Paradox (Unearthly Paradox Series Book 1)

Chapter 21

                 
I arrived back at school with about two minutes to spare. Not waiting for Jett, I jumped out of the car and made a mad dash to the classroom where my economics exam was being held. Oddly, my chest didn't hurt at all during my marathon sprint.

I started freaking out when I saw nobody standing outside the room, but when I got to the door, I was relieved to find that they hadn't started yet. As I was about to walk in, someone grabbed my arm.

"Good luck." Jett leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, lingering near my face as he... smelled me? The whole thing was weird, but something about the way he did it made me want to take him up on the skipping-school idea.

Straightening, Jett said, "I'll see you soon." And once again he had to physically turn me around and gently push me inside my classroom.

As I took my seat, I looked toward the window, hoping to catch one last glimpse of him, but he'd already gone.

***

Two hours later, Jett was waiting for me outside the classroom. Sighs escaped from two nearby girls when he wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzled my hair. How I even heard them above the beating of my heart was beyond me. I swallowed hard, trying to get my brain to function again, but it was impossible. As strange as his habit of smelling me was, having him so close was like a high that I never wanted to come down from. Sadly, he pulled away. I looked into the darkest brown eyes I'd ever seen. I had to blink a few times just to be sure they weren't black.

"Come on. We've got to be somewhere." Dropping one arm, he ushered me toward the car.

"Where?"

"You're getting your stitches out now."

We passed Tyler's friends, who all made a point of averting their eyes. Tyler was nowhere to be seen. Jett continued past them without even a glance and led me across the lot.

When I saw where the car was parked, I asked, "We've moved up to the loading zone?"

He unlocked my car and opened my door. "It's closer."

I got in the car. "Not to mention illegal."

Jett shrugged then closed my door and walked around to the driver's side.

"You seriously don't care, do you?" I asked as he sat beside me.

He started the engine. "Care about what?"

"Breaking the law."

He put the car into reverse then pulled out onto the street. "Not really."

"Do you even have a licence?"

He laughed. "Yeah. Passed my test first time round, and I've never had a ticket."

I laughed. "I find that hard to believe."

"Let me rephrase that. I haven't had a single ticket that I've had to pay. And before you ask, no, I've never lost my licence."

And I would have bet that was because of his father. He probably had a high-ranking officer on the payroll. Yet I found it hard to imagine that Jett was part of anything sinister. He had been nothing but sweet to me.

"Thank you," I said.

He looked at me curiously. "For what?"

"For taking care of me."

Jett put his hand over mine. "You're welcome." He turned into our street.

"Wait. I thought you said we were going to get my stitches out?"