CHAPTER FIVE: BLAME IT ON COMPASSION

Adam's POV

Okay, so maybe the guy I'd heard once more with Fiona was just a really, really good friend. According to Fiona, he had been the star rugby player at Vanderbilt Prep, his name was Jeffrey Owens, and he was a great cook.

And now he was giving Latin language lessons to Fiona to help her not fail their next exam before Christmas break? Boy did I really want to give this Jeffrey Owens an interesting Latin lesson.

Fiona had been all giggly and cheery in the phone call too. Of course I loved her laugh and I wanted her to be happy, but did she have to be happy with Jeffrey?

All of a sudden I realized that I had been staring at a picture I hadn't known I still had. There she was, staring back at me with those eyes and those velvet lips.

I'd taken the picture last year and must've forgotten to delete it after all of the pain that girl had caused me.

Bianca was shooting me a soft smile through the screen of my phone while holding her tote bag over her shoulder. Those had been the days when I danced with Bianca every day and when our flirting had been completely innocent.

But flirting with Bianca now was a taboo. And why in the hell would I want to flirt with a girl like her? She would probably give me some sort of disease that she'd failed to give Drew.

I glared back at Bianca's face and contemplated chunking my phone at the wall. But instead of doing that, I tried to control my anger and walked to the other side of my bedroom.

I was casually rubbing the back of my neck and releasing a tired sigh when a clicking sound was heard behind me. I glanced back at my window and frowned in confusion.

My feet had just started to approach the sound escaping from my window when a small pebble ricocheted off of the window pane. The frown on my face deepened, and I quickly approached the window to see who had the nerve to bother me on my Saturday.

My silent hopes for it being Eli or Clare sunk through the carpet when I saw the demon girl standing in my backyard about to chunk another pebble at my window.

I threw the two doors of my window open to warn Bianca about how far I was going to kick her if she didn't get her ass out of my backyard.

But as soon as I opened my mouth, something hard hit my forehead and bounced off of it. My jaw was set in anger while I glared down at Bianca with angry eyes.

"Sorry!" she called almost unemotionally.

A pricking feeling in my stomach told me that she'd meant to throw that little rock at my face.

"What are you doing at my house? I don't remember inviting you here," I called down to her while leaning halfway out of the window.

I was hoping that she would fall back into my pool when she answered, "I have something for you. Come down so I can give it to you."

I wore a suspicious glare now while I silently awaited an explanation.

"Don't worry," she called up to me with an annoyed look, "it's not a poisoned apple! Just hurry up and get down here before one of your parents finds me instead."

A grumble escaped my lips, and I exhaled heavily. "Okay, I'm coming down."

The doors of my window slammed when I pulled them back together. I made my way downstairs as slowly as possible. I wanted to make Bianca wait on me for as long as possible. Maybe if I made her wait for too long, she would eventually leave.

I walked past the bar of my kitchen and opened the backdoor to Bianca who was still waiting in the exact same place. I approached her warily as if someone or something was going to jump out at me.

At least she wasn't holding those stupid rocks anymore.

My hands were buried in my jean pockets as I stood a good three feet from her. "What do you want?" I asked rudely.

Bianca ignored my rude tone and fished inside her hoodie's pocket for the certain thing she'd brought me. It was an envelope with my name scrawled across the front on curvy handwriting.

I easily recognized it as Bianca's.

"Is it an apology letter?" I asked sarcastically.

"Ha-ha, you're real funny. Just open it already."

I pressed my lips together and glared for a short moment before tearing open the envelope to see what kind of demons she'd hidden behind the paper.

My eyebrows rose to dramatic heights when I saw the words you're invited to and Birthday Party on the colorful card.

"Whose birthday is it?" I asked without looking up. I already knew the answer though of course.

"Mine," she answered quickly, "and I know you probably won't come. I just thought I might as well see if I was right."

My throat grew rusty. I refused to look up and meet her eyes, so I just pretended like I was particularly interested in a certain word on the birthday party invitation.

Bianca swallowed hard and asked, "So was I right?"

"Jump in the pool," I ordered without warning.

Her eyebrows rose. "Excuse me."

"Jump in the pool, and I'll come to your party."

"But it's November."

"How bad do you want me to come to this party of yours?"

Bianca's mouth opened like she was going to protest further, but nothing escaped her lips. She closed her mouth and wore a quiet glare before pulling her phone out of her pocket and setting it on the ground.

She had just stepped within an inch of the pool when she turned her head just enough to lock eyes with me. "If this gets out to anyone, I will make sure your death looks like an accident, Torres."

I shot her a smirk just seconds before she literally stepped into the cold waters of the pool. She was underwater for about three seconds before she rose and gasped a loud breath of air.

She was breathing heavily while she swam slowly to the edge of the pool. I smirked down at her, and even though it would've been pretty equal to stand and watch her struggle while doing nothing, I walked to the edge.

Bianca watched me carefully while I held my hand out for her to take. She stared at my hand as if it were an extraterrestrial before finally taking it and letting me help her out of the pool.

"Are you happy now?" she asked while her teeth chattered horribly.

"I'm still not coming to your party. I just wanted to see you do that," I admitted.

Her mouth opened to shoot me insulting words. But I began laughing before she could start and said, "I'm just kidding."

Bianca's brown eyes glared at me from behind some wet locks of dark curly hair that were hanging in her face. I resisted the urge to brush them away.

"Do you want me to throw your clothes in the dryer?" I asked her while walking back to my house.

"Are you inviting me into your house, Torres?"

I stopped and turned around to face her with a stony expression. "Would you rather walk home in the cold with wet clothes?"

It didn't take her long to decide. She walked towards me quickly with her phone gripped in her wet hand. I opened the door for her and told her to set her phone down on the bar in the kitchen.

"Aren't your parents here? What about Drew?" she asked while following me upstairs. She was leaving some pretty large puddles of water behind her.

"They went out this morning and won't be back until around eleven. You got off lucky this time I'm afraid."

I heard her laugh softly behind me before I opened the door to my room. She almost sat down on my bed before she remembered that she was still soaked from the dive she'd taken moments before.

I dug through my drawers and found some stray clothes she could wear while she waited for her clothes to dry.

"Here," I said, throwing them at her. "Take those off and put these on."

I left my room before she could say anything else and waited in the hallway for her to finish getting dressed.

What are you doing, Adam? I asked myself silently.

It didn't take long for her to open the door while holding her pile of wet clothes. I had just begin walking back downstairs when she called, "Do you have a brush or something?"

I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my lips together before dropping the pile of clothes and turning around. Bianca followed me into the bathroom where I revealed my drawer of brushes and hair products.

"Wow, you can be such a girl sometimes," she commented.

An image of Bianca's insulting face flashed through my head while she stood before me with my shirt open.

"You're a girl?" she asked in disbelief.

Bianca quickly opened her mouth when she saw the reaction she'd caused in me. "No, I didn't mean it like-"

"Just brush your hair," I interrupted while shoving the brush into her hands.

I grumbled annoyingly while trudging down the stairs. Her damp clothes were soaking my own clothes now.

If you hadn't been so compassionate, none of this would've happened. Why can't you be evil like Eli or Fitz?

I rolled my eyes while I threw Bianca's clothes into the dryer and tried hard to ignore her red lacy underwear.