Chapter 16
Jasmine's POV
When I came down for breakfast, I was not surprised that Hardin wasn't there, but it made me even more curious about what happened last night.
What had he and his father argued about to make him look so distressed and upset? And why had he come to my bedroom and stayed like that?
For someone who was very scared of what he was capable of, I was ashamed of how quickly I had slept off while I sat on the ground beside him, watching as he sat still, not even sure if he was awake because his head was on his knees.
But I had fallen asleep as I kept watch and had woken up on my bed, draped in my bed covers.
It was something anyone would expect Hardin to do. Abandon me on the floor? That was what I expected from him. But this was new and unlike him. Just like how he had not been the one responsible for that rumor and had taken it upon himself to clear my name.
He was confusing me and I didn't know what he was up to.
"Take this to school and give to Hardin." My mother said after I was done with breakfast and before I could tell her that it was obviously a bad idea, she shoved the bag into my hands and waved me goodbye as I walked to school.
I was at the entrance to school when Nadia appeared beside me and looped her hands through my arm.
"Wow, you brought a lunchbox today? Is cafeteria food that bad? Or are my taste buds dying?" She brought out her tongue and tried to look down at it and I shook my head with a chuckle.
"No, it's not for me. My mum asked me to give it to Hardin. The maid that cleaned his room returned the dinner that I dropped for him last night. Apparently it was untouched, so my mum is worried about him."
"Awww. That's so sweet. Can your mum adopt me? Pretty please?"
"Absolutely not. You have your own mum."
"Yeah, but do you see any lunch box in my hands?" She whined and I shrugged.
As we entered the hallway, my eyes searched where he usually stood with his clique but he wasn't there. Heading to my locker, I listened absentmindedly to what Nadia was telling me about the latest update on our favorite series and I brought out my phone to try to call him.
That was when I realized that I had never saved his number.
Between all of the things that he had put me through, I was surprised that his number was not blocked.
Saving his number, I opened the chat box and wanted to type a message but I hesitated, locking my phone and putting it inside my back pocket.
As I parted ways with Nadia and headed to my class, I turned right and stopped when Dahlia stopped in front of me.
She looked like she had not slept in so many days and her face was completely bare today, her hair in a messy bun.
I tried to walk away from her but she grabbed my hand and when my eyes widened, she quickly released me, looking scared.
"What do you want, Dahlia?" I asked in the calmest voice that I could muster and she smiled, even though it was the farthest thing from an actual smile.
"Can you please beg Hardin to forgive me? I'll do anything you want, just please beg him to forgive me already. You have forgiven me, haven't you?"
I nodded, confused by why she was telling me this.
"Why are you telling me this?"
She looked at me like I was being intentionally obtuse and released a harsh breath.
"Hardin has never done what he did for you for anyone else before. And maybe it's because you are now his stepsister. But you and I know the kind of person Hardin is."
I wanted to laugh and tell her why she had all of a sudden believed that Hardin was nice to me because of one incident.
"What does forgiving you have to do with anything?"
"He has blacklisted me. I'm an outcast. A pariah. He's the king of the school and because of what I did to you, not only does he not want me anymore, his rejection has made no other person want to associate with me. Please, help me talk to him."
"I'm sorry but I don't think I can be of any help." I told her and before she could answer, I walked quickly to my classroom.
Throughout the entire class, I pondered on what she said. She was right. Hardin was not a saint.
He did things that served him. But what she didn't know was that I had already paid for him clearing my name with my body.
Why then did her words make me feel special?
Because she was right. Hardin was self serving and what he did would surprise anyone.
During lunch, I kept my eye out for him but when I didn't see him at his usual table, I walked up to ask Alex.
"Oh, look who it is." Alex said with a smirk that made me want to stab his eye with a fork.
Ignoring his greeting, I went straight to the point.
"I can't find Hardin. He's not at home. Where do you think he might be?"
"Well, there is something called a cell phone nowadays. And how would I know when you, the stepsister who lives with him doesn't know a thing?"
Rolling my eyes, I nodded. I should have expected nothing more from his friends.
I was about to go when I overheard Alex asking Sandro for today's date.
"Shit, it's today, isn't it?" He murmured and when I turned around, the twins looked at me.
"What is today?"
"His mum's birthday." Bringing out a lighter from his pocket, he handed it to me.
"Give this to him whenever you find him, he forgot it yesterday."
Nodding, I took the lighter from Alex and decided that it was the perfect excuse to call Hardin. And that was if he picked up the phone. He probably wouldn't if he saw that it was from me. But I wasn't about to let my mum's hard work go to waste.
"What do you want, Scott?" He said, picking up on the first ring and I froze, my entire body developing goosebumps from his voice.
I had not been expecting him to pick up my call at all.
"You're not in school."
"Yeah, the sky is blue."
"Huh?"
"Thought we were talking about things that were fucking obvious, Jasmine. Why'd you call? Miss me already?"
I rolled my eyes, glad that he could not see me and cleared my throat.
"Where are you? I have something to give you."
"What? Some pussy? Are you finally starting to confess that you like our little sessions?"
"I'm with your lighter. And I want to return it to you. I'll leave it in front of your bedroom door after school then. Bye."
"Wait." He said, then paused before finally adding
"I'm at home. In the woods behind the house. Come now."
"But, I still have classes and..."
"Now, Jasmine or you won't like the results." He hung up on me before I could even summon up the courage to tell him no and I knew that I was doomed.
I blamed that lunchbox for this. Why did I even take his lighter when I was supposed to be avoiding him with everything I had?
My mind flashed to the argument with his father and how sad he looked as he sat beside my bed on the ground in silence.
I hated myself for even feeling empathy for him when he didn't deserve it.
Sending a text to Nadia that I was skipping for the rest of the day, I headed back to the house and walked into the woods.
It wasn't hard to find him.
He was sitting against a tree looking at a stack of rocks that he had piled up with his eyes closed.
I took a moment to look at him thoroughly.
His dark hair was becoming long enough to fall over his face and I studied the neck piece that he was wearing. I had always wondered why he was wearing a woman's jewelry and just assumed it was from one of the many women he was sleeping with. But from what Alex said today, I guessed it belonged to his mother.
I hated how handsome he was. How his face looked like the gods had taken their time with him. I wondered if they had known that he would become a menace with that kind of face and body.
"Are you going to come over here or keep staring at me?"
He opened one light blue eye and raised his eyebrow, while I moved to stand beside him, bringing out the lighter from my pocket.
"I brought you lunch. And your lighter." Dropping the lunchbag and the lighter on top of it, I turned around to leave when he growled and I froze, my face wide with fear.
"Turn around, Jasmine." Slowly I did what he asked and he patted the ground beside him.
"Come and sit here."
"But..."
"Do you really want to find out what is going to happen if you don't do as I say, Jasmine?"
I swallowed nervously when he smiled because it was full of fang. A reminder that he was not just a werewolf but a very strong one.