Steel: The Transformation

Chapter 25

Chapter 25 

Cleo POV

Floating with the flow of students pushing out from the lecture theatre after the end of the afternoon class, I noticed Jake coming down the opposite corridor. I fought my way through the crowd and once on the other side I smiled at him.

"Hello again!" Jake was looking as happy as ever. It was so good to have him back.

"Hello again," I repeated, looking at him for a moment finding it hard to believe that he was back in university for the foreseeable future.

"Want to walk me to my next class, seeing as you have missed spending time with me so much?" his smile was teasing me but I could tell that he had missed me too.

"Sure," I fell in step with him and walked in silence for a moment.

"So, lunch was awkward," he looked over at me trying to gage my reaction.

"I know," I replied softly.

"So I take it something happened while I was away?"

"Yes, things have happened while you were away." 

I didn't really know where to start or what to tell him about everything that had been going on. Even if I wanted to tell him everything that had happened, I still needed to protect the Basati and it wouldn't be fair to Jackson and the wolves if I told Jake about their supernatural secrets either.

"Anything in particular?" Jake looked at me with genuine concern.

"It's sort of complicated," I sighed, keeping my answer as close to the truth as I could.

"So it's a long story then?"

"Yes, it is," I answered, trying hard to figure out a way to tell him the broad strokes of why things now were the way they were.

"Jackson's not the same. He's changed or maybe he's just shown a side to himself that I haven't seen before," I started my explanation.

"This new side of his, it changes things for you?" Jake helped out.

"Yes, it changes things for me. I don't feel like I can trust him anymore," I kicked a crumbled up paper on the corridor floor and it slid forward before hitting the side of a bookshelf that was propped up against the wall.

"I understand," Jake nodded at me, "If you don't mind me saying it, I understand where you coming from."

I looked at him in complete surprise, "What do you mean? I've barely told you anything about what has happened. How could you understand?"

"I understand you Cleo," he smiled back at me gently, "Trust is a big thing for you. Maybe because you don't give it out very easily. So when it's not respected it means a lot to you." I nodded at his words of wisdom.

"So how did you figure all of this out about me?"

"I had to win your trust too. It's not like we became friends overnight..." he smiled ruefully at me. I thought back to the months of us being cautious acquaintances before I slowly started to let him in.

"I guess that's true."

"Jackson should know this too you know, he had to try very hard before you even looked twice at him," Jake's words were meant as light hearted by they hit a note with me. 

What he was saying was true, Jackson should have known how much trust meant to me. So why would he disregard that just because he felt threatened by the Basati?