Listen To Me

chapter 3 ⋆ get me

Noel

Jax and I followed through with our scheduled meetup. Right now, I'm seated in a warm armchair opposite him in the library. The sky is dark, the fireplace is hot with glowing flames, and Jax is sitting upright at our desk. His forearms rest on the wooden surface with his sleeves rolled up.

His pen skates across the page as we talk. Jax is calm and intelligent, and thoughtful as he works. His work ethic is a complete contrast to his sun-like personality, because he's grounded and determined in whatever he puts his hands to. I can't pinpoint any flaws in him, as of yet.

"I think we're done for today." Jax says finally, his eyes flickering up from the page to me. His hair is set alight by the fire, warm and golden as the sun.

"I agree." I reply, leaning towards him slightly. If I wasn't interested in Jax before, I'm surprisingly interested now. I'm still not sure why, if only because of everyone else's attentions to him. Surely his ego must be inflated now. "I still don't know anything about you, but you already know my middle name."

Jax tilts his head to the side, studying my curiously with his gold-flecked eyes. "You volunteered that information."

God, his hair still looks like a halo crowning his skin. "Then will you volunteer the answer to why you call me by my middle name?" I ask. I've been wanting to know it for a while now; even when he greeted me after school, he called me Margot. Not Noel.

"Because it's pretty. Do you know what it means?" Jax says. I nod, and he looks surprised.

I smile bitterly, thinking about the past. Things were so much easier when I was a child. Mostly because I wasn't conscious of all the difficult things. "My grandmother told me about my name, because it was hers. Margot means pearl, doesn't it?"

Jax assents, still looking into my eyes. "You seem close to her."

I shrug. "I was close to her, before she died." I say abruptly. Part of me feels unfamiliarly comfortable with talking about such a personal subject with Jax, but a part of me wants to know how he'll take it. If he offers me one inch of pity, then I'm done with him. I can't bear people who sugarcoat things, or soften the blow for me. Maybe I'm a hypocrite for that, but it's how I am.

And thank goodness, I don't see anything of pity or embarrassment in his eyes. Just quiet reflection. He takes my hand in his, and I'm so shocked by the contact that I let him do it. His skin is warm against mine, and it soothes me.

He smirks wryly after about a minute, letting go of my hand. The cold air envelops my skin. "You want to know something about me? Pearls are my birthstone."

I'm so glad he changed the subject. I lean into him, eyeing him curiously. "Pearls are for June, aren't they? So you're a Gemini too."

Jax shrugs. "Probably. I don't know much about star signs."

"Yet you know your birthstone." I mutter, and Jax laughs. The sound is nice, and it sounds genuine. He seems genuine so far, and it's throwing me off. I'm not as sarcastic or sharp as I normally am, and surely Jax knows it. He saw how I treated him on the first day we met. I've softened considerably since then, even though it might not seem like it. And I'm scared, knowing that he has some kind of power over me.

Jax props his chin on his palm. "You said your grandmother told you the meaning of your middle name? Well, my mother knew all about birthstones. She was a jeweller."

"Was?" I ask cautiously, wondering if I'm intruding.

Jax's eyes become sad. "She passed on a few years ago. Cancer."