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Little bird I invite you, build your nest
Little bird, I've got branches above my head
- "Antlers" by The Microphones
Chapter Text
Hearing footsteps trailing behind her, Veronica's adrenaline and panic pushes her to run faster. Suddenly, someone grabs her and Veronica screams frantically trying to free herself from the person's grips.
"Let go! Stop!"
"Veronica, calm down! What the fuck is wrong with you?" The person shouts in response and Veronica stops her hysterics.
Opening her eyes, she's met with a troubled and annoyed Michael. She surveys his face and switches her attention to his green cast encompassing his injured arm.
"What the hell is wrong with you-"
"He's crazy, Michael," Veronica chokes out," There's something wrong with his fucking brain!"
She didn't care if she was admitting to seeing him again after promising not her. She couldn't help her mouth from spilling. Her hand tremble while her mind keeps flashing Jacob's eyes. There was so much blood, a lot of it on his hands. How could someone do something like that front of all those people? Was a possible for someone that destructive to exists? The idea that Jacob doesn't care about his actions scares her and leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.
Michael's brown eyes watch Veronica for a while. He's doesn't know what specifically happened but he had a good guess on what it was.
"I... I just went t-to talk to him-"
" What the fuck you do that for? Didn't Lizzy tell you not to go anywhere near that crazy White boy?"
Veronica hides the bracelet she's holding behind her back.
"I know I shouldn't have," She mutters and tries to save herself," b-but you deserved an apology and-"
"And what? What happens if he hurts you too?"
She pauses and examines Michael: his beautiful brown face a tired mess and eyes sunken with a broken arm. If Jacob felt free enough smash someone's head against a table and break another's one's arm in front of so many people, there was no telling what he would do to her tiny ass.
"I'm dumb..." Veronica admits
But she wasn't going to do it again.
Veronica doesn't see Jacob for the rest of the school year after the cafeteria incident. She avoids him as much as possible or his group. She hears that Anthony either moved schools or he died the day of the incident. Others say he was killed by Jacob's family. No one really knew, but everyone stayed away from Veronica.
For the rest of the school year, all her classmates avoided her and stopped talking to her. She was already shy and extremely unsocial but this made it worse. She liked being alone, but she didn't appreciate being completely shut out. Veronica wants to be rid of Jacob but he's still filling her head. Jacob's voice and bloodbath have dominion over her dreams. She struggles with her complex feelings about him as she deals with the whispers at school.
"She's so quiet...just like him ."
Veronica didn't notice they were talking about her at first and she was just simply finishing her project. Yet, what they said next made her realize and want to curl inside herself.
"No wonder why he likes her, she's probably just as psychotic as he is."
"I know! I remember in 1st grade she cut this boy's ear off!"
"Oh shit, really? That makes so much sense, "a low whistle," She's just like him. I felt bad for but what Jacob did to Michael and Anthony..."
"Ssh, she's right there! She might hear us."
Ever since then, she regrets school. She's only a freshman but now Jacob has ruined her life for the next 3 years. The only people who understand is Michael and Lizzy. She stands in her room, trying to decipher if she should go to the graduation ceremony or not. All year, she's dealt with the exclusion and rumors. She wants to transfer schools, but her Mom always refuses.
"Veronica, it can't be that bad...are you being bullied again? Like when you were five?"
Veronica had said "no" but before she could explain herself, her mother assumed it's not critical. If Veronica wasn't being bullied or harassed, then there was no problem or need to move schools. She even said she would prefer Veronica to stand up for herself more often. So, Veronica keeps her mouth shut and tries to keep her mental health together while even the thought of Jacob appearing in front of her sends her heart racing. Moreover, it always feels familiar.
Veronica groans. It seems like every time she tries to retrieve a distant memory, there was just some huge boulder blocking it's access. What was her mind trying to make her forget so hard? First with the bracelet then his eyes. Most of what she remembers from her own childhood is that she was content with some bullying that lead to switching schools. It didn't seem that serious to her but she was still frustrated about the gaps in her past.
"Did something happen to me when I was younger?" Veronica asks Lizzy while watching the seniors sit down before receiving their high school diplomas. Veronica couldn't be any happier because Jacob would be gone but something else was tugging at her heart strings.
