Black

XLIX

A. B. C. D.

Biting the inside of my cheeks, I read the question and the answers over again. I huffed, moving the heart in my necklace back and forth along the chain, I was nowhere near even guessing the right answer.

My eyes fell on choice b. B for black. I ticked it, dropping the pencil, and wondered what I was doing wrong.

Fetching my eraser, I erased what the pencil drew on the paper and tried to make sense out of the question.

From when was Chemistry this hard?

My mind gave up on me not a few seconds later, and I started to zoom out. I was going to fail; I didn't know what I was going to do in my exams and the unopened books that were filled with homework which never ended.

I looked around at the people in the cafeteria. I was sitting at the spot I occupied every time I sat here; Harry's table.

He doesn't make me get up from it anymore. He either winks at me when he enters and sits on the other table with his wannabe friends, or he sits beside me.

My mind took me back to our first encounter in here—the first sentence he had thrown my way.

"Erm Mrs. White or Blue or Orange or whatever the hell your name is, you are kind of sitting on my table."

I took a deep breath, the corners of my lips twitching upwards slightly.

I hated him so much. I mean, I held a gun on the guy twice.

Now we were living in the same house. And he likes me.

From a very long time, my mind canceled everything that didn't have to do with revenge, my quest to search for answers, and my sister.

And I almost forgot how to like someone or love them or trust them, which explains why I was so surprised last night—I almost forgot I was a human too.

My eyes caught a blur of movements that snapped my attention back to the world around me. Maia had thrown her bag on the table I was sitting on, sliding in on the seat in front of me with a stone face.

My eyes slipped to Bennett who stood two feet away from the table. He glared at the back of Maia's head, clenching his jaw, before smirking slightly when his eyes met mine. Unlike the last time I saw him, the bruises had entirely faded from his face except for the cut by his lip; other than that, he looked exactly the same with the familiar smugness across his face even after everything that happened.

I raised my chin up, staring at him without hiding my disgust.

Retracing his steps, he turned around and headed to a table not far from ours.

Everyone's head was in our direction, their eyes moving back and forth between me, Maia, and Chris, whose attention was still fixed on us.

I glanced at the table Maia once occupied with two other girls, who looked taken back, before looking back at her and raising my eyebrows.

Her eyes met mine, and she clenched her jaw, "Don't look at me like that," she spat, making my eyebrows rise even higher.

She crossed her arms over her chest, huffing, "Look, I just saved your ass from being bullied or harassed by that thing, save your shitty attitude for another day."

I glanced at him then squinted at her, "I didn't even talk."

"Well, spare me from that too."

I rolled my eyes, moving my leg up and down underneath the table.