact that--despite her teachers understanding how her power worked--she needed to have a decent enough attendance to be able to graduate.

"Right, cause you and your brother switch off." Xavier trailed off in realization as the half-Korean girl nodded her head in acknowledgement, a hum sounding from her throat. "I feel kinda bad for saying this, but do we..."

The taller boy beside her sheepishly scratched at the back of his neck as he looked off to the side in embarrassment at the next set of words leaving his lips. He couldn't help his natural curiosity to why he could remember her, but couldn't at the same time. 

He remembered the smallest of details he found himself drawing over-and-over again before their formal introduction. Her black, wavy hair would be drawn in a ponytail with a scrunchie in her hair with a teddy bear pattern, sometimes even loose enough to be restrained in a velvet headband. He would draw the side of her face with eyelashes casted downwards, some of his sketches even catching the most candid of moments he'd sworn he'd never seen before.

Pencil tucked into the curl of her upper lip, a raised brow with a flirtatious smirk in another and--arguably, his favorite artwork he'd done his best to perfect--a big smile with a closed-eyed smile, crinkles at the edge of her eyes and nose scrunched.

"We have Herbology, Occult Studies and Literature together since last semester." Jacqueline recited easily with a timid smile, afraid that the Thorpe boy before her would catch the slight change in her tone. Xavier seemed to grimace at the number of classes the pair seemed to share, though he couldn't recall seeing her in any of them. "And this class, apparently."

"God, I am..." Xavier scoffed, more to himself and his poor memory, but Jacqueline only seemed to nod sympathetically. She wish she could just say she must've missed the days he wasn't around, but that'd be a lie. She was there whenever she didn't sleep in, sitting close but never noticed by the long-haired artist as he'd either have his nose in his sketchbook or chatting adamantly with his friends. "I'm the worst. I'm sorry about that."

Jacqueline couldn't help but feel the sour taste on her tongue at his sheepish apology, hanging her head softly before nodding. She strained a smile, offering it to him as she felt the air get tense between them. Clearing her throat, Jacqueline felt her mouth move faster than her brain, too quick for her to catch the words tumbling out of her mouth.

"You want me to make you feel even worse?" Jacqueline humored with a dry smile, catching his questioning look as she laughed nervously. Stretching her fingers out before her, the half-Korean girl tried to act as dismissively as she could as she dug a deeper grave for herself. "I sit behind you in Calc."

Xavier groaned, throwing his head back as Jacqueline laughed softly at his reaction, watching him comb a hand through his long hair with an embarrassed twinge of pink pricking at the apple of his cheeks. She bit the inside of her cheeks as she shoved her dainty hands into the pocket of her uniform jacket bashfully, turning her head to the side as her cheeks began to hurt from smiling.

"I might have to  be the stupidest guy you know..." Xavier grumbled with a furrow between his eyebrows, the memory of her a scratch to his brain as he longed to remember the slightest detail of her. It hurt to even think, like that chunk of her that existed to him had been plucked out.

It made Jacqueline sigh sadly as the most she knew about Xavier Thorpe was that he knew scarcely of her and had thrown her aside like a toy a child had been done playing with. Unlike him, she knew him from what brand of pencils he liked to draw with to what he liked to eat with his coffee as she was his passing glance.

To him, Jacqueline was as familiar as she was in his dreams and another weary name in the halls people would warn to distance themselves from. She was like a face in the halls, another student to bump shoulders with every now and then in the cramped corridors, or see in class when surveying an empty seat. The Van de Sand girl was the lingering perfume that permeated through the in air in passing, or could even be described as the dotted erasure marks left behind on a blank piece of paper.

She was there, but nothing major enough for him to remember what type of perfume would linger when he'd pass her, or what seat in the classroom was her favorite.

It bothered him. It bothered him to think that he'd forgotten about her when she had been there all along.

"Don't flatter yourself, I've met dumber." Jacqueline excused with a laugh that couldn't reach her eyes, but Xavier couldn't tell if it was real or fake. She still looked off into the open scenery, passing a few shrubs decorated with poisonous berries and ivy that climbed the walls and curled into every crevasse.

Despite leaning forward in hopes of catching her gaze, to read her eyes that told so much more than her body language did, Jacqueline seemed to squeeze herself close to her shoulder. She avoided his gaze with closed eyes and a trembling breath, her heart racing as she dared to take this dance again with him. She was afraid to start again, as she rightfully should, because not only did she have to go slow, but she had to pretend.

She had to pretend she was fine that Xavier wanted to make the effort all over again.

"You're enjoying this, huh?" Xavier guessed, reading her body language wrong as she took her tremble for a shake of her shoulders, maybe holding back a laugh. His words seemed to bring the half-blood girl out of her mind, dark eyes fluttering open with a sure exhale before forcing a giggle out of her chest. She finally turned her head back to look at the Thorpe boy through her lashes, hoping the excuse of the cold would be enough to disguise the pink on her cheeks.

"A little bit. I didn't think you would get worked up over it." Jacqueline grinned easily, kicking out her feet to play in the puddles, careful enough to not soak her white legwarmers Enid had crocheted for her. Her words seemed to make the artist by her side raise a brow curiously at her, wetting his lips in thought before looking back at the shorter girl who looked at him with eyes that smiled with her.

