Jailbird

c h a p t e r LV

THE DAY AFTER THE prank had been a day dedicated to cleaning and tidying up the school. Students and teachers had placed the classes in order, the most unfortunate ones (those Mr. Olsen disliked most) were to clean the bathrooms after the Enzo-prank as it had been labeled. Mrs. Wright hadn't felt the need to give them any consequence considering what Mr. Olsen had planned and today was the day the 'special' activity was supposed to happen.

Sapphire had woken up early due to sleeping trouble when a random idea had popped into her head... as usual. And so she sneaked in the kitchen and grabbed what she was looking for before going back up to her floor.

And now there she was in front of his door, with a waffle. A single waffle on a plate, covered with strawberries and whipped cream. Was it weird, she wondered. No, he had done stuff for her too, it was a casual habit. Right?

She brought her fist to the door but hesitated as she was about to knock.

What if he's allergic to waffles??

No no, no one can be allergic to waffles they're too delicious.

Great logic Sapphire.

Finally, gathering her courage she knocked on the grey door.

I should run.

Before she could execute that very action, the door slowly swung open showing Maddox standing leisurely. He rubbed his eye and yawn, not seeming to completely realize someone was on the other side. His dark hair was tousled, even more than usual and his chest naked as he leaned on his doorframe.

"Hey," she said, cheeks flushing subtly.

He stopped moving and opened his eyes. A lazy smile formed on his face as he stared at her, "Hey."

Was his voice always this deep?
Was he always that tall?

She showed him the plate, "I have a waffle."

He stared at it, "Yes, you have a waffle."

Sapphire took a breath, "So... you know, after what you did the day before yesterday I thought I should- well you know..."

Maddox had never seen her this way, her wicked smile was gone and she looked genuinely nervous. Was it because of him?

He inched his face closer to hers, "No, I don't."

Her eyes widened at the sudden proximity, "U-uh, I thought I'd do something back," she pushed the plate in his hands, "so there."

He paused then stared at it and smiled, "Thank you, Sapphire."

She shrugged, "You're welcome, it's what friends do."

There was a short silence before he spoke, his eyes darker than usual as he took a step forward, "But I don't want that."

He had thought about it and thought about it and thought about it. There was something about this girl, he couldn't get her off his mind no matter what, and now he was tired of beating around the bush with her.

"You don't want the waffle...?" She asked, confused.

He took another step closer and grabbed her wrist, "I don't want to be friends," his lips were centimeters away from her ear, "I want more."

She could swear her heart stopped beating there and then. She had been in deadly situations, even found herself at knife and gunpoint, yet right now her hear was beating faster than it had at any of those times.

"SAPPHIREEEE!!! WAKE UP!!!"

Sapphire took a step back because of the sudden yell, freeing herself from Maddox's grip as the person whose voice belonged to walked into the hallway.