The Heartthrob Won't Leave

Chapter Forty (New Chapters)

"How was school?" was the first question she was asked as she walked through the door. It was by Karl, sitting with his coffee at the kitchen table. She just sighed, putting her bag up on the table in front of him, pushing up to sit on the seat in line with it.

"Fine. Nothing unusual or interesting" Blake responded simply, wanting to push away the thoughts of what had happened only a few hours ago. She had nearly had a panic attack in front of the majority of the student body, after demanding that the boys don't fight, using the word 'evil' like a broken first-grader. But, it had been the first word to pop into her head, the word she had used since she was small to explain to her own inner self what kind of person her father had been. 

"That's what you say every day" he retorted, and she just smiled slightly, rolling her eyes. 

"That's because my life is boring" she claimed, leaning back against the rest of the chair she sat in, crossing her arms against her chest. The front door slammed open, startling them both 

"You won't believe what happened!" Jace stumbled into the house, trying to walk and remove his shoes at the same time near the front door, nearly falling into the bottom of the staircase in the process. "Blake witnessed a fight between the two most popular guys in school! Then proceeded to force them apart and yell at them in front of the ENTIRE student body" Jace laughed, and Blake inwardly cursed, glancing at the table across from her. 

"Boring day? Nothing happened?" Karl asked, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Blake just found herself looking Jace in the eyes, wishing she could harang him for being unable to keep his big gob shut. 

"Apparently they were fighting over a girl" Jace responded

"Ah" Karl responded, taking another sip from his coffee mug "To be 17 again, if only" 

"Luckily they only got a warning, Lucian missing the play would have been a disaster" she just grumbled next to him, looking away. "Not to mention both of them could have been kicked off the football team"

"Yes," Blake responded, her voice sounding sarcastic. "It would have been so heartbreaking for them to lose their spots in a mind-breaking state institution that apparently matters more than academic grades" Jace looked back at her. 

"Harsh much" he retorted. Blake only sighed, picking up her bag and sliding from her chair at the table. She flung it over her back, heading up the stairs to her room. She sat on her bed, going through her computer to answer school emails. They mostly had to do with the play, with the first viewing to the public only being in a few days, everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. And somehow she was supposed to be the one to keep everyone in line, even Mrs. Jame was freaking out! And she was supposed to be the adult in the situation. 

But, shutting her laptop and leaning back on her pillow, staring at the roof, she kept imagining what look Lucian held in his eyes when he was being pulled away. Jace did have a point, they could have been suspended, or worse kicked out of school for that kind of behavior. Yet, they still did it, risking fighting over some girl. Just like the other girls in school talking about it non-stop in their little gossip clics, she found herself wondering just who it was that was so important to them both that they risked getting kicked out just to punch each other over her. It made her stomach clench with the reality that there was only really one girl she knew that drove men to do crazy things for her, not to mention she had a relationship with both of them. Stella.

Lucian wanted Stella, just like everyone else wanted Stella. 

She covered her face with her hands suddenly, not wanting her tears behind her fingers to be seen even though there was no one in the room but her. Without realizing it, she drifted away into sleep. It felt like only seconds before Jace banged on her bedroom door had her eyes fluttering, and leaning up on her elbows. 

"Blake! Get up!" she rolled her eyes

"Why?" she asked, shrugging off her sweater. She liked to sleep, and the fact that he disrupted hers wasn't making her very happy. 

"There's someone at the door to see you" her eyes widened, the first thought to enter her mind. Lucian. She hurried to get up off her bed with a bounce, checking her hair in the mirror by the door, trying to smooth it out and make it like she hadn't just been sleeping like the dead. She pinched her cheeks to give them a little color, opened the door, and headed down the hall. 

"Your very hot, you know that?" It was Misty speaking, leaning against the door frame as Blake found her way down the stairs. She turned the tiny corner to see who Misty had been speaking to, expecting to see Lucian, but found her breath pausing when she saw who it actually was. Zac. Zac was at her door, smiling at her kindly when he saw her, granted his face had a bruise by his chin and one on the right side of his hairline, along with a cut across his temple. But, he was smiling at her

"Hi" she spoke suddenly, taken off guard by his presence. She was also kind of down, after all, Lucian hadn't been the one to come see her first. But, she couldn't fault him for that, neither of them had to come to see her, she was just an acquaintance. 

"Hey" he responded

"How on earth do you know a guy that looks like him?" both turned to look at Misty as she spoke incredulously. "Not fair!" she exclaimed, grumbling as she left, slopping her way up the stairs to her room before slamming the door, saying something about Blake being a lucky bitch. As if the moment couldn't get any more awkward. Blake just found herself looking back at him, nervously laughing as she tried to keep her eyes from his and rubbed the back of her neck. 

She didn't want any more of the people in the house to disrupt them, so she slipped on her shoes and coat, stepped outside, and shut the door behind her. 

"Well, she's feisty" he claimed, making her smile awkwardly

"Jace likes to compare her to a t-tornado on its period" 

"Certainly an interesting visual" he responded, letting her pass slightly so they could stand on the porch, facing one another. Blake's breath fogged in front of her, as she rubbed her coat-covered arms from the cold. 

"Indeed" she muttered, clearing her breath slightly. Now what? 

"Sorry" she lifted her eyes to meet his own "I'm sorry about what happened earlier, I mean" he clarified. 

"You don't have to apologize" she responded, waving her hand in dismissal "It's not like you were fighting with me" 

"I guess you are right about that" he responded, shrugging his shoulders, placing the hands in the pockets of his leather jacket "But still, I'm sorry you had to see that" She just looked away, perhaps into the night. The sun was already gone, and the darkness was surrounding. The porch lights were all that illuminated their faces, their eyes meeting one another. 

"I'm sorry too. I think I overreacted a little bit" she could feel her cheeks starting to redden further, but wasn't sure if it was the cold or the embarrassment she felt. "When I see people do that to each other, I just...fall a little out of my head" he nodded, appearing to understand what she meant. 

"I think we all fall out of our brains every now and then" he exclaimed, and she just smiled, nodding her head in agreement. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright"

"I'm f-fine" she responded, trying her best to sound stone and truthful. They talked a little bit, and it was nice. And waving him off as he walked back to his car, she found herself more relaxed than she had been when he arrived. It was always nice to be reassured that you weren't the only crazy person that exists, that there are others too. But, she still found herself sitting in bed that night, glancing out the window with a jump of her heart every time a car drove by. She knew what she was waiting for, no matter how foolish it may have been. And just like she knew it would turn out, he never came.