"Who said I was?" Xavier asked with a dimple poking at his cheeks, which Jacqueline poked at in response with a well-manicured finger, then touching the corner of his eyebrow. The Thorpe boy blinked at the sudden warmth that erupted over his handsome features, a tight-lipped smile pulling at his cheeks as he looked down. Brown locks moved around him like a curtain before looking back at her, finding Jacqueline's finger pointing at the space between her eyebrows.

"That crease in your eyebrow." The half-Korean girl mused as she tapped at the space, making the brunet scoff with a shake of his head. She seemed to have an answer for everything, which irritated him, but all he could do was wet his lips with his tongue peeking out before touching her cheek with it.

"I can never win with you, can I?" The taller boy rhetorically asked, but even then, the shorter girl--who stood tall just below his chin--had an answer for that too.

"I'd never let you." Jacqueline mused with a charming wink before looking ahead to find the entrance she was supposed to enter. She turned to face Xavier, who was already gazing back at her, and pointed at the door and waving to him quickly. "Well, this is me. See you, Xavier."

Just as Jacqueline parted away from his umbrella and the warmth that radiated off of the taller boy by her side, the half-Korean girl made sure to secure arms over her head to avoid the rain. She didn't bring her Nevermore merchandise hoodie with her, since she didn't expect it to rain at all today. She was used to this kind of whether and was ready to charge out of the lot and into another wing of the school to meet with her Greek Elites club.

"Wait, Jacqueline." Xavier stopped her, watching her softly turn around to see him, her arms above her head to avoid getting pelted down by the spring showers. She smiled at him, eyes crinkling at the corners that made him reciprocate the gesture on his lips. He shyly raised a hand as a goodbye, biting the inside of his cheek as he waved. "I hope to see you around."

Jacqueline seemed to beam at his words, dark eyes brightening before she called out to him with one hand cupping the side of her mouth to amplify her voice over the chatter of rain.

"Yeah, that'd be nice." The Van de Sand girl called out before giving him a thumbs up, just in case he couldn't hear her. She, then, recited a phrase from their shared Literature class as a parting goodbye, being dramatic as she was and extending an open arm in Xavier's direction. "Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till be morrow."

Xavier laughed at her dramatics, shaking his head before he cupped a hand around his mouth and yelled over the distance between them.

"What?" The artist called out with some confusion, amusement lacing through his tone. It made Jacqueline furrow her brows in his direction in bewilderment.

It wasn't a secret that the Van de Sand girl was a nerd for literature, despite her dyslexia as the analogies, expressions and metaphors seemed to click in her brain. The letters always seemed to swirl in her brain, d's becoming p's and vice versa with some letters in big words swapping places. It annoyed her, but she got there eventually for as long the font was big enough and the letters were spaced out well enough.

"Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet? It's poetry." Jacqueline scoffed with a shake of her head, watching the Thorpe boy shrug at the words. He didn't really like literature since Professor Grimm managed to make the stories he taught positively boring, but it was no surprise that he managed to still pull off being a straight A student. "C'mon, sweetness, pick up a book every once and a while."

The nickname Jacqueline had called him, the same one she had named him in his dream, made his brain whir.

Xavier couldn't help but watch Jacqueline walk backwards from him, the same playful smile curling at her lips as her eyes smiled with her. Lowering her cupped hand from her mouth, Jacqueline only then turned and faced away from him, leaving the imprint of her retreating figure burning from his mind, only looking back once to stick out her tongue at him that reminded him that her words really had no malice to them.

Stepping forward, lips parting to just to call out her name once more, Xavier couldn't help but feel his blood run cold, his tongue feeling heavy as he looked just above her head. Jacqueline seemed to notice his pale face, looking up at the rattling above her head to notice a stone gargoyle coming lose from its perched ledge. It shook with extreme might, wriggling just to teeter off the edge and plunge down to where Jacqueline had been standing.

"Jacqueline, watch out!" Xavier felt his lips move to shout in the dark-haired beauty's direction, but even his shout of her name wasn't enough.

Moving faster than his mouth did, Xavier's instincts kicked in a ran towards the Sandman girl--who stared at the falling gargoyle with complexity--and embrace her in his arms, knocking her out of the way. The gargoyle missed the pair by inches, the stone statue hitting the floor beside her book bag as the Thorpe boy held her in his arms.

Jacqueline's head lulled to the side as his chest heaved, rain soaking the pair through their clothes, but Xavier could care less about the chill that ran through his bones.

All he could care about was her.

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

For every nickel Jacqueline would have because of some sort type misfortune in the Dreaming, she would have two nickels. Well, it wasn't a lot, but they were her nickels.

And Jacqueline was always stingy with money.

The first would come from the fact Xavier Thorpe heard her in his dreams while she made fun of him for dreaming about... well, her. That wasn't normal as far as Jacqueline was concerned, but he was the only dreamer that could. He could feel her going places with him. Feel the ghost of her touch and the warmth of her breath if she dared to come closer.

She wondered if he'd notice she wandered into his memories and see their past. If he'd tried to remember her and the sculpt of her face she'd always catch him drawing last semester. She wondered if he thought about her too, if the world they lived in would be a little different if they were side-by-side.

She wondered if he ever got to read the letter she wrote him before he forgot about her.

The second time, however, would be right now. A unfortunate accident leading her down another rabbit hole and into a dreamless sleep where there weren't any familiar skyscrapers littering the corners of her subconscious--and where she would fall from and dissipating into smoke and black sand before she could ever hit the ground--or hot dog stands sitting in the curb.

