Jack hated Mondays. She knew it was not a very unique trait, but there was nothing she could do about it. But somehow, this time, she'd found herself looking forward to the start of a new school week.
Miranda hadn't been in the library on Friday. Perhaps there was something else on her schedule on Friday afternoon. Probably.
She wondered if she'd liked her apology.
She even spent her lunch break in the cafeteria for once, trying to catch a glimpse of the other girl.
And boy, did she catch a glimpse.
A glimpse of her boyfriend.
Smarmy git, with his arm around her.
Jack wanted to break it.
Miranda didn't look in her direction once.
"Do you mind if I sit down here?"
Jack's head whipped around and she glared at the red-haired girl, who just kept smiling at her serenely, heavily laden tray in hand. She'd seen her before. She was new, too, but a year above her, and unlike Jack, she seemed to love making friends and influencing people, or shit like that.
"Whatever, I just wanted to leave anyway."
She shot another murderous glance at Miranda's table and the redhead followed her gaze with interest.
"You haven't eaten yet," she pointed out.
"What?" Jack looked down at her tray. "Not hungry, anymore. Tastes like cardboard, anyway."
"Yes, it's the special flavor this week."
Something about her made Jack not snap at her. She just shook her head and left, not bothering to return the tray.
She didn't care.
Hell, did she not care.
. . . . .
"Hey, love."
Jane watched Liara smile and blush. Even on the small screen of her notebook it was still the most beautiful thing in the world.
"Hey."
"Missed me?"
"Like a caged animal misses freedom."
Jane laughed.
"I never expect you to top your latest line, but you always do."
"I have too much time to think about how much I miss you. How are you?"
"Good. Considering you're not here, I mean. The people here are... interesting."
"Interesting good or interesting bad?"
"I can't tell yet. I told you about the student council president?"
"I think your words were 'the most arrogant Miss Universe contender I have ever seen'."
"Yeah, exactly that one. Get this. There's this girl, a year below me, goes by the name of Jack, she looks like trouble. The complete opposite of her. Always standing outside the school, smoking, dressed like something from a bad 80s rock video."
"Trying to picture that... alright, go on."
"I was in the library on Thursday, studying. And she caught my eye, because it's really hard not to notice her. She was almost sneaking and I wondered what she was up to. And she puts some sort of lumpy paper thing onto one of the desks at the very back of the library, hidden little nook thing, and leaves again."
"Did you look?" Liara was smirking.
"What choice did I have? You don't know my girlfriend, she loves gossip, she'd rip my head off if I hadn't looked!"
"Hey!"
Jane chuckled.
"I didn't open it! But it had the student council president's name on it. It's 'Miranda', by the way."
"Odd."
"So I hung around. Did some more homework, started on an essay, and then Miranda came along, and I hid behind a bookshelf and watched and I'm not sure what was in the parcel, but it made her smile like... I suppose the way I smile when I see you. Just that it was really odd on her face."
"Oh, that's cute," Liara said with a smile.
"But it gets more complicated! Someone's totally in the closet, it seems. 'cause today at lunch, that guy Jason, he's in my biology class, stuck-up sort of guy, thinks he's a gift to the world, is all over Miranda, and Jack sits there, watching them, fuming. So I tried to casually engage her in a conversation, but she ran off. I ate two lunches today, by the way."
"You're going to meddle, aren't you?"
"You should see them, they'd make the cutest, most adorably dysfunctional couple you've ever seen! This needs to happen."
"Try not to push them too hard, sometimes people just aren't ready."
"I promise I'll be totally subtle and kind and I won't stand behind them and shout 'Kiss!'"
Liara laughed.
"That's good to know."
"Those were my news. What about you, love?"
. . . . .
"Sorry, Jane, I don't know much about her. Just that she takes herself way too seriously. But you should ask Jacob, he eats at their table on occasion."
"Thanks, Garrus, I'll do that."
