Losing Grip

Chapter 29➷ Take It One Page at a Time

But, of course she didn't.

Maybe I should have expected that, but she had seemed so confident that I was shocked when she avoided him.

Arson and Brooklyn glanced at each other in class, as they always did. But this time, there was an odd "something else" between them that I couldn't decipher.

They were sitting at their usual seats, next to each other, but they didn't exchange any words.

I decided there was not much that I could do about them, so I leaned back in my seat and got comfortable as I watched them.

Matthew plopped in the seat next to me in the very last row of the psychology classroom.

"Trouble in paradise?" he asked, nodding towards Arson and Brooklyn.

"Something like that. They don't really look like they're planning on fixing it."

He took my phone from the desk and twirled it between his fingers. "Blank phone case? Seriously?"

"What's wrong with a blank phone case?" I asked defensively and took my phone away from him. "I like it."

He took his phone from his pocket and showed me the case that had the six-fingered sword imprinted on it in an elaborate design.

"Isn't that a little bit obsessive?"

His face scrunched up slightly, and he almost looked offended. "Oh, please, don't act so cool. I know you liked it too. I can get you a matching one if you insist." He grinned.

"I am definitely not insisting. Speaking of childishness," I said and he playfully scowled, "how's our amateur Inigo doing?"

"He's doing okay, according to the little he ever says. He befriended Buttercup and she comes over to play video games all the time."

I smiled as I pictured Marveen struggling to keep up with her.

"Have you heard from your Dad?" I asked, and maybe it wasn't the right question to ask because his expression completely changed the second I spoke.

His smile morphed into a frown. "No. Turns out my uncle has a working restraining order against him. He shouldn't be a problem."

"Good," I said and looked away to try to appease the strange awkward silence that settled between us.

Victoria had just walked in and to my surprise, she walked up to Jayce's chair where she was chatting with Henry about some book.

She placed a cheerleading uniform on her desk. Jayce stared at it then back up at her without saying anything.

"I'm sorry," Victoria finally said. "I sucked this year. I failed the team by focusing too much on my own problems."

"What do you mean? We won regionals."

"Thanks to you," she said. "I wasn't as good of a captain as I wanted to be and your talent scared me."

Her honesty shocked me. She didn't even look away while she spoke. She owned up to her faults and if I had had that ability, that would have saved me a lot of headaches.

"I get it if you don't want to come back. You would be totally right. We didn't treat you fairly. But I thought you might want this," she said, motioning to the green and silver outfit on the desk.

"Thank you." Jayce ran her fingers over the cotton fabric of the outfit in nostalgia. "I'm not planning on coming back. I'm busy with something new now," she said, turning to smile at Henry then she shook her head as to chase away some intruding thoughts. "I mean, the philosophy club. I'm its co-president now. But, yes, I do accept your apology."