WHEN HAD I become so... grey?

I stared at my reflection. My eyes were sunken holes in my head, with dark purple stains kissed into the skin beneath them. My lips – they were cracked and dry. I ran my tongue over the peeling bits of skin and frowned.

Even my skin had turned dull, spots of acne sticking out on my chin and forehead. I tugged at my hair. Even though I'd pulled it into its usual bun, it still frizzed at the top and my baby hairs stuck out over my forehead, curling and frizzing wildly.

I pulled at my sleeves. I wore my usual sweater, and combined with my messy hair and dull expression, I looked like – I looked like I did a year ago. I looked like I was in the hospital.

Had I ever truly left?

Last night I'd dreamt of her again. I'd dreamt of the screams and the blood. I dreamt of bones snapping and tendons ripping.

And I woke up to salt in my mouth and tears on my pillow. I woke up to silence, though my throat felt raw and dry. I must have been screaming, though my mom didn't say a word.

I was supposed to be better. What was wrong with me?

I snorted, turning away from my bathroom mirror, and grabbing my backpack. What was right with me? That'd probably be a much shorter list.

I slung my bag over my shoulder, heading out the door and grabbing my bike off the porch. I hopped down the steps, my bike clattering onto the footpath. I threw a leg over it, hopping on and pushing off the ground, my bad ankle throbbing with each pedal.

It was a dreary day. Grey clouds lined the sky, blocking the sun from my view. A chill bit at my face and I was glad I wore a sweater today – as if I ever wore anything else.

I released a tight breath. I really hadn't wanted to leave my bed this morning.

I was two streets down from my house when I saw him.

Dark hair stuck out from behind his ears, tousled by the wind. He wore a sweater too. It hugged his broad shoulders, showing how the muscles in his back flexed each time he moved his arms. This one had been stretched out around his wrists too, and he tugged the sleeves over the palms of his hands whenever a chill bit past.

He walked slowly, still limping slightly, though it was better than it used to be. I remembered when he'd first come to West Mormet – the clumsy way he used his crutches, the way they rocked under his weight.

He turned slightly, glancing over his shoulder, and his eyes met mine then. Brown on brown. I warmed and he blinked in realisation.

"Jasmine," he said, his voice carrying on the wind.

I offered a small smile, wheeling my bike towards him. I slid off the seat, my ankle throbbing as I hit the ground, and continued pushing my bike forward.

"Jace," I said, my fingers tightening around the handlebars self-consciously. "What are you doing walking to school so early?"

He shrugged, avoiding my eyes. "Good exercise, remember?"

I blinked, remembering our conversation from the other day. "Right... except... why..."

I trailed off and his smile grew. He flexed his leg out in front of us and I realised then how long his legs were compared to mine.

"I wanted to stretch my leg out a bit," he said simply. "Thought it might train my limp to get better faster."

"Okay," I said unsurely. "But just remember –"

"I know, I know," he said quickly. "Don't rush it. I'll get there in time. I remember, Miss Ali. Gotta listen to my coach after all, don't I?"

I released an awkward chuckle, feeling my face heat at his words. How embarrassing. We'd known each other for such a short amount of time, and yet I'd managed to embarrass myself in front of him so much already.

"Anyway, I think you were right," he said suddenly. I met his eyes and he smiled at me in a way that made my heart swell. "My leg was killing me after all that practice without my crutches. God, I'm just too much of a proud asshole to admit it."

"You're not an asshole," I said slowly. He blinked at me and I warmed, my eyes darting to the ground. "I mean..."

"Thanks," he said lowly. I looked up, but he was already staring ahead, his lips pressed into a tight line, though the corners tilted downwards. "I mean it."

We fell silent and walked beside each other for a few moments, my bike wheeling along beside me. Our shoes hit the pavement and we kept pace with each other, both of our slight limps causing us to slow down, especially when we reached the first hill.

Our shoulders knocked into each other's and I warmed each time our knuckles brushed. At one point, the path narrowed, and instead of moving in front or behind me, he stepped onto the grass, continuing beside me in silence.

It was strange, in a way. How comfortable I felt walking in silence with him. I'd known him for just over a month, and yet I felt strangely understood by him, despite knowing nothing about him.

It hit me then. I knew nothing about him. Sure, I knew he had a limp and he was scared of flying. But why had he moved to West Mormet? Where did his limp come from? Where did he come from?

I didn't know any of the answers.

A part of me felt jealous. He had so many friends at school. I'd lived in this town my entire life and in the short time he was here, he was able to make more friends than I ever had.

And they all probably knew more about him than me.

I frowned, scratching at my wrist as a cold breeze pushed at my hair. A part of me hated that other people knew him better – understood him better.

"Jace," I started, my voice coming out in a squeak.

He turned to me, his brown eyes seeming darker in the lack of sunlight, almost like pools of ink, so black that they blended into his pupils.

"Why..." I paused, sucking in a steeling breath. "I don't mean to pry, but why did you move here? West Mormet is so..."

"Empty?"

I laughed, nodding. "That's one way to put it."

