Muse - Fighting Fate #1 (17 page)

Chapter 29

Mia

By Thursday, I felt like I was getting a lot better at talking to people at lunch, especially Jace. Aiden had been watching me like a hawk the whole time, and I could tell he was itching to say something, but whether it was to encourage me or to yell at me for talking to Jace was anyone’s guess.

I waited until Aiden left
for first period before stepping around the corner and moving towards Jace. He was standing at his locker, searching for something inside, so he didn’t see me coming. I tried not to think about the other people lingering nearby, because it would only make me chicken out.

Clutching my books to my chest, I stepped up behind him. “Hi
, Jace,” I said quietly.

He turned at the sound of my voice, surprise evident on his face. “Hey, what’s up?”

Good question. “Um…I was just looking for Aiden. Have you seen him?” I was impressed by my sudden ability to improvise.

He glanced down the hall then back at me. I could see the confusion there. “Ah, I think he’s already gone to class. Is everything okay?”

I scrambled for something to say. “I was just going to get him to grab something for me from the top of my locker, but it doesn’t matter...”

Jace’s eyes narrow
ed a fraction as he tried to work out what I was up to. “I can get it for you if you like.”

“Would you mind?” I asked, trying to sound hopeful. I already knew he’d do anything for me, but I wanted to play the part.

“Of course not.” He closed his locker door and followed me to mine.

I glanced at Kaeli as we approached, giving her a tiny grin before opening my locker up. Jace reached in, fumbling with whatever lived up there, and pulled down two old notebooks and a text book I had no use for. He showed them to me and I frowned. “Is that all that’s up there?” I asked.

He looked back in. “Yep. Nothing else there. What were you looking for?” When he looked back me, I couldn’t contain my mischievous grin. He hesitated, narrowing his eyes.

“Uh...um...I can’t remember?” I bit my lip.

Jace grinned. “Oh, I see. Maybe it was my attention.”

My eyes sparkled, letting him know he was right.

“Well...I’ll just have to give you some then, won’t I?” he murmured. “I’ll see you at lunch.”

As I watched him walk away, my gaze flickered down the hall to where
Melissa stood. Glaring at me. Oh, shit.

Quickly closing my locker, I grabbed Kaeli’s arm and dragged her off to class.

“What was that about?” she asked.

“Which? Me making an idiot out of myself, or
Melissa shooting laser beams from her eyes?”

She gave me a chastising look. “You didn’t make an idiot out of yourself. It was cute. I was talking about
Melissa.”

I shrugged, “I guess she considers me competition.”

Kaeli snorted. “Idiot. If she opened her eyes she’d see there was no competition because she’s not in it.”

I laughed. “Yeah, well hopefully by this time next week everyone will know that.”

***

I didn’t manage to get a seat near Jace at lunch that day, and it was obvious he wasn’t happy about it. Having boys like Lance, Ryan, and Corey talking to me didn’t help either. I could almost see the steam coming out his ears.

To try to make up for it, I hung back a bit when everyone started to make their way inside. Kaeli had to run to catch Mr. Talbot, so I went and stood near Aiden as he chatted with some girls.

Jace casually sidled up beside me and gave me a relaxed smile which I knew had to be forced. “Hey
, Mia.”

I blushed. Stupid, I know, but there was just something about the way he said that when we were around other people that set it off. “Hi.”

He smiled genuinely then. He knew what he did to me.

The group started walking back to the locker hall, so we walked together, a little separate from the others.

“How was your lunch?” I asked, teasing him a little.

He scowled. “I was ready to
grab you and run. I swear, if Corey touched you one more time, I was going to fucking lose my shit.”

We slowed our steps as we came up to his locker. The second warning bell had just gone and those who didn’t have a spare were already rushing off to class. I looked up at Jace’s scowling face and giggled. “Put yourself in my shoes and you’ll see you’ve got it easy bad boy.”

He smirked at me then. “Nothing about you is easy, Mia. You’re a complicated little wild cat hidden under the pretense of a blossoming flower. But I love peeling back those petals and setting your wild cat free.”

I grinned. I loved it too. “The question is…when are you going to be setting her free again?”

Excitement twinkled in his eyes. “Any time you’re ready, wild cat.”

