H A U N T E D

e i g h t e e n

e i g h t e e n

"That explains a lot."

Jack shoots me a confused look, raising his eyebrows as he silently questions me. I release a deep breath, watching the tendons in Jack's neck tighten with my movement. I explain slowly, mentally connecting the dots as I do.

"Nicole hates me. Nicky barely tolerates me. They keep referring to me as the witch. The other day, Nicole scrolled through my Instagram and apparently, she was mad. I get it now - it's filled with things I like, the things that killed her grandparents."

Jack bites the inside of his cheek in thought, rolling his thumbs as he does so. I stare at his skin, the way he moves and the stars reflect back from his body. I watch as he raises his hands upright as if to embrace the sky.

"You can't possibly think her fears are validated, do you?", he questions me, seemingly offended by the ordeal. I think back to how I threatened the table on my first day, how I told Eben I would hex him.

"Partially", I answer with the shrug of my shoulders. Jack scoffs and stands up, wringing his slender fingers through his tousled hair. I carefully watch him, pondering over his behaviour. It is strange, how this friendship evolved in French class and car rides and dances. Usually, friendships are for conveniences only - but I cannot see how having me in his life, could be anything of an advantage to Jack.

"Do you want a drink?", I ask him, hoping he says yes so that some tension may be released from his shoulders.

"I don't think we - meaning you - should have any more alcohol tonight", he remarks curtly.

"Especially if you're going to sit around and blame yourself for something you didn't do", he adds and turns to look at me over his shoulder. I am reminded of a painting I once saw in one of my textbooks and fell in love with it. It was the painting of a crying Lucifer, who glares at the viewer, as if ashamed to be caught being vulnerable.

"Can you stop being so melodramatic, please?", I ask with a pleading sigh and use the railing to pull myself up, stumbling a bit as I do.

"You're so fun to hang around. Besides, we're only seventeen, in a few years, we'll forget everyone here, dude", I exclaim and jump towards Jack. The boy turns around with a small smile, rolling his eyes.

"Of course I'm fun. I'm a Gemini, it's in my blood", he jokes - or so I hope. One of my old friends was a Gemini, and she was ruthlessly funny.

"The world is already shitty, Blondie. I have to make up for it with my dashing looks and humour", he gestures towards himself, striking a pose as he does so. I throw my head back with a laugh, snorting as I do so. Jack laughs in return and we make a few snorting sounds to mock my earlier chuckle.

"Favorite movie?", I ask once we calm down. Jack hums in thought, tapping his finger on his chin and biting the inside of his cheek.

"Blue movies don't count, do they?", he asks and taps his chin in thought. I widen my eyes at the joke, not immediately understanding it as being one, before he wiggles his eyebrows - making me even more confused.

"I don't have one. Favorite book?"

My eyes gleam with excitement when I answer, bouncing on the heels of my feet.

"The Song of Achilles. That book makes me feel everything at once, and I'm demanded to face my own humanity each time I read it", I sigh dreamily as I imagine the book in my hands. I vividly remember the cracking within my chest as I finished the book, sobbing at the ending. My mother never could understand how I got invested in my books. Jack's eyes soften and he takes a curl of my hair into his hand, twirling it around his index finger.