Chapter 3
470 Words
The Pit was loud, smelling of stale beer and bad decisions. Jax was in a corner booth, a king in his counting house. He had a beer in front of him, but Caroline noticed he hadn't touched it.
She sat down opposite him without waiting for an invitation. She pulled out a notebook—one exactly like the one Carl used, though Jax wouldn't know that.
"First question," she said, skipping the small talk. "Why do you do it?"
Jax leaned back, his eyes narrowing. "Do what? Lead the team to state? Maintain a 3.8 GPA?"
"No," Caroline said, clicking her pen. "The cruelty. The way you look at people like they’re obstacles rather than humans. Is it an act, or were you born without a soul?"
The table went silent. Even the music seemed to dip. Jax’s expression didn't change, but his hand tightened around his glass.
"You've got a lot of nerve for a girl whose name I didn't know two hours ago," he whispered.
"And you've got a lot of ego for a boy who’s one bad knee injury away from being irrelevant," she shot back.
Jax stared at her for a long beat. Then, to her horror, he laughed. It wasn't the cruel laugh he used in the hallways. It was a genuine, surprised sound.
"You're not like the others," he said, and for the first time, he wasn't looking at her like prey. He was looking at her like some puzzle. "Most people here are terrified of saying the wrong thing to me. You seem to be trying to say the worst thing possible."
"I prefer the truth," Caroline said, her heart racing, Stay focused. Remember Carl's hands. Remember the acid.
"The truth?" Jax leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "The truth is, Caroline , everyone in this town wants something from me. My dad wants a trophy. The coach wants a win. The girls want a status symbol. No one wants the 'truth.' They just want the version of me that makes them look good."
For a split second, Caroline saw it—a flicker of profound, crushing loneliness. It was gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced by his usual mask of arrogance, but the image remained burned into her mind.
She realized then that this was going to be harder than she thought. To destroy him, she had to understand him. And the more she understood him, the more she risked seeing the human behind the monster.
"Let's go," Jax said, sliding out of the booth.
"Where?"
"You want to see 'when the lights are off'?" he challenged. "I'll show you. But don't complain if you don't like what you find."
- Writer