“I’m ready any time you are
, bad boy.” With that, I turned and walked away. Before I turned the corner to go to my locker, I looked back over my shoulder to see him watching me with a wicked grin on his face.

I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as I grabbed my books for study hall. I was kind of enjoying playing the game. As I slipped into the bathroom, I suddenly realized I
’d been more or less flirting with Jace. I almost giggled out loud. Who would’ve thought it could be so much fun!

I quickly washed my hands, and was just grabbing some paper towels from the dispenser, when
Melissa stepped out of one of the stalls and turned on me.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing going after Jace, but just in case you don’t know, I’ll warn you now. Jace is mine. We may not be official, but we’ve been seeing each other for a while, trying to get to know each other, and I won’t have some clueless little princess come in and take what is mine. You need to back the hell off. Do you understand?”

I blinked in shock. Did she seriously just threaten me to stay away from my own boyfriend? I narrowed my eyes. This girl knew nothing about me. I was frightened of crowds, not bitchy divas who weren’t used to being told no.

I took a step closer to her. “I think you might be the one who’s actually clueless,
Melissa. In case you’ve forgotten, Jace is my brother’s best friend, which means I’ve had the pleasure of being in his company almost every weekend for the last four years. I’m also completely aware of the stories you, Kacey, and Violet have made up trying to make yourselves look like you’re wanted by the hottest guy in school, but I’m sorry to tell you, you’ve only managed to make yourselves look like desperate bimbos.”

The bathroom door open
ed and I saw Kaeli walk in from the corner of my eye. “And just for future reference, Melissa, if a guy really likes you, you won’t have the need to threaten anyone to stay away from him because he’ll only want to be with you.” With that, I turned and walked straight out the door with Kaeli at my heels.

My adrenalin was going through the roof as I marched to the study hall. I could feel Kaeli beside me, struggling to keep up with my steps, so I forced myself to slow down and breathe.

“Are you okay?” she asked firmly.

I exhaled and nodded. My hands were shaking a bit, but I knew it was just the adrenalin. I stopped and shook them out.

“You know the whole school is going to be talking about that by the end of the day, don’t you?”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“There were other girls in the stalls. I saw Claire and Meaghan come out as we left.”

“Shit.” I groaned. I knew neither Claire nor Meaghan were big gossipers, but that confrontation wasn’t something they’d keep to themselves. I’d be stupid to think otherwise. “Oh yay,” I said sarcastically. I looked at my best friend with pleading eyes. “Was it bad? Did I sound like a bitch?”

She huffed. “Hardly. Unfortunately, I think I missed the best part. What did she say to you to make you go off like that?”

I furrowed my brow trying to recall it all. “She warned me to back the hell off Jace because they had a ‘thing’, and she wasn’t going to put up with some clueless princess taking what’s hers, or something like that…”

Kaeli’s eyes near popped out her head. “What the fuck?!”

“I know, right?”

“So, what did you say before I walked in?”

I scrunched my nose up guiltily. “I may have told her she was the clueless one and reminded her that Jace was my brother’s best friend and I got to see him every weekend. Then I might have called her on her bullshit about sleeping with him and told her
it made her look desperate.”

Kaeli burst out laughing before slapping her hand over her mouth. “Please tell me you’re not joking.”

I smiled, feeling pretty good about standing up for myself. “I’m definitely not joking.”

“Oh my god. That is just gold. I can still see her face. I don’t think she was expecting you to bite back.”

“I know. She’s a bully. I can just imagine what she’s going to put on Facebook.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I think Claire and Meaghan will be more than happy to counter anything she says.
Melissa’s targeted them a lot over the years.”

Yeah. It was time these girls learned it wasn’t right messing with people’s lives like that.

Chapter 30

Jace

I watched my little wild cat disappear around the corner with a smile. I loved that little wild side of Mia. It was the same part of her I saw in the bedroom
. It was the ‘real’ Mia. The person she would be if she hadn’t had tragedy thrown into her life.

I turned to grab my books from my locker and suddenly found myself slammed against it. Hard.

“What the fuck do you think you’re playing at?”

My natural instinct told me to hit back, but when I realized it was Aiden, I refrained. Just. “What are you talking about
, man?”

He shoved me harder. “Don’t play dumb with me.
You think I don’t know your MO after all these years? You need to stay the fuck away from Mia.”

