Chapter 8: Chapter 8

The world you perceive is a broken translation for the words of your soul.

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Jarvis was tidying up the coats when he heard Flynn whistling down the stairs. It seemed that the young master was in a good mood. Probably because of that girl he had brought home last night. Jarvis bit his smile before turning to greet him. “Master Flynn.”

“Did I not just tell you to call me by my first name?” Flynn chuckled as he took his coat off Jarvis’ hand and wore it without his butler's help. He seemed to be in a good mood.

“My apologies,” Jarvis cleared his throat then proceeded, “Flynn.” He felt weird calling his boss by the first name but Flynn had insisted on it.

“It is okay." Flynn flashed him a smile, heading to the front door then stopped after a few steps. "Jarvis." He turned around, tilting his head. "Do you know where Kelsey is? She is not in the dining room so I figured she had her breakfast."

“I am afraid the young lady has left."

Jarvis saw Flynn pause on buttoning his coat and shot him with a confused look. "What do you mean she has left?" His hand quickly dug into his front pocket and pulled out his phone then he realized that he did not have her number. "Where did she go?"

"School, perhaps?" Jarvis shrugged. He had not had the chance to ask since the girl seemed to be in a hurry. "She was rushing on her way out."

"No. School is not until seven fifty-five," Flynn pressed the button on his phone, turning the screen on, and glanced at it, “It is only six-fifty." He slid his phone back into his pocket and headed outside. "Where the hell is Ace?"

Jarvis held the door open. “I am sure Ace is already waiting for you outside.”

“Ace!” Flynn barked his order, causing the driver to jump a little before regaining his composure. “Get me my bike!”

Ace looked up at Jarvis and mouthed thank you. Jarvis replied with a small smile. When he had seen the girl running out of the front gate, he had the gut feeling that the young master would not be pleased and informed the driver to get ready. Once the bike left with his grumpy master and Ace following behind, Jarvis closed the door and leaned against it for a minute. Young love. It had been a while since Jarvis witnessed it. When Flynn's mother had died eight years ago, his father dived into his work building the Ascott empire, causing the young master to grow cold. For a moment, Jarvis believed he had forgotten about love and affection but it seemed that this girl, Kelsey, had managed to slip into his heart even when Flynn himself did not realize it.

Jarvis moved to the living room with a smile on his face hoping that the girl would show and teach Flynn how to love. It was about time his young master quit his rakish way and be the gentleman that he truly was.

* * *

French was on the last period on Thursday and Kelsey knew she could not escape this. The whole day she had managed to hide in the library during breaks and because she did not share any other classes with Flynn aside from French, History, and Physics, it was easy to stay out of his sight. But now, she had to face him unless she could somewhat make herself invisible.

She saw him standing in the doorway, eyes scanning the entire room like a hawk and once they landed on her, he started stomping his way towards her. He placed his book next to hers on the table then took a seat, facing her. “Where were you?”

“What?” In hindsight, Kelsey knew it was rather stupid to pretend not knowing what he was referring to yet she could not help herself. She needed to buy her brain some time to think of an excuse.

“This morning.” He scratched the side of his head frustratedly. “I was looking for you. We could have gone to school together.”

“Oh.” Kelsey threw a nervous glance at the door, hoping Ms. Josephine would come in anytime soon and save her from the pair of brown eyes staring at her. “I had something to take care of.”

Flynn blinked, his eyes pierced Kelsey's demanding further explanation. “Well?”

“Well, what?” she frowned.

It was his turn to frown. “Has it been taken care of?”

“Wha—oh, yeah.” Kelsey cleared her throat, glancing nervously at the door. "Of course."

He seemed like he wanted to ask again but Ms. Josephine strolled in with her usual greeting. “Good afternoon, class!”

“Stay in my home for the time being until the situation calmed down. “ He stared at her for a brief few seconds before turning his attention towards the front of the class.

“I am so sorry for being late. The tour agency called me when I was already on my way here. They wanted me to remind you all that you need to submit a copy of your passport and credentials to them as soon as possible so they can send you the invoice.” Ms. Josephine took a sip of her coffee then placed the cup on the table. “Remember what I told you about Tim Turner last year? He forgot to submit before the deadline and no matter how much he begged to join us to Paris, c'est dommage. Rules are rules!”

Ms. Josephine put down a violet folder she was holding, opened it, and took out a piece of paper. "I will give you this form that you need to fill. This will be a letter of consent since most of you are under eighteen, you need your parents' permission to go on this trip. You have to submit this by next week so we have enough time to process everything.”

There was nothing special about the French class that day. Nothing new or out of the ordinary. Ms. Josephine taught the way she always did; detailed and crystal clear. Yet Kelsey found herself nervous over the small fact that Flynn's elbow was only five inches away from hers. She wanted to retract her arm, pulling herself as far away from him as possible, but looking at the way he showed no discomfort at all made her refrain herself from doing so.

Kelsey thought if he knew how nervous she was being this close to him, he would laugh at her and that would ruin whatever dignity she had left. Ignoring the heat radiating from his body, she clenched her jaw and pinned her attention on the whiteboard. French was her last hope to find her mother and she could not afford to fail or else she would never forgive herself.

Once the class ended, she quickly put her stuff inside her bag and pulled herself up. As usual, Ms. Josephine had the students queue and ask each of them a question based on that day's lecture. Anyone who gave the wrong answer had to queue again.

Kelsey got herself squeezed between two girls, Nora Norrington in front of her and Jessabelle Willow behind her. Even though she was squeezed in between the two, she found it easier to breathe compared to when she had been sitting next to Flynn.

Her turn was up and she easily answered Ms. Josephine's question, making her teacher beam proudly.

“Well done, Ms. Ferreira,” said Ms. Josephine, putting one hand on her shoulder.

Kelsey smiled and was about to leave when Ms. Josephine added, "could you stay for a bit? I need you to help me with something."

She nodded. "Sure." Kelsey walked towards one of the empty chairs in the front and sat down.

Watching her classmates line up, her eyes met Flynn's, and realized that he had been staring at her the whole time. If it was the old Kelsey, she would blush and look away. The new Kelsey raised one brow, questioning his intention and daring him to answer her.

Flynn's only response was a smirk. Kelsey rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone, pretending that she was texting while in truth, she was actually just meaninglessly typing on her phone.

"Kelsey." Ms. Josephine called using her first name; something she always did outside of the classroom.

Kelsey put her phone away and rose to her feet. It was not the first time her French teacher asked for her help and to be honest, Kelsey didn't mind. “Yes?" she answered.

"Could you please send this to the tour agency? I have told them I would scan and email it to them but they keep saying that they need the original copy." Ms. Josephine rolled her eyes, handing the brown envelope to Kelsey. "I have to pick up my son and help him settle since my ex-husband is going to Maui for a holiday with his new girlfriend." There was bitterness in her voice that made Kelsey want to give her a hug. Kelsey had heard the rumors about Ms. Josephine’s divorce two years ago but the teacher had never shown any sadness nor emotion and it had not affected her teaching so she assumed that the teacher had simply moved on.

“I will send it to them, Ms. Josephine. No worries." Kelsey put the envelope into her bag and took note of the address.

"Thank you so much!" Ms. Josephine slid her gaze to the right and added, “Do bring him along with you as well. Although I am old, I can clearly see that you are the real reason he wants to be in this class."

Kelsey turned and saw Flynn leaning against the classroom's doorframe with his backpack slung over one shoulder.