Roselle levelled her green gaze at the blond boy seated across the table from her, the soft bustle of the academy cafe around them. She absently ran a long, slender finger along the length of her glass, collecting the cool condensation that had gathered there.

Ryan had hardly said a word, leaning back in his chair, his silver eyes sharp with curiosity as he watched her. Neither of them had touched the food placed before them, each more interested in what the other could have to say.

“You know something,” Roselle accused, leaning forward in her chair.

“Enlighten me,” the end of his eyebrow twitched up along with the corner of his mouth. “I’d love to know what it is that I know of.”

She restrained a sigh, a spark of annoyance rising in her chest. “You know what I’m talking about.” She narrowed her eyes. “I need you to tell me what you know.”

“You’re quite confident that I do, in fact, know anything,” Ryan placed his hand beside his plate, drumming his fingers against the flat surface. “And so sure that, even if I did, I would share that something with you.”

That spark began to flicker as she narrowed her eyes at him. “He came to you, didn’t he? Was he hurt? Do you know what happened?”

“Assuming I did know what happened and how this mysterious ‘he’ was at this undisclosed time that I will neither confirm nor deny ever happened,” He drummed his fingers again, an odd, tight smirk pulling at his face. “I would think it would be in his best interest for me not to blab such information to nosy girls; no?”

She flexed her jaw, gripping her own arm to relieve the tension growing in her muscles. “Bold of you to call me nosy after you’ve spent the last year trying to worm your way into everyone’s business.”

He hummed, his telltale mischievous grin breaking open across his freckled features. “Neither one of us can say anything then. Now, I don’t know about you, but I am hungry. You were kind enough to bribe me here with food, now I would prefer to enjoy it.” He picked up his wrap, taking a bite.

She flopped backward in her seat, folding her arms across her chest as she regarded him. She kept her narrowed gaze locked on him, his nonchalance only fueling her irritation.

He raised a pale eyebrow, still chewing as he gave her a skeptical look. “You are aware of how rude it is to watch someone eat, right?” He uttered his words before swallowing, quickly switching to taking a gulp of his water.

Roselle wrinkled her nose, releasing a quiet scoff under her breath. “Look,” she sighed. “I’m just worried, okay? I’ve never seen him like that before,” she allowed her eyes to soften as she tried to reason with who was, admittedly, her least reasonable teammate. “I need to make sure he’s okay, and what I can do to make him okay if he isn’t.” She internally winced at the tremor in her voice, as worried as she was, letting him hear that was pushing it.

He swallowed, his glass clacking down on the wooden table as he lowered it back down, making her flinch. “I don’t think you need anything,” Ryan’s silver eyes were unflappable as he matched her intensity, the younger boy surprisingly not backing down. “If he wanted your help, he would have come to you; but he didn’t.”

She bit her tongue; instead tightening her grip around her wrist. He had come to her that morning, but she knew that didn’t matter; not in the way Ryan meant it. As much as she enjoyed spending time with Jacob, and hoped he did too, she knew very little about what went on behind the closed doors of his life. It hadn’t bothered her before, but now, she could hardly think of anything else.

“I’m sure he’d be thrilled to know how much you care,” he smirked, and she bristled. “But what he does really isn’t any of your business until he makes it your business. Just because he thinks you’re pretty doesn’t grant you permission to force the matter.”

Roselle’s face twitched, and she took a swig of her coffee, never taking her eyes off her opponent. She was conscious in her efforts to set it down, only releasing her breath at the clink of ceramic hitting the solid surface. “So,” she went on. “What are you willing to tell me?”

Ryan considered her, chomping off another bit of his wrap. “Well, from the sounds of it, you know nothing, and I’m not the one to satisfy your burning curiosity.” He shrugged, completely unbothered by her gaze mentally sending daggers toward him. “If you want to know my opinion on your predicament-”

“Not particularly.” She cut in dryly.

“You should wait this out,” he pointed his half-eaten wrap at her, revealing its contents to her.

Gross.

She scrunched her nose up at him, leaning away from the display in her seat. His somewhat reasonable statement only registered after a few moments passed, and he was still talking.

“Sneaking around like this won’t help you. He has a reason to keep this to himself- mainly, anyway- but who knows, you could be the next one he talks to. Come back if he does that, and I’ll be happy to give you the answers.”

She huffed, rolling her eyes at his loyalty to secrecy. The fact that what he was saying made complete sense didn’t help her annoyance. Her fingernails rapped down onto the table, the soft clicking ringing out into the tense air between the two. It would have been easier if Jacob had loose-lipped friends. Of course, there were other methods she could use, but there was always a breaking point of being caught.

“You see,” his eyes sparkled knowingly. “Scheming is useless.”

Roselle straightened in her seat, her piercing green eyes flashing with unconcealed irritation. “J’en ai marre de toi,” she hissed as she took one last taste of her coffee before abruptly standing up. She didn’t look back to see the blond watching her as she went, his gaze narrowed in thought before he lifted his food back up to take another bite.

She stepped out into the crisp air, releasing her withheld hiss of irritation from between her teeth. She had to admit, it wasn’t her best plan to date. However, it left her to come up with another. Would it be worth bringing Amber into the mix?

She started on the path back home, her steps fast and heavy against the stones, her curls bouncing against her face, emphasizing her frustration.

Amber could be a vital source of information, but she could also be a brick wall. She would also instantly catch on to anything she tried. She probably wasn’t the best option in this case, at least not yet. Perhaps she could try another direction with Elaine, but she still wasn’t sure if her… emotionally cold teammate would open up to a concerned friend.

Maybe Ryan was right, biding her time and more time to consider what to do next could be the best thing to do for now.

As she cleared the trees and approached the observance building, her steps abruptly came to a halt as her eyes met the expectant golden pair that filled her dreams and invaded her thoughts.

The corner of his mouth twitched in the beginning of the smirk that made her weak, a hand sweeping through his hair as he pushed off of the wall he leaned against. “Just what have you been up to?”