FATE

23. Muse

BROOKE

"Thank you, Brooke and Andrew, that was amazing", Miss Banks says smiling cheerily at Drew and I. I beam, glad that she liked it. I put a lot of work into it and Drew had been flawless in his Spanish pronunciation. I tell myself to remember to ask him if he has any Spanish relatives later.

Drew and I return to our seats side by side and I look back at Jonah and Britney sitting together. Jonah and I haven't spoken since the day at the library. I feel stupid. Why didn't I just come out and say something? He doesn't notice me staring as his attention is fixed on Britney who with a serious look on her face, whispers to him.

I stare at my desk and clasp my hands together as Miss Banks call out the next group. I don't know their names but their love poem is as beautiful as most of the groups who came up before Drew and I. Some are poems of a happy kind of love, the ones you see in romance movies where no matter what happens, the fact that they have each other counts for something. The others are of a painful kind of love, the kind in which the lovers both loose in the end.

I look back again and now, he's staring. He doesn't look away like most people would if they were caught staring. He blinks once, his gaze blank, it reminds me of how he used to stare when we just met, when he didn't know who I was and was reluctant on letting me in. He looks away and faces the duo reading up front.

My feelings for Jonah, which took quite a while for me to realize, or rather accept, were real. As real as his disgust by me now.

"Jonah and Britney?"

I am pulled back into consciousness as Jonah and Britney stroll to the front of the class and stand side by side. Britney purses her lips as she plays with her hair and Jonah stares at the class with a bored look on his face.

Miss Banks clears her throat, "okay, you may begin"

Britney, Miss Banks, the entire class including Andrew disappear in that moment and all I can see is Jonah. He unfolds the piece of paper in his hand and takes a deep breath as he reads, pausing in between lines to let Britney translate in Spanish but all I can really hear is him

"I like to read the tales of the Greek
And imagine what it would have been like if it were you and me
For I am nothing but a lad with a certain name
Struggling to declare my love to a young modern dame"

He shifts uncomfortably as Britney translates.

"But if I were Orpheus, you would be Eurydice
And every day, I would sing to you words of epic poetry
I would jump into the land of the dead and journey to Hades' boundaries
As long as it meant bringing you back home to me"

He stares at Britney as she translates the second verse and as he turns, I remember our first conversation in the ice cream shop.

"What's the one obsession you have that not a lot of people seem to get?", he asked.

"Greek mythology", I said.

He arched an eyebrow, "really? you're into all those gods and goddesses that practice incest?"

"Yup", I took a bit out of my ice cream and felt it melt on my tongue.

"Why?"

I chuckled, "You wouldn't get it"

His eyes meet mine and the moment seems to last forever. If this happened a couple of weeks back, I would have thought this poem was about Hailee. I would have hidden how it made me feel seeing him with her, hearing how he spoke about her.

"If your appearance changed like Medusa, I would remain your lover
And gouge my eyes out for I need none to see how beautiful you are
If I was Apollo, you would be my Hyacinth
And I would have declared war on those who poisoned our love with jealousy"

He pauses, taking a deep breath.

"Earth might be the river Styx
It's turmoil offering me powers of invulnerability
But if I was Achilles, you would be my heel
My only weakness that would be the end of me"

Britney translates his words and their presentation comes to an end. Miss Banks pouts, "oh my God, that was so beautiful Jonah!", She exclaims, "did you write that yourself?"

"He did. He's so cute and talented", Britney says as she hugs his arm and grins. I feel a pang in my chest.

"Your muse is a lucky girl", Miss Banks says beaming at him and Britney giggles. Jonah shrugs and releases himself from her grip, walking towards his seat quickly.

***

About an hour later, after five more presentations, I am standing outside the class with my books clutched to my heavy chest. Drew left a while ago, after asking severally if I was okay. I wasn't. I needed to talk to him, to try to fix things. I hated that he was ignoring my calls, texts and not talking to me in school.

"Jonah!", I yell as he walks out of the class, his bag hanging over his arm. He pauses, his back still turned to me.

"Can we please talk?", I ask as he turns to face me, his eyes looking everywhere else except for me.

"About what?"

The first words he's said to me in two days.

"I didn't mean to lie, I'm sorry. I don't like that we're arguing and not talking to each other. I don't want us to be on bad terms"

I hold on tighter to the books, "I don't want you to be my friend so please stop calling yourself that", he says flatly

"What?"

He nods, "yeah"

"Oh, okay", I look down at my shoes and ignore the pain I feel in my chest. There is an awkward silence between us.

"How's Hailee though?", I ask, looking up at him.

"She's getting better", he rolls his eyes. I know I'm a hypocrite

"Okay, I guess I'll be going now", I say, motioning to walk away.

"Wait, what are you doing after school?", I hear him ask before I turn to stare at him with surprise on my face.

Absolutely nothing.

"Nothing", I squeak and I swear I can see a smirk form on his face.

"Can you come over?", He asks softly, "I actually want to talk to you about something"

The smile on my face widens and I nod before pulling it into a small frown, "but I thought you didn't want to be my friend. Friends don't visit each other"

He shrugs, "you're right but we'll talk about that as well"

I gulp.

He gives me a small smile before looking behind me, "your friend is here. See you after school. Nice presentation today by the way"

"You too", I say, "nice use of Greek myth"

"I had just the right muse and inspiration, trust me", he turns his back on me, "later Collins"

"Bye Jonah"

"Was that Jonah?!", I hear Mandy practically yell behind me.

"Stop yelling!", I whisper loudly

"You two are good now?"

I beam, "I think so"

She squeals in excitement.

"Hey guys", a voice says and Mandy and I freeze at the realization that comes afterwards.

We turn to find Carmen standing in front of us. She takes a deep breath, "can we talk?"