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xiv. Bravado
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JJ Maybank was in Blair Cameron's room.
Don't panic, JJ.
He was leaning against the windowsill, flipping a book from one hand to the other; it was an old copy of Call Me by Your Name that he always brushed past whenever he "visited" the library with Pope. It wasn't a hardcover because she hated those and every single page was annotated. He never did forget just how smart she was, that girl.
The blonde placed the book back on the desk, next to the fake flowers, and sighed. The window was open, windows dancing with the soft, humid breeze that made your skin stick to your bones so uncomfortably you wished to take it off.
Blair Cameron was sprawled on her bed, heavy into a well-deserved slumber with her chest rising and falling softly, hair all over her face. She was still dressed and still had all her jewelry on; her cheek was smushed against a soft, dark purple blanket over the duvet covers. Her room smelled like cinnamon and flowers, a very odd combo for such a sophisticated teenage girl.
JJ crouched besides the foot of the bed and brushed a hand over her face, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. He prayed to anyone who listened that she wouldn't wake up so he wouldn't have to deal with her pushing herself away from him all over again, killing the light with a single snap of her fingers like she always did. And she looked so peaceful when she was asleep, so at ease and unbothered it brought a small, soft smile to his face as he continued admitting the Louvre-worthy work of art that was the eternally-lost Blair Cameron.
When her eyes fluttered open, instead of crawling away in horror at the sight of the blonde . . . she smiled gently and nuzzled her face into the blanket. "Hi," she said.
"Hi," he repeated, stunned. Coughing, he shuffled back to his feet and grinned nervously while rubbing the back of his neck. Blair pushed herself up on her elbows, glancing at the door with a small frown. "Don't worry," JJ quickly reassured her, glancing behind him, "I came in through the window."
She sat up and ran her hands through her hair, amused. "That's some stalker-ish behavior, Edward Cullen," she pointed out. He scoffed at her Twilight reference.
"Well, I just thought you should know that everything went according to plan with Kie and your sister. They're locked on the boat and hopefully they'll be besties by tomorrow morning," he said in a weatherman's tone.
Blair laughed a little and pulled her heavy limbs off her bed, hands running through her hair and pulling it up into a messy updo as she grabbed a water bottle from the nightstand. "You left them alone? They might kill each other, you know."
