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Chapter 2

“Really? Let me see.” Alex leaned closer, curiosity etched on his face. “Whoa,” he murmured as he stared.

“Let me look.” Jade gently lifted Jade’s chin, and as their eyes met, she realized why his gaze had felt so comforting before—she had never seen irises like his, except in her reflection. His eyes were barely hazel while hers were blue at the edges, quickly overtaken by a fiery mix of gold, red, and orange specks. Most people found her eyes unsettling, but now she wouldn’t be alone in that, at least for the next year.

“I didn’t think they’d look the same,” Aiden whispered, more to himself than anyone else. Jade froze, puzzled by his words.

“Well, duh, you wouldn’t expect a stranger to have the same eyes as you,” Lacey quipped, giving Jade a silent thank-you for breaking the tension. “What’s up with you today, Aiden? You’re acting all mysterious.”

Aiden hesitated, his mouth half-open as if unsure of what to say, but the bell rang, interrupting the moment. Conversation forgotten, they stood and gathered their things. Aiden grabbed Jade’s arm and led her through the maze of hallways she feared she’d never figure out.

After a few minutes, they arrived at their AP English class and slipped into their seats. As more students trickled in, the second bell rang, but no teacher appeared.

“Mr. Wells is notorious for being late,” Aiden whispered to Jade.

“Oh, really? How is he still—”

“Aiden love.” The girl Aiden had earlier labeled as a misfit plopped down on his desk. Her waist-length blonde hair was impossibly straight, and her icy blue eyes glittered like frozen water. “Already hitting on the new girl? Tsk tsk, you should let her explore her options before she’s forced to settle for you.”

“Skye,” Aiden said through gritted teeth. “I thought you graduated.”

She laughed, her eyes flashing almost white. “No, no. I’m quite content staying in high school forever. Besides, I had to wait for my boys.”

At that cue, the three boys who had been with Skye earlier filed into the room. Jade felt an inexplicable unease, like something was happening beneath the surface, something she couldn’t understand but was somehow a part of. The air between Aiden and the newcomers was thick with tension as if a rubber band was about to snap. She watched other students laughing and hugging friends they hadn’t seen in a while, but in the back of the classroom, it was all strained silence.

“Shaun, Benjamin, Owen,” Aiden greeted them stiffly, nodding at each. They circled around him.

Jade’s interest shifted from their awkward exchange to the newcomers themselves. Shaun’s skin, dark yet strangely pale, contrasted with his piercing green eyes. He was built like a football player, strong and fast. Owen had dirty blond hair, shaved close to his head, and a lean, streamlined build.

Finally, her gaze settled on Benjamin. He seemed different, his dark brown hair falling just over his eyes, and barely-there dimples hinting at a hidden softness. His green eyes were deeper than the others, like ravines she could fall into. He stayed quiet, distant as if lost in thoughts darker than the tense conversation around him. He had the air of a rebel, the kind that made him both dangerous and alluring.

Suddenly, Benjamin turned to Jade. His eyes brightened when they locked onto hers, and Jade, never one to back down, met his gaze with equal intensity. “Who are you?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, yet it drew the attention of his friends and Aiden.

“Jade,” she managed, caught in the moment. They held each other’s gaze as if trying to unlock each other’s secrets.

Skye leaned in, examining her closely. “Well, what do we have here?” There was shock behind her confident tone, and Benjamin laid a hand on her arm, a subtle warning.

“Skye, back off,” Aiden said, stepping in to shield Jade, but it was Mr. Well’s sudden entrance that broke the tension. The teacher rushed in, breathless and flustered.

“All right, simmer down, everyone,” he said, waving off the students’ curious looks. “Lost track of time in the teacher’s lounge. Welcome to AP English. I expect your full attention for the first half of the year, and then, after winter break, those of you headed to college can slack off a bit.”

The class erupted into cheers. Even Jade, who wasn’t one for slacking, found herself smiling. She’d already decided to take a gap year to work and maybe travel, but a little break wouldn’t be the worst thing.

