T H E shy me was trying so hard to be invisible. The students around would constantly stare at me. Some were making strange faces while others were just, uh, grinning I suppose.

Jaden was one of them, except that he wouldn't make mean faces. He would just stare at me. In a way that makes me feel... weird.

I tried my best to focus on the materials Mr. Kale was teaching us, but it was hard not to trail off.

Mr. Kale seemed like a nice person overall. He'd compliment me every now and then, but I shouldn't complain.

"So, that's pretty much it. You guys are free to leave if you like." Mr. Kale announced. I hear tons of cheers and shouts before it all went quiet. The room began to empty as students leave for their classes.

"You wanna stay here?" I heard a rumbling voice ask me. It made me jump out of my thoughts and look straight up at the tall guy standing in front of me.

"Y- yeah," I tell him before getting up. Jaden put on a smug grin before turning around.

I got up and saw Chase giving a strange glare. He had his eyebrows furrowed and a confused look on his face. Before I could ask him what was wrong he quickly turned away.

"I need to go." Jaden gave Chase a worried look before putting his phone away. "Tell Jackson what I said earlier, okay?" He gave me a firm look before walking out of the room.

Why was he in such a hurry? Is there something wrong?

"Let's go kiwi," Chase chuckled. I hated being called that. It was very annoying. Chase has been calling me Kiwi ever since I first met him.

It was due to the green dress I was wearing.

"Don't call me that," I frowned. "Why not?" Chase raised his eyebrows. I shrugged as a response. He rolled his eyes and huffed.

"Ok ok, fine." He puts his hands up like a little kid playing robbers and cops, making me giggle.

"I need to see Mr. Kale for a minute," I tell him as he nods. He gave me a soft smile before leaving for lunch. Chase was very nice, but he could be very mean sometimes too.

I approached Mr. Kale and asked him about the extra class my history teacher mentioned about. He strangely looked at me and nodded.

"Anything for a girl like you." He smiled. I didn't quite understand what he was trying to make out but nodded anyway. "Thank you."

———————————————
𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹
———————————————

"Lily?" I hear my mom shout from the kitchen downstairs. I farrowed my eyebrows and put down the book I was reading.

I quickly walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Momma was packing something in a lunch box. I watched my mom hurry and place a few napkins and a water bottle inside.

I wonder who that is for.

"You called me?" I slowly asked. She turned towards me and nodded. "Can I help you with something?" I then asked with a confused look on my face.

"Yes, I want you to take this box to Jaden's home." She suddenly spoke. Jaden's house? I haven't been there in years. I don't want to go there anyway.

"W- why?" I stuttered thinking about him again. She gave me a strange look before placing the lunch box on top of the kitchen counter.

"What do you mean why?" She nervously chuckled. I looked down before shrugging. I don't like the weird feeling I get around him.

"Come on, he's only a few feet away." She insisted. My mom somehow liked Jaden a lot. Or she just felt bad for him. She cared for him a lot too.

"Okay," I sighed.

I grabbed the box and tiptoed out of the house. The sky looked very gloomy. It looked like it was going to rain soon.

I cleared my throat before ringing the doorbell. I waited a while but no one answered. I scrunched my eyebrows and knocked on the door again.

After a little push, the huge door opened by itself. The wooden door wasn't locked somehow. I looked around the huge interior and my eyes went wide.

The house was enormous, way bigger than ours. Jaden's home is the largest in the town. It's kind of surprising to me though. I don't really know why.

His house was kind of gloomy too. Everything was grey and black, while ours had brighter colors. I looked around and frowned a bit.

Nobody was around. Was Jaden even here? I had tons of questions spinning around my head. Momma never really packed lunch for anyone. What's so special today?

"Jaden?" I called him. No one answered, making me confused. Is Jaden even in here? I slightly shivered as a cold breeze passed by. It was really cold today.

"Jaden, are you in here?" I asked folding my arms for more warmth. Once again no one replied.

"J- Jaden, are you upstairs?" I ask as I shiver. I placed the lunchbox on top of the coffee table and waited for an answer. Should I check for him upstairs?

I closed the front door and walked towards the huge staircase. It was much bigger than ours. Everything was scattered around, making it look
so messy.

You can tell that nobody had touched all those things on the floor.

I climbed up the stairs and looked around for Jaden. I haven't been in this house in so long. The last time I was here, everything was just perfect. Mrs. Carter was here too.

Thinking about her made me sad. I sighed before walking down the hallway to what looked like Jaden's room. The hall was so dark and scary looking. It made me want to leave the house at once.

My attention fell on a door further apart from the rest. It was barely visible due to the lack of light. It looked pretty large too. It had two locks on the right side of the door.

A small tablet-like gadget could be seen on the wall close to the door. It was very small but looked large enough to be able to read the texts. 'Please insert your password on the line for access' was written on the tablet in dark bold letters.

I've also noticed something strange about this house. Almost every part of this house had a small tv attached to the walls. It wasn't quite a tv but very similar to it. It was like security stuff, I wonder why he needs them.

The door I was staring at was eye-catching, even though it was clearly not meant to be. It looked quite mysterious. I was curious. At this point, I wanted to just push open the door and view what was inside.

Clearing my thoughts, I began to approach what seemed to be Jaden's room. With a slight push, the door opens to another gigantic room. I let out a gasp as I saw the huge window in front of me.

I wasn't expecting it to be that big. It's the same size as mine. I can see my bedroom from here. A little blush appeared on my face as I wondered if he'd see me in there all the time.

Black furniture covered the whole room. It had a huge bed in the middle with two side tables next to it.

Weird-shaped bottles were rolling on the floor. It almost looked like beer bottles, but I wasn't sure because of the darkness. Everything in this house looked somewhat gloomy.

"J-" before I could finish my words, the bathroom door slightly opened. My eyes went wide as I see Jaden come out with only a towel on.

"Aah, I'm so sorry." Before I could see anything inappropriate, I quickly turned around and covered my eyes. This is so embarrassing, I shouldn't have come here.

"I- didn't kn- know you'd be there. I pro- promise I didn't mean to." I shuddered. It felt so wrong. What is he thinking of me right now?

"Relax Lils," He chuckled in a deeper tone. The sound of his voice sounded a bit different, deeper and huskier. It's almost Like he was a bit nervous too.

I squeezed my eyes harder as I hear him come closer. "What are you doing here Lily?" He asked me.

"I- I was told to bring you something," I said before quickly running down the stairs. Ugh, what have I done? If he tells my mom, then I'm pretty sure she'll get mad at me.

My cheeks were bright red, once again. I faced towards the door and waited for him to come downstairs quickly so that I can tell him about the food and leave soon.

I folded my arms and kept on waiting. I could hear the raindrops falling down the gloomy sky. It seems like it's raining a lot.

My breathing got uneven as I hear footsteps behind me. I kept my head down low and turned around to meet his pretty green eyes. It almost looked dark brown, it was filled with something that I can't name.

"Momma told me to bring you dinner," I said shyly. My voice was so soft that I can barely hear it myself. Jaden stared blankly down at me, making me even more nervous than I already was.

"That's it?" He asks in his husky deep voice. I looked up at his tall frame before quickly looking back down.

"Y- Yes."

•••

𝚅𝚘𝚝𝚎/𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎/𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝!