Chapter 16

Chloe's POV 

The front door clicked shut behind me. I practically floated up the creaking wooden stairs, my hands still warm from where Jaxon had squeezed them goodbye. I slipped into the bedroom and threw myself backward onto the mattress, staring up at the ceiling tiles with a massive, unstoppable smile spreading across my face.

The date had been flawless. Jaxon had been perfect. He didn't care about the rumors. He was falling for me, even while I was trapped in this ugly body.

A sharp, familiar chime shattered the silence. I rolled over, grabbing Maya’s phone off the cluttered nightstand, expecting a sweet post date text from Jax. Instead, Tristan’s name popped up on the screen.

My fingers tensed, ready to read another furious, judgmental paragraph.

Tristan: Hey Maya. Look, I’ve been sitting on my porch thinking about what happened, and I just wanted to say I’m really sorry for how I behaved tonight. You were right. You have every right to be friends with whoever you wish. We’re just friends, and I had absolutely no right to act so entitled or judge you. I just want you to be happy, even if it’s with him. I’m sorry.

I stared at the glowing words, biting my lower lip. It was a nice apology, sure, but it changed nothing. Tristan was a part of the old, miserable life Maya lived. I was building something completely new.

Without hitting a single key, I locked the phone, tossed it face down onto the sheets, and left the message completely unanswered.

By Monday morning, the entire atmosphere at Northview High had shifted. The moment I pushed through the heavy glass double doors of the main entrance, I felt unstoppable.

I kept my head held high, adjusting the strap of Maya’s heavy backpack. As I walked down the central corridor, the usual noise of lockers slamming was entirely overtaken by low, frantic murmurs.

"Is that her?" a girl by the varsity lockers whispered loudly, nudging her friend. 

"Omg, I think Maya actually made Jax have something going on with her."

"Are you serious?" another voice hissed back, not even trying to hide their staring. 

"He literally left Chloe for her. Like, the Chloe. It makes no sense."

"I bet he just wants to make Chloe real jealous," a guy in a soccer jersey scoffed, leaning against the wall. "Jax would never actually date Nakamura. Have you looked at her? It’s totally a rebound play."

Let them talk, I thought arrogantly, pushing the glasses up the bridge of my nose. They think they know Jaxon, but they don't see what happens when the cameras are off. They don't know the real him.

I reached Maya’s battered locker. I spun the combination lock, tugged the metal door open, and began stacking my heavy textbooks in and out of the shelves, trying to tune out the persistent whispers still echoing down the hall.

Suddenly, a pair of large, warm hands slid over my face from behind, completely covering my eyes and blocking out the harsh light of the hallway. The scent of expensive cedarwood cologne immediately enveloped me.

"Guess who," a deep, rich voice chuckled right against my ear.

I smiled instantly, reaching up to gently touch his wrists. "Jax, stop it, everyone is looking," I giggled, turning around as his hands dropped away.

Jaxon was leaning casually against the adjacent locker, looking like an absolute god in his blue and gold varsity jacket. His dark hair was perfectly messy, and his hazel eyes locked onto mine with a soft, undivided attention that made my knees feel weak. He only looked at me.

"They should look," he murmured, a devastatingly handsome grin crossing his face. He reached behind his back, pulling his hand out to reveal a small, beautifully wrapped box tied with a silver ribbon. He held it out to me. "I saw this and immediately thought of you. Open it."

My breath hitched. "Jax... What is this? You didn't have to get me anything."

"Just open it, Maya," he urged softly, his eyes sparkling with something I couldn't quite read, but desperately wanted to believe was love.

With trembling fingers, I untied the ribbon and lifted the lid of the box. Resting on a bed of dark velvet was a retro cassette tape.

"Since you love old school music," Jax explained, "I found this retro cassette player and made a playlist of songs that remind me of you."

“Awnnnn Jax, you remembered,” I purred. I had told him how much I loved old school music on our date.

But that wasn't all. Beneath the cassette was a second small box containing a delicate silver necklace with a tiny open book charm. I picked it up, staring closely at the intricate engraving. On the left page was マヤ, while the right page had 愛してる. Jaxon was being the absolute sweetest guy on earth, he had actually gone out of his way to have “I love you, Maya” written in Japanese on the tiny open book.

The final gift was a customized leather journal, with Maya's initials elegantly engraved on the front cover. I opened the very first page, and the handwriting made my breath catch.

“For all your brilliant thoughts.”

"I figured you should have something beautiful to remind you of how much I love you, Maya," Jax said, leaning down so his face was inches from mine. "Do you like it?"

Tears of pure joy pricked the corners of my eyes beneath the lenses of her glasses. I looked from the gorgeous, thoughtful gifts back up to his perfect face.

"I love it, Jax. Thank you so much."

He grinned, reaching out to gently peck my cheek while the entire hallway stared in absolute, stunned silence.

I felt entirely untouchable. Maya was wrong, Tristan was wrong, and the whole world was wrong.

He had never been this sweet, this attentive, or this romantic to me when I was Chloe. I never thought I'd say this, but I love being Maya. And Jaxon Reid loved me.