Her subconscious always painted itself to look like the city she grew up in; Queens, New York, where she could propel herself through the air like Spider-Man and come back home to the faint smell of Chinese food from her uncle's restaurant.

But, that wasn't what it looked like here.

Bleak, empty and dark was all Jacqueline could think of the place. It was like the isolated part of her brain where no one could contact her, where her mind would wander when she'd go into autopilot and space out. The most light she had was a singular yellow light lamp that hung over her head, casting harsh lines onto her porcelain skin as her boots squeaked against the water that seemed to cover every inch of the damp and cold room she stayed in.

Every step she took, water would splash around her ankles and soaking the cuffs of her jeans. It'd stick to her skin in an almost revolting way, making her crinkle her nose and cup her hands around her lips, calling out into the emptiness that greeted her.

"Dad, you can't keep calling me here if I..." Jacqueline's words died in her throat as soon as she heard her own voice echo back at her. She rolled her eyes, more so in frustration as she span around in a circle. The Van de Sand girl looked for any and every sign of life this bleak dimension offered her, but was met with nothing. "Seriously, where is that old-"

The opera singer paused her words as she saw an old, hunched over woman staring at her with piercing amber eyes. She wore a thick cloak that seemed to drag into the watery floor, the fabric absorbing more weight than the old woman could carry. Grabbing the light fixture above her head, Jacqueline nearly jumped out of her own skin when shining the dull light on the woman, her face twisted with age and sagging with doubt and regret.

The Van de Sand sucked in a breath, the old woman dressed in woven cloth closer than she was before.

"Hey, girl." Jacqueline greeted awkwardly with a half-smile, keeping the light fixture on the other woman as she inched closer. Though nameless, the old woman scolded her like her halmoni, a sneer bubbling in her throat as she addressed her as if she were pure sin. Pointing a crooked finger in her direction, the dark-haired beauty couldn't help but recoil slightly as the woman trudge forward.

"I have searched far and wide for you, half-blood. Why must you only be available when no light is all you flood?" The old crone rhymed with a hiss, suddenly closer than she was before and circling the daughter of Morpheus with judgmental eyes. Jacqueline did the same, spinning in circles to keep up with the elderly woman's gaze with a raised brow and a scoff.

Of course the old woman in her dreams spoke in riddles and rhymes. She knew by the way she talked that she was here because of her. She needed something from her.

Jacqueline tried not to be rude and roll her eyes in irritation.

"Look, lady. I don't deal with prophecy shit. That's more Oracle territory and I'm just trying to exist out here-" Jacqueline nearly choked on her own saliva as the old woman grabbed her by her face sharply, callouses and aged skin scratching at her supple cheeks and chin. The old woman stared at her with bright, amber eyes that only seemed to gleam brighter in the darkness. She squeezed her face in her hand, making Jacqueline's words slightly muffled. "Why are you touching my face? This is so weird-"

The pair gasped for air, Jacqueline's and the old woman's heads thrown back as they stood in place, mouths agape. Amber light illuminated from the elderly woman, her cloak falling past her shoulders to reveal the third eye hidden beneath her hood. It opened slowly, the eye glowing green as the whites in Jacqueline's disappeared in favor of an unsettling black glossing over her entire eye.

Black veins settled in beneath her eyes, the bags beneath them now more prominent as a voice she couldn't even recognize as her own began to speak. The old woman began chanting with her, toned with age and croaks as she recited a prophecy given to the old maiden by the Gods to give to her. If she focused hard enough, the daughter of Morpheus could hear the faint spell of her brother's voice singing with them, see the searing white light that opposed her darkly-clouded pair.

"'The work of one must be doubled,
moon and sun worlds will be troubled.
For love becomes a waging war
the truth can no longer be ignored.
She is the key by raven's eye
but in the end, she shall die.
Protect her now while she is at peace,
for if they fail she releases the beast.
Be warned if wings and poppies answer their call
He will put them to trial once and for all.'"

The older woman pushed her away roughly, forcing the black in Jacqueline's eyes shrink back to the size of her pupils. The veins beneath her eyes vanished and sinking back into her porcelain skin, now more faded shade than the prominent dark shadow that was there. Jacqueline gasped for air as she stared at the woman with a heated gaze of anger and disgust, her chest heaving for every breath.

She didn't say anything, she couldn't. Not while the old crone stared at her with a credulous look. It was as if she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, the look she gave her naming herself entitled as if Jacqueline owed her because of her foretold prophecy.

Now, don't get her wrong. Jacqueline loved her halmoni and respected senior citizens--to a certain degree--but if she could, she would knock that old woman's dentures out of her mouth.

"Heed my prophecy, young terror. For if you fail, you will cause great error." The Oracle spoke in a wised tone as she began to fade away from this delirious daydream, and disappear into the ongoing darkness that surrounded them. The light that illuminated from her forehead dimming the further she were away, leaving Jacqueline to force herself awake as her voice echoed in her ears.

Looking to the left of her, Jacqueline breathed a sigh of relief at the notice of a familiar door with a decorative red lantern hanging above it and the words 'Golden Noodle House' etched in gold text was printed on the glass.

Trudging through the heavy waters, Jacqueline took one last glance around the bleak dream, the water that soaked through the bottom of her jeans making her steps slower. Once she was sure she was alone, the Van de Sand girl pushed open the door and stepped into it.