"What's going on?" Garrus asked suspiciously.
"It's a secret."
Jane winked at him. She and Garrus had hit it off the day they'd met.
"She's not your type, is she?"
Jane laughed.
"No, I like girls who are sweet and a little awkward and named Liara."
"Good. I'm relieved. Now come on, what's the secret?"
"I can't tell you yet."
"That's just mean."
"Oh look, there's Jacob now!"
She waved at the boy and he sat down next to them, smiling broadly.
"Hey Jane, Garrus. Something the matter?"
"Tell me all about Miranda Lawson!"
Jacob choked on his sportsdrink and Jane hit him on the back a few times.
"That was unnecessarily hard!" he complained. "Gee, how do you even know about Miranda? That was more than a year ago."
Jane's eyes widened.
"You were an item?"
Jacob stared at her.
"You didn't know?" He grimaced.
"I just wanted information on her, but this! This is even better. Do tell!"
"Shit," Jacob muttered, cast a glance at the other table, but Miranda wasn't even there. "Why do you want information on her?"
"It's a project I'm working on!"
"What?"
"Come on, spill!"
"I swear, you're the weirdest person I've ever met. Oh, what the hell. It wasn't anything much, really. We had a few dates. Made out a little. But the chemistry was all wrong, and then there was her dad..."
"He didn't like you?"
"Yeah, she took me home one evening and he was polite, but gave her a look that very clearly communicated 'I expected you to do better than that'. First I thought it was just because I'm black, but I've heard things about that guy from other people... It seems he does that a lot even with her friends. And she always folds."
"That sounds super creepy," Jane muttered, frowning. "And who is that Jason guy she's hanging out with?"
"Oh, yeah. I think his dad and hers are business partners. So I guess he approves."
"That's seriously fucked-up," Garrus said.
"I suppose so."
"Jane, are you taking notes?"
Jane quickly closed her notebook and gave him a toothy smile.
"No? Just writing down something I want to tell Liara later on. Oh, by the way! She's coming here for the weekend, I want her to meet my friends. Do you guys wanna go out for pizza on Saturday?"
"Sure."
"I'd love to. Can I bring Kasumi?"
"Of course. You know, so long as she keeps her fingers where I can see them."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jacob said, looking away. "In any case, she always puts things back."
. . . . .
Jane hummed as she entered the girls' room. Grinned broadly when she saw Miranda checking her reflection in the mirror.
"Hi!" she said pleasantly and started washing her hands, scrubbing the inky little figures off Tali had doodled there during maths.
"You're in a good mood," Miranda said lowly.
Jane looked at her, wondering if she was always that tense.
"I am indeed! My girlfriend's coming to visit this weekend. Long-distance is hard."
"Girlfriend?" Miranda asked, staring at her.
"You don't mind, do you? I figured the president of the student council would be an open, tolerant person."
"Of course I don't mind," Miranda said hastily.
"Good. Being out of the closet is just so liberating. And the other students here are so nice about it. I was worried at first, what with being new and all, but people here are amazingly supportive."
"Good for you," Miranda said through gritted teeth.
"Something wrong?" Jane asked innocently.
"No, no, it's great that everyone loves you."
"Hey." Jane touched her shoulder lightly. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"I am not upset! I need to go, I'm late for class."
Jane frowned after her.
. . . . .
Miranda sat in the library, staring out of the window. She hadn't seen Jack outside of the few classes they shared all week, and she couldn't talk to her in class. She couldn't even catch her eye. It seemed Jack was ignoring her on purpose. Maybe she'd expected Miranda to say something about the coffee beans, but how could she have when Jack didn't show up?
Or maybe she'd seen Jason hanging on her like a shadow.
A handsy shadow.
Like that was her fault.
It's your life, your choice. Whose fault is it, if not yours?
And then that Shepard person had made her feel all easy to read and paranoid. There was no way she could know anything. It had been a coincidence. Must have been.