Those Violet Eyes

Chapter 7

Janelle stared up at the ceiling, wide awake and unable to sleep. She knew she probably should be studying for the test tomorrow if she was going to do anything useful with these wakeful hours, but instead she thought of the situation with Jax and Gilly.

She was mad. Mad at Gilly. Kinda mad at Jax, but that's just because she just felt like being mad at Jax, for fun. She had a real reason to be mad at Gilly. Gilly obviously hated her, and Janelle wasn't going to take it anymore.

"I'm going to humiliate them," she whispered with conviction to the ceiling. An idea popped into her head, and she rolled over and snatched some note paper and a pen from her bedside table. She needed Maxine's help, and the only way to get that was to lie.

***

"Pssst! Hey! Maxine!"

Maxine was walking down one of the darker halls of FTRS near the kitchens, trying to find the place Janelle wanted to meet. She rolled her eyes when she heard her whispered voice.

"Janelle? Where are you?"

"Over here! Behind the sculpture."

"There's like a gazillion sculptures here, Janelle."

"The one on your right! No, your other right!"

"I only have one right!" Maxine spotted a head of red hair peeking around a sculpture of something so obscure she couldn't place it. "Oh, there you are." She made her way over to the sculpture and waited. After a pause, she said, exasperated, "Well aren't you coming out?"

"No, this is secret. Come back here."

"No! Do you think I could fit behind that thing?"

Janelle groaned and squeezed herself out from behind the sculpture. She brushed some dust off her ruffled dress. "Could you at least lower your voice??"

"Janelle, this is stupid! Nobody's even near us. Why am I even agreeing to this again?" Maxine crossed her arms.

"Becaaauuuse you want to see Jax and Gilly together as much as I do," Janelle stated matter-of-factly.

Maxine scoffed. "Yeah, well, I'm starting to wonder if this is worth it. Those two have been in a mood lately. I don't think they'd like us meddling."

Janelle fumbled, knowing Maxine was starting to slip from the tight grip she had on her. "Of course it's worth it!" she stuttered. "They're probably so moody because they're not together," she pointed out weakly.

Maxine gave her a look. "That's a little out there."

"Well, all I know is once they confess their undying love to each other, their bad moods will vanish." Janelle spread out her arms dramatically.

Maxine sighed. "Fine, but please don't make it a super obvious set-up. If Gilly finds out I'm apart of this, she'll kill me."

Janelle waved a hand. "Don't worry. All we have to do is get them alone. See? Classic set-up."

"Okayyy...how?"

"Simple. We just each send one of them on some kind of errand that's in the same place. They're bound to run into each other then."

Maxine chewed on her nails nervously. "You sure? I don't think I've ever ordered Gilly around like that. She might find it suspicious...and she'll definitely get annoyed."

Janelle laughed softly. "That's why your job is Jax. I've got Gilly handled."

Maxine looked at her like she lost her mind. "You want me to order around a prince? That's like, worse."

"It's not an order! Just a favor. Jax is way less stubborn than Gilly anyway. He won't get annoyed. He's nice."

Maxine sighed. "Okay, fine. But if this doesn't work out, I'm out."

Janelle came closer and patted Maxine on the shoulder phonily. "Don't worry, don't worry. It will work out."