Perfectly Flawed

Fourteen - Making an appearance

Chapter Fourteen

As Gabrielle left her room the next morning, she was not expecting to see a 6"2 male standing next to her door. Hence the screaming.

"Jesus Christ Thornton, are you trying to kill me," she groaned, slumping against the wall and trying to get her heart back to a normal pace.

He smirked at her sadistically.

"What the hell do you want?"

"We're getting breakfast together. Making an appearance. Clause 12.B." He said in a bored, distracted tone, pulling out his phone and texting.

"Fantastic," Gabrielle muttered, standing up straight and locking her room. "Next time knock, asshole."

"I would expect a much cleaner mouth on the Montgomery pride and joy," Jasper taunted.

"Fucking try me."

Suffice to say, Gabrielle was not happy. It was bad enough being in this situation in the first place, but being scared like that at 7am was a whole new level of bad for her.

But duty called, and she was legally not allowed to be angry for their first 'public' appearance.

They walked out the dorm building and towards the main hall in silence. A few meters away, Gabrielle stopped, groaning internally.

"Give me your hand."

Jasper paused, glaring at her. "No."

"I swear to God, give me your hand right now."

"Why the fuck would I give you my hand?!" He seethed.

"Because we literally look like two people who want to murder each other. This has to be convincing, remember?" She spoke like she was speaking to a child, patronisingly, which did not sit well with Jasper.

"Of all the girls..." Jasper muttered, but took a few steps towards Gabrielle and snatched her hand into his.

Gabrielle winced, but didn't cry out. No way was she letting him know that hurt like a bitch. Two could play at that game, and one had very long nails.

They walked together towards the building.

"For gods sake! Have you never held a girl's hand before?" Gabrielle groaned, holding up their joined hands in evidence.

Jasper looked like he was going to punch something. "Illuminate me," he hissed between clenched teeth.

Gabrielle rearranged their hands, prying her fingers out of his metal grip and adjusting them. "The aim isn't to break every bone in my hands."

He looked at their hands, now comfortably entwined. "Whatever."

With his spare hand, he pushed open the door to the dining hall, and Gabrielle tried to wipe the smug smirk off her face. Once again, she had triumphed.

--

Even the staff went quiet as Gabrielle Montgomery and Jasper Thornton entered the dining hall. Together. Holding hands.

It was as if the world had tipped upside down.

However, both were used to the attention, so simply walked in, looking a lot more confident than they felt.

To the other students, Gabrielle looked emotionless, but the anger in her eyes could be mistaken for excitement. Jasper looked aggressive, as usual, but not as murderous as most mornings.

In short, these tiny, subtle differences were enough to completely convince the entire student body.

Gabrielle led the way to the food, unlocking her hand from Jasper's and almost sighing in relief. She stretched her fingers, enjoying the freedom. Jasper noticed and rolled his eyes in disgust.

Everything about Gabrielle made him so angry.

She filled her plate with fruit, and waited impatiently as he buttered toast.

She could have sworn he was taking forever just to spite her.

When he was finally done, Gabrielle began walking to her table, but Jasper grabbed her arm.

"Where are you going?" He said quietly, knowing that basically everyone was listening to their conversation.

"To eat at my table?"

"We're eating at my table." He deadpanned. She could feel the frustration radiating off him.

"Oh feel free to. I'm sitting at my table."

Gabrielle thought she heard him utter 'spoilt brat' under his breath, but she was already halfway across the room, and quite frankly, didn't care.

Imogen looked at her cautiously as she sat down. "You look mad."

Gabrielle huffed. "I'm quite often mad."

Shrugging, Imogen picked up her spoon and continued eating. "Thought you'd be happy, with a new lover and all."

Resisting the urge to gag at the thought, Gabrielle eyeballed Imogen, unimpressed.

"Or not..."

They ate in silence for a few seconds.

"Oh look, here comes your man," Imogen smiled kindly, obviously trying her hardest to be supportive of the questionable decision her best friend had made.

Gabrielle didn't have time to react, before the chair beside her was tugged away from the table, and the person she least wanted to see sat down next to her.

"You didn't wait for me," Jasper said casually, nodding at Imogen, who was giving him a welcoming smile.

"I didn't know I was meant to," Gabrielle said, as civilly as she could manage.

"You're the one who said you wanted to eat with me this morning," Jasper shrugged.

That bastard. He knew Gabrielle would have to be on her best behaviour around Imogen, the one person close enough to her to figure it out.

"I have a lot on my mind," Gabrielle huffed.

"Don't mind her," Imogen joked, "she's always grumpy in the mornings."

Jasper snorted, "and the rest of the day." Imogen chuckled.

"Okay this," Gabrielle pointed a finger between the two, "is not going to work. I'm not going to sit here while you two tear me apart."

Imogen frowned at her. "You really need to lighten up. You used to be fun to be around."

Gabrielle groaned and dropped her head into her hands. "I can't deal with this right now Isobel."

"You can't seem to 'deal with' anything to do with me recently." She said quietly, annoyance clear in her voice. She waited for Gabrielle to say something, and when she didn't, she got up and left.

"I see why you don't have many friends... You're not just a bitch to me." Jasper commented.

Feeling her heart rate increasing to the point where she might explode if she didn't scream or break something, she turned her body around so she was facing him. Leaning in so close that Jasper could almost see the fire in her irises and feel her warm breath on his face, she said so quietly that only he could hear, "I don't want you to talk to me, look at me or even think about me unless it is absolutely necessary, you fucking bastard."

Pulling away, she forcefully pushed her chair back and stormed out the room. Well, more like floated angrily. Gabrielle wasn't one to storm.