35: Rebellion

I lay in bed with my eyes barely closing when I heard my phone’s message beep go off. I glanced at it, and it was a text from Jace.

(You barely acknowledged my presence at the study today.)

Received from Jace

10:04 p.m.

He must have felt the distance.

I paused, contemplating the best answer to give him. I didn’t always look at him. That was our policy: to avoid staring at each other in public so as not to get caught in a longing stare. We kept to that public rule, but we always exchanged pleasantries at the very least, and we’ve never acted as if the other person wasn’t in the room.

Well, until today.

(Yes, last I checked, I was anything but the one.)

Sent 10:07 p.m.

My reply meant I had eavesdropped on his conversation with Lyon, which wasn’t a good thing, but again, I could not bring myself to care.

It was barely a second after I sent the message. My phone began to ring, and the caller ID showed Jace.

I groan, knowing very well who I was about to talk to. I couldn’t ignore the call,