Faithless

Chapter Four

Jasmina had nightmares throughout the whole night, but none that she could remember by the time she woke up and none that caused her to yell out, as Candice would have woke her up if that was the case. She eventually woke up at five and went to get ready for the day. Jasmina liked to have the shared bathroom to herself. It gave her time to think. She was done quickly, so she grabbed a book and headed downstairs. She sat in the small common room and read, but the lights were pretty dim so she gave up after a while. Her eyes were too sore to carry on reading in this light. Instead she decided to just curl up on the sofa, watching the sky through the window as it slowly started to get lighter.

Jasmina was just starting to fall back to sleep, when she heard a loud knock as the door outside crept open. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Ruby creeping back in. She had a habit of sneaking out so Jasmina wasn't surprised when she saw her, Ruby on the other hand, froze when she saw Jasmina, but she calmed down as soon as she realised it wasn't a teacher sitting there in the dark, waiting to give her yet another detention. Ruby tip-toed over and took a seat on the sofa next to Jasmina.

“Morning.” Jasmina said quietly.

“What are you doing up?” Ruby asked, frowning. Ruby was known for sneaking out to go to parties, but stood in front of Jasmina now, she was wearing an old pair of comfortable looking tracksuit bottoms and a plain tank top. Jamina doubted it was the sort of thing she would wear to go out partying in.

“Well I would ask you the same thing but I think I already figured it out.” Jasmina smirked, nodding towards the door. “I like getting up a little early, so I beat the morning rush. What were you doing out there?”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Yeah of course. Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine. I was just… Meeting someone.” She trailed off.

“A boy, someone?” Jasmina asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well yeah, but not like that. Listen I need to tell you…” There was a bang upstairs, causing Ruby to pause for a while. She looked at the stairs then back to Jasmina. "Look don’t worry about it, it will make sense soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“No matter how weird things get, you’re not alone okay?” She whispered, then ran off upstairs. Jasmina frowned, watching her go. She couldn't help it when she pinched her own wrist, yelping slightly at the pain she caused herself, just to make sure she was still awake.

“The hell.” She mumbled to herself.

Within another hour or so pretty much everyone was getting ready for the day, slowly making their way downstairs to meet their friends before they headed off for breakfast. Jasmina couldn’t see Candice so she went up to their room and found her sitting at the desk, which made Jasmina worry a little. She rarely ever used the desk.

“Candice?” Jasmina said quietly, shutting the door. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach when Candice didn't turn around straight away. Jasmina could feel her palms getting sweaty as she closed the door behind her.

“Hey.” Candice turned and smiled, holding one of Jasmina's drawings of Cam in her hands. Jasmina felt sick, seeing her hold the picture out for the world to see. It was like her privacy had been well and truly invaded. “Who’s this?” She asked, smirking and wiggling her eyebrows in her trademark way.

“No one special.” Jasmina mumbled, snatching the drawing back and putting it on the pile with the rest of her works. She knew for a fact that there were at least three more pictures of Cam in there somewhere and she didn't want Candice to find those any time soon.

“Yeah right. I recognise him. I could have sworn I saw him yesterday.” She beamed, staring right at Jasmina in the eye, making her uncomfortable.

“Probably on that piece of paper.” Jasmina glared. “It will be breakfast soon, do you want to and find Logan or something?”

“Smooth change of subject, but yeah fine let's go. He’s probably left the boys dorm by now.” She shrugged. Jasmina let her walk out first, then grabbed her drawings, hiding them under the bed. It was pathetic really, but it was the best she could do for now. She made a mental note to herself to either hide them in a box with a lock, or to start burning them.

They headed for the canteen, just a little before the bell went, signalling the start of breakfast and found Logan waiting outside. He looked a little more grumpy than usual for a Friday morning.

“What’s up with you?” Candice asked, raising her voice as they got closer to where Logan stood.

“Yeah that’s cool. Be blunt to a friend who looks down!” Jasmina whispered harshly in her ear. Candice just shrugged, carrying on.

“Nothing. I just hate mornings.” He shrugged, sighing. He pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on and fell into step with the girls, keeping his head low.

“Don’t we all.” Jasmina mumbled quietly. They went inside and grabbed something to eat, then walked over to their usual table. Logan was mostly quiet, which wasn’t that unusual, but it still made Jasmina a little uneasy. There was something in the air around him and she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

“My, my you are a typical teen.” Candice sighed, shaking her head. Jasmina elbowed her in the ribs, trying to signal for Candice to stop, but she just glared back, trying not to laugh. Logan just ignored them both and played on his phone. “Seriously what’s up with you?”

