Chapter 11

“Look, Benjamin, there’s no point in hiding the fact that you like me—from me, I mean.” Jade’s voice was low but firm as she met his gaze. “I flipped through your notebook again after you left it behind. I saw the drawings you made of me.”
Benjamin finally looked up at her, and Jade handed the small moleskin notebook back to him, relieved to at least have that out of the way. But his expression made her pause—he looked at her as if she were an unruly child who wouldn’t follow instructions. Where he got that from, she had no idea, but he continued with his lines, so she pressed on.
“They were really great, actually pretty flattering.” She smiled, hoping for a reaction, but Benjamin remained stone-faced, his focus fixed on the text in front of him. “Anyway, I think we should talk about what happened. Not here, obviously, but somewhere private.”
As if on cue, they both glanced around the room, noticing that their exchange had drawn the attention of both Aiden and Benjamin’s friends. Jade knew the classroom was definitely not the right place for this conversation, though she couldn’t help but hope that talking might lead to something more, like it had last time…
Benjamin finished reading his lines with a smirk. “Hey, Juliet, it’s your turn.”
“Oh, right.” Jade glanced down at her book, trying to mimic his detached delivery. “‘O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’” She exaggerated her monotone and was secretly pleased when Benjamin let out a small laugh.
“I get it, I sounded like an idiot,” he admitted, but Jade just kept up the same silent treatment he had given her. He sighed, the humor fading from his voice. “Okay, here’s the truth, Jade. We can’t talk here, and we shouldn’t even be talking now—or maybe ever.”
“You’ve told me that already.” She stopped reading, her eyes narrowing at him.
“Yet, you seem to have trouble understanding it. English is your first language, right?” He tried to make a joke, but she rolled her eyes, not amused.
“Like I said before, we just can’t ever be,” he repeated, his voice more serious.
“I understand what you’re saying,” Jade leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a whisper to avoid being overheard. “But I also know you don’t mean it.”
“I do,” he insisted, his tone cold and final.
“Oh, really?” She pushed him, refusing to back down. “It didn’t seem that way when you kissed me.”
“Jade, forget that ever happened, okay?”
“Or what?” she challenged. “You don’t scare me.”
“I should,” he said, and the look he gave her was lethal.
In an instant, his eyes changed, the green lightning to a chilling shade that held her captive. Not in the romantic way she’d sometimes imagined, but as though she were trapped, paralyzed under his gaze. His eyes were ice cold, and a shiver ran down her spine as if she’d been plunged into freezing water. Slowly, his pupils began to expand, overtaking his irises until they were almost all black.
Jade’s heart pounded in her chest, fear gripping her, but more than that, she could sense that he knew she was scared—and didn’t care. She tried to look away, but she couldn’t. She was stuck, completely and utterly. Then, out of nowhere, a warmth spread to her hands, burning hot, a strange power fighting the fear tightening her stomach into knots.
With a sudden jerk, Jade whipped her gaze to the floor, breathing heavily as she finally broke his stare. Her fingertips still tingled with the heat that had coursed through her, the sensation lingering even as she leaned back in her chair, putting distance between them. She touched her fingers to her cheek, feeling the heat still radiating from her skin.
They burned into her like a brand.
“What the hell was that?” she asked unsteadily, still not looking up, her mind fixated on the strange warmth in her hands.
“Me,” Benjamin said softly, the venom gone from his voice. Jade looked up at him, catching a glimpse of an unbearably sad expression in his eyes before he turned away.
Or me? she wondered, the warmth in her hands finally beginning to ebb.
“Rewriting Shakespeare, are we?” Mr. Wells voice broke the tension as he walked between them. Jade felt a guilty flush creep up her neck. They most certainly had not been following the assignment, but she was grateful for the interruption—it gave her a moment to regroup and push away the unsettling thoughts swirling in her mind. “Benjamin, you seem to have a hard time following the classroom rules.”
Benjamin met Mr. Wells gaze with defiance, his jaw set. Jade felt a pang of guilt; she knew she had caused the whole scene.
“What were you and Miss Cooper talking about so passionately? It definitely wasn’t Romeo and Juliet,” Mr. Wells continued, his tone pointed.
Jade’s heart raced, her mind scrambling for a plausible excuse. She needed to protect whatever fragile connection she had with Benjamin, even if she didn’t fully understand it yet. But one thing was clear—something was going on with him, something she couldn’t ignore any longer.
“Screw you,” Benjamin replied, his voice cutting through the classroom. Every student gasped in shock. Jade couldn’t tell if he said it to be defiant or to divert attention from their conversation, but either way, it made her heart race.
“Well, Mr. Hunt.” Mr. Wells voice was stern, and Benjamin’s eyes flicked up at the use of his last name. “Perhaps you and Miss Cooper would like to show everyone how it’s done. Tomb scene. Front of the class. Now.”
Jade quickly stood, grabbing Benjamin’s arm to pull him from his seat before he could get them both into more trouble. As they made their way to the front of the class, Benjamin leaned in close, his voice a low whisper. “Think you can be quiet and play dead for a few minutes?”
When they reached the front, Jade turned to face him. With his body shielding her from the rest of the class, she whispered back, defiance lacing her words. “Think you can pretend not to enjoy kissing me for your friends?”
