"And you're not what I asked for.
If I'm honest,
I know I would give it all back
For a chance to start over and rewrite an ending or two
For the girl that I knew."
AS SOON AS lunch was over, I bid good bye to Jake and Wes and the rest of Jake's friends. Before I left though, Wes made me promise to come and eat with them more often. With a wave, I turned and headed to the Art Dome for my unsupervised art class since my art teacher was still on a sick leave, although I heard from other classmates that Mrs. Lodge was enjoying a vacation in the Bahamas.
I couldn't complain, however, since having one less person breathing down my neck while I painted was a big relief. It seemed like everyone was more interested in everyone else's art rather than their own, and I often found it distracting every time one of my classmates happened to 'pass by'.
I walked into the building, where true to its name, was shaped like a giant glass dome. The Art Dome itself was a work of art, and according to the gold plaque on the outside of the building, it was designed by a Meilleurean alumni who was now one of the most renowned architects in the world. Heading to the storage room where all the unfinished art pieces were kept in their separate lockers, I quickly got mine out of my locker. I tried to find an empty, quiet space to continue painting, but not before heading to the supplies closet, which was really just a huge art studio transformed into a storage area for paint, clay, canvas and spare brushes and pencils. I grabbed the paint I needed and found a relatively quiet corner away from the noise and sat down.
Just as I began to paint a few strokes of dark royal blue, I heard someone knock something over behind me. Jumping from the sudden sound, I whipped my head around to look at who had disturbed me.
"What are you doing here?" Logan Marshall asked, frowning slightly. He looked as if he hadn't expected to see me here, which I suppose was because I was in a place that was hardly visited by anyone.
"What are you doing here?" I questioned with furrowed eyebrows, in which Logan responded with a raised eyebrow.
"Why, I go to school here, sunshine," Logan replied sarcastically, and I was slightly taken aback by how snappy he sounded. Realising this, Logan flinched and then sighed.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't mean to sound so rude."
Pursing my lips, I looked at the boy in front of me and tilted my head to one side.
"Bad day?"
"You have no idea," he sighed, shaking his head. Then, his usual cheeky smile appeared on his face, making me feel a little giddy. As much as I didn't want to admit it, boys like Logan only needed to smile to get what he wanted.
"I know you don't take art, so why are you here?" I probed, setting my paintbrush down and turning my body to face him. Logan hesitated, licking his rosy lips.
"I'm...here to check the condition of the place. My mother funded this place, so I have to make sure the facilities are in good condition from time to time," he explained half-heartedly, before glancing at his watch almost impatiently.
"You look like there's something else you're here for," I quipped, and Logan's eyes widened as if he was a deer caught in headlights.
"Man, you're just like Yuko. Nothing gets past you, huh?" Logan muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I was supposed to meet someone here."
"Oh," I said, pursing my lips. "Secret lover?"
Logan raised his eyebrows, then laughed softly.
"Far from it," he said, smiling gently. "She's not like that."
"Oooh," I sang, rubbing my hands together. My interest piqued the moment he told me he was meeting someone here, but now I couldn't resist keeping my nose out of his business. "Who is the lucky girl?"
Logan sighed before taking a seat on one of the beanbags on the floor. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of him on a beanbag. His long legs spread out in front of him awkwardly as he struggled to sit straight. His confused and lost expression was almost cute. Almost.
"Stop laughing," Logan grumbled, still struggling to stop from sinking down into the beanbag. He let out a loud sigh after struggling for a while and let the beanbag engulf his large frame. His broad shoulders were scrunched awkwardly and he had an adorable little frown on his face. Unlike his two friends, when he frowned, he actually looked super cute. Like a frustrated puppy.
"You look ridiculous," I snorted, earning a glare from him.
"I should tell my mother to invest in some proper chairs," he mumbled, making me laugh at how serious he sounded.
"I don't get why this is so funny to you," Logan admitted when I didn't stop laughing, scrunching up his eyebrows.
"You look like a giant trying to fit in a dollhouse," I blurted out, bursting into another fit of giggles. Logan scowled and tried to get up from the beanbag, only to slip and fall back into it. I laughed so hard, tears started to form in my eyes.