“My dad is in town okay? I’m not happy about it and he wants to see me.” Logan sighed, shaking his head. Jasmina knew their relationship was strained at best. Logan hated to talk about his father but Jasmina had the impression that he was a strict man who had been hard on Logan all his life so far. As much as he would refuse to ever admit, being left behind at a boarding school was probably the best thing that ever could have happened to him.

“You don’t talk about him much.” Jasmina mused, c*****g her head to the side.

“For the same reason you don’t like talking about yours.” He shrugged, looking straight at Jasmina who just nodded in understanding, sighing quietly. Unlike Candice, Jasmina knew exactly when to take a hint, which Logan was grateful for.

“He can’t force you to see him.” Jasmina pointed out.

“He’ll damn well try.”

“We can help. Just tell him you have too much school work or something. We'll cover for you." Jasmina offered, trying to lift his spirits, but her efforts were wasted. Logan just nodded, but Jasmina could tell he wasn't convinced. The bell went off, signalling the beginning of their first class of the day and Logan rushed off without another word, straight out of the canteen and in the direction of the history block.

“Bye!” Candice called after him as sarcastically as she could manage. Jasmina just jabbed her in the ribs in disapproval.

“Leave him alone he’s stressed as it is.” Jasmina scowled.

“Fine he has a free pass today, but wait till I get hold of him tomorrow. Haven’t you got history with him now?” Candice asked.

“Maybe you were winding him up so much he just wanted to make a run for it?” Jasmina shrugged. Candice faked being hurt, then grabbed her things.

“I’ll see you later. I got art and my teacher is out to get me.” She sighed. That didn’t surprise Jasmina one bit. Candice didn’t get on well with hardly any of her teachers.

“Bye.” Jasmina smiled and picked up her own things and headed straight for history.

Once she reached the classroom Jasmina took her usual spot at the back and she was relieved that Cam wasn't in the room this time. She had just started to relax when Aiden walked in. She could tell the difference between them straight away. Aiden carried himself with more confidence than Cam did, making him seem almost taller than his brother. Aiden's eyes passed over the whole class until he finally spotted Jasmina at the back and offered her a small smirk and a wave. She awkwardly waved back then deliberately looked away to avoid any more interaction.

"Who's that?" Logan asked, looking over to Jasmina.

"He's Mr. Black's son. He helped me do a few jobs during the parents evening." Jasmina shrugged. Logan just nodded.

"He gives me a bad feeling." Logan scowled. Jasmina couldn't help but agree silently.

Thankfully for Jasmina the rest of the lesson flew by, she did all of her work during the lesson and Mr. Black made a point of making sure she handed it in before she left this time around. Logan stayed quiet for virtually the whole lesson, only speaking when he absolutely had to. He barely even said goodbye as he parted ways with Jasmina and headed to his next class. His father had only visited one other time since Jasmina had known Logan and she could remember him acting very similar to this. She sighed quietly to herself as she headed to her next dreaded lesson: physical education.

Jasmina retrieved her gym kit from her locker and made her way to the sports hall. She dragged her feet the entire way, hoping that she would 'accidentally' miss the whole lesson, but she knew she wasn't about to be that lucky. Once she reached the sports hall she got changed in the girls locker room and met the rest of the class out at the field. She cringed as she joined the group last, doing her best to go undetected. It was cold outside and Jasmina had to grit her teeth to stop the shivers from erupting.

They started with some basic warm up exercises, then the teacher sent them all to run laps. Jasmina noticed Ruby in the same class which put her on edge. Their encounter from this morning was still playing on Jasmina's mind and she wasn't sure what exactly to think when Ruby made a beeline for Jasmina on the track.

"Hey." Ruby smiled brightly.

"Hi." Jasmina said between breaths, keeping herself focused on the track in front of her.

"Look about this morning, I'm sorry for being weird. It's just been a weird few days you know? I shouldn't have dumped that on you."

"I have no idea what you were talking about anyway." Jasmina frowned. Ruby just smiled sheepishly.

"It'll make sense soon." She shrugged, taking Jasmina by surprise. Jasmina went to say something, but she felt as her foot tripped on a dip in the track and she went flying forward. She barely had time to put her arms out before she hit the ground with a big thump. She grunted as she picked herself back up. She knew without looking that her leg had taken a beating, judging from the stinging she now felt.

"Damn it." She whined, sitting back on her bum so she could assess the damage to her leg. It didn't look pretty but Jasina hoped it was nothing too major. She knew she was a bleeder when it came to injuries.

"Damn, Jas I'm so sorry." Ruby frowned, bending down to help her stand up. Jasmina yelped as her leg moved and she struggled to put any weight on it. "I'll take you to the infirmary." Ruby mumbled, putting Jasmina's arm over her shoulders so she could take most of her weight. Jasmina was in no state to argue so she went ahead and followed.

