Kissed by a Rose✔️

19) Texas

The next week was slow. Everyday was Monday, everyone was tense. Even Kingsley picked up on my anxiety. He knew I asked to go away this weekend. Mallory came up with the excuse her parent were investing with a client near the beach and invited me to go with her. I had told my mom the fake plan, and like always she waited silently until He finally allowed it. He was somewhat eager about the whole thing, it was such a shock to me I almost wanted to ask to stay. My uncomfort soon vanished after I realized I would actually have to follow through with this idea, so I immediately started packing. We wouldn't get this lucky again since her parents were in fact going out of town this weekend.

That was Monday. It's Thursday. I've been taking my toothbrush out of my suitcase every morning and every evening. I've had some trouble calming my nerves, and if I can't do things my way I might lose it.

I tapped on my desk and glanced up at the clock. 12:14. I still had to wait another six minutes to go to lunch. I looked around me, everyone was paying attention and taking notes but I could bring myself to listen. The only thing that I really sensed going on around me was the quiet while the teacher droned on in the background. I looked around and saw Garrett and Jess a few seats down. I knew everyone in the class but I chose only to talk to them. Kendall and Ivan were staring soon. This school might lose it completely when we have another two new people start here.

After a long five minutes, the class lined up at the door, eager to have 25 minutes of freedom. I weaved my way over to Jess and Garrett, who were complaining about something their other teacher had assigned them. I couldn't really participate in the conversation, my nerves were going haywire and I couldn't think straijght. Mal has been even more talkative than usual, which I know she does when she has extra energy from nerves. Naturally, Mals behavior made Griffin on edge as well, which apparently also went hand and hand with him being pissy. Levi as usual cracked jokes to try to neutralize the situation, but had been fidgety this whole week. How Jess hadn't asked him what his deal was yet was beyond me. She isn't dense, in fact probably to smartest out of us three, but saying she gave a benefit of the doubt to people would be a understatement.

Surprisingly, Theo was the one out of all five of us who was in the best shape. All he had really done differently was become attached at my hip. I was starting to understand d why the pack trusted him as the leader, he was doing great under pressure. As far as the note went, he got it checked for fingerprints or special inks where any new clues could be found. We still had no leads and a trip to Texas planned.

The bell rang, breaking me out of my train of thought. The three of us made it through the door. Though I wasn't as tight with Garrett as Jess, he and I had been partners before for projects so I knew of him. Plus I had talked to him through Jess, so it wasn't a surprise when he noticed I wasn't my usual self.

"Adeline, is everything alright?" I heard him ask. I felt my head jerk up, in a spastic movement.

"Yes," I answered quickly, "Why?"

"You seem off," Jess answers. A small frown pulls at her face. "Now that I think about it, everyone does. You, Mal, Levi, Theo, Griffin..."

"Speaking of lover boy," Garrett says, nudging his head to Levi who's tired eyes were trained on Jess. Jess' frown quickly diminished, a comfortable smile warming her face. We all split, her with Levi, and Garrett to his locker. I hesitated. I had a question bugging me I wanted to ask him, but I didn't know if now it was the most pressing matter.

He stood alone at his locker, innocently throwing his letterman jacket over his shoulder and grabbing a brown paper bag as he took out a Chemistry textbook. I sighed.

"Hey Garrett," I said as I approached him. His alert eyes met mine, his face relaxing when he saw it was me.

"Hey, what's up Adeline?"