The Marble Notebooks

Chapter 57

Storm forced me to come down for dinner. Before that, I was able to get through the September notebook. The pages were pretty boring, I kept to myself a lot for the first few weeks. Then I was invited to train with them, and on the first day, Bucky broke my ribs. I was shocked when I read about that day. I was appalled that this was the guy that everyone says I'm so close with, all of our encounters seemed minuscule and irritating that I kept a log of. For the last two weeks of September, I stayed in my room and had the occasional meal with everyone till I was cleared to work out again. I had just started October when she came into my room.

"Coming for dinner?" She asked as she stood over my shoulder at my desk.

"One second," I mumbled and finished reading the page I was on. I folded over the corner of the notebook and put the cap on my highlighter.

"What are you doing?" She chuckled looking over the mess of papers on my desk.

"Trying to remember," I said and ran my fingers through my hair in a stressed manner.

"How's it going?" She asked.

"Weird," I chuckled. "I-I can't believe I wasn't here," I said turning in my chair to face her.

"Yup," She nodded. "You were with Wanda and Pietro and everyone else," She said.

"Yeah, I finally met them and I can't even remember it," I rolled my eyes.

"And... Bucky?" She asked.

"We don't seem to get along," I scoffed. "Kinda confused on that one," I mumbled. "But earlier... I touched his arm... the metal one, and I got a weird memory of me playing with his fingers," I chuckled.

"Intimate," She smirked.

"Mhm," I nodded and bit the skin around my lips. "Are we dating?" I blurted out.

"No, we're not, I'm still straight, Julia," She joked.

"Storm, c'mon," I smiled. "You know that's not what I meant,"

"Just keep reading," She urged me.

"I mean it would make sense, why else would he still be here? A friend this new wouldn't care this much to ditch their friends and come here," I rambled.

"Let's go to dinner," She grabbed my arm and pulled me off the seat.

"Ugh, Storm!" I groaned.

"Why don't you talk to him?" She asked as we made our way down the hall.

"Should I ask him?"

"Sure," She nodded. "Or maybe just keep reading,"

"Whatever," I sighed.

We ate in the tiny dining room without all of the students. Their constant talking and laughter gave me a headache so the guys decided to eat separately with me instead of in the dining hall with everyone else. The chef served steak, mashed potatoes, and corn for dinner. I ate some of the mashed potatoes, a little corn here and there. But I didn't take a steak, I don't think I could even handle one bite of that right now, just the thought made me sick.

I couldn't stop glancing at Bucky across the table from me. He was quiet, as my notebook said he was. He only talked when spoken to. Every time I looked his way he was already staring at me, which seemed to happen a lot these past few days. The chef staff came to clear our plates and the guys went to corral the students to send them up get ready for bed. I stayed back to grab Bucky before he went back to his room too.

"Julia?" I heard Alex say from behind me.

I turned around in my seat and looked at him standing in the doorway.