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

𝘅𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗲'𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘃

Xavier Thorpe's tongue poked at his cheek as he sat in the vacant seat by Jacqueline Van de Sand's bedside. His hands couldn't stop pulling at his clothes, neck stiff from his eyes wandering from her face and off to the wall at every little movement she made.

It was terrible trying to get Jacqueline to sit still, even in her sleep as she made comments under her breath and tried to walk away when he had set her down in the infirmary bed. Despite the old saying, never try to wake up a sleepwalker, Xavier managed to wrangle the half-Korean girl in a comfortable enough position to get her to properly rest her head.

And it only took him a narrow miss of Jacqueline's punch to his throat to do so.

She was never a sleepwalker, Xavier whispered to himself as he plucked her Mary Janes off of her feet and resting her socked feet beneath the covers, but he didn't understand why he would know such a fact like that. However, even he could tell Jacqueline must've been dreaming so vividly to react in such a way.

It was strange to be so close to her, someone who could disappear and reappear without much thought to being caught. Like, standing next to a ghost... except his ghost had a temper and an attitude.

However, Xavier didn't think he'd get used to it as fast as he did. It was weird, sure, but what was weird was that it felt... familiar. It was strange how he could welcome a walking nightmare into his space without protest.

Ever since then, Xavier couldn't stop himself from tossing and turning, his mind running a mile a minute at his every waking moment. He thought of her. He couldn't stop thinking about Jacqueline Van de Sand and her taunting voice, her parting words and her affinity for teasing him with every little thing he did. He couldn't see her, yet he felt like he had known every detail about her like her waltzing into his head unannounced was natural for her.

Like it was natural for the both of them.

The Thorpe boy's hazel eyes carefully drifted from the Nevermore jacket he had dropped over her figure to the way she gripped it in her hands. Her nails bit into the purple fabric, her body shifting beneath the makeshift blanket that covered her body. Fingers long and slender, he could see the slightest bruising from her knuckles, rubbing her face into the jacket with a soft, blissful smile as a familiar scent of sandalwood and vanilla filled her nose, luring her deeper into her dreaming.

Xavier felt the tip of his lips curl upwards of the action, a soft laugh breathing through his nose. He wondered if he could blackmail her by taking a picture of such an innocent act by the rambunctious and smart-mouthed girl. It'd be weird, but he would do anything to keep the girl out of his head.

She sniffled in her sleep, a snore or two leaving her lips as her head moved side-to-side, a dark and thick halo forming as the wispiest of hairs stuck to the pillow beneath her head. Xavier resisted the urge to draw her like this, to draw her while she was still at peace and not at war with him.

Now, Xavier was never good with his words. Not in the way he was good at capturing absolute beauty with pen and paper, but the best way he could write about Jacqueline would be how one would describe the sight of the moon. Light, beautiful and observing, the type of person that would make people stop and stare as she changed phases as she changed the look in her eyes. She was the other lonely soul he would extend an open palm to when nights felt particularly lonely, when his runs no longer felt euphoric and fulfilling.

He always loved the moon.

He wonder where she'd go when dawn finally arrive, where the sun would take her place and the night no longer reigned. Why would people talk about the sun, when the moon overlooks the dreamers? Why associate the night with terrible darkness when the moon and her beauty, skin aglow, warmed him when the chills of the night would nip at his skin?

Xavier blinked away his thoughts with a furrow between his brows, eyes drawing her pretty features delicately, starting with the curve of her lips to the supple skin that plumped her pink cheeks. Then, he'd discover the shape of her eyes and wondered what color they'd be and by then, he'd reach her eyebrows, the shape straight and full.

He licked his lips as he sat up straighter, examining her further.

He knew this face.

Last night, he'd drawn it over and over again to try and get it right. Though, he was afraid of never properly catching her beauty and more so afraid of getting it wrong. His hands would cramp at trying to get the waves of her hair right, fixing the shape of her lips and nose, the evidence clear in the slight stain of grey that marked his skin.

He knew she was beautiful, Xavier concluded, regardless of if he could see her face or not. It's just never occurred to him that the Jacqueline--Nevermore's menace of the night--before his very eyes and that opera singer he had met in the same night... could be the exact same person.

The Thorpe boy realized that he was... wrong on how he depicted her. How he showed Jacqueline what she looked like to him in his dreams and why she had even stuttered out a response.

He had drawn her, but didn't think to capture the bits of her that distinctly made her beautiful in his eyes.

Jacqueline had three moles and a scar on her face. One mole was on her jaw, the other above her right eyebrow on the same side and lastly, one on the opposite side of cheek. The scar she bore was close to the mole on her eyebrow, though faint but present. He had missed it when he had seen her smiling during fencing practice, but it was now obvious when being this close to her.

Before he could even stop himself, the long-haired boy pushed the stray hair that tickled her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. It was a gesture that was strangely familiar to him, one that allowed the softest of smiles to appear when Jacqueline giggled quietly.

Suddenly, Xavier cleared his throat and looked to the other side of him, hazel eyes leaving her sleeping figure. He knew if Jacqueline had caught him in such a compromising position, she'd call him a freak and haunt him for the rest of the semester, or maybe worse.

Laugh at him.

