“You should go now,” Jay said to her. “This is none of your concern.”
The girl’s pink-slicked lips curled into a sneer. “Is that so?”
Jay dulled the hue of her irises, leaching the color until the intense azure faded to a flat, cold, gun-metal grey. She’d done this before to good effect. She couldn’t permanently alter her eye-color, but she’d discovered that even a brief temporary alteration unnerved people. She took a step toward Vanessa. And another.
The girl swallowed another whimper, of fear rather than pain this time, and backed off.
“Hey!” Tyler’s sister grabbed Jay’s arm.
She remembered just in time she was supposed to be a “normal” girl, and allowed herself to be dragged back to face Caro. Jay wasn’t programmed to remain passive when someone attacked her, but these sharp little impulses flicking beneath her skin, urging her to retaliate, weren’t usual. She ignored them. She wasn’t hurt and nor was she in danger. There was no reason to act on those impulses.
Caro raked her gaze over Jay’s attire, lingering on the borrowed flannel shirt. A frown puckered her brows, and her eyes narrowed to slits.
The odds that Caro recognized the shirt were high. It would be interesting to note how she reacted if she realized the shirt was her brother’s, and that he’d loaned it to the new girl who supposedly had designs on Caro’s boyfriend.
Shawn, too, had surprised Jay with his observational skills. The very next time he’d seen her, he had immediately recognized the shirt and made the connection with Tyler. His lips had flattened into a tight white line and he’d made a derogatory comment about her borrowed attire. As the school day had progressed, Shawn insisted on sitting next to her wherever possible, and would slip disparaging remarks about Tyler into the conversation. Jay had finally realized the remarks were because Shawn was angry at Tyler.
A knot formed in her stomach at the mere thought of Tyler being harassed by Shawn and his cohorts. Tyler had done nothing wrong. He didn’t deserve to be punished for being kind, and worrying about her wellbeing.
“I’ll say this in plain English so even you can understand,” Caro said. “Stay away from Shawn, or I’m gonna make you very sorry.”
Jay didn’t bother responding to Caro’s outlandish claim. But Shawn was another matter, an irritation she would happily be rid of. She’d very politely asked him to please stop bothering her, but apparently Shawn was not intelligent enough to understand her request. And Caro appeared to hold Shawn blameless for his actions, placing the fault squarely on Jay, whose only crime was being the unwilling object of his attention. It made no sense. She had not encouraged Shawn’s attentions. She’d actively discouraged him. Perhaps being completely honest with Caro would bring about the desired result.
“You have nothing to worry about so far as Shawn is concerned,” she said. “I have no interest in him. In fact, after suffering his attentions at the office this morning, and during three classes today, I find myself in total agreement with your brother. Shawn is a douche. And you deserve better.”
Caro blinked at her. Her lips twitched. “Speaking of my brother, I heard what happened in Bio. Thanks for looking out for him.”
They were statements, not questions, so Jay remained silent.
“He loaned you his shirt, didn’t he?” Caro probed.
Jay didn’t see any reason to prevaricate. “Yes. I washed out my t-shirt and he was concerned about me wearing a wet top. It was very kind of him to loan me his shirt.”
“Yep. Sounds like Tyler, all right—the whole give you the shirt off his back thing, I mean. Hey, it looks way better on you than it did on him, anyway.”
Jay glanced down at her shirtfront. “Thank you. Tyler tied the shirt in this fashion. He seemed to think it looked more attractive this
The girl’s pink-slicked lips curled into a sneer. “Is that so?”
Jay dulled the hue of her irises, leaching the color until the intense azure faded to a flat, cold, gun-metal grey. She’d done this before to good effect. She couldn’t permanently alter her eye-color, but she’d discovered that even a brief temporary alteration unnerved people. She took a step toward Vanessa. And another.
The girl swallowed another whimper, of fear rather than pain this time, and backed off.
“Hey!” Tyler’s sister grabbed Jay’s arm.
She remembered just in time she was supposed to be a “normal” girl, and allowed herself to be dragged back to face Caro. Jay wasn’t programmed to remain passive when someone attacked her, but these sharp little impulses flicking beneath her skin, urging her to retaliate, weren’t usual. She ignored them. She wasn’t hurt and nor was she in danger. There was no reason to act on those impulses.
Caro raked her gaze over Jay’s attire, lingering on the borrowed flannel shirt. A frown puckered her brows, and her eyes narrowed to slits.
The odds that Caro recognized the shirt were high. It would be interesting to note how she reacted if she realized the shirt was her brother’s, and that he’d loaned it to the new girl who supposedly had designs on Caro’s boyfriend.
Shawn, too, had surprised Jay with his observational skills. The very next time he’d seen her, he had immediately recognized the shirt and made the connection with Tyler. His lips had flattened into a tight white line and he’d made a derogatory comment about her borrowed attire. As the school day had progressed, Shawn insisted on sitting next to her wherever possible, and would slip disparaging remarks about Tyler into the conversation. Jay had finally realized the remarks were because Shawn was angry at Tyler.
A knot formed in her stomach at the mere thought of Tyler being harassed by Shawn and his cohorts. Tyler had done nothing wrong. He didn’t deserve to be punished for being kind, and worrying about her wellbeing.
“I’ll say this in plain English so even you can understand,” Caro said. “Stay away from Shawn, or I’m gonna make you very sorry.”
Jay didn’t bother responding to Caro’s outlandish claim. But Shawn was another matter, an irritation she would happily be rid of. She’d very politely asked him to please stop bothering her, but apparently Shawn was not intelligent enough to understand her request. And Caro appeared to hold Shawn blameless for his actions, placing the fault squarely on Jay, whose only crime was being the unwilling object of his attention. It made no sense. She had not encouraged Shawn’s attentions. She’d actively discouraged him. Perhaps being completely honest with Caro would bring about the desired result.
“You have nothing to worry about so far as Shawn is concerned,” she said. “I have no interest in him. In fact, after suffering his attentions at the office this morning, and during three classes today, I find myself in total agreement with your brother. Shawn is a douche. And you deserve better.”
Caro blinked at her. Her lips twitched. “Speaking of my brother, I heard what happened in Bio. Thanks for looking out for him.”
They were statements, not questions, so Jay remained silent.
“He loaned you his shirt, didn’t he?” Caro probed.
Jay didn’t see any reason to prevaricate. “Yes. I washed out my t-shirt and he was concerned about me wearing a wet top. It was very kind of him to loan me his shirt.”
“Yep. Sounds like Tyler, all right—the whole give you the shirt off his back thing, I mean. Hey, it looks way better on you than it did on him, anyway.”
Jay glanced down at her shirtfront. “Thank you. Tyler tied the shirt in this fashion. He seemed to think it looked more attractive this
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