"Is she planning anything?" I asked her.
Alice Shrugged. "I don't know, but knowing Tania she probably is. It doesn't help that you were flaunting the fact that he's yours."
I snorted. "I'm sure she will get over it." I said.
Alice grinned. "For someone who hasn't been in school because of a traumatic event, you seem pretty much the same."
We started walking again and I nodded. "Yeah, but with someone like Tania, I have to be alert. Who knows what she'd do if I wasn't aware of her dislike for me. I even think Jace would resort to violence if I got hurt."
Alice snorted. "No dipshit, he's all macho-man now. It's kinda creepy."
I shook my head and smiled. "You haven't changed at all Alice." I said.
She rolled her eyes at me as we headed into our class. "Nope, I haven't. Don't think I ever will too." I grinned at her as we took our seat.
I didn't have much difficulty paying attention in class which surprised me. I won't lie though, my thoughts continuously turned to Jace. Time seemed to fly by and before I knew it Jace was waiting for me at my locker. I felt a huge grin spread across my face and went to step into his embrace.
"How are you?" He murmured into my hair.
I sighed and reluctantly stepped back. "I'm fine, no one's acted like a bitch so far." I replied.
He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well that's good."
I rolled my eyes at his exaggerated enthusiasm. "Like I didn't already know that. I'm just waiting for Tania to pop up and say something again."
Jace frowned. I took his hand and gave it a squeeze. He gave me small smile and the moment seemed perfect.
"Hey you lovebirds the bell already rang." The voice of a student pierced our bubble of perfect. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"Hey, I'll walk you." Jace said and I felt his arm encircle my waist. I opened my eyes and nodded.
I let him lead me to my next class. Even though I was reluctant to let him go I knew I had to.
I saw how difficult it was for Annie to leave me and go to class. I admired her strength to do so. I watched her take her seat and then headed to my own class. I was going to see her next period anyways. This made me worry a little bit less.
The tightness in my chest lessening just a little bit, and the blanket of anxiety got just a little bit lighter. I was still worried though, worried that something would happen to her while I wasn't by her side. Worried about what Tania would be saying to her if she managed to corner Annie. Tania wasn't someone who would not do something just because you told her to stop. Annie was someone in particular she would harass nonstop if she got the chance.
My mind wasn't on class at all the whole period. Heck I hadn't paid attention to any of my classes so far. I ended up being the first one out of the classroom when the bell rang. I had to restrain myself from sprinting to English class. When I got to the door of my English classroom Annie was already there.
She gave me a blinding smile and my heart stuttered.
"Hey." She said. I couldn't resist enveloping her in a hug.
As I pulled back she laughed and ran a hand down my arm. Her eyes searched my face like she was looking for something. Or maybe she just wanted to memorize my face.
"We should go in." She finally said.
I nodded my agreement. She took my hand and we walked in together. After class Mr. Birchwood asked Annie to stay behind. Annie's eyes flicked to me and I felt my stomach tighten into a knot. I didn't know exactly what he wanted to talk to her about but I had an idea.
Mr. Birchwood looked at me and I felt Annie move closer to me. He nodded as if to say it was okay for me to stay. He took a deep breath and looked at us.
"I heard that the paper you two were working on for this class resulted in what happened to your father Annie. I know I haven't said anything about this yet, but I feel that it's best if you two didn't finish the paper. I can give both of you an excuse for this quarter given the circumstances. I expect though, that you two pick a different topic next quarter for extra credit to make up for not being able to finish your paper this quarter. It won't have to be long, just something to pass in for me to grade."
I pulled Annie close to me and felt her lean against me.
"Mr. Birchwood have you heard our story of what happened?" I looked at Annie in surprise.
I hadn't expected her to bring it up. Mr. Birchwood also looked surprised.
"No, I haven't. Quite frankly though, it wasn't something for me to ask."
Annie sighed and looked at me. "We need to let more people Jace. The city council can't stop us from doing that much. The people have a right to know."
Mr. Birchwood was looking back and forth between Annie and me.
"What exactly should the people know?" He asked.
Annie looked at Mr. Birchwood and started telling him the story. "I don't know if you have realized it, but all of this started with Jace's dad's death. That was what our topic was going to be on. Well, not his death but why Jace thought it wasn't a bear that had killed him. So we started to investigate it. We ended up being right. It wasn't a bear that had killed Mr. Montgomery. It was a man, a serial killer. He made it look like it was a bear slaughter. That same man killed my dad. I think it's because we were looking into it. Now the council won't do anything about it. They refuse to tell anybody because they don't want the killer to target anybody else."
Annie stopped abruptly and I realized she was crying.
I stepped around her and hugged her from behind. She all but collapsed on me and my heart broke. I looked at Mr. Birchwood and saw that his face had gone white.
"Surely, city council wouldn't have chosen not to say something." He protested.
I shook my head. "I met this guy, he's definitely psychotic."
Mr. Birchwood nodded. At that moment I felt like telling him everything. I wanted to tell him what I knew about Annie's dad's death and mine. I also wanted to tell him how the killer had his sight set on Annie. I felt I could probably tell him how Annie's dad died, but I didn't want anyone to have those images in their mind. Annie touched my arm and sniffed.
"We should probably get going." She said and I nodded and steered her out the door.
Annie stopped suddenly and whirled to face me. "I hate him, I hate him so much." She said tears streaming down her face.
I sighed. "I know Annie, I know. I wish all of this hadn't happened. I wish the city council wouldn't be such assholes and listen to us."
Annie gave a hollowed empty laugh. "I hear you, but did you really expect them to listen to us? I mean they're grown-ups and we're just two teens who have had a rough life."
I shook my head. "No I guess not." I said.
She sighed. "I'm gonna go for a walk. Clear my head. See you later."
She hesitated before walking away. I knew she was heading for the bleachers. For some reason there was rarely anyone there.