Never Fated To Be |✅|

Chapter 27 : Enter, The Librarian's Statement

There had to be a counter curse, right?

That night was a disastrous one. I was so burdened, I couldn't think straight. I kept confusing all the assignments with the class works. Math with chemistry. And history with English. Jake was trying his hardest to help. But Zayla had to leave.

'I really, really wanted to stay,' Zayla eyed me and Jake, 'But I have this dumb dinner appointment.' For a moment, she looked like she would make an excuse and skip the dinner. Yet,
'Gah!' She grunted, stamped a foot on the ground, waved a hand in front of our faces and left without another word after flashing a last pleading look at Jake.

'It would've been helpful if she had stayed.' Jake said.
I did not reply. My mind was on overdrive.
And the next minute, we were scribbling away as hard as possible on any notebook we could find with whatever necessary information that needed to be written down.

Jake was writing and revising. Writing for me and revising for himself. We were sprawled in the insufficient space of the wooden floor in my hidden room. We were so very engrossed in completing everything that the only sounds in the room were the rustling of paper and the scuffling of the pens on the sheets.

And because the tiny space that we were apparently occupying was very tiny, we kept changing our positions without exactly knowing it, from time to time. So after about a few hours of continuous writing and reading, when Jake and I finally looked up from our work, we were sitting side by side and our shoulders were brushing, our thighs were overlapping and our breaths were cluttered from all the exertion.

'I'm pretty sure I don't want to do that ever again.' Jake stated kind of firmly when we realized all the work was done. However way you look at it, being absent for three whole days in an elite high school can cost a lot.

'I'm just glad we were able to finish all of it. Kinda surprised too.' I added.
And then I realized Jake was staring at me. And at the contact between us. And I realized that I was probably supposed to oppose that. I immediately began to shift away from him but Jake grabbed my hand.

'It's been so long but your touch is still the same.' He said, an unblinking twinkle in his blue pupils, 'Soft and warm.'
I frowned,
'Dude, you speak like we haven't seen each other for three hundred years.'
Jake laughed softly,
'Your words are ever the same too.'
I rolled my eyes at that.

He pursed his lips,
'I missed you.' He murmured slowly.
The same old Jake.

I might actually admit, it was nice to have him back. To be back.
But I wouldn't.
Not in front of him.

I raised an eyebrow instead,
'Stop talking like a girl!'
'Huh? How is that-'
'It's just been three dumb days!'
'And three dumb days can be a very long time if you don't have the very important person in your life beside you.'

I tried my hardest to resist the smile that was threatening to form at the corner of my lips. I turned away so I wouldn't have to face him. It was always the same with Jake.

'Hey Valerie?' Jake began after a moment but let his words trail away.
'What?' I asked when the pause continued even after my nod.
Jake hesitated. Way too much. He wanted to say something to me very badly but was resisting the urge and fighting against his conscience to stop himself from doing so. Whatever he was thinking, he seemed utterly constipated.

'Are you okay?' I asked.
'Remember the time we danced at the masquerade?'
Now that's random.
The black dress, matching shoes, all the food, the balcony, the beautiful sky and Jake's wonderful moves and perfect glides filled my mind instantly.
'Yeah,' I replied, 'I do remember it.' Very clearly,
'Why?' I continued.