“We’re starting the year with Shakespeare,” Mr. Wells continued, and the cheers turned to groans. “Come on now, I’ll show you that Shakespeare can be cool. We’re going to perform scenes from his plays, starting with Romeo and Juliet. Next week, we’ll practice acting out emotions, so get those game faces ready.”

The rest of the class passed quickly, and Jade found herself liking Mr. Wells more with each passing minute. Unlike her teachers in New York, who treated teaching like a job, he seemed to genuinely enjoy it.

When the bell rang and students began to disperse, Jade turned to Aiden. “What was that at the beginning of class? I thought you barely knew those guys.”

“I don’t, Jade. Just a mutual dislike, that’s all. Can we leave it at that?”

She nodded, though she wasn’t satisfied. Something had sparked that much animosity. At first, she wondered if it was jealousy, maybe Skye and Aiden had a history, but it seemed deeper than that, something more intense and harder to define.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and Jade didn’t see Aiden again. After her final class, she made her way to her car, feeling completely drained.

On the way home, Jade stopped at the supermarket to pick up ingredients for dinner. She had spent most of the math class thinking about her latest recipe instead of equations. Cooking was her passion, and while other students her age were busy applying to college, she was perfecting her knife skills and experimenting with new dishes whenever she could. She dreamed of going to culinary school after her gap year, but for now, she practiced with her family. Tonight, she was craving something homey, so she grabbed fresh tomatoes, spices, and flour to make spaghetti from scratch.

When she got home, the house was empty. Her father had job interviews all day with banks in Savanah, and she assumed her mother was at the pool with her baby sister, who was still too young for kindergarten.

As she sliced the tomatoes, Jade’s thoughts drifted back to her family. When she was born, her parents were twenty-four, young but ready for a child. When her sister was born fourteen years later, they were in their thirties, just young enough to start over. Jade never quite understood whether she or her sister was the “mistake,” but when she held Abby for the first time, all doubts melted away. Abby’s bright green eyes, free from the unsettling yellow tint of Jade’s, were filled with warmth. Even now, Jade couldn’t wait for her mother to come home so she could play with her little sister, who loved helping in the kitchen as much as a four-year-old could.

With the sauce simmering, Jade moved on to the pasta, kneading the dough while replaying the day’s events. Cooking was therapeutic for her, a way to process everything. She thought about Aiden, who she had initially pegged as a cocky but lovable guy. But there was something more to him, something that unsettled her. When he looked at her, it was as if he saw something she didn’t understand—and wasn’t sure she wanted to.

Her thoughts drifted to Benjamin, and she paused in her kneading. He was different, a distraction. His brooding eyes held both pain and love, and his dimples added a boyish charm that made him even more dangerous. He was the kind of boy you wanted to comfort and kiss, the kind who would break your heart but make you hope against all odds that he wouldn’t. The bad boy with a soft heart, the type of trap a girl knowingly walked into.

Stop it, Jade told herself, resuming her kneading with more force. She barely knew him, and yet he had already taken up too much space in her mind. And what about Aiden? The one person she hoped to call a friend seemed to despise Benjamin and his group. She couldn’t afford to get caught up in whatever drama was brewing.

“Jade, Jade!”

Her sister’s excited voice pulled her out of her thoughts. Jade looked down at the dough, realizing she had kneaded it far longer than necessary. She smiled and lifted Abby onto the counter beside her.

“Want to help me make dinner?” she asked, handing her sister a piece of dough to play with.

Their mother walked in moments later, planting a kiss on Jade’s cheek. “How was your first day?”

“It was fine.”

Her mother’s smile faltered a bit, clearly hoping for more. “Any new friends? Any boys? Now that your home, I’m hoping for a little more information than you gave me when you were away.”

“Well, there was this one guy,” Jade said, laughing as her mother’s face lit up. “His name is Aiden, and he’s really nice.”

Her mother’s face was almost glowing. “And?”

“And that’s it,” Jade replied, laughing as she turned back to her sauce. But her thoughts strayed, thinking about Benjamin and Aiden. She had said just enough to satisfy her mother—for now.

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