“Who knows, probably an assignment,” James replies.
“He loves you, you know that right?” Emmie whispers to me.
I open my mouth to say I do know how much he loves me, but then I spot them. Jacobi and Taya across the hall. She has her hands on his chest and is trying to lick his neck by the looks of it. His sad eyes are glued to mine, but the pain which slices through my chest almost brings me to my knees, so I do the only thing I can, I look away.
“Hey, Mum, did I have an operation on my heart when I was a baby?” I question her at dinner that night.
“What, honey?” she asks, turning away from the oven to look at me. “That’s a strange question to ask.”
“Maybe, but did I?”
She wipes her hands on a tea towel and comes to sit at the table next to me. “No, you’ve never had an operation, but then, we didn’t adopt you until you were eight.” She looks up at the ceiling like she’s thinking about something, “There was never a mention of any operations in your notes. I guess I could ask your father.”
“No, that’s okay,” I reply quickly.
“Why do you ask?” She pushes her glasses back on her head and waits for an answer.
“Oh, urm, we were talking about operations at school today. I don’t remember ever having one, so I figured I’d ask you if I had one when I was too young to remember.”
She seems appeased by my answer. “Oh, I’d better stir the soup,” she mutters, standing and moving back to the cooker.
Later in the evening, Mum falls asleep on the sofa, and covering her with a blanket, I get ready to leave. As I grab my bag, a book catches my attention. I don’t come to the London place very often, so I don’t know every inch of the house or its contents.
‘The Century Witch and her Guardian’.
The title pulls at me, so I grab the book and stuff it into my backpack before kissing Mum lightly on the cheek and heading home.
The minute I walk through the door to my flat, I throw my jacket off, collect my phone and the book from my bag, and head to the balcony. Even at night, I love to be out here.
I crack the first page and become engrossed.
When I wake up the next morning, I’m on the sofa with the book over my face. I remember coming in because it was getting cold out on the balcony, but I don’t recall falling asleep.
My phone vibrates, and grabbing it, I see texts from both Jacobi and Sebastian. I open Sebastian’s first.
Seb – Can we meet today? I need to chat with you.
I rub my eyes and realise he sent the text two hours ago. One glance at my clock shows me it’s after ten. I’m so late for school! I jump up and rush to pull some clothes on. Forgoing the usual shower and makeup, I only brush my teeth and my long, grey hair before rushing out the door. When I make it to school, I realise I have magical history, the only class of the week I attend with both Jacobi and Taya. I step inside.
“I’m so sorry, Mrs Masters, I overslept,” I apologise.
“Probably out whoring all night,” Taya mumbles, loud enough for everyone to hear, and students snicker all around the class. Annoyingly, my eyes flit to Jacobi, who has an angry expression on his face. “You can look, but you can’t touch. He’s all mine,” Taya taunts me, running her fingertips over Jacobi’s shoulder and down his arm.
I’m pretty sure I see him shiver, and not in a good way. His stare is glued to the floor now, but his blanched knuckles tell me how he’s really feeling. I look back to Mrs Masters. Her face is soft on me, and a tale of understanding is in her eyes.
“Juniper, I saved a seat for you,” Sebastian calls, and smiling, thankful he’s in this class, I rush over to sit next to him.
The class continues, and everyone listens as Mrs Masters waxes lyrical about magical history. I pull out my phone, remembering I had a text from Jacobi, and that’s when I see it only has one word.
Jacobi - Beautiful.
My mind wanders to what he said to me yesterday, and I glance over at him. His eyes are on me and the love in them is raw. So raw it’s almost painful to look at him. I need to speak to him about the book I found at my parents’ flat, but I want to read it all first, to understand it a little more. So, I look away, and it kills me to do it.
“Juni,” Sebastian calls after me as we leave the classroom, and Jacobi barges past him.
“Her name is Juniper to you,” Jacobi grits out before rushing off and continuing to barrel into anyone in his way. Taya’s nowhere to be seen.
“Wow, so he’s got it as badly as you, huh?” Sebastian grins. “This could be fun.”
I roll my eyes. “Do you really want to wind up being the biggest arsehole in the academy?”
He shrugs. “Probably not. Anyway, enough about him. Do you have any free time after school? I need to speak to you.”
I frown. “What about?”
“This,” he says, pulling a document out of his bag. I recognise it immediately as the one Jacobi sent me, the one I printed out. It’s the translation of the book about Guardians.
“Where did you find this?” I hiss, snatching it from him.
“Whoa,” he says, holding his hands up, “it was in that classroom. You know, the one you were in yesterday when you felt unwell. I figured it was an assignment so I grabbed it. Then,” he scratches his chin, “I didn’t see you for the rest of the day and well, I was-“
“Nosy! You were nosy,” I snap.
His cheeks redden slightly, and he looks sheepish. “Yeah, but hey, it’s a good thing I was. I know a bit about this.”
“You do?” I question.
He nods. “U-huh. So, can I see you after school?”
“Okay. Come to my place, and we can talk.”
“See you later,” he says before running off to his next class.
I can’t keep my mind off Sebastian and what he might know about the book. So when he finally knocks at my door later that evening, I’m pacing, and I practically pounce on the door.
“Eager much?” he teases, and I slap his shoulder. I’m so glad we’ve sunk into a natural friendship. It’s a blessing right now.
“Tell me everything,” I order, dragging him to the sofa.
“You’re not even going to offer me a drink?” he says, aghast.
“Fridge is over there. Help yourself,” I reply. “Now, come on, tell me.”
He chuckles, grabbing a Sprite and sitting back on the sofa.
“My grandad was a Guardian.”
I know my mouth drops open, and not just because Sebastian taps it shut again. “Shut the front door.” I’m amazed and confused.
“Yeah, true story.” He shrugs. “He was a very cool dude, very cool, like James Dean cool, you know?” I nod in reply. “He died seventeen years ago.” My heart rate spikes. “You know when a Guardian gets old, another takes his place?” He eyes me suspiciously. “Of course you know that because you know who the latest Guardian is, don’t you?” I shake my head, but Sebastian just grins. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me,” he says. “It’s just cool someone else knows about them. Most people think they’re folklore, and I can never mention my grandad to anyone.” He looks across at me, sincerity in his eyes. “That’s why I was certain you did know a Guardian because if I’d said my grandad was one to anyone else, they’d have thought I’d lost the plot.” He smiles, but it’s sad.