Chapter 55 CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Blue's POV
"Just do your job," I said. "I’ll see you soon."
Jax grumbled something under his breath and walked out, his shoulders hunched.
I turned my attention to Scarlett. She was standing in front of a faded, dusty painting on the far wall. I walked up behind her, the silence of the hall wrapping around us. My hand twitched, wanting to wrap around her waist and pull her against me, but we were in a public space. Even if it was empty, the habit of keeping my distance was hard to break. Besides, that was something romantic partners did, and I still wasn't sure what we were or what I wanted us to be.
I settled for moving as close as possible, leaning down until my breath stirred the loose hairs near her ear. "What are you looking at?" I whispered.
She shivered—a delicious, tiny tremor that went straight to my gut. "I quite like the blend of colors," she said softly, not turning around. "It’s unusual for a place like Bellamy. It’s... pretty."
Then she turned to face me, her eyes bright. "When will you show me your paintings properly?"
I went speechless. I realized I didn't actually have a good reason to say no, but the thought of her seeing my work made my chest tighten. Looking deeper, I realized it was insecurity. I wasn't confident enough to show them off. Nobody had seen my work since the days I sat at my mother's feet.
As if summoned by the thought, a memory of her bubbled up. We were in the sunroom, the light pouring in, and she was painting a portrait of me when I was six. We were both laughing. She was telling me to sit still, her fingers covered in yellow paint as she threatened to boop my nose.
Then the memory twisted. The sunroom went dark. The bright yellow turned into a horrendous, shapeless mess of black and deep red, like a wound opening on the canvas.
I winced, pressing a hand to my forehead as the phantom headache spiked. Scarlett, who had been waiting for an answer, immediately grabbed my biceps. Her face was full of guilt.
"Are you okay? Blue?" she asked. "Hey, you don't have to show me if you don't want to. I shouldn't have pushed."
I shook my head, trying to recalibrate my brain and push the darkness back down. "It’s not your fault," I said, my voice a little rough. "I’ll show you. Sometime soon. I promise."
She instantly lit up, her smile so genuine it made the headache vanish completely. "I’m excited," she said.
"I hope you’re also excited to go crawling through vents," I teased, trying to shift the mood.
Her smile froze, and she narrowed her eyes at me. "Are you trying to scare me? Because it won't work. I told you, I can do this." She reached out and grabbed my hand, starting to pull me toward the door. "Let’s go. I want that map."
I followed her, letting her lead the way.
We arrived back in my room and I went to the heavy oak cabinet in the corner, shifting aside a stack of sketchbooks and a hidden box of charcoal until I found the false bottom. I pulled out a piece of parchment that looked like it belonged in a museum. It was yellowed and slightly brittle at the edges, a detailed layout of the entire Bellamy infrastructure that my father had handed me many months ago "just in case." He had likely forgotten I even had it, but then again, he never expected me to use his own tools against him.
I held it out to her. Scarlett’s eyes went wide, a look of genuine awe crossing her face as she took it from me. She unrolled it carefully on the desk, her fingers tracing the intricate lines of the ductwork and maintenance tunnels. Her eyes moved fast, scanning the labels and the intersections like she was already trying to place herself inside the walls.
"How long do you need to master it?" I asked, leaning against the wall and watching her.
She hummed, her brow furrowing in concentration. "Hmm. To really know it? Without having to look back at the paper? Probably three days."
I nodded. It was an ambitious timeline, but I didn't doubt her. "That’s alright. You’ll go on your first exploration this Wednesday. I want you to find the junction that leads to the principal's quarters first."
"Okay," she said, her voice firm. She didn't look back up at me; she was already lost in the ink and lines.
Then, I remembered the dark thread of stitches on her abdomen. "We’re going to the infirmary today to get those stitches out. It should be time, right?"
Scarlett finally looked up, pursing her lips as she tried to count the days since the last check up. She eventually gave up with a little shrug. "That’s likely. And if it isn't time yet, I’m sure the nurse will let us know and send us away."
"Are you in any pain?"
She laughed softly. "None at all. Though I’m pretty sure I’m starting to build a tolerance to those painkillers. I barely feel them anymore."
I tsked at that. "You’ll stop taking them completely very soon. I don't want you getting addicted."
A dull thud sounded from somewhere outside in the corridor, like the heavy vibration of furniture being moved. I remembered Tanner’s warning about Derek’s party. It wasn't exactly against the rules to gather in a common room, but the booze Derek was planning to provide certainly was. Not to mention the sound system he’d likely procured through a series of bribes and threats. There were speakers and equipment for official social events, but students didn't just "rent" them for personal parties. Unless, of course, your last name was Linden.
I looked over at Scarlett. She had moved from standing to a corner of the room, sitting cross-legged on the floor with the map spread out before her.
"You don't have to start right away, Scarlett."
She squared her shoulders, looking up at me with that fierce determination I was starting to recognize. "I absolutely have to start right away. I can't be lax with my first assignment. If I'm going to do this, I'm doing it right."
She looked back down at the map, dismissing me. I noticed she must have tied her hair up at some point when I wasn't looking. It was gathered into a messy bun, held in place by a single pencil she’d probably snatched from my desk. I stood there for a second too long, wondering how a person could look so stunning regardless of where they were or what they were wearing.
I decided to stalk off into my bedroom before I did something as ridiculous as go over and sniff her hair. I needed to get my head back in the game. I pulled out the social ethics assignment I had been ignoring and sat at my small desk. I had an hour to kill before the infirmary trip, and I might as well finish my work in the meantime.