"Can you stop with the cryptic crap?" Jasmina finally sighed. "You're creeping me out. Either tell me what's going on or don't, but stop trying to freak me out."

"I'm sorry jas. But it's really not my place to say. I just... Think you need to hear the truth." Ruby mumbled.

"Truth about what?"

"I can't tell you." Ruby sighed. Jasmina just groaned loudly, but she didn't argue anymore. She would figure out what Ruby was hiding another way, she just wasn't sure exactly what that was yet. Once they reached the infirmary, Jasmina decided to make out her ankle was far worse than it was to get out of the rest of her class. Ruby was forced to go back which Jasmina was glad for. She wanted some time alone, and she really was feeling sore from her fall.

The rest of the day flew by. Before Jasmina knew it, her last lesson had finished and she was sitting on the grass with Candice. Logan had gone back to his dorm to be alone and Jasmina didn’t blame him really. She liked to be alone sometimes too and as much as she loved Candice, even Jasmina could admit to her being too much to handle sometimes. Jasmina definitely related more to Logan with a lot of things, more so than she could with Candice.

Jasmina was patched up by the school nurse and told to rest as much as possible. Her leg was bound up in a bandage and her ankle had a support on it to stop her from making it any worse. By now it felt like their whole year group had heard about her fall and Jasmina was beyond embarrassed everytime she was asked about it. She was relieved when Candice started chasing off any onlookers, shutting everyone up about the day's events. Jasmina still did her best to keep her head down and stay out of sight so people would stop looking at her. It was as if they had never heard of someone falling over before.

Throughout the whole day Jasmina kept seeing Ruby giving her strange looks, as if she had a secret and it had something to do with Jasmina. It made her feel uneasy, as if Ruby had found out all her deepest darkest secrets and she was going to out them at any moment. The more that Jasmina thought about it the more she felt the feeling of dread growing in the pit of her stomach. Every time it popped into her head, she would feel her hands start to sweat and her heart rate go through the roof. It was like Ruby's eyes were a pair of headlights and Jasmina was a deer.

Jasmina and Candice had taken out a towel so they could sit comfortably on the grass without getting wet. The temperature was mild enough for them to not be cold which Jasmina was glad for. She needed the fresh air with all the thoughts running through her mind. Jasmina could see Ruby from where Candice and she sat, heading into the history block and she couldn't ignore the urge she felt to confront Ruby and find out exactly what she had meant this morning. Jasmina never confronted anyone about anything before, but she couldn't ignore the feeling growing inside of her any longer.

“I need to go and do something. I’ll be right back.” Jasmina said, not really looking at Candice.

“Okay. Want me to come with?” Candice asked.

“No it’s okay, I won’t be too long.” She said, standing up. Jasmina all but ran towards the history block, as fast as her injured ankle would carry her. She got inside just in time to see Ruby heading into the history class and she knew that wasn’t a lesson Ruby took. She paused for a while looking at the doorway which Ruby had disappeared into, then walked over quietly and stood near the doorway, so she could hear what was being said inside.

“I can’t do this. I mean yeah I get it I get what you said about me, but Jasmina has a right to know who she is, how long are you going to wait?” Ruby huffed. Jasmina heard a chair scrap along the floor and the sound of someone heavily sinking down into it.

“I know this is difficult, but let us handle this. We will tell her when she is ready.” The voice sounded like Cam, but it wasn’t quite right. Jasmina guessed it was Aiden instead. "This isn't the first time we've had this situation."

“When she's ready? From what you said she’s going out of her freaking mind! It's not fair to leave her like that.”

“She’s a young girl who needs a little more time. She’s not like you. She wasn't raised in this world.” Mr. Black sighed. "What she is going through is different. It feels different to her."

“She’s a witch! It’s in her, how much time does she need?” Ruby snapped. Jasmina froze, unable to even think. She must have heard that wrong. A witch? She wasn't exactly walking around with a crooked nose and a great big pointy hat with her broomstick and black cat in tow. She had to be imagining it. This wasn't happening. She forced herself to turn around as quietly as she could manage. She didn’t want to hear anymore. She wished she never followed Ruby in the first place. This was insane. They were insane.

“Jasmina?” A voice stopped Jasmina in her tracks just as she had started to walk away causing her to look up as Cam walked down the corridor towards her. She could hear them in the classroom say her name too and some shuffling started to come from the classroom behind her.

“I…” She stuttered, staring at Cam as he got closer and closer. She didn’t know what to do as he approached her. Once he was merely three feet away, she took off sprinting straight past Cam and heading back outside. She ran back to where she left Candice, who spotted Jasmina running towards her and stood up, just in time as Jasmina grabbed her hand, pulling her in the direction of the edge of the school. There was a hole in the chicken wire fence, big enough for them to get through, right near the girls dorm.