"The next time you and your friends are being twats, I'm just going to make all of you sit in a beanbag," I laughed. Logan glared at me, but his expression showed a hint of playfulness.
"Come on," I beckoned, offering him a hand. He shot me a grateful look before grabbing my hand, but when he was halfway up, I let go of my grip, causing him to plonk back into the beanbag. I let out a bark of laughter.
"Oh man, this is too good!" I choked out, slapping my thigh loudly as I laughed at him. Logan only crossed his arms and glared childishly at me.
"I'm telling on you," Logan protested, which only made me laugh harder.
"What? Are you really going to tell the principal?" I laughed, wiping my eyes.
"Oh no," Logan exclaimed, "I'm telling Robin."
"Robin?" I repeated dramatically, eyes widening as I placed a hand over my heart.
"Oh lord, protect me from the evil spawn of Satan and his designer shoes," I cried dramatically.
And the most amazing thing happened next— Logan Marshall cracked a smile. A big, toothy grin that showed all of his pearly whites and made the breath hitch in my throat.
"You should smile more," I commented softly.
"As do you," Logan replied, his grin relaxing into a small smile.
"I smile," I protested.
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile. Perhaps it's because every time I see you, you tend to be glaring at Robin and Asher."
"Can you blame me?" I countered, and Logan chuckled.
"Touché," Logan said, resting his chin on the palm of his hand as he looked at me.
"So...who's the mystery girl?" I asked again, and Logan cringed.
"I was hoping you'd forget about that," he sighed. "You're not going to give up until I give you a name, right?"
"You know me," I winked. "Extremely persevering."
Logan stared at me, looking as if he was debating whether or not to open up. Finally, he cursed under his breath and laughed.
"Crap, you do know that you have the ability to make people want to spill all their secrets to you, right?" Logan joked, blowing air out of his mouth and sinking back into his beanbag. Then, with a tiny voice, he murmured, "Bianca Harding."
"What?" I squeaked, staring at him with wide eyes. Bianca Harding?
"I knew you would react this way," Logan sighed miserably, burying his face in his hands. "This would be how the rest of my friends would've reacted too."
"But you're actually nice," I said, my statement sounding more like a question. "If I had to guess who Bianca would be friends with, I would assume it was Asher."
"'Cause they're both scary?" Logan snorted, raising an eyebrow.
"Obviously," I muttered. "Asher's honestly like the boy version of her. Made of complete ice."
"They're not that terrible," Logan said quietly. When he saw the unconvinced expression on my face, he sighed. "I'm not lying to you, sunshine. Bianca used to be really, really nice."
"What happened?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing together at the very thought of Bianca ever being pleasant. As hard as I tried, I couldn't imagine her doing a single nice thing for anyone. Logan bit his lip, a sad expression taking over his handsome face.
"I really wish I had an answer to that," he sighed. "We grew up together, Bianca and I. Our parents were good friends when they studied here. I've been friends with her way before I knew the boys. But she changed suddenly, like a flip of a switch. It was as if she woke up one day and decided that she was tired of being nice."
"So you're not friends anymore?" I asked, biting my lip. Logan shrugged his shoulders, checking his watch one more time.
"I suppose not," he muttered, although it sounded as if he was talking to himself. "We were supposed to meet here fifteen minutes ago, but she's nowhere to be seen. My parents wanted me to invite her to come over for dinner for old times' sake."
"I find it a little hard to imagine her being anything but mean," I admitted, and Logan laughed.
"I know, right? It's like she's a completely different person," he said wistfully. "I wish she would just talk to me."
"She and her friends strike me as the kind of people that would never pass up an opportunity to talk to you and your friends," I commented, frowning slightly.
"I'm pretty sure none of them actually care about us," Logan snorted. "They just do it for show."
"Well, they seem a little bit too invested in playing a good role," I muttered, my mind taking me back to the Winter Ball, where Bianca and I had a 'little' disagreement in the bathroom. When Logan only continued to sulk in his place, looking lost in his own thoughts, I let out a small sigh.