The artist's eyes darted to the door of the infirmary, seeing the school nurse waltz in with a blanket in hand. They met eyes, the long-haired boy--his chestnut locks now tied in a bun--quick to stand as he reached to remove the coat he had draped over her figure, but her knowing giggle stopped him as he fumbled.

"Honey, you can leave your girlfriend here. She's in good hands." The nurse had a Southern accent to her, long blonde hair pulled into a knot as she worked with several Nevermore students. He hadn't visited the nurse before--as he never had the reason to--but he remembered she had been rumored to have been gifted with a healing sort-of magic. Like a witch, but could heal people with a quick kiss to the head.

She gave him a knowing smile as if she had seen him just... observing Jacqueline as she slept. The same way an artist would hold their muses up on a pedestal as if adoration and awe would ever be enough to describe how he looked at her the moment she had caught him.

"She's not my..." Xavier blushed as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, taking his place back in his seat as the nurse placed the blanket at the foot of her bed. The healer could only let out a boisterous laugh, waving him off before walking away. The Thorpe boy quickly mumbled his next set of words, the awkward air finally setting in as he spared a quick glance in the Van de Sand girl's direction. "Just wanna make sure she's alright."

"Crazy, old lady touching my face..." Jacqueline mumbled with a grunt, drawing the artist's attention to her quickly as she began to stir awake. Her feet began to kick beneath the blanket, her shoes casted at the end of her bed as the Thorpe boy wanted her to be as comfortable as possible. Xavier stood from his seat, eyes curious as he watched the sleepwalker's eyes fly open, blinking to adjust to the light in the infirmary. "Xavier?"

Her voice was soft, almost confused as she stared ahead of her, Xavier's face greeting her as he stood above her. He had a small smile on his face, watching Jacqueline carefully sitting up on her elbows as his jacket began to slip off of her small figure.

"You snore in your sleep." Xavier greeted her, all he could say to her before she threw a small glare at him. The Thorpe boy grinned as he tilted his head to the half-Korean girl as she stretched out her arms, relieving a small crack from her back. "Welcome back from the dead."

Just as Jacqueline came closer, sitting up properly with a crack in her neck, Xavier sat down quickly as he looked back at her. Jacqueline scratched her back as she grumbled, "yay, me" under her breath before looking around the room she was in.

She closed her eyes tightly, wincing at the throbbing pain at the side of her head as she frowned deeply. Racking her brain for the prior events before landing herself in the infirmary, she could only get so far before her temples began to pulse. She gasped softly and immediately brought her pointer and middle finger to the throbbing area and applied pressure to it, rubbing the area in circles.

"God, did my brain roll out of my head when you tackled me?" Jacqueline grumbled with a deep frown

"You know, most people just say 'thank you' when someone saves their life." Xavier retorted with a curl to his lips. He watched the half-Korean girl pick at the Nevermore uniform jacket with dainty hands, lips parted in realization as she looked at it, then at him and spotting her own jacket--embroidered with pink thread in a small heart in the lapel--sitting on the back of Xavier's seat.

"I was gonna get out of the way." The Van de Sand girl argued back stubbornly, making the Thorpe boy in the chair scoff as he leaned forward to rest his elbows again his knees. His stretched and pulled at his fingers slightly, shaking his head at her tone before looking at her through his lashes.

"When? When you finally decide to take your eyes off that gargoyle that was about to make you a Jackie-pancake?" Xavier asked, his tone lacing with disbelief at the grouchy girl before him who had gripped the lapels of his jacket tightly in fists, a small frown on her pretty features.

Sighing exasperatedly, Jacqueline put held the jacket in one hand before smacking her hand down and into the cushiony mattress. She draped her covered legs carefully over the edge of the bed, straightening out her skirt as she tilted her neck side-to-side with eyes closed.

"You've known me for, what? Five minutes and you suddenly become my brother?" Jacqueline snarked, which made Xavier furrow his brows at her newfound frustration. He wasn't sure if he had done something in the last minute or so that triggered the Van de Sand girl, but seeing her so... peeved compared to her teasing and bubbly self just moments earlier in the rain made him frustrated too.

"I was just looking out for you." Xavier argued with a deep sigh, stressing a hand through his brunet locks as he avoided her curious gaze that seemed to follow and breathe his every movement. "You're... You're Jackson's sister. He's sorta my friend, so..."

Xavier trailed off, unsure of what else to say to justify why he was sitting here by her bedside. As much as he knew, Jacqueline and himself haven't spoken much, so he didn't understand why he felt the urge to wait till her pretty chocolate-colored eyes would open to greet him. Sure, if he believed his own lie that he was looking out for her because of Jackson being his friend, then maybe that'd make studying every mole and freckle that would dot her skin more reasonable.

Except for the fact him and Jackson sort of hated each other.

They were friends with the same people and hung out around the same time with minimal interactions, but when he had been dating Bianca, he never failed to miss the dirty looks Jackson would send him. Even after the break up, the residue of his burning hatred was still there every time they would be left alone together.

And if the older Van de Sand twin found out about what happened to him and Jacqueline, Xavier could only imagine what hell Jackson would give him.

"Do you want an out of this conversation, or do you possibly want to make it worse?" Jacqueline asked dryly, her face twisting to mimic how she felt internally. Her eyes were narrowed, almost suspiciously and were staring at him in the corner of her almond-shaped eyes. Her lips were downturned, not giving much of a smile as she did earlier.

