The Heartthrob Won't Leave

Chapter Forty-One (New Chapters)

The next morning was no different from the rest, she got up at a ridiculous time after a nightmare, got ready for school, ate breakfast, and sat on the couch waiting for Jace to get his ass in gear so they could walk to school together as Karl always insisted they do. At least, that's what used to happen, before Lucian had started driving her to school every day insisting it was too cold. He usually picked her up at 7:30 in his truck, because school started at 8. Now it was 7:45, and despite glancing out the window multiple times, his truck wasn't there. She hadn't expected him to come, but she could still hope, imagining that every time she lifted her head to glance out, imagining it there, parked on the side of the road by the driveway. He hadn't even texted her, and she kind of missed that, after all, she didn't get texts from many people. She wondered if he had finally given up on her, after all this time she was waiting for it to happen and it actually did.

"You look mopey" she turned, looking up at Jace standing by the front door putting on his winter jacket as she sat in the chair in the corner of the living room.

"I'm fine" she responded simply, getting up from the chair. She was already ready to go, picking up her jacket from leaning against the chair beside her, flinging it over her back. "It's not like you actually care what I feel anyways," she muttered, putting the hood of the sweater she wore under her jacket over her head. Surprisingly, he actually opened the front door for her, unlike his usual self insisting he go through first and pushing her out of the way into the coat rack to make his point. He shut the door behind them, and walked down the steps of the porch, across the driveway, and into the street. The walk was silent between them, at least for a few minutes as they crossed the street. But, that was interrupted as he said the one thing she never thought she'd ever hear from his mouth.

"I need your advice" she lifted an eyebrow, looking up at him next to her as they walked, their boots crunching through the freshly fallen snow.

"Well, that's a first. After you talking about how you know everything and I'm just an imp compared to you"

"Well, things change" she expected a stupid quip, not that, glancing up at him. His eyes stayed forward, a slight grimace on his face. She wondered if he was feeling ill, or on drugs, those were the only two ways she could think of ever having him act like he wasn't the knower of all. He cleared his throat, the air in front of him forming to fog as they walked.

"Do you think...that I live a fulfilling life?..." her eyes just widened slightly, staring at the road ahead. How am I supposed to answer that? The space between them was starting to get awkward the more she stayed silent, it was suffocating. She just sighed, grabbing the back of her head with a hand.

"Well...you're only seventeen. It's hard to believe you've lived a full life when you're not even legally allowed to drink"

"I didn't mean it like that" he responded quickly, both their eyes staying straight ahead. Perhaps not looking at one another for such a strange conversation made them both feel a little less freaked out by it. "Someone told me that my life is meaningless...and lonely...that all my friends aren't actually my friends" And it wasn't me? Blake thought.

"I'm assuming this person's opinion means something to you"

"More than yours does" he responded. She just scowled, letting out a huff. That wasn't a very high bar to surpass. "I've just been thinking about how you know...we're juniors...and next semester will be the end of that. After that, we'll just have one more year of school left until we leave this place behind and enter into the real world"

"Ok..." she responded "And what? You don't think writing about your high-style life as a football player with girls hanging off both arms for your essay won't guilt a college enough to let you in with your mediocre grades?"