Aubrey, the Star

14: magnetic field

"There's no way I just missed the first half of school," I gasped, feeling my throat constrict uncomfortably. "Why didn't anyone bother to wake me?" I looked around, noticing lingering students tending to their own business around the library. That old hag of a librarian wasn't anywhere to be seen surprisingly.

"I don't think anyone cared," Jameson mumbled. He took a seat across from me, placing his laptop on the table. I glanced up at him questioningly. This twin deja-vu was going to get on my nerves.

"At least I know someone cares enough." I kept silent, a smirk growing on my face. Jameson swallowed before he opened his laptop and began to type instantly. The cologne he wore wrapped around me. The scent was enticing, mouth-watering even.

"How's your fist?" He asked. The blue of his eyes looked over at my hand. Two knuckles were a bit swollen and tender. I inwardly did a happy dance about it. Mariah has been missing in action this week for cosmetic reasons I'm sure. Just thinking about her made me clench my fist. Jameson took notice, his face shadowed.

I rapped the knuckles of my good hand on the table. "Why don't you cross me next and find out?"

He snorted, lowering the screen on his laptop to view me better. His blond hair was thrown up into a messy bun like mine and I loved it. I silently prayed that Jameson would keep long hair forever. It suited him. His hand brushed along his sharp jawline, rubbing at the shadow of hair growing.

"I really am sorry that you had to endure that." He said.

I shrugged my shoulders, picking lint away off my shirt. "Don't apologize, Jameson," I said. "You tried to get me to leave and I refused. Blame it on the stubbornness."

"Still...," he shook his head. Again, his eyes looked at my knuckles and I hid them under the table. This attentiveness is a part of who he is and that is, if I'm honest, the most attractive thing about him. Yes, I admitted that I was attracted to Jameson. Who wouldn't be?

"Mickey told me that she went through the Chellgren Challenge too." Jameson breathed deeply, sitting straighter in his seat. I could tell he was thinking deeply. His face fell fast. In an instant his skin became pale, greyed out and his mouth parted. "That was rude of me to bring up." I apologized.

The silence that fell between us felt like poison. The void of conversation was bare. I don't what I was expecting Jameson to do. Maybe crumble up, wail or dissolve into tears? I wasn't sure. But he did none of those things. Instead he pushed his laptop to the side of the table, opening a line of sight between us and leaned forward on his arms.

"Michaela has never talked to anyone about that," he said, bewildered. "Did she explain what got her challenged?"

I shook my head sadly. There was more silence. It hung in the air like the suspended moment before falling glass shatters on the ground. Again, the silence was like a gaping void that I never wanted to endure with Jameson again. We needed to be filled with sounds, words, laughing, anything. Anything, but this.

"The scary thing about it was that I never knew that it had gotten so bad," he said. His head fell into one of his hands, but he didn't stray his look away from my own. "I knew she had dabbled with drugs at a few parties. Honestly, it's not uncommon for Chellgren kids to have some pick-me-ups in their pockets. Not Michaela though. She had her shit together. That's why I didn't bother to pay attention to her."

"Jameson, your sister deciding to drugs isn't your fault," I said. "Surely you know that?"

"No, I know that." He agreed, biting his lip. I looked away from him. We had about 15 more minutes left of lunch. The homework I intended to finish remained untouched. "Our parents were getting divorced around that time. I guess I was focused on myself since no one else was paying me any attention. Same could be said for my sister."

The true words of his feelings lingered in the air, thick and heavy, like a blanket weighing the conversation down. "You didn't abandon her either, Jameson."

That blanket relaxed his shoulders a great deal. "We were both trying to find our footing before Chellgren," he said, running a hand down his face. "I had gone into her room to yell at her because she was making us late to our dad's house. Aubrey, I prepared to tell her how much of a selfish brat she was being. Instead, she was on her bathroom floor convulsing with barely a breath coming out of her. I called the police and she was forced to go into withdraw. That was brutal for everyone. After the hospitalization came rehab for a year. She came to Chellgren at the start of sophomore year."

I couldn't help the scowl that crossed my face. "Mariah put her through that Chellgren Challenge shit and you still dated her after that?"

He hung his head in shame. "She was trying to get with me since freshman year and I hadn't been paying her any mind," he said quietly. "Once she came after Michaela, I had to find a way to protect my sister. If that meant dating the she-devil here and there to appease her, then that's what I did."

"Why did you choose to stand by my side at the party against Mariah?"

Jameson breathed deeply, his warm breath fanning over my hands. "We're friends aren't we? Besides, Charlotte didn't seem like she'd be coming to your rescue."

I nodded, collecting myself and assessing the time again.

There was five minutes until the fourth period. That meant I had five minutes to make it from the library, to my locker, and, technically, the first class of the day. The nightmare was still with me. It lingered in the back of my mind. Jameson stood up from his seat, just as aware as me, he grabbed his laptop.

He looked at me as I stood and smiled sadly. "Stop trying to rescue me, please," I said, coming around the table to stand in front of him. Jameson looked down at me, eyes heavy with confusion. "Seriously. This hero complex you have is deep and I don't want you always sticking your neck out to protect me. I can handle whatever Chellgren or my unfortunate stepmom throws at me."

Jameson's face turned hostile at the mention of Beth. "What do you mean your stepmom?" He asked, stopping me from walking in front of him.

"Nothing I can't handle myself." I put a hand up to stop whatever was going to come out of his mouth next. "I'm serious, Jameson. Stop trying to save me, okay? I got this."

My backpack, heavy with books I never got a chance to take to my locker, fell back down my arm and to the ground. Jameson, being the gentleman, picked it up and threw it over one of his shoulders. The anger in me flared slightly - only slightly. I was going to let the appreciation of the weight being lifted from my shoulders takeover.

"If things got really bad just promise that you'd tell me about it, okay," he whispered. His voice was soft and his face was serious.

We headed for the door, falling in step with each other.

"Deal."

★

Author's Note: Not every girl wants a knight in shining armor. Aubrey fights and she has a backbone. She's also emotional and has major issues. Those issues will come up soon. Jameson is a lover not a fighter. I hope you all enjoyed this scene. More updates to come.

- korrietheking