He fell silent and his eyes wandered from the path to the sky. "Why do you ask?"

I blinked, not expecting that question. "I don't know. I just – I realised that I don't really know anything about you."

"I don't know anything about you either."

I raised a brow, realising the truth behind his statement. "Well, what do you want to know?"

"Everything," he said immediately. I stilled and he paused a step away, turning to meet my eyes. He watched me his expression deadly serious. A gentle smile pulled at his lips. "I want to know it all."

My heart pinched. I wanted to know all about him too.

"I mean, that's a lot to cover," I managed through a chuckle.

"Okay," he said, shrugging and beginning to walk again. "Let's start with something small. When's your birthday?"

"Sixth of March," I said easily. "You?"

"January eleven." He paused to send me a smirk. "I'm two months older."

"Big deal," I laughed, shoving him with my shoulder.

He chuckled lowly before saying, "Okay, when did you get your bike?"

"When? Maybe when I was thirteen," I said, shrugging down at my bike. It was old and slightly rusty. The light blue paint had chipped and the woven basket on the front had fallen off years ago. "But I didn't really use it until last year."

"Last year?" he asked, furrowing his brow curiously. "Why?"

I shrugged, my heart beginning to pick up speed. Amber's face flashed in my mind and I shook my head. My hands tightened around my bike handles and my arms burned. My leg burned.

"I don't know. Change in lifestyle?"

I glanced at him to find him nodding slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face. I turned back to the road ahead of us, my fingers tightening around the handlebars of my bike.

"Favourite colour?"

He snorted, quirking a brow. "Seriously?"

"It's vital to our blossoming friendship, Jace."

"Blue, then."

"Blue?"

"Was that the wrong answer?"

"Blue is the most basic answer possible."

He paused. "Green then."

"Green?" I sputtered.

"Well, what's yours?"

"Blue."

"What!" he spat, laughing lightly. "Why is it okay for you to like blue?"

"I never said it wasn't okay to like blue," I said, shrugging. A teasing smile tugged at my lips. "Just said it was basic. Which it is."

"Then we're both basic."

I nodded firmly. "We're both basic."

He met my eye and I found myself reflecting the wide smile on his face. It felt nice to see him smile like this – to joke together and walk to school. Somehow, the day seemed a little less grey.

"Next question," Jace said suddenly. "What are you doing this weekend?"

"This weekend?" I echoed. "Teaching a group of eighty-year-olds how to lift their arms in a heated pool for an hour. You?"

"Learning how to lift my arms in a heated pool with a bunch of eighty-year-olds," he shot back.

I laughed and he grinned widely at me, proud at my reaction. I nudged him with my elbow, rolling my eyes teasingly.

"Sounds like a great time."

He shrugged. "Oh, believe me. It is." Paused, then continued. "And... What are you doing after?"

"Probably go home and work on my chemistry homework that I'm three weeks behind on," I said honestly. I turned to him, raising a brow. "Why?"

"Oh," he sputtered quickly, pink creeping up his neck. "No reason. Just curious."

"Yeah?"

"Yep," he said, nodding. "Next question."

"Okay," I hummed, pursing my lips. "Go to karaoke song?"

"Tequila," he said immediately.

"You're joking."

He shook his head. "It's a good song."

"There's, like, one word in the entire song."

"Like I said, good song." He turned to me, raising a brow. "You?"

"Super Bass by Nicki Minaj."

"Okay, now you're kidding."

"I know it off by heart." I shrugged. I flashed him a wide grin. "Want me to demonstrate?"

"Sure," he said, smirking confidently at me, though his ears tinted pink. "Want to go to karaoke sometime?"

"Karaoke?" I laughed. "In West Mormet? The nearest karaoke bar is probably three hours out."

"Seriously? First no beach and now no karaoke? What do you guys do around here for fun?"

"Cry," I half-joked. At least that's what I did, though whether it was fun was debatable. I turned to him. "You have beaches where you're from?"

"California?" he asked with a chuckle. "Yeah, we do."

"Wow," I whistled lowly. "California to West Mormet. You must be extremely homesick."

His smile fell then, twisting unsurely, and his voice fell quiet. "No. Not really."

I frowned and faced him, but he avoided my eye. How could he come to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere and not miss California? Unless something had happened there.

He came to a stop and I blinked, turning to realise we'd made it to school.

"Well," he said quickly, stepping around me. "I've got a meeting with the counsellor. See you later?"

Before I could answer, he'd turned and left me behind. It was only after he'd disappeared through the school entrance, leaving me in the wind with my bike in my hands, that I realised he'd deflected every one of my questions.

And that he'd just asked me out.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey guys! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Let me know if you did, I love reading your comments! I really like writing dialogue between Jas and Jace, I hope I was able to capture some chemistry between them.

also I really manifested spraining my ankle and ended up rolling it last week lmao really feeling like Jasmine and Jace with my limping and physio rn but at least it gives me some writing inspiration!

Thank you so much for reading, commenting and voting! I can't believe we hit 1k votes! Thank you so so so much! See you all soon 💕