Sin of the Saint

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: JEALOUSY

Liv woke up on a crisp Monday morning a few weeks after the incident involving Nathan and Axel at St. John's Halloween Party. Nathan, of course, granted after school detention for a few weeks to pay for the humiliation he caused Axel, but it did nothing to solve the constant hum of gossiping students around him.

Of course, who wouldn't be curious? Was Axel's father a murderer? Or was Nathan just blowing smoke?

The students of St. John's Private High School tended to believe the story, and for that reason, Liv was now widely considered Axel's only friend, and therefore, didn't necessarily attract any new friends of her own. Though after the bout with Irae and Paten, she did take notice of the seemingly always paranoid girl, Rose Mendez, occasionally following and sometimes staring at the two of them as they ate lunch or walked to choir class together.

She reached the high school at six-thirty and dressed for her sparring training with Coach Luther, and in the mirror, just like clockwork, she saw her wings—black as ink. She sighed, looking up to the ceiling, "You waste no time, do you? Whoever you are?"

She knew she would be alone in the locker room, since it was always empty this time of morning, so she continued her speech.

"I know I'm not in a place to necessarily make demands, but do you think I could at least enjoy the remainder of my high school experience?" she asked the air. "Without having to put up with all of this? I get that it's important, don't get me wrong, but my future is important too. Don't you think?"

"Who are you talking to?" a voice echoed through the locker room, coming from the other side.

Liv froze and blinked in the mirror after jerking her shirt on. Heart slamming against her ribs, she immediately grabbed her phone and pretended to end a conversation with someone on the other line, "Sorry, someone's talking to me in the locker room. I'll call you back."

Just as Liv shakily set her phone back down in her bag, Rose Mendez appeared from behind a row of lockers. Her black hair and caramel skin made her honey brown eyes seem to glow, "Sorry, I didn't realize you were talking to someone on the phone."

Liv blinked at the girl who'd been borderline stalking she and Axel the last few weeks, "It's...fine. No worries."

"Early day for you?"

"Yeah, I have...private lessons with Coach Luther," Liv said, throwing her bag over her shoulder. "And you?"

"I like it in here in the mornings," she said simply, folding her arms and leaning against the end of the row. "It's quiet...until people start talking on the phone."

"My bad..." Liv said before walking past her. "I have to go now—but have a nice day."

"Wait a second," Rose said, turning to face Liv. "You're the girl that hangs out with Axel Parker, right?"

Liv turned to face her, "Yeah. My name is Liv Yves."

"I thought so," she said, tapping her rounded chin. "You two are practically joined at the hip, you know? Ever since the Halloween party. Everyone is talking about it."

Liv stopped in her tracks and blinked.

Rose continued, "You eat lunch with him every day and have a class with him on A-days, correct?"

Liv stared at her hard, narrowing her eyes. Sure, she'd been irritated that this girl had been following them around whenever she and Axel were together, but now that she had the gall to approach her and question her like this...practically openly admitting that she stalks them...it put her off. Now Liv couldn't pretend that it wasn't happening anymore.