She wasn't sure if she was in a sour mood because of Xavier, or because of the old hag that seemed to like grabbing her face and had given her a life-changing prophecy.

"Last time I checked, your power was to control dreams, not read minds." The taller boy recalled with a bite to the inside of his cheek, gently moving Jacqueline's shoes closer to her teetering figure as she sat closer to the edge. She mumbled a quiet 'thank you' as she picked up one shoe to fasten onto her foot. Her fingers seemed to tremble. From what, he wasn't sure, but all he could do was silently take it from her hands, watching them ball of into tight fists to calm the adrenaline that surged through her.

He did it as if it were routine, and all Jacqueline could do--despite the voice in her head telling her to reject his kindness--was allow him to help her in silence.

Oh, Xavier Thorpe. Always the gentleman.

"First of all, it's nightmares. I don't have these beauties under my eyes for decoration." Jacqueline grumbled as she touched the skin below her eyes tenderly, feeling Xavier gaze up at her with a scoff and put her foot on his knee and buckle the small fastener. "And I do not control them. I'm just... able to see them. The mind is a weird place."

Xavier's fingers tingled a sensation of warmth against the covered area of her ankle, making Jacqueline stiffen with a bite to her cheek. He moved the leg warmer up her calf, making her sigh deeply.

"And for the record, my mom's still playing that cat and mouse game with my dad, so I have an idea of where this conversation would go." The half-Korean girl added quietly whilst Xavier tapped the top of her shoe, which she pulled away--swallowing her confession that she'd miss the butterflies he had left in his wake--and swung childishly next to her socked foot.

The Thorpe boy seemed to pick up on her mumble of a confession, watching her look around her and at the floor for her shoe's other half. It wasn't until Xavier had picked it up, holding it out to her before pulling it away from her reach quickly just as she reached for it.

"Oh, yeah? Enlighten me." Xavier humored with her left shoe above his head, making Jacqueline wonder if it really was worth punching him in the gut over.

Tongue poking her cheek, the Van de Sand decided to humor him with the byproduct of the gears turning on her head with a sure nod. Scooting closer to the edge, Jacqueline crossed her legs and leaned back on her hands.

"Alright, I'll bite. You say something that'll make me think that you were doing me, or my brother, a favor, which will only infuriate me and I end up dodging you for the rest of the semester." Jacqueline mused with conclusion, as if the scene played out in her head was something from a movie, and knowing how she ticked, Xavier could only assume that it was. Just as she moved to grab her shoe from his hold, the tortured artist of Nevermore extended his arm further from her grasp.

Her dark eyes narrowed at him, which he reciprocated with a raised brow.

"So, you're a seer now?" Xavier asked with a twitch to both his eyebrow and the tip of his full lips, not wanting to give the Van de San girl the satisfaction of his amusement with her. However, his attempts to hide his delight became futile as the dark-haired beauty inched closer, leaning in with her own sort of charm twinkling into her eyes.

He could tell she was enjoying this banter as well.

"I watch a lot of movies. There's only so much I can do before daylight fades." Jacqueline informed with a sure nod, kicking her feet in the air with a soft smile on her face. It was like she was mocking him, making him him breathe a laugh and chew at his bottom lip.

"Are you always this full of yourself?" Xavier sighed exasperatedly, combing a hand through his brunet locks.

"Are you always full of shit?" Jacqueline quizzed with some enthusiasm to her voice, standing to her full height as Xavier did the same. He looked down at her carefully, green-hazel eyes tracing her features with furrows brows as she reached to his side and grabbed her shoe out of his lowered hand. "As much as I love this banter between us, I actually have things to do before the sun sets."

Dropping it to the ground, Jacqueline stepped into it, stomping around in it in curiosity to how far she'd get with one unbuckled shoe and away from the Thorpe boy's teasing. She was always the one who was used to the teasing--especially then, when it came to him--not the one on the receiving end of it.

Moving around him with a slight hop to her step, Xavier turned as his eyes followed her every move, letting her shrug on her coat with a casual flip over her shoulders. She moved to grab her purse, but even then Xavier decided to be a little shit and juggle it out of her grasp.

"Yeah, like what?" The brunet asked with a nod of his head, switching the shoulder bag between his hands as Jacqueline tried to reach around him and get it out of his grasp. He was messing with her, prolonging her stay with him before she'd dissipate into thin air again.

"I haven't decided yet, but I do know that I want to be anywhere but here." Jacqueline whispered as their faces were etched closer, Xavier feeling the warmth of her breath that ignited sparks along the skin of the his neck. His adam's apple bobbed as Jacqueline dissipated into smoke and black sand before her eyes, then feeling her snatch the purse that was hidden behind his back.

Satisfied with a brilliant smile stretching onto her pretty features, Jacqueline dissipated once more and closer to the door as she patted down all of her pockets with a careful nod. Just before she could leave the infirmary with her chin held up high, Xavier caught her attention as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're welcome for the save, sweetness." Xavier casually called her, using the nickname she had called him times before. As if predicting her next move, the Thorpe boy caught her dissipating once more to only appear closer to him, arms crossed over her own chest as his lowered with a cocky grin etched onto his pretty features.

"Let's get something absolutely clear here, Thorpe. That's my thing, have some originality." Jacqueline hissed with a deep frown, jabbing a finger into his firm chest with narrowed eyes.

