PARADOX

nine

Kennedy

My mum wasn't home when I woke up but at least she'd finally paid the electric bill so we were no longer living in darkness. We split the bills not exactly halfway but I do pay my own fair share so during the summertime we save up money by keeping the lights and heating off whilst it was warm so we had more money to spend during the winter.

Last summer however my mum's asshole ex-boyfriend moved in with us and made it a habit of using the refrigerator as his own personal cooler, sitting in front of the open door during the heatwaves which ran the bill up a lot. Of course, that asshole never paid a penny but I couldn't fully blame him, my mum would never ask him too as she was scared, he would see her as being too needy and he would leave. They all left anyway so what was the point?

Anyway, it left us with less money to spend this winter so we had to be careful with how often we put the heating on.

I was running late, the cold air that had crept in through a small gap in my flat had turned the air into ice. The thought of leaving my warm duvet to face the cold was far from appealing so I stayed in bed for as long as possible leading to me speed walking to school whilst trying to avoid slipping on the icy path. Landing on my ass in front of everyone would be mortifying.

My conversation with Maddie last night filled me with confidence and even if I was just going to be civil with Damon, I did want to try being friends with Marcus at least. Apart from our tiff on the first day, he had been nothing but nice to me and he deserved the same treatment back. Perhaps I could convince him he deserved better than his asshole friends.

Although that may take some time.

When I got to school everyone was crowded inside the building trying to escape the cold air, the hallways were jam-packed as I shoved my way through the sea of people trying to reach my locker. I normally didn't go to my locker in the morning anymore to avoid Jace but I needed to get some of my notes from last semester for English Lit.

Thankfully Jace wasn't standing at his locker and was instead across the hallway with his friends chatting. His hand was gripping Liv's tightly as his thumb stroked the back of her palm. Marcus was chattering away about something and Damon... Damon was staring right at me.

Blushing because I'd been caught openly staring at him, I turned facing my locker, please don't come over, I begged mentally. If he came over and made a remark in front of everyone, I would have no other option than to be snide back and I really didn't want to have an argument.

Focusing on just getting my notes and then going to class I opened my locker quickly and I almost didn't notice when a folded white piece of paper floated out of my locker onto the floor. Curiously I crouched down to pick it up, my eyebrows furrowing as I read it.

Shifter hating scum. You're next.

What the fuck? My heart started to beat faster as my head spun with different possibilities. Only one answer made sense. The hate from the pack had gotten too much as of late.

Perhaps if I had been thinking clearly, I would've thought about my actions first, instead I turned on my heel feeling rage consume me as I stormed over to where the group was standing still laughing at something Marcus had said.

Damon noticed me first, his eyebrow raising as he watched me storm over to him as I pressed the note to his chest, ignoring the feeling of warmth in my belly that came from simply touching him.

"So much for a truce asshole," and before he could reply I turned around storming in the opposite direction towards my English class, I was so mad I forgot my notes from last semester.