• tab My first three classes passed in the blink of an eye. Jace and I sat at a secluded table in the corner of the cafeteria, and I smiled apologetically at my friends Jessie and Melissa. Jessie was one of my closer friends, and he'd been there for me through alot. His mocha skin was striking against the orange of his skinny jeans, and his dark brown eyes burned holes in Jace's back. His lower back, to be precise. Jessie wagged his eyebrows suggestively, and I nearly joked on my water.
    tab "What?" Jace asked, a slow smile on his lips.
    tab "Nothing," I choke out, laughing. Jessie, who Jace has his back to, does a little dance in his seat, fanning himself with his hand. He mouths the words hot damn, and I nearly tip over, laughing. "I, umm... It's just-" Jace looks over his shoulder, and Jessie is staring in the other direction, face smooth of emotion. When he turns back around, Jessie winks at me.
    tab "So, Jace. Why are you back in town? It's been, what, three years?" I quickly sobered up, because I knew damn well how long he'd been gone. I just didn't want him to know how deep a scar it had left. I try to supress a grimace.
    tab Jace brushed his black and gold hair out of his eyes. His face was a little guilty. "Yeah. Well, do you remember how my dad got transferred after the fifth grade? About a month ago, he died, and my mom wanted to be back with her family."
    tab "How'd he die?" I asked, shocked.
    tab "Car crash." Jace quickly averted his eyes, something he used to do when he copied off my test and turned it in to Mrs. Berclay. I furrowed my brow, confused. His voice was quick and snipped, like he was trying to hide something. But hide what?
    tab "You don't believe it." I meant it as a statement, but it slowly turned into one of uncertainty as I saw the things flashing through his eyes. Anger, denial, loneliness, rage, betrayal, bloodlust... nothing. The last one scared me most of all, and my heart rate started to soar. "Why? Do you know what really happened?"
    tab "No." His voice was cold, and his swift change of mood had me on edge. All I knew was that he was angry, and betrayed, and he knew something.
    tab "You can tell me, Jace. You know you can." My chest ached with the pain I felt for him. You shouldn't bottle things up like this, nobody should.
    tab "No, I can't."
    tab "Why?"
    tab "I don't even know who you are, anymore."
    tab My heart broke. It felt like a sharp edged knife was driven into my chest. Jace was the only reason I moved forward these past few years instead of giving up, and now I know how little I've meant to him. I should've felt this coming on. Tears jump to my eyes, but I hold them in, because anger is my new best friend.
    tab "And who's fault is that?" My voice is biting, and I'm glad. "Yours. You didn't have to go! You could have stayed here with your aunt, or with me!" My voice was rising, but I didn't care. "But you probably wouldn't have liked that, living with a stranger, living with some freak you can't trust!" I knew I was starting to babble, but I didn't care about that either. "I hope you know I waited for you, thinking you'd come back. And even though you were gone for more than three years, I never lost my respect for you, Jace. I never lost my l-"
    tab I almost said love. Love. I let that sink in for a second, that when I thought of my best friend all this time, I really wanted to say my boyfriend. That's why it hurt so much. Because- subconciously- I had felt more for Jace than just friendship. It hurt like a bus hurling me across the interstate. I looked at his stunned face, thought of how little impact I'd had on his life, and knew my love for him made the agony all the worse.
    tab With tears falling down my cheeks, I managed to say one last thing before I ran out of the cafeteria.
    tab "I'll never lose my hate for you."