Sugar and Spice / l.h ✔️

15

~Maeve's POV~

Thursday morning, I rolled out of bed early and headed into my bathroom to take a shower and brush my teeth before I needed to get ready for school. After I did just that, I exited the bathroom in my towel and sat at my vanity so I could do my makeup.

The habit I had was doing my makeup when I was just in my towel, because I didn't want to get anything on my clothes if I were to get dressed first and then do my makeup. It was just easier this way because I didn't really have to worry.

Once my makeup was finished and I had used my hairbrush to brush out my somewhat damp hair, I got up and grabbed a pair of undergarments from my dresser that I quickly put on. Then I headed into my closet, where I picked out my outfit for the day, which consisted of a deep orange colored skirt that had a black and white tartan plaid pattern with two tiny slits in the front of the skirt, over either thigh. My white cropped tank top had a small embroidery on the chest of a monarch butterfly. For shoes I just chose a simple pair of white sneakers and then decided I was done, swiping on a little bit of deodorant in the mirror in my room before I finished with a spritz of perfume.

Giving myself a smile in the mirror, I pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear and then grabbed my backpack, leaving my bedroom afterwards. I walked down the hall and then downstairs, where I found Jase was already at while he ate his breakfast on the couch. Him being down here before me was surprising, being that I was almost always the one of us who got ready first. In fact, it was pretty common I'd have to wait on him before I could go to school. He was the type that took forever to get ready.

I decided to just eat a bagel with strawberry cream cheese on it for breakfast, just barely managing to finish it off before Jase came barging up into the kitchen. "Fuck's sake, Maeve, are you done yet?" He scowled in irritation, glaring at me. A frown formed on my lips as I set my plate into the sink. "I have to wait for you all the time, Jase. I think you can wait an extra five seconds for me to finish eating every once in a while." I pointed out, walking out of the kitchen with my car keys in hand. He made a noise of frustration from behind me and then came stomping after me rather dramatically, like a twelve year old child throwing a tantrum and not a nineteen year old in high school. "I shouldn't have to wait on your fat ass to eat." He scoffed, making me whip my head around to face him.

"I'm sorry, what?" I scowled at him as I came to a stop before the front door, silently giving him a look that dared him to say it again. And this is Jase, so he said it.

"What?" He scoffed, glaring at me. "I'm just saying I doubt it's necessary for you to eat every morning. You could stand to lose some weight, anyways." He grunted, pushing past me to go out the front door. My jaw dropped and my feelings were a little hurt, but I didn't want him to know that because that was obviously his goal here. It was like his mission in life was to make me miserable.

A little bit angry, I followed him out the front door and locked it behind me, brows furrowed together in agitation. "You know, Jase, this might come as a surprise to you but just because I am a little bit fat doesn't mean that I don't need to eat still." I snapped, having been set off. I was trying to be nice but more and more often I found myself feeling angry—at him, at Nicolai. "Besides, I like my body the way it is. I don't want to lose weight." I added with a huff, knowing he'd heard me loud and clear as I turned and walked past him towards my car.

Jase laughed. "You might like your body but no guy will." He said with amusement, making me smile as I turned to face him.

"See, there's two problems with what you just said," I began, amused. "One is that obviously they will if Nicolai's still pissed that he couldn't screw me like he wanted to. And I'm not stupid, Jase, I know that a lot of guys like me." I said confidently, causing that smug look on his face to fall. The smile on my face grew. "The other problem is that I'd have to want any of those guy's attention in the first place to be worried about whether or not they'd like the way my body looks." I finished, giving him a fake smile that I knew was bitchy, but I didn't care. Once again, Jase was getting on my last nerve.

Done arguing with him, I turned around and went to walk around to the driver's side, but suddenly Jase gripped my arm and spun me around. Thinking he was going to try to argue with me some more, I opened my mouth, but then it happened so fast I didn't even have time to process what was happening.

He shoved me hard, so hard that my body tumbled back and I felt myself falling, my head knocking against the concrete. I yelped in pain and let go of my keys, dropping them beside me on the ground as I placed a hand to the back of my head. Thankfully I wasn't bleeding, but it hurt incredibly bad. I glanced up at Jase, a frown on my lips as he stared down at me with wide eyes, seeming to have realized what he'd just done. He'd never done anything physical like this before. "Shit." He muttered, face paling. "Ave, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—" He apologized hurriedly and went to try to help me up, but I smacked him away from me.

"Don't touch me." I snapped, glaring at him as he backed off. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "You won't tell mom and dad, right?" He asked, worried. I couldn't help but to scoff as I grabbed my keys and stood up, using the trunk of my car to lean on to gain my balance back. "No, I won't." I scowled, turning and stomping over to the driver's seat. "But you can get your own damn ride." I said, yanking open my door and getting in. I locked all the doors again before he could try to get inside, starting up the engine.

And I'm pretty sure this time he knew he deserved it, because he didn't even try to stop me when I left.

**

"What the hell is in your hair?" Luke asked me as I sat down beside him at the table, his tray with his breakfast sitting in front of him. I frowned in confusion, unsure what he was talking about. His lips twitched up and he leaned over. "Here, I'll get it for you." He murmured.

He leaned much closer and I felt my cheeks warm, the pace of my heart picking up as his breath fanned my cheeks. I was flustered, nervously tapping my fingers against my bare thighs while I peered up at him. You'd have thought he was about to kiss me what with how nervous I was, not about to just pull something out of my hair. His fingers reached to the back of my head, where I'd hit my head on the concrete not even an hour ago, and I stifled a pained gasp when he pulled gently at the strands to get the thing out, making my scalp hurt. This is all Jase's fault.

When he pulled his hand away, I saw that he had a leaf held between his thumb and pointer finger, an amused little smile on his face. "How'd this get in there?" He chuckled, carelessly tossing it onto the floor behind us.

I blushed and giggled nervously as I looked away, not wanting to tell the truth but also not wanting to lie. "I fell earlier. Clumsy me, I guess." I excused quietly, giving a shrug of my shoulders as I rubbed my arm awkwardly. He studied the side of my face and somehow seemed to notice how I was acting a little different, because he frowned and poked me on the thigh. "You're lying to me." He noticed, making me look up at him.

Biting on my cheek, I shook my head. "No, really. I fell before I came to school." I insisted, earning a narrow-eyed look from him. He clearly didn't believe me.

Luke leaned down so we were eye-to-eye with one another, that frown still on his lips. "Tell me, please." He said, but I just looked at him, unsure if I should. I eventually decided that I could probably tell him because it wasn't like he'd tell it to everyone, being that he didn't really talk to anyone except for me. "It's nothing. Jase and I just got in a little argument at home this morning and I fell." I shrugged, causing him to give me a doubtful look. "You fell or he pushed you?" He retorted.

I stayed quiet, giving it all away. And Luke? Well, Luke looked pissed.