Unwritten Desires

Eleanor 

Jake hadn't spoken to me since the breakup. Not one text or even a call. 

And honestly? That was exactly what I wanted.

I was certain it was because of the fact that I'd been avoiding him and he probably noticed that and decided not to bother me. 

But now, as I felt his presence beside me I could tell he had something to say. And I already knew what it was.

I braced myself and a second later, Jake leaned in, his voice low, barely above a whisper.

"Why have you been avoiding me, Thea?"

I exhaled slowly, busying my hands and keeping my gaze on our desk as if I were deeply invested in the experiment. I wasn't.

We were so going to get an F for this. 

"Jake, we're in class."

"So?" His tone was sharper than usual, but he still kept it quiet. "That's never stopped you from talking to me before."

I swallowed, shifting uncomfortably. "There's nothing to talk about."

He huffed out a humorless low laugh. "Nothing to talk about? You literally pushed me out of your room like I was…like I was some stranger, Thea."

I tensed. The way he said my name…like he was begging me to prove him wrong. But I wasn't Thea. And that was what was causing all of these problems. 

"Jake there's a lot of things going on in my life right now…" I muttered, momentarily lifting my gaze to meet his before looking down. "…and I really wish I could tell you, but I can't…I just needed space. I don't want to hold you down. I'm sure you noticed how we haven't really spent time together in a while. A lot of things are just getting to me Jake and I don't want to drag you down with me," I sighed. 

If there was anything that was going to save me now it was the truth. 

Well…half of it that is. 

Jake scoffed under his breath, pressing his lips together. "Right. Space." His fingers tapped against the desk before he grabbed onto the closest glassware as he obviously wasn't paying attention to the experiment anymore. "And I guess I was too dumb to realize you needed it, huh? I mean the signs were there…"

I glanced at him, catching the flicker of hurt in his brown eyes. He was blaming himself. Of course he was.

"Jake…"

"No, I get it." He cut me off, forcing a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I came over that evening thinking I was just doing what any boyfriend would do, but I should've noticed you weren't yourself. I should've realized you wanted to be alone."

I clenched my jaw. "It's not your fault."

"But it is," he said, turning fully to face me now. His knee brushed against mine, sending a jolt up my spine. "I didn't listen when you tried to push me away. I kept pushing back. Maybe if I had just given you space earlier, we wouldn't be here."

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

Because this was the perfect out. The perfect excuse. He was handing me a reason for our breakup on a silver platter, one that had nothing to do with me and everything to do with him.

So I took it.

"Yeah," I said, barely above a whisper. "Maybe."

Jake inhaled sharply, like my words physically hit him. He nodded slowly, pressing his lips together again.

"Okay," he finally said.

That was it. No arguing. No demanding answers. He was just accepting it.

But I couldn't deny how bad and awful I felt. I was wrecking Thea's small sweet life slowly. I was doing well in school but my grades weren't as good as hers. I had broken up with her boyfriend and I had gotten her bully to notice her even more. 

Oh Eleanor, what have you done? 

The rest of the class passed in suffocating silence, and the second it ended, I bolted. I didn't even bother saying bye to Jake. I just needed to breathe.

Sofia had finished early and left so I didn't see her or Liam when I went to get my bag. I later found her outside at the end of the day…probably because she was avoiding me since she knew what she did. 

She was leaning against a tree as she scrolled through her phone and the moment she saw me, a scared glint flashed in her eyes.

"Dori…there you are." She smiled awkwardly pushing herself off the tree. "I couldn't find you after our chemistry practical." 

I stiffened, my mood immediately souring at the sight of her pretence. My frustration, anger, and pure irritation bubbled over, spilling out before I could stop it.

"What the hell was that?" I snapped, crossing my arms as I glared at her. 

"What? What are you talking about?" 

"Don't play dumb with me." I frowned, sizing her up. "Why the hell did you make us switch partners?"

Sofia's eyes widened slightly, but she quickly recovered, rolling her eyes. "Oh, come on, Dori. It wasn't that big of a deal…"

"Not that big of a deal?" I cut her off, my voice rising, not minding if people were watching or not. "Are you serious? You knew I didn't want to see him, you knew I didn't want to talk to him and you still made us switch partners. Whose side are you even on?"

Sofia groaned, rubbing her temple. "I didn't have a choice, okay? I promise I'm on your side but I couldn't stand seeing the sad look in Jake's eyes. He tried to even hide it from me by telling me he was okay but he wasn't. I'm sorry if I made you mad, I just couldn't leave him like that." She pursed her lips as she folded her arms slowly. 

"I was trying to help." She added when I didn't speak. 

I paused, trying to calm down seeing she had apologized. "Well, you didn't. Just don't do stuff like that next time. I don't like it." I looked away from her gaze. 

We just stood there in uncomfortable silence as my chest rose and fell slowly, my fingers tapping on both side of my arms. 

Then Sofia let out a small sigh reaching for my shoulder. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? But you can't keep running away from him forever."

"I'm not running away, Sof. Thanks to your wonderful switcheroo trick…" my tone was heavy with sarcasm. "…we were able to talk and now we're cool." I unwrapped my hands letting them fall to the side. 

"Really?" She queried, the disbelief evident on her face. 

"Yes really." My eyelids drooped. 

I then pulled out my phone from my pocket seeing that it was almost time for Elvis to pick me up but then my gaze flickered to my wrist and it looked empty for some reason. 

And then it clicked in my brain. 

My bracelet.

I gasped, my hand shooting to my other wrist and then my pockets. Nothing. My bracelet…Thea's bracelet…it was missing, but I don't remember taking it…

"Damn it," I muttered as an image flashed in my head. I had taken it off in the chemistry lab earlier when it was hindering me from wearing my gloves properly. 

Dammit. 

Sofia frowned. "What?"

"I left my bracelet in my lab coat," I groaned, already turning toward the building. "I need to go back and get it."

"Seriously?" Sofia deadpanned. "Can't it wait till tomorrow?"

"When we're already in school?" I lifted a brow at her before heading to the building. Among all of Thea's jewelry, this was one of the things that I actually liked. And I wasn't about to lose it. I mean what if someone had already seen it and taken it? 

Sofia sighed dramatically. "Fine. But hurry up." She raised her voice since we were far apart. 

I didn't need to be told twice. I rushed back inside, weaving through the near-empty halls until I reached the lab. Thankfully the door was still unlocked, so I slipped in, heading straight for the coat rack.

It took me a bit, but I finally found my lab coat, rifling through the pockets until…yes.

It was still there. 

I sighed in relief, slipping the bracelet back onto my wrist. I took a few seconds to admire its beauty before I turned to leave and then the last thing that would have never come to my mind happened. 

An explosion happened. 

It rattled through the room, the force slamming into me before I could even react. My body flew backward, crashing against the cold tile floor as a sharp pain shot up my leg.

My ears rang. My vision blurred. And the only thing I could process was the banging sensation in my head. 

What in the world happened?