The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 65

“Don’t you just want to see what else you can melt, Clark?” Jackson asks on a long inhale of breath, looking at me with sad eyes. “Come on, I bet you could melt this whole tree if you wanted to.””

–

“Well, one, that’s not good for the environment,” I say, rolling my eyes at him which makes him laugh, just a little. “And two, no, I don’t want to melt the tree I want to talk about you. Honestly, Jackson, I won’t tell anyone you know I won’t. I won’t even let anyone know that I know! I’ll keep your secret.”

“Why does it even matter, Ari?” he asks, looking away from me. “Why do you want to know so badly? It doesn’t change anything.”

A thousand answers flood my mind. That it could help me understand what I can do how. his power compliments mine. That I want to know more about him. That I’m just so damn

curious.

But, in the end, I settle for the truth.

“I want you to know that you have someone here who will keep your secrets, Jackson,” I say quietly, willing him to believe me.

Jackson looks up at me in surprise, his blue eyes wider than I’ve seen them before.

We’re silent again, but as it has been before with us, there’s no awkwardness to it. But then he breaks it.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” he whispers, half baffled and half…suspicious, I realize. Lik

I’ve got ulterior motives or something.

I stare at him, my heart cracking in grief for the lessons his past life must have taught him.

“Jackson,” I murmur, saying his name like a promise. “Why are you so surprised that I genuinely just…want to be nice to you?”

He turns his face away from me like he’s been struck, staring at the ground beneath the tree in shock and surprise. I watch his profile as he swallows heavily, as he presses his lips

together in frustration or…consternation? Honestly, I don’t know what. But I give him the space to process it.

“I don’t have to eat,” he says suddenly, the words falling from his lips in a rush, like they’ve escaped from a dark place and can’t wait to get away.

I ask,

he speaks – but I know not at me. “I don’t have to eat like…ever, if I don’t want to. I mean, eventually,

I say, sitting up straighter. “That is….that is seriously

like…days. Longest I’ve gone is three weeks. And I can run for miles and just….not get

eyes go wider as his confession progresses. “And

“I get really skinny after a while,” he says, shrugging. “Oh, and I can

I say, looking him up and

“I mean like…I can eat without stopping for as long as I wanted. And I don’t get full I just get…” he looks down at himself, at his seriously impressive musculature.

“So….could you get as big as an elephant if you kept

smirking, “we tried that once. I think

to imagine it. Jackson –

eyes and then rubbing it down the length of his face.

want to know. Thank god there aren’t any pictures.”

you just like, experiment? To see how long you could push

turning his face back to me. “Wouldn’t you, if you figured out that that’s what you could do?”

bored, when everyone else. was asleep? And like, get

and nobody gets that. Like, after eighteen blackberry pies…you never want a slice

happy that he told me, so honored that he trusted me enough to keep his secret. “It’s

at our clasped

also looking down.

there’s some sort of connection

think. There’s something between us. But I clench my

connects. our magic,” he says, and I nod, agreeing. “So…maybe I can pass mine to

we experiment

See if I can pass some

more casually now, like one would

forth. She’s pissed, I know, because she wants me to tell him my secrets, to be as open with him

stroking a

but lets

annoying to have so

what I eat. If I eat too much, it manifests in either sleeplessness or weight gain. If I eat too little, I