•Maeve Grey•

•Past•

After the date for final exams came out during lunch, there has been a different energy surging in the whole school and I find myself some time to sit and relax in the library to plan my time for the exams in the next two months.

Since the Gala will be the last and the biggest event before exams, its preparation goes uninterrupted and I see Ruby with Lin working tirelessly, looking in a better mood.

I guess James reached out and helped her. I feel a little comfort in knowing that rumors about James being just arrogant and conceited are vague. At least I've started to feel like it.

I put a few books I took from the library in my bag, take my bike out of the parking rack as the school comes to an end, and walk down to the main exit. The school grounds are mostly empty with barely any students left behind.

A car screeches in front of me, halting me as it stops a few feet away from me. My heart starts pounding.

James climbs out of the car, still in his school uniform. "Never ever do that to me again," he says, taking off his glasses.

"I think I should be the one saying that," I point at his car that blocked my way.

He ignores me but moves closer, holding my wrist. "Come, we have to hurry," he announces.

Surprised, I stare at him, unsure what he means. "What are you saying—"

He takes my bike off with his other hand and I find Kesh and Cyril standing next to me, Alistair further away from us, but still in hearing range, probing at us like he's watching a soap opera.

"What is happening?" I look at all of them when Kesh grabs my bike.

"We'll take care of this for you," he answers, smiling giddily.

I barely grasp the situation, my wrist still under James' hold while things escalate so quickly in front of my wide eyes. Kesh moves my bike away, along with Cyril and Alistair, and soon enough, all three of them walk out of here, ignoring my protest.

I shoot a sharp look at James who's smiling like an idiot.

"Get me my damn bike or else I—"

He cuts in. "You lost your right to command me when you had the chance." He opens his car, and pushes me inside, slamming the door shut, not letting me catch up with whatever the hell he's trying to pull.

A figure appears from the driver's seat. "Hello," he faces me, offering me a kind smile. "I'm Percy. Young Beaufort's chauffeur."

I don't know what to say when he offers me his hand to shake while James gets in as well and the car takes off so quickly I didn't get a chance to kick open the door. Percy replicates the grin James has on his face and I realize he introduced himself just to keep me distracted momentarily.

"This is kidnapping!" I shout at them.

"Calm down," James says. "We're going to London."

My brows go up. "London?" I still needed to be sure if I heard it right.

"Yeah London," he confirms and leans on the car.

"Why?"

"To see Beaufort Collection," he answers. "I talked to Ruby about the dress. We're going to get pictures for the poster."

"Then take her," I tell him. "She's the student head of the committee. Why do I have to get kidnapped for this?"

"Do you know how hard it was to get to talk to Ruby," he takes my bag from my lap, hanging it on the headrest of the front seat. "Every time I cornered her, she would start running away. For a second I thought it was you or maybe your soul went inside her. I couldn't tell." He says, finding everything amusing.

To avoid getting picked up by your fan club or Lydia. But I just grit my teeth at him.

He goes on. "So I had to scream at her in an empty class—which by the way was embarrassing—that I'm here to help but guess what I found out then."

I don't answer or look at him.

"Why did you lie to me, Maeve?" he gets straight to the point, his voice devoid of any humor.

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway," I say in a small voice.

"It matters the world to me," he mutters back in a defeated sigh and puts his bag on his lap. I hear the scrunch of paper as he takes out a brown bag and a small bottle of vanilla milkshake from his school bag and lays them on my lap.

"Get some food. We can't take anything like this inside the building and we're going to be there for a while. I don't want you to be hungry by then." he tells me.

I'm utterly speechless.

Seeing me unwilling, he takes out the straw from the wrapper, pokes a hole in the milkshake bottle, and wraps my finger around it like I'm a child. He smiles a little and goes back to his phone.

Averting my eyes at the windows, I begin to feel tears trying to claw their way out of my eyes but I blink hard and focus on the scenery running past us.

James indeed makes me wanna remember what it's like to be taken care of rather than doing it myself.

My fingers prick at the brown package that I don't dare to unwrap while holding the bottle as it is.
Instead, I look at my side and find a leatherbound book, tucked under me on the seat.

I hunch up on my seat, pull the book out, and sit back again, my fingers itching to undo the thick ribbon around it, the name 'James' etched on its cover.

Upon seeing James busy texting someone, I unwrap the book which turns out to be a sketchbook. It's bigger than a regular sketchbook, its pages thick, crisp, and fragrant, filled with random still pictures, natural scenes that James drew. I flip to another page, finding the image of the courtyard of our school drawn so finely, that it's impressive.

Inside that drawing, I find a girl sitting on the stairs of the patio in our school uniform, her bag on her shoulder, and a baseball cap hanging on the strap. Just like mine. The girl almost looks like me, although her eyes are half done like James was interrupted and couldn't finish it.

I turn to another page when James yanks the sketchbook out of my hands and I flinch in surprise.

"I don't show it to liars," he says in a lighter voice, not looking pissed at all; just a little jittery. He binds it back and tucks it to his side, away from me. His eyes then drop to the food on my lap. "We're almost there. Eat it."

I take out the subway bread roll, put the bottle down, and tear the roll in half carefully to avoid any spillage and offer the one piece to him after wrapping it in a napkin.

He stares at me for a while before taking it from my hand and savoring a bite, gesturing me to do the same. "Come on! I've something waiting for you."

I hold his eyes and finally take a bite, every nerve in my body calming down. Something I've begun to feel a lot around him lately.

..................

Vote and comment