B0079G5GMK EBOK by Jennifer Loiske

believed her?” said Stella , rolling her eyes.
    “She took an oath on that, so yes, I believed her,” said Clarissa , hurt.
    “Well, wait until you see Brianna. I guess she has to come to school at some point. I would bet on my life that she lied to you.”
     
    Stella grabbed her polish back from Clarissa and without any shame, took one of her high heeled mocha shoe off. Then she peeled the thin sock away, revealing a very beautiful, sleek leg and dropped the sock carelessly next to Jonas's chair. In a moment her toes were glowing pink. As they waited for her toes to dry, Clarissa fell into her thoughts.
    If Brianna had lied, Adam was free to be with her, right? So why did he just keep staring elsewhere, and didn't even try to approach her? Had he had enough of her already or was he too afraid of even trying to get closer to her? Did she even want him to try? Clarissa looked carelessly at Adam. He was chewing his pen and staring at her greedily. But when her eyes met his, he turned his head and kept his gaze on the board. Weird. A small spark of hope flashed inside her. She loved Adam but she didn't know what to do about it. She didn't care what the others had said about him. She loved him almost as much as she was afraid of him, and yet she was ready to push her fears aside if he would only see her.
    Mom had said Adam had tied her to him by force, but she didn't care. She knew he was the one for her a nd she truly loved him, however madly. And even if she could never have him, she couldn't deny her feelings. Not anymore. She had to let Joshua go. She cared for him and if Adam didn't exist, she might have loved Joshua, but now that she felt so strongly for Adam, she could never love anyone else. This morning, she had been so sure that she wouldn't care about Adam and that no matter what she could choose Joshua and live happily ever after with him. But when she saw Adam, she knew that was a lie. There was not a man in this universe who could compete against Adam. Everything about him tempted her and she found her mind thinking about strange things. Like what it might feel like, if she could be with him for eternity. Or would she always feel like this? How would it feel if he peeled off one of her socks and looked at her toes? Would he think her legs were beautiful? Ugh. She shook her head. She was losing her mind! This really had to stop!
    Jonas laughed deeply and inter r upted her thoughts. She looked at him and saw to her horror that his hand was holding Stella's. He brushed her fingers lightly with his lips. Stella giggled limply.
    “Jonas!” Clarissa screamed. “What are you doing?”
    “Sniffing,” Jonas answered and laughed.
    “Sniffing?” repeated Clarissa , bemused.
    “Stella smells so good.  I'm trying to guess what perfume she wears,” laughed Jonas .
    “Seriously! Stop that right now!”
    Jonas dropped Stella's hand reluctantly, but couldn't help but smile arrogantly at her. Stella sighed ecstatically.
    “I do like your friend,” she sighed.
    “I don't doubt that,” Clarissa mumbled , and tried to concentrate on her biology book.
     
    The day passed surprisingly fast. Stella and Jonas flirted with each other and Adam sta yed away from Clarissa. She would've wanted at least some attention from him and tried to glance at him secretly whenever she could, but he stayed away. Before the last class , something strange happened that bothered Clarissa for a long time after the day.
    She was sure she saw Brianna standing outside the school. She was glancing fearfully around and seemed to be hiding from someone. Every time s omeone entered the yard, she start ed and hid herself. She didn't care where she went and Clarissa was sure that she actually saw Brianna hiding in a bin once, and that was weird. Clarissa got up surreptitiously and pressed her face to the window. Brianna was acting like some frightened animal and that, if nothing, felt so weird. Brianna was not like that. She was very confident and