Gemma
Walking into the library earlier, I had felt a little pep in my step. I’d been like this all day. My cheeks were twitching to smile for no reason at all other than the fact that I was beginning to feel ease settle over me with the hint of freedom chasing after my heels.
I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d sketched this morning, or maybe it was because I was able to sit down in the dining hall with people my age who really weren’t all that different from me—even given my upbringing—and eat lunch with them. Or maybe I was feeling elated because I’d gotten the highest grade on my English 4 test—thank you, Auntie, for making me read Jane Eyre in one single sitting last year. Or maybe it was because I was truly feeling at ease without two dark and beady eyes staring at me from across the dinner table each night just hoping I’d mess up so he could fulfill his sick pleasures and punish me.
“What’s all this?”
My body hummed at the smooth voice coming from behind me. Spinning around with my uniformed skirt still on, I raised my brow at Isaiah, all fresh and clean from his shower after lacrosse. He smelled so good.
“This,” I answered, flipping back around to hopefully hide my heated cheeks, “is called tutoring, Isaiah. How will you explain the pair of us just sitting here if someone walks in? We need study materials. We have to actually act like we’re tutoring, rig
ht? Even if you say you don’t need it.”
I didn’t give him a chance to answer as I sat down in the same seat I used last night, moving a piece of paper off my laptop.
Isaiah mumbled something under his breath as he pulled his seat out and slumped down, looking all relaxed. His long legs were sprawled out in front of him, his feet hitting the tips of my shoes, making my toes tingle.
“What was that?” I asked, opening my laptop to distract the tingling in my legs. The light of the screen was so bright in the dimly lit library that I had to close my eyes. The librarian had shut most of the lights off before leaving me alone in the expansive room with as much life and history that one person could hold lining the deep shelves.
“I said I guess I should do my homework since my grades really are shitty.”
I smiled. “Killing two birds with one stone. Who knew you were smart under all that no-cares-given attitude?”
Isaiah chuckled, pulling something out of his pocket. “I may act like I don’t have a care in the world, but that’s not true.”
I glanced up to his face, and we caught each other. Deep down, I knew there was much more to people than met the eye. More than anyone, I knew such a thing. Whatever was on the outside was most definitely more potent on the inside. It was obvious that Isaiah was troubled, as was I. Although, I tried to hide it as best as I could.
Isaiah’s black lashes swooped down to whatever was in his hand, and I followed his line of sight. “If I didn’t care about anything, then I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of getting you this.” He pushed something black and rectangular in shape across the table, and my brows furrowed. I moved my laptop to the side with the search engine still open and tucked loose pieces of hair behind my ear.
“What’s this?”
“A phone.”
My eyes rolled of their own accord. “I know I’m a little backward, Isaiah, but I’m aware that this is a phone. I’m just wondering why you’re handing it to me.”
His hand fell to mine as he wrapped his fingers around my wrist. My eyes jolted to the skin-on-skin contact, and everything in my body seized. It wasn’t because he was touching me, although that made me feel warm, but it was more so because of what part of me he was gripping onto. If he saw my wrists…
“Because you need a way to get a hold of me.”
I swallowed back a tightness in my throat as I looked up at him once again. His hand was still wrapped around my wrist, and the longer it stayed there, the more my heart thudded. “And maybe I want a way to talk to you other than the lame student chat.”
I said nothing as I stared at his face. I didn’t know what to say. My body was frazzled for many reasons.
Isaiah’s palm finally left my wrist, and I jerked it back, putting it in my lap. He didn’t seem to notice the dip in my mood.
“The phone only works on Wi-Fi, but you can still text me and use the Internet. I put my number in there, along with the rest of the Rebels’, and added a few apps I thought you might like.”
My lashes fluttered against my cheek a few times before I regained the ability to speak. “How did you even get this?” I turned the device in my hands a few times, inspecting it. This was nothing like the phone Richard had given me. It did look a lot like Sloane’s and Mercedes’, though.
He shrugged, leaning his arm on the chair beside him, looking nothing less than smug. “I have my ways. I just needed peace of mind that you had a way to call me if…”
“If what?”
“If Bain said something...or cornered you again.” He glanced away. “He won’t do it if I’m close by.”
My pulse began to drum. “He’s been pretty silent since the other day.” With every breath I took, it seemed my heart pounded twice as fast. I hadn’t forgotten about Bain or what he’d said to me. But he hadn’t said anything since. In fact, I’d hardly seen him at all. It seemed our schedules didn’t align, and I was thankful for that, but he was still a quiet thought lingering in the back of my head. He was nestled up right beside my dearest Uncle Richard.
Isaiah’s gaze heated, his eyes appearing like shards of glass. “Never trust a snake that’s silent, Gemma. Bain may be quiet, but I can assure you he is still just as deadly.” The muscles along Isaiah’s temple flickered. “Bain and I have history, even if he doesn’t exactly know how deep that history runs yet. He has it out for me and would like nothing more than to have power over me. He sees you as a bargaining chip or a way to get back at me, because I’ve given you attention, and not to mention, you’re one of the sole reasons I’m not being expelled—something Bain would fucking love.”