Because of Karson

Chapter 32

After the eventful encounter with Karson, I tried to regain control of my ragged breaths as I walked to my next period. Of course, with my luck, my next period had Braxton, Colton, and Karson in my class. I suppressed my nerves as I walked into the full classroom.

My eyes roamed around, searching for a certain groups of boys until I found them hidden in the back. I slowly made my way over to them, my heart hammering inside of my chest as I watched Braxton's eyes shoot up in curiosity.

"Where have you been, pretty girl?" He asked, his wandering eyes looking me up and down.

I cleared my throat. "Well, I just went to the bathroom after the fight broke up."

Braxton hummed in response, letting my answer slide as I easily sat in the chair next to him. I never once looked in Karson's direction, as I was too scared to see those emerald eyes burn with emotions I didn't understand. I didn't want to see the flecks of gold that were hidden behind the dark green color.

I figured the teachers didn't know that the fight happened, because everything seemed to be normal. Since Karson was in class, I assumed he didn't get in trouble, even though his bruised face looked quite suspicious.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts as I just stared at the board ahead. I could hear my pulse pound in my ears as I tried to ignore the small chatter between Karson and Colton. God, even hearing his voice made me nervous.

The teacher stood at the front of the classroom, his mouth opening and closing, but I couldn't hear any words fall out. My ears strained, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't understand anything he said. I was too focused on remembering his lips against mine. Why couldn't I stop thinking about it?

I suddenly flinched, my body jumping out of its skin as the door shot open and slammed against the wall with a startling thud. My eyes shot up to the door to see my little brother looking disoriented. His body visibly tensed when his gaze met mine.

Sheer panic seeped through my veins as I stared at my little brother. His face was very pale and his hands violently shook by his sides. My eyebrows immediately shot up in alarm.

"What the fuck?" I heard Braxton mumble under his breath from next to me.

"Can I help you?" Mr. Johnson asked as he turned to look at Jace. He had his arms crossed over the other as he narrowed his shallow eyes at my little brother.

"I need to talk to Dakota," Jace mumbled, his tongue anxiously grazing over his bottom lip as his gaze faltered, looking at our teacher. It looked like he wasn't able to focus on our teacher in front of him. Something was wrong.

I quickly shot out of my seat, grabbing my backpack as my eyes quickly met Karson's. It felt like time had stopped for just a split second. His emerald eyes stared at me with a glint of concern dancing through the gold specs that were splattered throughout his eyes.

I quickly snapped out of whatever daze I was in, turning on my heel as my breath came out short and ragged. I didn't have time to deal with what was happening between Karson and I, because something was wrong with Jace. At this moment, all I cared about was my little brother.

I walked to the front of the classroom, completely ignoring my classmates' snickers and comments, wondering what was going on. If only they understood that I didn't know either.

"Jace, are you okay?" I whispered only loud enough for him to hear as I gently rested my hand on top of his shoulder.

"It's mom," he gulped, his frightened eyes never once leaving mine.

It's mom. I felt every ounce of color drain from my face as my breath got lodged inside of my throat. I stammered, not knowing what to say as I ignored my teacher's comments, and quickly grabbed Jace's hand.