Falling Apart

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

                “You’re half an hour late.” I gritted through my teeth as Jace slid a chair out across from mine, planking himself down into it.

                “What’s your point?” the arrogant boy raised an eyebrow at me challengingly, crossing his arms as he let out an exaggerated breath of air. “Why don’t you stop complaining for once and just be glad that I showed up?”

                I glared at Jace Wasson, resisting the urge to wrap my fingers around his pretty neck and choke him on the spot. “Think of it this way, I wouldn’t have to complain if you aren’t an hour late every time we’re supposed to meet.”

                Jace snorted unattractively, rolling his eyes. “You don’t ever stop do you?” he asked. “Maybe I would show up on time if you weren’t such a whiny little bitch. Do you think I want to be tutored by someone as demanding as you?”

                I clenched my fists under the table, my nails digging into the flesh of my palms. I took in a deep breath of air, closing my eyes and relaxing before I did something that would get me declined by Brown University. “Just take out your notebook.” I hissed, trying to sound as neutral as possible, considering the fact that I was fuming at the moment. Jace didn’t make any movements, but instead, sulked in his seat and crossed his arms stubbornly. I shot him a glare, having very little patience for people like Jace. “What? What is it now?” I snapped.

                “You need to learn some manners.” The corner’s of Jace’s lips turning upwards into a smirk. “You didn’t even say ‘please’.”

                “Do I have to?” I asked. “I mean, we’re just wasting time here-.”

                “I’m not doing any work until you learn your manners.” Jace gave me a demeaning grin, almost as if he was teasing me. I stared down at him, my eyes narrowing into slits as I pictured myself crushing his arrogant face with watermelons. When Jace noticed that I wasn’t going to speak any time soon, he sighed, shrugging. “Oh well, we can sit here doing nothing for the next two hours. That’s up to you.”

                Deep breaths, Everly.

                “Would you please,” I paused, emphasizing my words as Jace wasted no time in shooting me distinctive looks, “take out your notebook.”

                I was actually proud of myself for not choking and puking my guts out for having to be polite to someone as irritating as Jace Wasson. Jace gave me one last amused look, the glint in his eyes fading away before he reached over to his book bag and pulled out his notebook. He tossed the on the table, the poor thing nearly breaking into two pieces from the impact.

                Just as I had expected, Jace Wasson’s notebook was in a tragic condition. Pages were falling out from the spiral, the cover was torn and the edge looked like someone had bit it. “Are these,” I paused, examining the corner of the notebook carefully, “teeth marks?”

                Jace picked up the notebook from the table, holding it up and close to his face. “Oh yeah!” he grinned, throwing it back onto the center of the table as pages flew out. “There was this one time when Ryan was really hungry.”

                “So he decided to eat your notebook?” I blinked.

                “Apparently.” Jace shrugged.