Well, this wasn’t going as well as I’d hoped. I could see Matt and Dean out the corner of my eye, fucking off anyone who tried to come and see what was going on. I sighed. “I can’t do that
, man,” I said quietly.

He pulled back a little in surprise and frowned.
“What the fuck do you mean, you can’t?”

“I mean
, I really like her, Aid.”

He just blinked at me. I think he was in shock. I could just make out Matt an
d Dean standing close by. I was sure they could hear what we were saying but I didn’t want to break eye contact with Aiden to see.

Aiden seemed to snap out of his trance and shoved me again. “No fucking way. Not going to happen. She’s not some bimbo slut you can just use and throw away. I mean it
, Jace. Stay the fuck away from her!”

I pushed against him a little. He was starting to piss me off. “Fuck you. I know she’s not a fucking bimbo slut. I don’t want to fucking use her. I want to date her!”

I watched the confusion come over his face again. His grip loosened a little. Not by a lot but it was something. “Man, I know you. You don’t date. Mia’s just a challenge for you.”

Now I was mad. I pushed him off me. “Fuck
you, man! Have you not noticed I haven’t been with a chick since Aspen?!”

My gaze flickered to all three of my band mates. They all had that dear in headlights look about them. Matt was the first to snap out of it. “Fuck off.”

I stared him down. “Name one.”

He frowned in thought. “Kacey.”

“Nope.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Matt wasn’t done yet though. “What about Violet. And Melissa?”

I stuck my chin out. “Nope. No one.” I levelled my gaze back on Aiden. “I told you, I really like her. She’s the reason I won’t touch the fucking likes of girls like Kacey and
Melissa.”

The hall fell silent for a while. I was surprised a teacher hadn’t come out and yelled at us to get to class. Aiden just stood there and glared at me before turning and running his hands through his hair in frustration. “Fuck!”

I stayed quiet, watching him deal. When he suddenly turned back on me, I held my ground.

“She can’t do it
, man. She’s got anxiety issues. I mean, she’s not usually the way she’s been this last week…”

“I know. We’ve been talking about it. She told me what happened when your dad died.”

Aiden’s eyes went wide and his face drained of color. “She told you? As in, she talked about what happened…?”

“Yeah.”

He stood there gaping at me, momentarily stunned. “What exactly did she say? Tell me.”

I didn’t understand the panic in his voice. It kind of scared me. Was I not supposed to have said anything? Fuck. It was too late to back out now.

“She said your dad had to get her from kindy because of the riots, and when a car exploded, he tried to carry her to safety, but was shot.” I paused, trying to determine whether I should continue. When he gave me a slight nod, I figured it was okay. “She told me how he wanted her to run, but she couldn’t leave him, and that everyone around her was yelling and screaming, not caring that they were walking over the top of her and your dad. And the blood. She told me about the blood.”

I didn’t know how it was possible, but Aiden’s face went even paler. “Shit.”

“What?” He really didn’t look well. I could feel Matt and Dean’s nervous energy beside me.

Aiden’s panicked look turned to devastation, and when he spoke, it was so quiet I almost didn’t hear him.
“She’s never told anyone that before.” He looked dead into my eyes. “I mean anyone. Not me. Not my mom. Not the police. Not even the therapists.”

Oh.

“Fuck,” he said, although it lacked conviction. “She really likes you, doesn’t she?”

“I fucking hope so.”

He studied me for a minute. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but by the end he looked defeated. “You realize she might never be able to do this?”

I sighed. “I know. And it doesn’t fucking help that we’re going on tour for months on end, but for now I’m happy with whatever she’s comfortable with.”

He continued to stare at me like I was a puzzle that couldn’t be figured out before lightly shaking his head.

I cleared my throat.
“So…you’re okay with me asking her out?”

His jaw clenched as he thought over my question.
“Of course I’m not fucking okay with it, but I don’t really have a fucking choice, do I?”

I shrugged. He was right about that.

His eyes narrowed. “Just be aware of what I’ll do to you if you ever hurt her.”

“Trust me. I’m aware.”

We were all silent for a while as we all processed what’d just happened. To be honest, I was a bit surprised it had taken so long to come to a head. I mean, I would’ve thought whenever Mia and I were together it would be obvious we had a thing going on, but I guessed we rarely touched, so it could’ve looked innocent too.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Matt said, breaking the silence. “Class is already half over
anyway.”

