AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hi,” Jacks said, closing the door quietly behind him.
“You,” Maddy hissed in disbelief. It came out harsher than she expected. It was almost hateful. “What are you doing here?!”
“I wanted to talk to you,” he said, smiling. He came into the room, and it was as if the dusty, cramped classroom could hardly contain him. He took a seat in the desk next to Maddy and she could feel it again, that same feeling she had felt as she walked him to the booth at the diner. It was like his presence was radiating off him. It made it hard to think.
Jacks cleared his throat. “I just wanted to apologize for what happened at the diner last night. And,” he said, hesitating, “I wanted to . . . thank you for helping me. I’ve never really needed anyone’s help before. It was a new experience.”
Maddy felt the anger and embarrassment of the previous night welling up inside her, mixing and twisting with the shock of the moment.
“Got any more stories for me today?” she almost sneered at him. “Want to tell me about how you need a job? About how you’re trying to raise money for college? About how your dad—” A sudden lump in her throat cut off her words. She swallowed it down hard. “About how your dad died too?!”
Jacks’s expression registered surprise, as if some expectation had not been met.
“Look, Maddy,” he said, and it was a cruel thrill to hear him say her name, “I never meant to hurt you. There was a situation. I didn’t think things were going to happen . . . the way they did.”
“Well, you thought wrong, didn’t you?” Maddy snapped. Jacks’s face twisted in frustration.
“Hey, nobody’s perfect—”
“Well, you’re supposed to be!” She glared.
Jacks opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. “I . . . you’re impossible!” he finally blurted, getting to his feet.
“Good!” Maddy said, rising out of her desk. “I hope I go down as the one disappointment in your life.”
Jacks stopped on his way to the door, as if to consider the words, then turned.
“I just came over here to tell you I’m sorry,” he said, fighting to keep his tone composed. Even when she was angry, Maddy looked so pretty to him—and he was startled at himself for even thinking it.
“Well, you should have saved yourself the trouble,” Maddy said defiantly. “Please just leave me alone.”
She could see the incredulity wash over his face like a black wave.
Just then, Maddy heard the squeak of the turning doorknob.
“Oh my God,” she breathed, her head snapping to the door. Mr. Leihew must be coming to check up on her.
“You can’t be in here—” she gasped, but it was too late. The knob turned, the door opened.
Gwen’s head peered around the door.
“Maddy? You alone?” she whispered.
Maddy looked around the room. Jacks was gone. Her heart was still racing, but she tried her best to make her voice sound calm.
“Y-yeah,” she stammered.
“Can I come in?” Maddy nodded unsteadily. Gwen pushed the door open with her foot and came in holding a tray of food.
“Well, I know you’re, like, not supposed to have visitors, but this is detention, not prison.”
“Thanks,” Maddy said unsteadily.
“Were you talking to someone?” she asked. “I could have sworn I heard a voice.” Maddy rubbed her sweaty palms against the legs of her jeans.
“Not . . . that I know of,” she said.
Gwen talked while Maddy ate with shaking hands. She went on about how she had talked to Jordan Richardson in the lunch line, her new crush and ideal Homecoming date, then said something about how he was going to be at Ethan’s party. Maddy tried to listen as Gwen went on and on, but her head was still spinning from Jacks’s unannounced—and unwelcome—visit. She could still sense him lingering in the room as she sat there.
