Suddenly Booked

Chapter Seven.

This f*cking b*stard! Why the hell would he introduce himself like that? I swear, I was going to find a way to murder him before this summer was over.

Jess seemed just as perplexed as I figured she would be and, instead of grabbing his outstretched hand, she just starred at it for a moment before turning to look at me. “Is this guy for real?”

There was a quiver in her voice as she spoke and a little lisp when she said her s’s, and I wasn’t sure if she was going to laugh or cry.

Tears filled in her bruised and swollen eyes. Turning to face her full on, I searched her face for a sign of what to do.

Why had he introduced himself like that? Bastian was one of the smartest sons of a b*tches on this campus. Did he lack the capacity for common sense in that stupidly handsome head of his?

“No, well, yes and no I guess. But let me explain. I had no idea. Everything just happened so fast. But that is beside the point. What happened to you?

Words flew out of my mouth and I knew that they made just as little sense to her as they did to my own ears, but that was just too bad.

Jess turned back to look at Bastian, who was still standing there with his damn hand outstretched and I wanted nothing more than to punch him. Honestly, why was he still standing there like that?

And as if I needed any more assistance, my mom walked in, “Oh Jess, do you know Bastian as well?”

Facing the doorway, I immediately saw that mom hadn’t brought my crutches. Seriously, how had my life turned out this way? I must be being punished by whatever divine being lived up above the clouds.

So annoyed by her sudden appearance, I had forgotten what Jess’s face looked like until she reached out a hand and grabbed onto my arm.

Her trembling fingers were digging into my skin with a little pressure, but not enough to actually hurt. When I turned to look at her face, she was biting her broken lip and I could see how nervous she seemed.

It dawned on me then that she didn’t want my mom to see her like this. If I had reacted poorly to her state, then I knew that my mom would react ten times worse than I had.

My mind picked now to become useless because as I stood there trying to think of how to keep that from happening, nothing was coming to mind.

Jess had become a part of our little family and I knew that mom would definitely want to talk to her once she realized it was her.

“Juliette. I’m sorry, is it okay if I call you Juliette,” Bastian said to my mom as he slowly put his outstretched hand down to his side.

Jess still had her back to my mom and was clinging to me, but I watched as my mom turned to Bastian with cheeks as pink as the panties I was wearing.

“Goodness, yes, of course you can,” she replied as he slowly ran her hands down her sides in the way I knew she did when she was nervous.

“It seems that Blayke has to sign off on some things in the TA’s office, but since she’s uh, incapacitated, they stated that you could go sign the forms for her.”

The lie rolled off his tongue so easily that I had to admit that I was thoroughly impressed. I honestly didn’t think that Clark Kent had the capacity to lie, but I guess there's a little darkness in us all.

“Oh goodness yes. Um, I’ll run and get that signed and when I get back we can go ahead and work on getting Blayke back downstairs.”

Mom quickly turned on her heels and left the room, heading for the office she knew was at the end of the hall.

“Impressive. Who knew you had it in you, Bash?” I let my shock seep into my words, so he knew that I was truly impressed with his little show, “but what are you gonna do when she gets there and there’s nothing for her to sign?”

Jess was still holding onto me, but her grip had loosened a bit. I was still looking at Bastian as I waited for him to answer me, but he just stared at me like he didn’t understand what I had just said.

Even Jess turned to look at him since he hadn’t responded. I wasn’t sure what finally snapped him out of his sudden stupor, but he finally answered me.

“Won’t that keep her distracted even longer? I assumed that you did not wish her to see your friend’s face, correct? Then this will give her plenty of time to make her get away.”

There was no smugness in his voice, but there was still that damn look on his face. I couldn’t quite figure out what it was about the way that he was looking at me that made me squirm a bit.

Jess moved quickly, and I watched in stunned silence as she turned towards Bastian with her hand extended, but her face down staring at her hot pink running shoes.

Hand still slightly trembling, I was so focused on what she was doing, I almost missed her whispering, “Thank you.”

Bastian grabbed her offered hand and shook it softly. My heart was racing as I watched their small and seemingly meaningless interaction.

Anyone else seeing this would have missed how much Jess offered to him with that gesture, but I knew Bastian was smart enough to know. It showed in the softness of his touch and the gentleness on his face.

Even though Jess wasn’t looking at him, I didn’t miss the way he looked at her. No matter how much I wanted to hate him, this alone had made that feeling dull just a bit.

And as if things weren’t emotional enough, I saw the singular teardrop fall and hit the floor between them.

Jess quickly pulled her hand back and turned towards me. Reaching for her, I felt my heart wrench as she flinched away and quickly caught herself.

“I’m sorry. Maybe we should talk later. I can call you, or you can call me once you get home and get settled.”

She turned quickly and rushed towards the door, but neither Bastian nor I missed her “I’m so sorry,” as he left the room and practically sprinted down the hall.

I was stunned and honestly questioned what had just happened. Things really didn’t feel real. From the moment we had left this very room to go to the party a few days ago, nothing had seemed real.

But as I let myself turn and take in the room I was so familiar with, my gaze caught and held Bastian as he stood there looking at me.

My mind was still trying to comprehend how Jess had ended up looking like that, but deep down it didn’t take a genius to figure out that her injuries weren’t from the accident.

She had always had bad luck at picking guys, but Scott had seemed different, better than all the other ones, but I guess looks can be misleading.

I wondered if Bastian felt the same way about me, but there was no way that I was going to ask him, nor was I willing to hear his excuse for making such assumptions about me, especially right now.

Before he had a chance to speak, I turned and began to hobble towards the closet. “My mom will probably be back any minute, I should get the last of my things. I’m tired of wearing my clothes from middle school.”

How the hell had I gone from not giving a f*ck what he or anyone else thought about me, to becoming the girl who hides inside of her own damn closet?

Sweet cheeses I really need to try to pull it together before my mom really does come. I quickly kicked over my last remaining luggage and threw a pile of jeans and the last of my shoes inside of it.

There was no noise coming from behind me, but I was not about to check to see where Bastian was until my mom came back, and I was going to have to be carried back down those damn stairs.

I took a few minutes to focus, calm my racing heart and thoughts, and plan. There was no way that I was going to let Jess deal with this alone, so the first thing I needed was to get a new phone so that I could reach out to her.

With all those bruises on her face, she wouldn’t be showing up to my mom's new house anytime soon, but if I could get myself out of this brace, then maybe I could run up to meet her on campus until she felt ready to be around people.

There had to be more to this than just a weird accident that left me like this, and her like that. I felt like I was missing something, but right now I still didn’t feel like I could take much more.

As if someone thought otherwise, mom just happened to walk in just then. “Blayke? Oh goodness Blayke, what are you doing hiding in your closet?”

I mean I was, but she didn’t have to announce it so bluntly like that. Turning, I nudged the last bag out with my foot and didn’t miss her little huff of annoyance.

“Mom, I can’t keep wearing these clothes all summer, someone is going to think that you kidnapped me if I keep walking around in clothes two sizes two small.”

Hobbling out of the closet, I didn’t miss Bastian trying to hold in his laugh, but I refused to let him trick me into liking him. So, I turned towards him, extended my arms, and said, “giddy up.”