Those Violet Eyes

Chapter 6

The minute the last inch of muck was rinsed away by the hose Maxine was manning, Gilly threw off her gloves and was out of the stables in an instant. The little group spent four hours in those stables, scrubbing and sweeping and bickering and wiping sweat from their brows. Gilly wanted to be alone and away from any more voices before she cracked. All the little annoyances of the day added up to one big pounding in her head, and it felt like it could burst at any minute.

"Gilly!" A voice—belonging to the most obnoxious person Gilly could think to be around at the moment—called from behind. Panting and heavy steps caught up with her, and she turned around with a snap.

"What, Janelle? What now? What could you possibly want that you couldn't ask me about in the stables?" Gilly asked in angry exasperation.

Janelle raised her eyebrows. "I just wanted you to wait up so I could walk back to the dorms with you," she said defensively.

Gilly groaned and turned around, stomping back towards the school in aggravation. Janelle had to quicken her steps to keep in pace with her. Gilly muttered, "You're not even my roommate. Why do you have to walk back with me?"

"I'm just trying to be nice and give you company, geez," Janelle grumbled from behind her, obviously lying. "So touchy."

Gilly closed her eyes and fought back a sarcastic reply. She just needed to get up to her dorm and away from Janelle, and she could calm down. Maxine had plans with some friends from the village, so she would have a few sweet hours all to herself.

The girls walked in silence back to FTRS, tension between them. Janelle was planning on casually bringing up Jax to Gilly, just as a small start to the eventual set up she and Maxine were planning. But now she was too mad to speak. She didn't even want to be around Gilly, but they were both going to the same place, so there was no point in walking away.

Laughs came from the other children assigned to Gilly's group of friends as they turned cartwheels in the grass, making their way back to the school slowly, knowing they had twenty minutes of free time before dinner. Gilly picked up her pace, trying to drown out their incessant chatter. Their earlier bad moods were gone now that they were free of the hot stables, but Gilly's just seemed to get worse. Must get back to the dorm, she thought. She glanced up at the sky and noticed Blue flying towards the castle, Jax sitting relaxed on top of him, feet dangling in the air. Wind blew through his blond curls, messing them up the way Gilly liked so much. Her heart skipped a beat and she focused on the ground.

"Smart of him to get a ride from Blue. We should've thought of that," Janelle commented quietly.

"Trust me, there's no we," Gilly shot back under her breath. Janelle didn't reply, but Gilly could practically feel the anger coursing from her direction.

Gilly suddenly changed her course and went through a side door into the school. Students weren't technically allowed through here, as it led to a cozy room the teachers liked to hang out in, but she didn't care, knowing it was a shortcut. Janelle followed in silence, clearly wanting to get to her own dorm and alone as well.

Gilly stopped in her tracks in the hall. "Are you still following me?" she snapped.

"Well, yeah, we are going to the same place, you know," Janelle argued back, a scowl on her face.

Gilly turned and stormed into a room across the hall, not a shortcut, but another way to the girls' dorms, hoping Janelle would choose to go a different way. "Just be quiet. I don't want to talk to you."

Janelle marched into the room after her and called out, "Not even if I have info? Info on...oh I don't know...Jax?"

Gilly stopped. "You don't know anything about Jax," she whispered. "You don't know him at all."

"What was that?" Janelle asked innocently.

Gilly whirled around, her tangled hair catching on her face. "You don't know Jax at all!" she yelled. "Quit bringing him up! I don't want to know whatever gossip you dug up on him! I don't want you to ever say his name again!"

Janelle looked taken aback, then she slowly smiled wickedly. "Oh yeah? Jax."

"Stop it," Gilly ordered, breathing heavily.

"Jax."

"Stop it!"

"Jax Jax Jax Jax Jax—"

Gilly burst into tears and turned away. Janelle stopped.

"Gilly?" she asked. She took a step toward her. "Are you really crying, or just trying to annoy me?"

No response but Gilly's sobs. Janelle raised her eyebrows, surprised she had managed to make the feistiest person she knew cry. "Gilly, calm down."

"No! Leave me alone!" Gilly cried over her shoulder, not really looking at the redheaded girl approaching her.

Janelle didn't say anything. Gilly continued to weep excessively. Janelle cleared her throat and tried again to silence her tears by bringing up the boy of her heart. "Gilly, this info I have on Jax isn't anything ba—"

Gilly whipped around and Janelle stopped talking, seeing the look of intense anger in her eyes. She took a small step back as Gilly stalked towards her and painfully grabbed a handful of her fire red hair by the roots, pulling her close to her. "Don't ever talk to me about Jax again, or so help me, I'll make sure you're assigned to someone a thousand times worse than me," she spat into her ear, tears staining her cheeks.

Janelle's face suddenly darkened with anger. She didn't like to be touched. She seized Gilly's arm and squeezed it, pinching her skin. Gilly let go of her hair, but continued to make fierce eye contact with the young girl. "He hates you. Jax hates you," Janelle whispered. Gilly stepped back with a start. Her face crumbled, and she turned and ran out of the room, her sobs louder than Janelle had ever heard from her.

Janelle combed through her hair with her fingers, trying to ignore the stinging in her scalp where Gilly pulled it. Without another thought in her mind, she turned on her heel and left.