Night of Secrets (Night of Secrets #1)

Chapter 9 - Different Views

After fifteen minutes, Jax cuts the engine at some fenced-off clearing overlooking the city. Right now, the sky is a pink-purplish color, giving the city almost a mystic glow. I hurry to take off my helmet and get off the motorcycle. I practically run right up to the fence and lean against it with my arms crossed on top of it, getting as close to the city as I can. Jax jumps on top of the fence, facing the city.

"How do you even find these places?" I ask.

He shrugs. "I drive around a lot."

"So this is just a place for you, too? No one else has been here?"

"Not while I've been here. You're the first person I've ever brought with me."

"And you wanted to show me this place no matter what, why?"

Jax makes a face at me. "Are you saying you're not enjoying the view?"

I point at him. "I didn't say that."

"No, but you didn't say, 'Thanks for bringing me here, Jax,' either."

I roll my eyes. This guy... "Thanks for bringing me here, Jax."

He smirks. "No. It's too late."

"I would push you if you weren't on the fence."

Jax swings his legs around and gets off, standing next to me with his arms out. "Okay. I'm off the fence. Go ahead."

I narrow my eyes. "You took the fun out of it..."

He arches an eyebrow. "Oh... my bad..."

I turn away, putting a hand over my mouth to hide my smile. "Yeah. Your bad..."

A moment of silence passes. Then Jax calls my name. The moment I look, he takes a selfie. When he shows it to me, I decide it's probably the most candid picture we've taken all night. At least on my part. I don't think I've ever made such an open expression before. At least not in a long time. Not since high school started.

"Your turn," Jax sighs, tucking his phone away. "Let's get royally pissed off again."

Despite how much I anticipate each letter, I can't help but laugh while I look for Dean's second one. "Is that what we're calling it now?"

"That's what I'm calling it."

"Well, maybe you should sit down then."

He sits with his back against the fence, patting the grass next to him. I oblige and sit. We're close enough to feel each other's body heat, but Jax leans closer until our heads are nearly touching to follow along as I read.

Dear Dean,

I didn't think things could get worse between us, but they did. But the thing is, I feel stupid if I blame you for all of it. Then again, I still feel stupid if I don't blame you for all of it. I mean, it was your idea. It's always your idea. It's just my fault for listening to you, right?

It was probably three weeks before our end of the year finals. In the two years that I've known you, you've never been stressed out about your grades. Even when you were close to failing. Especially when it was the end of the year and the bonfire was coming up. But it was different this time. You ran up to me and nearly tackled me off my feet. You were talking too fast for me to really pick up everything you were saying, but I got the gist: you were about to flunk sophomore year, and your parents might kill you for it.

You were begging me to help you do something about it. I offered to help you study and do extra credit like a reasonable person would, but you waved me off and told me that I shouldn't be so stupid and naive. According to you, the only way to make things right was to help you find the answers to all your finals. I thought you were kidding. At least that's what I hoped. But I saw the desperation in your eyes. You were clearly hellbent on doing this.