Grace; misanthrope // Jai Brooks

Chapter 12

We were pulled back into reality by the sound of Luke's voice echoing into the microphone. He had just got up on stage. Jai and I immediately looked at each other with worry, then he quickly grabbed me by the hand, hurrying me away. Everyone was so focused on Luke that nobody seemed to notice Jai and I slip behind the curtains.

Jai showed me where my rope was, careful to choose the brown one, and then left to get to the other side of the stage. My heart was beating out of my chest. A few seconds later, although it felt like forever, Jai appeared across from me on the other side of the stage.

"The king for this year's Winter ball is... David Waters!" Luke announced in his fake happy voice.

Everyone in the room began clapping. Then when the cheering fell, he announced the queen.

"The queen for this year's Winter ball is... Emma Cabot!"

My eyes went back and forth between Luke and Jai. Everyone was still cheering as Luke crowned David and Emma. Jai's eyes burned into mine. He held up his fingers and counted. On three, we each yanked our ropes. It happened so fast. In the blink of an eye, red paint was raining down on David and Emma. The sound seemed to disappear around me, and the only thing I could hear was the rapid beating of my own heart. I raised my hands to my mouth, somewhat shocked at what I had done. Only briefly did I feel sorry for Emma and David, before remembering all the times they tormented me and everyone else. Then I didn't feel so bad anymore. My eyes darted back to Jai who was vigorously waving his hand for me to get out of there.

I spun around quick on my heels and ran away. I immediately went for the door. I bursted out into the dim lit hallway where I found Jai waiting for me. We began to run, the tiles cold against my bare feet. Jai held out his hand for me to grab it. He yanked me by my hand, swinging me around a corner. There was a lot of commotion as voices and foot steps came down the hall, toward us.

Jai had pinned me against the lockers and whispered,
"Trust me," before smashing his lips against mine.

The foot steps got closer and I squeezed my eyes shut, afraid to look, afraid we had been caught. I was encased in the smell of Jai's cologne, which had become my new favorite scent.

"Which way did they go?" I heard Mr. Herman's voice boom.

Jai continued to kiss me softly, his thumb gently caressing my cheek, attempting to calm me. I tried to breath through my nose, although it seemed my heart had stopped.

"I think they went the other way," Mrs. Ritter's young voice was accompanied by the sound of her heels.

"You two, back in the gymnasium," Principal Penk's voice rang out beside us, and I heard him pat Jai's back.

My eyes shot open and Jai and I were looking at each other again.

"Did you see anyone come this way?" Penk asked Jai.

He shook his head, "I think I heard a couple of guys running the other way," Jai lied.

The three faculty members took off the direction they had come from. Jai's hand found mine again and we headed back toward the gym. He looked over at me, gripping my hand in his. I tried to read his face, but it was so hard to tell what he was thinking.

"You don't have to hold my hand anymore," I quietly said.

"I know," he said, only squeezing it tighter.

There was a slight glimmer in his eye, like maybe he wanted to smile for just a moment. But we said nothing else. When we reached the gym, Jai held the door open for me. Almost immediately I was greeted by Chloe.

"Where were you?!" She yelled at me.

I frantically tried to quiet her, to avoid drawing attention toward us. Jai touched the small of my back, and began to walk away. When I looked at him, he twinkled his fingers and then winked at me with a smile. I mouthed "bye" to him and found myself missing him already.

Bella had now joined Chloe and I.

"Did you see that?" Bella laughed hysterically.

"I ran to the restroom. What happened?" I lied.

"Somebody dumped paint on David and Emma. They're saying it was some freshmen."

I internally sighed with relief that the suspicion wasn't on me. I only looked at my friends and pretended to be shocked.

On the way home we sat quiet in the back of Bella's driver's car.

"You've been acting so strange," Chloe looked at me.

I was extremely caught off guard. My phone buzzed and I saw it was a message from Jai. I looked at her and her eyes went from my phone to me.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"Since when are you friends with the Brooks? You just don't seem like yourself lately..."

"Am I not allowed to talk to other people?" I questioned.

Chloe seemed taken aback.

"I didn't mean that," she said, pausing for a moment. "You're getting detention, showing up tardy... If something was wrong or going on, you'd tell us, right?"

I knew my face wasn't very convincing but it was too soon to tell them I had pulled the prank on David and Emma.

"Everything is fine," I reassured her.