Ugh, I groan internally, glancing at the clock again. Ten o’five. I feel wrong being here when I know I’m expected somewhere else. I stride the length of my room and back again; I follow the same pattern a few more times. Ten o’eight.
“Ahh!” I screech, and unable to stop myself, I grab my backpack and storm out of my building.
When I arrive at Jacobi’s place I’m sweaty and irritated. I ran, something I hate doing, and I’m still thirty minutes late.
The house brings back unwanted memories of a time when we were actually friends. A time when I thought there might be a chance at more with him. It’s a cottage situated within a large plot of land. It feels like the countryside, but we’re still in London. The house sits separate but still close enough to other houses to make it part of the community. His mum wanted to remain close to non-magic folk. I touch my lips as a smile forms when I remember snippets of our past, but then I shake my head to push them away. I heard his parents moved to the country about six months ago and left the house to Jacobi. They probably wanted to get away from him too.
I hold my hand up, knuckles ready, to knock on the bright red door, but Jacobi swings it open before I can make a sound.
“Finally arrived, I see. You know I hate it when people can’t be on time for things,” he states, opening his door wider for me to enter.
“I’ll make a mental note of that,” I snap.
“Write it down in your notebook, and that way you might actually remember.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “God, I can’t believe I got stuck with you.”
“I know. Sucks to be you,” I say smiling up at him.
He stares at me, something soft moving through his eyes before he shakes his head. “The smart-arse vibe doesn’t work for you. Stop it,” he commands.
I sigh. “Where do you want me?” I ask moving into an open plan living area.
“Preferably not anywhere near me and definitely not at my school, but it seems luck is not on my side, and I’m stuck with you. For now.”
“Looks like this is going to be fun,” I reply sarcastically.
“I never promised fun, Juni.”
I decide to ignore him. He nods towards a round table with four chairs in the corner of the room. I wander over and drop my bag onto one of the seats.
“I hate having to work with you-“ he starts, but I quickly interrupt him.
“Why do you hate me, Jacobi? Seriously, what did I do to you?” I can’t help my words or the sharpness behind them.
So many people in the school are afraid of him. None of the students will argue back or call him out the way I do, but I don’t care. Having faced my father, there’s no one else to fear. I’m angry that we were once friends, I’m angry that I don’t know what I did, and I’m angry that he kissed me…more than once.
“This was a bad idea,” he says, standing and shaking his arms out like a runner preparing for a sprint.
I shake my head at my own thoughts. Heaven knows why I assumed I could just ask him straight out, and he’d tell me. I should have known he was as bad as the fake people he hangs around with.
“Forget it. Let’s just get this assignment done, and hopefully, we’ll not have to work together again,” I mutter, defeated.
He sinks back into his chair. “That’s acceptable.” He nods. “A truce, only for this assignment, but at school, all bets are off.”
I wave my hand dismissively, and he looks at it, confused, as though he can’t quite work out what I’m doing and why I’m not flustered by him.
I snort out a laugh. “Let’s start with transposition and leave levitation until next time.”
He shrugs as if it’s all the same to him. Lounging with one arm hanging over the back of his chair, he brings up his other arm, holds out his hand and flicks his wrist while whispering something under his breath. My notebook, which was spilling out of my bag, disappears and is replaced by a spell book. I frown until he picks up my notebook from the chair next to him and chucks it back to me.
“Guess you don’t need this,” I state, returning the spell book to him.
He doesn’t answer. His magic is strong. Most of our classmates would’ve had to use an incantation and concentrate really hard to cast that transposition spell. The fact that he can flick his wrist and breathe only a single word demonstrates why he’s in the position he is at school.
I’m tempted to show him what I’m really capable of, but I’m not ready for anyone else to know, because that would mean my father would find out.
“Equitable transaction,” I announce, loudly.
My hands hover over the table, and I move them so they cross over one another at the wrist. The books swap again, and Jacobi looks vaguely impressed.
“It seems we don’t need much practice. What else did Miss Bell want us to do other than learn the two spells?”
I shrug. “She didn’t mention anything else.”
“So this farce can be done with.” It’s a statement, but as I rise from my chair, he adds, “Until next time.”
Grabbing my things, I start walking away, but I have to ask him something before I leave. Spinning around, I squeak out my surprise when I find him standing right behind me. We’re so close, too close. My breathing speeds up, and I fist my hands annoyed with myself. Being so near him, Jacobi can see my reaction, but strangely, he says nothing. He just stares into my eyes like he’s captivated by something, and I can’t tear my gaze away from him. A muscle in his cheek moves as his jaw works, then slowly he steps back and the spell is broken.
“I wanted to make sure you actually left.” His voice is gruff.
“You can see your front door from there.” I whisper, looking back over at the table.
“Stay away from Lucas.” The conversation has taken an odd turn and confusion must be clear on my face because he continues, “He thinks he likes you, but he doesn’t know you, not like I-”
“What? He doesn’t know me like you do?” I hiss, leaning towards him. “You don’t know me. You used to know me,” I grind out. “But, Jacobi,” I say, spitting out his name, “I’m nothing like the girl you used to know, and if I want to be friends or anything else with Lucas, I damn well will be.”
I make to turn, but he grabs my arm and pulls me closer. Our lips don’t touch, but our breathing combines, and we’re both panting as though we’ve just run a marathon. Our gazes locked, his fingers spasm on my arm, and for a second, I think he’s going to kiss me again, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
A sudden bang on the door jolts us both, and Jacobi forcefully pushes me away as the door opens without him inviting the person in. I stare as Taya waltzes into the house.
“What the hell is she doing here?” Taya complains, her hand perched on her hip.
“She was just leaving, baby,” Jacobi answers, looking at me like I’m dirt.
“Oh good, time for us to have some fun,” she giggles, and her voice goes right through me.
I don’t understand what happened between us. I truly believed Jacobi had feelings for me when we were younger. It’s amazing how drastically things have changed.
Flinging the door open, I storm out, not waiting to listen to anything else he has to say. Done with his demands, done with his orders, done with his kisses, done with him.