Gray cracked another bitter smile at her last comment. Nice day. He would have laughed if he had the energy to do so. He merely shook his head, peeled the sticky note off but didn’t throw it away. He wanted to leave, so he did.
Without sparing Violeta another glance, Gray brushed past her, hands in his pockets. If his parents saw him like this, what would they say?
It doesn’t matter, Gray thought, biting down on his lip. They’re dead.
Aria had never met them. At least, nothing she was conscious of. Their mother died after she was born. He was five. His father died two years later. He was seven. He remembered everything. Aria was free of the pain because of Amanda, but it had been too late for him.
Violeta watched him go, silent. She was confused, yes, conflicted, but…. the sight of him like this overrode the nauseating sensation he usually brought about. Whatever caused him this much pain had to be bad…
[TIME SKIP: One Day]
The next day, Gray was rather calm. He'd pulled up the mask he created, pretending as if everything was fine. Pretending as if he wasn't just a hollow husk the day before. He walked into class, the cool expression on his features, and took his usual seat. Violeta was already there, but he paid her no attention. He slid into his seat, set his bag on the floor and took out his phone.
Violeta glanced up from her notes when someone sat next to her. At the sight of Gray, her peaceful expression flickered, struggling to remain in place. But she said nothing. His eyes—they were so cold, their relaxed look so fake...
"Good morning, Violeta," Gray looked at her, offering her a charming smile once he noticed her eyes on him. "How was your yesterday?"
Though there was a friendly look on his face, he looked at her calculatingly. Had she told anyone? The fact that he was really just… hollow and not the cool student they'd known all along?
Violeta dodged the question, studying him closely. "What happened to you?" she asked instead, careful to keep her voice low as another student passed by.
“What do you mean by that?” Gray put on an innocent smile, tilting his head to the side. “What happened to me?”
Violeta kept staring at him, unsettled and….. worried. Why, she had no idea.
"You confuse me…" she murmured instead.
“That makes us even, then,” Gray responded, removing his eyes from him. “Let’s just wrap this project up and you won’t have to deal with me any longer.”
Violeta sighed through her nose, rubbing at her temples. "It's a month-long project, Gray."
“All we need to do is explain the problem and suggest a solution,” Gray replied, leaning back against his seat. “And explain that solution. Write a report on our findings and submit the project.”
But if the teacher is giving us a month to prepare, it means she'll expect something well thought-out and meticulously done. Outside the box.
Violeta sighed a second time, but didn't argue. "Fine."
“I’m glad we agree,” Gray smiled, looking over her before frowning. “Are you okay now?”
"I could ask you the same thing," Violeta answered smoothly, running a hand through her unruly curls.
“I’m not the one who deserves to be asked that,” Gray shrugged passively. “Hence why I’m asking you.”
"Somehow I don't believe that," Violeta muttered under her breath, but silenced any argument by opening her notebook to show Gray her notes. "I did some research last night."
“I did, too,” Gray dug out a few papers. “But not last night. The day we met up in the library.”
Violeta tensed at the mention of that awful night, but nodded. "Great."
“I’m thinking we use Prezi to design our project,” Gray started, opening his laptop to type in the website. “Or another website. Whichever works. I know a good one, but I can’t seem to remember its name…”
"Prezi works," Violeta said simply, gluing her eyes to the computer screen.
“All right,” Gray murmured, typing away. “We should plan our outline first.”
"Let's read over each other's notes before we do that," Violeta suggested, offering hers.
Gray passed his notebook to her before he grabbed hers, flipping through the pages, skimming through the texts.
Her neat handwriting, as well as the detailed information entered Gray’s line of vision. Even this was perfect. Was there anything this girl wasn’t good at?
[TIME SKIP]
I'm going to get over her, Gray mocked himself mentally. I'm going to finally get off my feelings for her.
Gray really wanted to laugh at himself at this moment because right now, he was looking at Violeta talking to a male. A male who was flirting with her. A male she wasn't shying away from like she did with him. It made him burn with rage. Yes, Gray, you're totally getting over her while you're standing there glaring holes at the back of the head of the guy trying to kiss up to her.
Grayson Jules was jealous. He was really jealous.
Josh was nice. He was sweet, funny, and so adorably awkward that you knew he had to be genuine. And the cherry on top? He was pretty damn attractive, too. Violeta was definitely not complaining when he sat next to her in class, brother was she complaining when he began to flirt with her.
“Okay, okay,” she laughed, raising a hand. It was clear that she had completely let her guard down. “Ask me again?”
Josh grinned.
“What do you call a snobbish criminal coming down the stairs?”
Once again, she giggled. “I don’t know, tell me.”
“A condescending con descending.”
“Oh my god—you’re such a dork.”
