Claire's skin lacks the same smoothness and warmth that I felt when I touched Nina. The comparison nags at me, but I push the thought aside.
'Now,' Mrs. Lofts, our English teacher, interrupts May's silent but dire standoff. 'Open your textbooks to page one hundred and thirty-nine and answer the questions in your notebooks.'
I've never been so grateful for an assignment. I pick up my pen and start working on the questions, deliberately answering them slowly, using the task as an excuse not to hold Claire's hand again. The bell eventually rings, signalling the end of the class, and I can't help but feel a sense of relief as I pack up my things. However, the sinking realization hits me—I have detention, and it's not just any detention, but one with Nina.
Returning to my locker, I mechanically stow my books on the shelf and grab my school bag. Josie rushes up to me with her backpack slung over her shoulder.
'Ready to go home, brother?' Josie beams her enthusiasm in stark contrast to my own mood.
I shake my head, unable to mask the impending dread. 'Nope, I have detention... with Nina,' I confess.
Josie's eyes widen, and her face lights up with glee. 'Magnus! This is your chance!'
'Chance for what?' I ask, genuinely confused by her reaction.
'To get on your knees and beg that little hottie, Nina, for forgiveness for being such a dumbass all these years,' she says as if stating the obvious.
I narrow my eyes at her. 'Josie! That is not going to happen. I can't believe you would even suggest such a thing,' I retort, firm in my refusal.
'But why not? I never understood why you would cut your best friend off like that. You two were so close and did everything together,' Josie sulks with confusion and disappointment.
'You wouldn't understand, Josie. You're not the one who will be an Alpha one day. I need to be respected, not laughed at,' I explain, my words carrying the weight of responsibility.
'I'm your little sister, daughter of an Alpha, which means my mate will probably be an Alpha from a different pack, so yeah, I get you need to be respected just as I do as a potential future Luna, but I do not know what that has to do with Nina?' Josie argues, her gaze searching for understanding.
I sigh, realizing that the complexities of my decisions might be beyond her grasp. 'Forget it, okay? I'm going to be late for detention. I'll see you at home for dinner,' I tell her.
Josie's lips tremble, and her eyes glisten with unshed tears. Flint approaches as I’m about to walk away to go to detention. Josie swiftly wraps her arms around Flint and sobs into his chest. Just great. After everything else going on, Josie is now upset with me. Flint wraps his arms around Josie in a protective manner and glares at me, knowing I am the reason Josie is upset. I shake my head and storm off to detention.
Without bothering to exchange pleasantries with Mr. Thomson, I enter the science room, drop my bag on a table, and settle into a seat in silence. I purposefully avoid making eye contact with both Mr. Thomson and Nina.
'Late again, Magnus,' Mr Thomson huffs, his disapproval evident as he places his hands on his hips.
I respond with a nonchalant shrug, not interested in engaging in conversation.
Nina, seated a few tables away, wears a visible frown, signalling her displeasure at the situation. Mr. Thomson, however, has no intention of allowing us to serve our detention quietly.
'Well, if you two think you are both going to sit here in silence, then you have another thing coming,' he declares, breaking the tension in the room. 'I have borrowed some tools and got a new tabletop from the woodwork room. You will both spend detention fixing the table you broke.'
'What! But I never broke it,' Nina protests.
'I don't care who is responsible, Nina. Now come and take this screwdriver,' Mr Thomson demands.
I reluctantly step down from my chair and approach the teacher's desk, grumbling under my breath. Nina, equally dissatisfied, accepts the screws and screwdriver while I hoist the tabletop. As we start working, Mr Thomson heads towards the class doorway, leaving us with the task.
'I will be back in thirty minutes. I expect the table to be fixed during this time,' Mr Thomson announces before exiting.
'Yeah, yeah,' I mutter dismissively, waving him off.
Nina clears her throat, breaking the silence. 'Take the legs off the broken table. Then we can screw them into the new tabletop,' she says, avoiding eye contact.
Without acknowledging her suggestion, I grasp the legs, ready to pull them off forcefully. Nina interrupts me, tapping me on the shoulder with the screwdriver.
'Just unscrew them like a normal person. Otherwise, you will bend the legs or break them like you did the table,' she advises with frustration.
Ignoring her advice, I proceed with my quicker but more forceful method. Predictably, the leg comes off, but it's bent and crooked, as Nina had foretold.
'Great one, Magnus, a broken table and a bent leg, just great,' she huffs.
'Well, you fix it if you think you can do better,' I retort sternly.
Nina shakes her head at me. 'If you didn't break it in the first place, Magnus, I wouldn't have to fix it,' she scolds.
We stand there, locked in a tense glare, the air thick with anger and frustration, creating an intense atmosphere between us.
'You're unbelievable,' Nina murmurs with disbelief as she kneels by the remaining leg and unscrews it with the screwdriver, a task I should have handled.
As she loosens the last screw, the metal leg suddenly drops towards her. Reacting instinctually, I grab it just before it connects with her head. Nina looks up at me, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and gratitude, and maybe unsure whether to be amazed by the near miss or my timely intervention.
Casually holding the leg, I walk over to the new tabletop, leaving Nina in stunned silence, her mind processing the close call. 'Well, are you going to come and screw this in while I hold it or not?' I growl impatiently.