"Look, sometimes people change, and not for the better. And it's not your fault if she chooses not to become a better person," I said. "It's her decision whether or not she wants to talk to you, and if she chooses not to then good riddance. You can't save someone who isn't drowning."
"Yeah. You're right," he said softly, his lips flitting into a small, sad smile. "But sunshine, does that mean you can just give up on them?"
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LOGAN LEFT SHORTLY after, saying that he had classes to attend. He shot me a large grin and winked as he bid goodbye, and I let him go with the feeling that he was much more upset than he let on. His sadness seemed to be infectious, because I had lost the motivation to paint even after he had left. With a small sigh, I put my brush down and began to tidy up. Thankfully, there was only ten minutes left of class, and I figured that I could just leave now since there was no teacher keeping track of my whereabouts.
I had roughly half an hour before Physics class, and I headed to the bench behind the Grand Library to have some time to myself. I plugged in my earphones and began to listen to music and started to think about what Logan had said.
Of course, I didn't mean that you should just give up on someone because you stop agreeing with each other. But when exactly is it the time to give up? When two parties stop trying? When you are too tired to continue fighting? Or is it when you wake up one day and realise that the other person isn't worth the trouble anymore? I hope that I'll never need to ask myself these kinds of questions, because god knows I don't have the answers to them.
My phone vibrated in my lap, and my eyes fluttered open. Staring down at the screen, a small smile broke out onto my lips when I realised that it was none other than Jinny, my foster mother.
Without hesitation, I picked up the phone, and her familiar voice flowed through the speaker and into my ears.
"Honey!" Jinny cooed happily. The warmth in her voice made my heart ache, and the homesickness hit me like a truck. "How are you?"
"I'm good, Jinny," I said, meaning every word. Despite the few less-than-pleasant encounters I had with Bianca and the Royals, I was enjoying myself here at the Academy. Classes were interesting and eye-opening, the facilities were great and most importantly, I had Emily. "The Academy is so beautiful, I wish you could be here. How are you and Andrew?"
"We're doing swell! An old Corvette Stingray rolled into the garage the other day and Drew almost passed out from excitement," she laughed, and I could practically picture my foster dad doing just that.
"Was it the 1963 model?" I asked, eyes widening slightly.
"Mmhmm," Jinny hummed. "You know how rare those are. Drew almost didn't want to give it back to its owner after he repaired it."
"Jinny, you know I'd do the same if I were him," I joked, and the two of us shared a laugh.
"Oh, honey," Jinny sighed wistfully. "We miss you so much. I wish we could go visit one day. Andrew is already starting to save up some money to buy plane tickets."
"You know you don't have to do that," I said softly.
"But we really want to," she said. "It feels so strange not having you here."
"We'll figure something out," I promised. I felt my throat clench and blinked away any tears that had risen to the surface. Even though Andrew and Jinny weren't my biological parents, they meant the world to me. I had lost my parents when I was only a child, but I was lucky enough to have found Andrew and Jinny. They gave me a home and treated me as their own, and I was seriously considering to ask them to adopt me.
"We always do, sweetheart," she said, before I heard her sniffle.
"Please don't cry," I said, swallowing thickly. "I'll be back before you know it."
"Of course," Jinny croaked. "Silly old me. Always getting emotional over everything. Are you having classes right now?"
"I'm in-between classes. I have to go soon," I answered, biting my lip. I was almost unwilling to end our call here, even though I heard the unmistakable sound of the bell ring in the distance.
"Oh my, please go to your class now. We can always talk when you have more time," Jinny said in a rush. I laughed slightly, then agreed with her.
"I'll call you later," I promised.
"Alright, honey. I bet Andrew can't wait to talk to you later. Now go for your classes and study hard, okay?" she said softly.
"Mmhmm," I hummed. "I will. Bye, Jinny."
"Bye-bye, sweetheart."
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I hope you guys liked this chapter! If you haven't already, check out Character Files for fun, exclusive details about all the characters in Meilleur Academy :P
#QOTC: What did you guys think about Logan and Bianca (Yay more backstory!)? ;-)
Song of the Chapter: She Used To Be Mine, by Sara Bareilles.