A Jottie Romance - The Rosewood Chronicles

Chapter 11 - Fallouts

Lottie P.O.V:

Lottie's mind was racing. She had just left Anastacia's room, and was walking down the Conch corridor. Everything that Anastacia had told her was spinning in her head: maybe there was a way to be with Jamie...

But Anastacia had told her that Lottie's circumstances were different; this was risking Ellie's reputation, as well as Lottie's and Jamie's jobs. Lottie was still disturbed by the fact that a Partizan could be so easily replaced. What if the same thing happened to Jamie?

As her mind wondered, her feet wandered too, and she found herself face to face with the very person she was thinking about. Jamie.

"What are you doing here?!" She exclaimed, after almost bumping into him. He didn't reply, but simply raised his eyebrow at her, in a questioning manner.

"I could ask you the same." He said shortly, that cold mask on his face once more. He showed no emotion, and acted indifferent.

"Well...I asked you first." Lottie replied in a childish manner. She could feel her heart rapidly beating, and it suddenly felt like it was getting hotter.

"Fine then, I came here because I know what you were doing." Jamie held her gaze, a cold look in his eyes that hurt Lottie.

"What was I doing?" She asked, feigning innocence. But of course that didn't work on Jamie. It never had and it never will.

"You seem to be forgetting that I'm a Partizan. Oh, but maybe you didn't forget because that's what you were discussing with Anastacia, wasn't it?"

"So what if I was? I can talk to her if I want to, she's still my friend whether she's a suspect or not!" For some inexplicable reason, Lottie felt herself growing angry, angry at Jamie, angry that Ellie wouldn't tell her what's wrong, angry that she couldn't be with Jamie. She didn't know who to blame and all of her building, bubbling rage came tumbling out.

"At least when I talk to her, I know that's she's not going to turn her back on me, unlike you! You're just so annoying sometimes! I can't win with you, can I?! I try to be nice, I try to help you and you just act all cold and distant and I hate it!" Lottie took a deep breath, steadying herself, her hands clenched in to fists. "I hate how you hide yourself away, the real you." She said quietly, her voice cracking slightly, and her eyes filling with tears.

Jamie said nothing. If anything, Lottie's outburst had the opposite effect that she wanted. His face was even more closed off than ever, and this time she couldn't even see any feeling or emotion in his eyes. "Please," Lottie pleaded, her hot tears spilling over, "why do you have to hide yourself like this?"

"It's my job. I'm a Partizan. And you need to do your job too." And with that, Jamie turned around, and walked back down the corridor.

Thursday had finally arrived. The sky was dull and gloomy, which perfectly fitted Lottie's current mood. "Lottie, are you okay? You seem tired." Ellie told Lottie, as they made their way to the English classroom. It was the day to hand in their homework, which meant that because Lottie and Jamie had worked together on the diorama, they would have to present it to the class together too. She wasn't looking forward to it.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just...woke up early," she lied. Lottie had hardly gotten any sleep the night before; she couldn't stop thinking about what Anastacia had told her, her fallout with Jamie, and the most recent of Ellie's mood swings. She felt slightly sick, though she hardly ate anything at breakfast, unlike Ellie, who had wolfed down at least half the food that was served that morning.