Benjamin smirked, a hint of mischief in his eyes. “Think you can for Aiden?” He moved aside, leaving her fuming.
Damn him, she thought, he always has to have the last word.
“You can start with Romeo’s monologue,” Mr. Wells prompted, and Benjamin began to read.
As Benjamin spoke, Jade lay still on the front table, her eyes closed, listening intently. She expected the same flat delivery he had used earlier, but instead, his voice was filled with emotion. His words were powerful, pausing at just the right moments, rushing through others as if they were his own thoughts. Jade felt herself being drawn in, her heart fluttering with each line he spoke. The longer he read, the more she felt herself falling for him.
“‘Eyes, look your last,’” Benjamin said, and even though her eyes were closed, Jade could feel his intense gaze on her, sending a thrill down her spine.
“‘Arms, take your last embrace,’” he continued, his body gently settling beside hers on the table. His voice dropped, becoming more intimate, as if he were speaking only to her.
“‘And lips,’” he whispered, his thumb grazing the edge of her lower lip, sending a shiver through her entire body. The world around them seemed to disappear, leaving only the two of them in this moment.
“‘O you, the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss,’” Benjamin murmured, his breath warm against her skin. The anticipation was electric, and when his lips finally brushed against hers, it was so soft it felt almost like a tease. Jade had to fight the urge to respond, to deepen the kiss, remembering that they were in front of the entire class.
When Benjamin pulled away, Jade remained still, trying to steady her breathing. Her cheeks were flushed, her heart pounding in her chest. She was grateful her eyes were still closed—she wasn’t sure she could look at him without giving something away. Benjamin’s voice stayed steady as he finished the scene, but Jade knew that for a brief moment, everything had changed between them.
With a heavy sigh, Jade lifted herself from the makeshift tomb and gathered her things. As she exited the classroom, she found Aiden waiting for her by the door.
“So… that was interesting,” he said with a shrug, his hands buried deep in his jeans pockets. Jade remained silent as they fell into step, walking down the hall together. “I personally thought you were captivating as Juliet. Great idea to put a hand to your chest, then your forehead, and pretend to faint when you saw Romeo had died. Classic move.”
Jade couldn’t help but smile, even as she playfully shoved him away. “I’m not an actress, and I never said I was,” she defended herself, trying to keep the mood light.
“Trust me, I know,” Aiden replied, grinning as he expected her shove and stepped out of reach. His tone shifted slightly, becoming more serious. “Want to talk about it?”
“What?” Jade tried to hide the frown tugging at her lips and pulled her purple sweater tighter around her torso.
“Whatever it was you and Benjamin got in trouble for fighting about,” he pressed. Jade could see the concern in his eyes, and she knew it hurt Aiden that she was starting to keep secrets from him—that there might be something she’d rather talk to Benjamin about than him.
“I was just thanking him for saving me in that surfboard accident. I never really got the chance before,” Jade lied, feeling a pang of guilt. She wanted to tell Aiden the truth, but she knew she couldn’t—not when the truth was so tangled up in things he wouldn’t understand. He had been her friend since she first walked through the doors of this school, and the last thing she wanted was to hurt him. For a moment, Jade considered opening up about Benjamin, but she remembered Willow and knew Aiden’s emotions would cloud his judgment. He was too close to the situation to see it from her perspective.
“I bet he didn’t want to hear any of it,” Aiden remarked, his tone tinged with frustration.
Jade shrugged, trying to play it off. “Something like that.”
“Cheer up.” Aiden slipped an arm around her shoulders, offering comfort. “Want to skip class and grab some ice cream? I wouldn’t mind playing hooky for the rest of the day.” His mischievous grin made her smile despite herself.
“And how are we supposed to do that?” she asked, knowing full well that campus security would report any students caught ditching class.
“Follow me you must, young padawan,” Aiden said, trying a Yoda voice with mixed success. He took off running down the hallway, and she chased after him, laughing as they dashed through the school. They were already late to class—what did they have to lose?
Aiden stopped at the intersection in front of the main exit, peering around the corner. Out of nowhere, he produced a straw and a small rolled-up piece of paper, launching the most perfect spitball she had ever seen—well, the only spitball she had ever seen—into the head of a security guard down the hall. Jade covered her mouth to stifle her laughter as Aiden expertly fired another one, hitting the guard square on the back of his head.
The security guard spun around, glaring in all directions, while Jade and Aiden ducked into an open janitor’s closet. They held their breath, listening to the heavy footsteps of the guard as he ran down the wrong hallway, away from them.
“Go, go, go,” Aiden whispered, pushing her out of the closet. They sprinted for the door, and once they burst through the exit, Jade urged Aiden to keep running. She bit back her laughter until they reached the parking lot, finally collapsing against his car.
“Ice cream, my lady?” Aiden said with an exaggerated bow, offering his arm. Jade giggled and accepted.
They marched over to his car and climbed inside, only to erupt into a fit of laughter that left them both wiping tears from their eyes. Aiden revved the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, leaving the school far behind them.
As they drove away, Jade couldn’t think of a more perfect ending to the day, or of a more perfect friend. She smiled to herself, glancing over at Aiden just as he looked at her, and turned up the music, belting out the lyrics as they sped toward a well-deserved ice cream break.