"So, what do you want to be called then?" Xavier quizzed with a tilt of his head, hands lifted up in defense against the half-Korean girl's glare at the use of her nickname against her.

"Your highness has a nice ring to it." Jacqueline thought aloud with a smile, menacing smile to her face, making the Thorpe boy shake her head at his dramatics. Just as she turned around to make a grand exit and away from the taunting boy before her, she tripped on her shoes and catching herself before she'd hit the floor. Xavier whistled and pointed at her, still, unbuckled shoe with a smug smirk. "This isn't over."

Jacqueline spared a look at the loose shoe before frowning at him, hopping to the opposite side of the bed and sitting there instead, her back facing him. She began to fiddle with the buckle and sliding the thin leather beneath it.

"We'll see about that, princess." Xavier mused with a hum, a small smile etched onto his handsome features as he further taunted--more like, irritated--the half-Korean girl. She looked over her shoulder with a short-lived glare and grabbing his jacket with curled fingers.

"I'll strangle you." Jacqueline threatened with a scowl at the nickname the taller boy had given her, attempting to suppress the pink that glowed at her cheek as she quickly fastened the straps of her Mary Janes, pulling her white leg warmers over her ankles. Tossing her hair over her shoulders and tying it into a low, puffy bun, the Van de Sand girl took the jacket that had once draped over her petite figure and shoved it into the Thorpe boy's chest.

Just as she was about to leave, the Thorpe boy took one look at his jacket in his arms and back at the retreating girl's figure, watching her perk up at his next set of words.

"You won't." Xavier countered with a shit-eating grin, eyes glinting with delight as Jacqueline marched to his standing figure with a heated gaze. His lips parted slightly as he felt the half-Korean girl loop a finger around his tie and pull him closer to her face. Although she didn't visibly appear to be flustered, Xavier couldn't help but swallow at their proximity, his tongue wetting his lips as she clutched at his tie.

"Don't underestimate me, sweetness. This'll be over when I say it's over." Jacqueline grumbled in warning, making Xavier poke his cheek with his tongue, eyebrow raised curiously to see what the shorter girl could possibly plan. She didn't hide her scowl--that only seemed to deepen with every word the Thorpe boy breathed, reminding her why she semi-hated the artist before her--before she pushed him away from her face and her glowing cheeks.

Turning on her heel, the Van de Sand girl sped walk out of the room just after throwing his jacket back at his face, fist clenched at her side as she shrugged on her purse. Xavier breathed a sigh of bewilderment and amusement at the short-tempered girl's retreating figure, only chuckling now as Jacqueline called back out to him with a huff of frustration only he could ever give her.

"I can feel you gloating!" Jacqueline's voice echoed, making the Thorpe boy shake his head at her determination.

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

Jacqueline was never good with confrontation. She was always used to letting people shout in her face before she got snarky, which was a bad habit she'd been trying to break. Although she felt a little bad about what happened with Xavier back in the infirmary, she knew that she couldn't stay there. Not with him and not with the way he looked at her.

That was the past, Jacqueline insisted as she tried to focus on the small device in her hand and the prophecy she had received. Her mind couldn't help but wandered back to him and his dimpled smile and habit of tucking hair behind his ear whenever he got nervous. She couldn't focus on anything but him.

It was fucking annoying.

The Van de Sand girl recited the old woman's words in her head to replace the thought of Xavier, remembering the damp and coolness of the lonely corner of the dreamless. She remembered hearing her brother's voice chant the words with her and that crazy old prophet, but what she couldn't get over was what happened to her.

She remembered feeling an explosion of warmth, like she was meant to become something that expanded her pupil into the whites of her eyes and heavy, dark veins beneath her eyes. It was like a demon from hell, a possession of some kind Jacqueline couldn't put the tip of her tongue to. She wondered if she'd seen in somewhere. A Greek mythology book, maybe?

What kind of demon that looks like that lives in the Dreaming?

Jacqueline was quickly drawn from her thoughts when her phone buzzed in her hand, her thumb sweeping against her lock screen--which just so happened to be a picture of her brother falling down a flight of stairs back in their apartment space because it made her laugh--to unlock the camera function.

She stared at the face on the screen, gently pulling the phone's camera closer to her face as she pulled at the skin beneath her eyes carefully. Her irises still had the same dark brown hue to them with some light bouncing off of them, the bags beneath her eyes prominent but not enough to show the detail of shadowed veins like in her dream.

Swallowing, the half-Korean girl opened her phone and swiped through her apps to find her chatroom with her older brother. Quickly tapping on the keyboard, the letters that were presented to her slowly began to pull together into sentences.

Lynn 🌚
just got out of the infirmary
we need to talk

Jacks 🌞
busy rn
what's up?

Lynn 🌚
xavier saved me from a gargoyle
then i got a prophecy
some old hag came into my dreams

Jacks 🌞
wtf you almost died??
AND XAVIER THORPE MANHANDLED YOUR TINY ASS 💀💀

Jacqueline gasped as she paused her steps towards her dormitory, eyebrows furrowed at the device in her hands with a look of offense taking over her pretty features. Her thumbs moved faster than her mind did, the dyslexic-friendly text on her phone making insulting her older twin brother easier.

It was one thing to talk about Xavier saving her from imminent death--though Jacqueline will never admit he was her savior--but to talk about her ass? Absolutely not.

