Chapter 8

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑬𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕

°. ⋆༺♱༻⋆. °

I didn’t expect to see Jennifer at school the next day.

But there she was in English, wearing a yellow-and-white striped jacket and glowing.

She looked like an angel. Definitely far from a succubus or a demon of any sort.

I inspected her closely. Her cheeks looked rosy, her eyes calm and bright, her light smile soft and genuine and her skin smooth and glowing.

She looked better than ever.

And she had not acknowledged me in the slightest.

“Miss Cove?” a shrill voice pierced my ears. Of course. Mrs Jenkins. “I asked you a question, young lady. Three times.”

Everyone snickered. Even Jennifer turned to face me, her smirk contorting into an almost derisive and cruel grimace.

“I’m sorry, Mrs Jenkins. I have been distracted these days.” I glanced at Jennifer pointedly, trying to show her that if she wanted to toy with me, I could retaliate.

“Indeed,” my English teacher nodded thoughtfully, “we missed you in class yesterday, Lilith.”

“Yes, we did, Lil.”

The voice startled me so bad I dropped my pen. I reached over to pick it up and I felt her soft hand on mine. I lifted my gaze and met her blue eyes. Jennifer was smiling politely at me.

“I’ve got it,” she took the pen and handed it to me. With a trembling hand, I took it and sat up straight in my seat, clearing my throat. I did not like this change of dynamic. I thought I knew what game we were playing, but she was quick.

I could not allow myself to keep getting surprised like that. It would be the end of me.

I broke the silence when I realised that everyone’s eyes were on me.

“I apologise for my absence, Mrs Jenkins. It won’t happen again,” I finally replied pertinently.

The teacher nodded and went on talking about Hesiod’s ‘Theogonie’.

I glanced back at Jennifer, who was spinning her necklace thoughtfully. I never asked her about it. It seemed to have the letters ‘BFF’ engraved on it. Clearly gifted by Needy. I felt my ears ring with jealousy. I shook it off fast. I had to remind myself of the previous day’s discoveries. Jennifer might not have been so innocent.

The lesson was over sooner than I had anticipated. I was eager to leave. I grabbed my stuff and bolted for the door, when I felt Jennifer’s distinctly soft hand rest on my shoulder. With an exasperated sigh, I turned to face her.

“What?” I hissed.

“Don’t you wanna ask how your best friend is doing? I hit my head pretty bad, you know,” she pouted.

“Clearly not bad enough, seeing as you managed to jump out of my window like a superhuman,” I shot back, irritated.

“A superhuman?” she scoffed, “what’s wrong with you, Lils? First off, I obviously did not jump out of your window. That would have, like, paralysed me or something. I don’t even know how you could think such a thing. No, Lilith, I simply headed out your front door when you had left to fetch your dad.”

I shook my head, fed up. “That doesn’t even make any sense. You were clearly unconscious when you fell off the bed. I was gone for, like, a minute. You did not have enough time to come to your senses and walk out the front door. Besides, I would have heard you. The floorboards in my corridor creak loudly.”

I slapped her hand off my shoulder and exited the classroom. Even Mrs Jenkins had left. I felt Jennifer follow me. Great.

“Listen, Jennifer,” I spun in order to face her, “I have had enough of you. You are unstable and you play weird mind games that were cute at first but have grown to become very, very draining. If you keep this charade up I won’t be able to put up with you anymore. So, either you are fully honest with me, or I drop you. Just like that. Plain and simple.” I started to walk off again.

“Woah, now, Lils. Not so fast, sweet.”

Jennifer caught up to me until she was standing in front of me, blocking my path.

“Fine. I like you a lot, you idiot, you know that, right? Even though you can be pretty nosey and annoying at times. But, oddly, I trust you. Which is why I will give you what you want. My place, tonight at 9pm. Don’t be late.”

I saw her walk off and it felt like history repeating itself. I did not want to know what I had unknowingly signed up for. But I needed to know if my suspicions were baseless or not.

So I decided I would be at her place at 9pm that night.

The truth would finally be revealed.