The Inveigled

Chapter 9: Blythe

Jax has gotten on my nerves the moment he walked into this school. Probably the moment that he took that subtrain up to this level and settled himself into this Level. He doesn't belong here. It's not routine to come into class late, let alone not show up for the whole thing. He's different. He's like a mystery that I want to solve.

It sounds a bit wrong when I say it like that, but I can't dissuade myself into believing any different. He doesn't really seem like the type of person I'd like to hang out with, but the aura of mystery that hovers around him seems so impossible to read. I'd love to be the one person to finally figure what was up with Jax. To finally unlock his tough exterior and find the whimpering child instead. If I found out that, it'd be the perfect thing to add to my resume.

It's strange, it's quite odd to say the least, but I find myself intrigued.

He really riles me up though, and the mischievous smirk that's always plastered onto his face like glue just makes me even angrier. It was as if he saw me as someone below him, when in reality, he's the one who came to this Level and probably pleaded to be allowed some sort of second chance.

Okay, if I can state one thing, my feelings on him are obviously mixed. I don't know if this is really healthy, considering the fact that I've probably asked more questions in this period of seven minutes that I have in my whole life.

Curiosity kills the cat.

There's some sort of trouble that lingers behind him. That's the only logic that follows, thinking about the smell of smoke and black shoes caked in mud. The only place you can find pure mud is...

Wait. Wait--

"Did you go to the lower levels? As in, the lower levels?"

He leans in, so close that I can feel his shallow breaths slivering down the collar of my neck. A single hand of his is brought up to to my shoulder, and his other strokes the third button on my blazer. My eyes flicker to his eyes for a moment too long, and he pulls in, almost close enough that his lips touched my ear.

"Some questions are better left unanswered." He whispers, his lips curving into another grin and I feel shivers crawl down my spine.

I quickly zone out, all the other bodies and voices in this room blurring out into silence until the monotonous bell explodes any sense of serenity I had balanced into my head. All I could feel was his hand now stroking the bone that structured my sharp jaw. His calloused hands signified years of harsh physical work, but his face held such pampered and silky skin. His sparkling eyes dug into mine with no permission given up.

This was extremely out of the ordinary and was beginning to make me feel quite uncomfortable. I shove him away quite suddenly. "Personal space." I grumble, rolling my eyes at him, unamused. I knew he wanted to touch me. He says I have a creepy obsession with him? Can he see himself?

Jax pulls away, shoving his hands into his pockets as he quickly stands up, giving me a belittling glance like the past few minutes of class hadn't even happened. He turns on his heel, making a beeline for the door and being the first to make it out, considering his lack of books.

I hang my head in defeat before I gather my books quickly. Instead of curtly organizing my papers in my folder and then slipping them into my binder, I just toss them together and sweep them into one teeming tower that I could barely hold. Maybe if I hurried, I could catch another glance of him in the hallway and ask him a few more questions, find out how he even got onto a train going down and managed to drop by those levels. I've always been curious, but that doesn't mean I actually have the guts to make it down there. Rumors swirl that there's mutant mice scurrying around that feast on human flesh. Another thing I've caught wind of is that there's actual bodies littering the floors.

I stand up, stumbling to the door like I was some sort of trapeze artist. Most of the class was still putting their stuff together, taking their sweet time.

I leave the classroom, even forgetting to say goodbye to Whittaker before I ecstatically step into the hallway. My head sweeps from the left to right, hoping to find him carelessly sauntering to his next period.

Completely empty. He was gone.