Chapter 21
TWENTY ONE
RUELLA
My phone buzzes on the mahogany desktop as I type out the closing paragraph of my assignment. It’s Monday night and after a marathon study session and a lunch spent in the library, I feel like I finally understand what I was meant to do the first time around.
My phone buzzes again but I fight to stay in the zone. I have worked too hard to be distracted now.
My fingers flow over the keyboard filling the room with clicking and clacking, placing me into a sort of meditative state which lasts until I finish the monster assignment with a final full stop.
I sit back in my chair and groan with the tightness in my lower back and closing my exhausted eyes while I bask in this feeling.
I did it. I finished it all by myself.
Well, not completely. This morning after class, Asher caught up to me asking if he could join me for lunch.
Obviously when I said no he thought I was avoiding him again, so huffed at me before opening his delicious mouth to protest. I quickly shut that down with a hand across his lips.
Even though Mr. Chapman told me to keep the second chance on the assignment a secret, I told Asher everything like I usually do.
I thought he would leave me to it, but instead, the heir to the Vander empire ran to grab us some sandwiches and met me in the library where he talked me through how to structure the whole thing.
He gave me some great pointers and suggested a few quotes to add that really made a difference.
He sat close while I worked and inputted when needed while taking care of his own things at the same time.
It was comfortable and felt weirdly normal.
Like we had done this a million times before.
As the bell for the start of the next class rang, we stood by the doorway to the library and I was hit with an overwhelming urge to kiss him, have his strong arms wrap around me and his large hands grip my thighs tight as I climb him like a tree.
His smirk at my nervous tapping on my thigh told me he knew exactly what I was thinking about.
Then his tongue sweeping out along his bottom lip and the widening of his pupils told me felt the exact same way.
My phone buzzes for a third time, pulling me from my daydreaming.
I groan at the growing headache from all the screen time and concentrating I have been forced into over the past few days. I lift my head and rub my gritty eyes before grabbing my phone.
Three text messages.
One from Corden.
One from an unknown number.
I sigh in defeat.
One from my father.
I open that one first as its always best to rip the band aid off.
Ergh. I ignore him for now.
I grin and immediately reply.
I dance victoriously in my chair; I finally have the chance to get closer to Piper.
Not only will I be able to question her, but I can also keep an eye out for anyone suspicious, inspect who is watching.
Maybe the one who put her name in that desk drawer will be in attendance.
And if I find them, then maybe I find Marlowe.
I open the final text and can’t believe my luck.
Today has really turned into a great day.
My phone buzzes with yet another text message from an unknown number.
“WOW aren’t I popular tonight,” I say aloud.
My stomach bursts into a million tiny butterflies trying to get out via both my belly button and my arsehole, while my pulse pounds in my throat. Yet my reply is as calm as a cucumber.
I ask but know fine well who it is. No one else knows about my second chance. Well, there’s Mr. Chapman too, but I doubt he cares enough to check if I am doing it or not.
I smile at the pet name he has decided on from day one. One that he probably used as an insult but never came across that way.
My brows hit my hairline. Come over. God, if he was to come over, I would definitely not want to be going through homework that I don’t even care about.
My brows furrow.
I scoff and shake my head, before I send it through the academies emailing system.
I sit nervously tapping away on my thigh for what feels like forever, my chest constricting in case he thinks I am as dumb as I look.
My phone finally buzzes but it isn’t with a text, it’s with an incoming call.
I take a calming breath before swiping to answer.
“Hello,” I whisper.
“Hey,”
“Hey,”
He chuckles through the phone, deep and smooth, making my thighs clench. “You already said that,”
I clear my throat and chastise myself for feeling like a giddy teenager.
I suppose I missed out on all of this. I went from thinking boys had germs to getting my innocence stolen away.
Yes, there was Silas after that, but phone calls and this nervousness to impress was never part of that relationship.
“So,” I break the silence. “Was it okay? Did it make sense?”
“It was amazing Rue, you followed the structure I suggested and with the quotes and your views, I don’t see how it could be any less than a B. You only need a C to pass this assignment,”
I feel my shoulders relax and I release the breath I didn’t even know I had been holding.
“You should be proud of yourself,” He continues. “I am,”
My eyes burn. “Your proud of me?” I question as a lump forms in my throat.
“Yes little vixen. You submitted a steaming pile of shit the first time,” I chuckle as a tear falls free. His voice softens. “But to go from that to what I just read. You put a lot of work into it, and it shows. Well done,”
I didn't realise how much I needed those words. I don’t think anyone has ever cared enough to be proud of me. I thought I was ok without that in my life, but as the tears continue to fall free, I guess I was wrong.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
We sit in silence for a short while before Asher breaks it.
“Are you going to the fundraiser tomorrow?”
Whatever moment we had is completely different to the fire that lights in my belly at the reminder of his attendance tomorrow night.
Darcy. Asher is taking Darcy to the event and if what everyone says is true, then that’s their societal debut as a serious couple.
My tears dry immediately at the reality of the situation and my voice comes out cold and clear, in complete contrast to the mopey mess I just was.
“Yes, I’ll be there,”
I feel his confusion through the phone.
“Listen I have to go. Thank you again for the help,”
“Wait, what… what just happened?” His voice is clipped.
“I’m tired and have things to do. I’ll see you and Darcy tomorrow night,” I end the call before I can make it worse.
I groan and pinch the bridge of my nose, the sound low and frustrated. I really let my emotions get the best of me, and of course, the one that clawed its way to the surface was jealousy.
Asher was being kind. He’s helped me more than once, and I repaid him by throwing it all back in his face because he’s taking Darcy to some event. It’s not like we’re anything, not officially. Yes, he’s kissed me. Yes, we’ve shared moments, real ones, if I’m honest. But that doesn’t mean anything.
Still, no matter how many times I try to reason it away, the thought keeps hitting me like a slap.
He’s mine.
Not Darcy’s. Mine.
Not in the possessive sense, not exactly, but in that strange, intangible way that feels stitched into the very fabric of me.
Like some unseen thread ties us together and cutting it would unravel something vital.
How do you explain that to someone? How do you tell a person who barely knows you that you think they’re your soul mate, when there are so many secrets, so many fractures between you that you can’t even trust yourself?
I drop my hand and exhale a shaky laugh.
“I’m so fucked”.