Lynn 🌚
MY ASS IS BIGGER THAN YOURS??
bitch talking like he doesn't have a fucking plank to shake?

Another ding sounded from her phone that made her look back down at her phone, her steps still carrying her down the familiar corridors to Ophelia Hall. A small laugh bubbled from her throat as his message appeared in their chatroom, a soft smile playing on her lips as his dramatics.

They messaged each other back and forth, each text sent between the pair of twins taking a second or two for their brains to declutter the letters before them. Jackson had always been a slow texter, so Jacqueline was eagerly keeping her nose to her phone as she awaited the half-Korean boy's responses and array of emojis.

Jacks 🌞
YOURE DONE
YOURE DONE
i hope that gargoyle crushes you next time

Lynn 🌚
i hope my gofundme to get you a BBL goes well <33

Jacks 🌞
fr tho
givejacksonanasstoshake.gofundme
but we don't handle prophecies
isn't that some apollo shit??

Lynn 🌚
maybe it was him in a dress
but you got it too, right? (unsent)

Jacqueline's thumb managed to slip from her phone as her shoulders were roughly pushed, making her grunt at the impact. Dropping her phone, the half-Korean girl sighed as she bent her knees to pick it up before standing to her full height once more to catch three pairs of ocean-blue eyes glaring back at her.

She raised a brow at their triangle formation, as if mocking them for their Regina George triad cliché. Bianca Barclay, of course, was at the center with her arms crossed over her chest with Divinia and Kent on either side of her.

"You must be new here..." Divinia started with a scowl, blue-eyes looking the dark-haired beauty up and down as she swept a lock of her short, brown hair over her shoulder. Jacqueline resisted the urge to roll her own dark pair of eyes, staying put instead of walking in the other direction.

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious as to why three sirens decided to corner her like this in broad daylight.

"New to this school, no. New to you, possibly." Jacqueline mused with a pouted lip as if in thought. This only seemed to piss Divinia and Kent off at her nonchalance while Bianca humorously laugh at her words. The triad inched closer, but the Van de Sand girl stayed put and unamused at their attempt to intimidate her.

Jacqueline wondered if they'd come together and transform like they were the Power Rangers, their faces stark serious enough for a cutscene.

"You think you're so funny, huh?" Kent huffed with clenched fists and a locked jaw. He took another step towards her, allowing her dark eyes to focus on him with an observant eye. Kent was a head taller than she was with long, brown looks that seemed to always look wet. Even if he wasn't the smartest among the student population, Jacqueline knew he was more of a brute force in the water.

"Personally, I think I'm hilarious." The half-Korean girl answered with a tilt of her lips before getting fed up with the lack of focus to why they were here. With her lack of patience for any of the three sirens before her, Jacqueline decided to heave a soft sigh and shake her head, turning on her heels and walking off, only making it a couple of inches away from the triad before Bianca called out to her.

"You know, just because your brother is pretty popular around here, that doesn't mean you get a pass at jabbing at people." Bianca retorted with a twisted smile, tilting her head to the side almost menacingly. Jacqueline stopped in her tracks with pink lips parted, her back facing the siren's smug smile. "Especially when you decide to take off with their ex-boyfriends."

Jacqueline laughed, a whole hearted chuckle escaping her lips at her words. It was always about him to Bianca, especially since it was no secret that the dark-skinned siren was trying to get Nevermore's tortured artist back into her arms. A small smile curled at her lips as she faced Bianca's hardened pretty features, the Van de Sand girl taking a few steps towards her.

"Your boyfriend went after me. I don't have a say in what he does and frankly, I don't think you do, either." Jacqueline pointed at herself with a raised brow, making Bianca release a faux chuckle from her lips. She didn't seem to find this situation just as amusing as Jacqueline did.

"I'm just warning you since Xavier has taken such an... interest in a nobody like you." Bianca mused, venom spitting from her glossed lips, nose twitching as Jacqueline nodded carefully at her words. It felt like she wasn't listened at all, which infuriated the Barclay girl and her siren sidekicks could even feel the frustration that radiated off of her. "It won't last long, he just has this habit of getting distracted by new, shiny things. He'll get bored eventually and come back to me."

"Is this assurance for you, or for me?" The Van de Sand girl proposed with a sly smile, leaning forward in nonchalance as she taunted the Barclay girl over the Thorpe boy with full cheeks and a giggle. Pulling away just as fast as she leaned in, Jacqueline was quick to turn away and wave a hand in the air, signaling the end of their discussion. "And tell Xavier I say hi! You know, when he gets bored of me."

Jacqueline smirked as she heard the head siren growl with her minions comforting her.

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

word count: 17570
edited: NO 💀💀

hey lovelies <33 IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME I POSTED AND FINISHED THIS CHAPTER and if you see an unfinished bits, no you didn't

it's unbelievable how long this is and  istg i haven't wrote this much since earlier in the year?? like, babe, i'm literally in school fighting for my life rn and this chapter is so long it made me want to cry

anyway, as always, ty for everyone's patience w me while i get my shit together! idk how long the next one will be, but i hope y'all enjoyed my baby jackie and xavier's banter <33 potential enemies to lovers but not really because jackie's just a menace all the time

happy holidays and happy new years babes and i hope to see you in the next one and in my wednesday fic journey!! pls vote and comment (i'd really appreciate it if you do) and have a good night/morning/afternoon/evening!!

love, leplum