We walked out the front doors and kept going, heading to the coffee shop down the street. Aiden and Matt walked ahead a little, but Dean hung back, probably to make sure I was okay
, knowing him.

“You really going to ask Mia out?” he said quietly.

I could hear the weariness in his voice and it pissed me off. I could tell he thought it was a bad idea. “Dude, Mia and I have already been seeing each other since Aspen.”

Dean gaped at me. “Are you fucking serious?” he hissed.

“Yeah, I fucking am.” I gave him a look, daring him to challenge me.

He stared at me like he’d never seen me before. “You seriously like her?”

I met his gaze front on. “I’d do fucking anything for her.”

“
Well shit.”

We followed Matt and Aiden inside and I grabbed myself a flat black before joining them in a booth. I decided I should warn Mia about what went down with Aiden, just in case. Pulling out my phone I tapped out a quick text.

I should warn you. Aiden knows about us.

I sipped on my coffee, listening to the guys talk about our gig on Friday night while I waited for Mia to text me back. It didn’t take long. My phone vibrated in my hand only half a minute later.

What? How?!

She sounded panicked by the look of that text. I read over what I’d said and quickly responded.

Sorry. That probably looked a lot worse than it should’ve. What I should’ve said is: Aiden knows we like each other.

Hopefully that put her at ease.

Was he mad?

I could almost see her biting her lip with worry.

Maybe a little, but it’s not his fault. He’s worried about you. Said he’d beat the shit out of me if I ever hurt you ;)

OMG pls tell me you’re joking...

I frowned. I expected her to find that amusing.

Uh....

“Fuck. You’re texting Mia, aren’t you?” Aiden groaned from the other side of the booth.

I shoved my phone into my pocket, choosing not to answer. Aiden sat there, glaring at me, while Dean smirked, a little pleased I think, and Matt stared at us all like he couldn’t give two shits.

“This is fucking weird. You know that, right?” Aiden said.

I shrugged. “Get used to it.”

He shook his head, mumbling something under his breath. Dean laughed, causing Aiden to glare at him.

My phone hadn’t vibrated again, so I knew Mia hadn’t text me back. I hoped she wasn’t pissed off Aiden had found out.
I needed to know she was okay.

Dean pushed himself to his feet an
d threw his empty cup in the trash. “I gotta get back. If I miss another class, Dad’ll fucking have a coronary.”

I stood up too. I wanted to find Mia before her next class started.

We filed out the door and walked back in silence. I knew Aiden was still stewing over this thing with Mia, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of me, or because she’d told me about their dad. I had a feeling it was the latter.

I also knew I had a lot to prove when it came to my commitment to his sister, but that wasn’t something I could just explain. I had to show him, and that took time
, but I was okay with time. More than fucking okay.

Walking into the locker hall, I spotted Mia
straight away, and without another thought, I moved in that direction. She looked up when I stopped beside her, her eyes questioning.

“Hey,
” I said quietly.

Her gaze went over my shoulder, to Aiden’s retreating figure
, but she didn’t say anything.

“I just wan
ted to make sure you were okay.”

“Is he okay?” she asked, looking back up at me. She was worried.

“Yeah, he’s fine. A bit weirded out I think, but he’ll get over it.” She kept looking back to where Aiden had disappeared around the corner. I don’t think she’d realized it, but as she’d been watching Aiden, she’d moved closer to me.

“Weirded out how?”
she asked.

Her hand snuck out as she questioned me, fiddling with the hem of my shirt. I knew people were watching and I wanted to grin with triumph
at her unconscious show of affection, but I didn’t want to embarrass her. “I guess he just thinks it’s weird that his best friend and his sister might get together.”

“So he doesn’t know that we’re already together?”

“No. I’m not suicidal.”

She grinned then. “He won’t do anything to you if he knows it’ll upset me.”

I leant closer to her. “Would you be upset if he beat me up?”

She pressed her lips together, trying to repress a smile. “Maybe just a little.”

I laughed then. I wanted to pull her into me and wrap my arms around her. I couldn’t fucking wait for this week to be over.

“I
’d better get to class,” she said, a blush spreading over her cheeks.

I smiled as I watched her saunter away, looking back over her shoulder once before pushing through the doors and out of sight.