She could see the back of Alice's head in the front adorned by his blonde curls under his cap. Veronica had to admit, out of that entire group of weird white boys, Jacob and Alice were the most good looking. Speak of the devil...
Jacob sits next to Alice and she watches the slow rise and fall of his back. Always so calm even when surrounded by other's anticipation, joy, and giddiness. He doesn't seem fazed or interested in the event at all. Jacob continues to look out of place as usual.
"Not that I remember," Lizzy exclaims, bringing Veronica away from watching Jacob," Why? What's up?"
"It's just... I keep having these feelings of something happening to me, like something bad. But every time I try to remember my mind won't let me."
Lizzy hums for a bit and shrugs. "Maybe you aren't ready to know yet. Maybe your subconscious is trying to save you?"
"Maybe..."
God, he's not normal. Veronica glares at Jacob's back. A boy other than Alice whispers something to him but he doesn't respond, making the boy to turn away in embarrassment. She analyzes him a bit more before he confronts her with his eyes. He turns around so swiftly it startles Veronica that she yelps softly.
"What the hell?" Lizzy eyes her suspiciously.
Veronica looks down, trying to keep her secret of staring at Jacob from being revealed while still feeling his piercing eyes. "Sorry, I just got bit by a mosquito. It's so damn hot."
When Lizzy turns away, she lifts her eyes slowly to drown back in amber. His face is sealed, unreadable, and composed. Everything about him is so composed it makes it hard to believe anything would set him off. Suddenly, something flickers in his eyes that takes her aback. What was that? What was that? –
"Attention, everyone, we will begin the ceremony in just a few minutes," Their principal speaks into the mic. He stands on a stadium above everyone with a twinkle in his eye, tears ready to shed.
"Bathroom," Veronica mutters just as the crowd quiets down to begin the ceremony. Veronica doesn't really have to go but she wants to get away from his gaze before something happens.
"Oky, doky."
In the bathroom, she breathes in and out, places her hands over her chest. Her heart feels like it wants to jump into her palms. Why was she so nervous around him? Jacob seems to bring out this outrageous anxiety in her like a deer trying to run for life. Veronica was successful at avoiding interaction with him, but she couldn't stop him from finding her yards away.
When she would spot him, no matter how far, he still traced her every move. His face always seemed drained of life yet his eyes never seemed tired. His hair was never neat but was always in perfect place. He would be with his group or just with Alice but he would put all his focus on her. She even started to anticipate it and secretly grew worried when he wouldn't come to school for days. Veronica didn't know if that was a good or bad thing yet.
She bends down and splashes water over her face before the sink. Veronica smiles into her hands, trying to uplift herself to stop her body from shaking. As she looks up into the mirror, she sees him. Jacob leans against the bathroom stall in his graduation uniform, clad in black as his long and veiny fingers hover over his mouth. Veronica didn't even hear him come in and she feels like any sudden move would make him pounce on her. Frozen, she allows his eyes to wrap around her body and embrace her.
"Jacob...J-Jacob, what a-are you- "
"...Sorry." Veronica clenches the sink weakly.
There it is. His voice like velvet and deep with a European accent. He speaks with restraint but eager to release what's been stuck in his throat..
Veronica registers what he's said after her trance and shakes her head," W-what?"
He strides over to her so lightly she believes, for a second, he could truly be a hitman of some sort. Within moments, arms trap her like tree trunks entrapping her against the bathroom sink He places his hands on top of hers.
"I know its wrong to be in here but...Finally," she strains her neck to look at him as he speaks," We're alone."
She can feel his finger rubbing against her wrist, then moving to trace her dashing pulse. The scent of patchouli surrounds her like a soft cloak and the faint whiff of mint caresses the tip of her nose.
"Tell me what does he mean to you..."
"Who-"
"Michael...what does he mean to you?"
She's deeply confused by his question but as she watches his eyes go dark, she's afraid of his reaction to the answer.
"What does he mean to you that he can just... touch you like he does," his fingers snake up her arm giving her chills," Talk to you like he does...Be around you.."
He holds her hands in place and tightens his grip causing Veronica to yelp from the friction. In a resentful growl, he says, "He's always there and I don't like it."
Jacob rests his forehead against hers and she could see the rage clear as day.
"I don't like it... when other people touch you."
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