Truth or Dare? [REWRITTEN]

¤Chapter 25¤

¤Chapter Twenty-five¤

Jace walked me to my bike —although it felt more like he was following me instead. It's been over an hour since the cops came and dragged Todd off the premises. They took him to the station but I don't think he's going to jail. I decided not to press charges against him. 

I don't really have a case because everything that happened between us was actually my doing. The knife I held to his neck left a nice red line which would actually put me in jail instead of him if he told them that I did it. Of course he won't tell them because he's way too proud to admit someone got the best of him. 

From the smirk he gave me as he limped to the police car, it's clear he still thinks he has the upper hand. There's a card he hasn't played yet. For now, I will bask in the smidge of victory I felt from hurting him more than he hurt me —physically at least. 

Alternatively, Jace has got something to work with. He seemed to have taken a beating before I got here and withstood some violence after my arrival. I turned to face him after grabbing my helmet off the handlebar. The sky is filled with grey clouds that reflects his dark eyes and gloomy expression perfectly. 

He slipped his hands into his pockets and looked past me towards the other cars in the parking lot. The wind flowed through his disheveled hair making it look more crazy yet still it appears as if he styled it like that on purpose. His cracked lip has dried blood that made a trail down his chin and I have to resist the urge reach out and help the bastard.

"Your BFF got you real good didn't he?" I nod towards the dark bruise I didn't notice developing on his eye. It's not swollen but the color of his skin has darkened by several unnatural shades. My fingers twitched. His mom will look after him, right? 

He scoffed, finally meeting my gaze. "Didn't you hear him earlier? He wants me dead, I'm no longer his friend."

"Does that make you sad?" I rose a brow. Friends are important but I don't feel bad him and Todd have severed ties. I'm surprised the jerk has friends to begin with considering he only likes manipulating and using others. 

His voice sounded distant as if he's speaking from afar. "No, because that would mean I regret coming here and..." A sigh escaped his lips and he watched me hesitantly before finishing, "Being with you."

That startled me. "You're not with me." I crossed my arms.

"Madi I know you push people away to protect yourself but," He grabbed my shoulders, sending warmth from his lean fingers through the fabric of my clothes. "Just this once can't you give someone a chance? —give me a chance?"

I stared blankly. His emotions are written on his face for anyone with specific training to decipher. I know exactly how he feels and what he's thinking but... it doesn't make sense. Maybe I used so much energy trying to read Owen that now when I'm faced with someone I can actually understand, my skills don't feel trustworthy. 

When my dad was teaching me how to analyze others he would sit across from me in the dining room and think about things, anything. His thoughts ranged from what should we have for dinner today? To if the mail man jokes about having a 'private session' with Liz again, I will kill him and move our family to a different country. My job was to determine how he felt —happy, sad, angry— and figure out what he plans on doing about it based on body language and social cues. 

The eyes might seem passive at first but the longer you look into them, the more you're able to learn about a person. The same goes for small nuances like how someone might shift their weight from one foot to the other, how their eyebrow twitched when an insult is thrown at them or even the steadiness of their breathing. Everything we do reveals secrets only a mind reader is thought to know but all you need is time and steady concentration.