The Poker Face and the Panic Attack

Kale’s POV

My heart felt like it was trying to jump out of my ribs. I stepped back from the wooden stall door, my sneakers squeaking against the wet bathroom floor.

That little squeak was too loud. The sounds inside the stall stopped for a second. Yeah. They heard me.

I didn’t stick around to see if Noah or Perry would slam the door open and catch me spying. I shoved out of the bathroom and ran down the hall.

My backpack kept slamming into my back with every step. The bruises didn’t matter because my head was a mess.

Noah... campus Mr. Cool Guy, all abs and attitude, was making out with a dude in a bathroom stall. Not just any dude...with Perry. The same Perry who stares at me like he wants to punch me through my lunch tray every day at lunch.

I passed through the double doors and out of the school. I totally forgot about the other two classes left, and cared less about what Mr. Ralph would say when he saw my empty seat.

My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I yanked my phone from my pocket to check if another weird anonymous text came in. There was nothing like that.

“What the actual fuck is my life right now?” I muttered, jamming my hands in my hoodie pockets as I walked fast toward the studio.

The sun was blazing but my back kept going cold. Every time I pictured Noah in that stall, my skin crawled.

By the time I got to the big glass tower of JMC Studios, my mouth was dry and my legs felt like jelly. I dragged in a shaky breath and tried to wipe the panic off my face before the receptionist clocked it.

“Back already, Kale?” the lady at the desk smiled, her teeth way too perfect.

“Yeah. Jace said we’ve got a lot of work to do today,” I lied, forcing a smile that probably looked insane. “Is he in the main room?”

“He’s waiting in the primary suite,” she said, pointing at the elevators. “Go ahead, straight up.”

I mumbled a quick thanks and bolted for the elevator, pressing the button for the top floor. The ride up was excruciatingly slow, and the smooth jazz music playing through the speakers was doing absolutely nothing to calm my frying nerves.

I kept adjusting the collar of my shirt, feeling like the walls of the elevator were slowly closing in on me until I could barely draw oxygen into my lungs.

When the doors finally opened, the quiet luxury of the executive floor hit me.

The hallway was lined with expensive art pieces and plush carpeting that swallowed the sound of my footsteps entirely.

I walked toward the heavy door of Jace’s private office, my hand hovering over the handle for a long second before I finally gathered the courage to twist it open.

Jace was sitting behind his massive mahogany desk, looking through a stack of thick paper documents that looked suspiciously like a legal contract.

He didn't have his headphones on today, and he was wearing a neat white button down shirt. 

“You are early,” Jace said, his deep voice echoing through the quiet office as he looked up from his paperwork. His eyes immediately locked onto my face, scanning me with an intensity that made me feel completely naked.

“Something wrong, kid? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

“Nothing sir,” I said moving over to the leather couch and dropped my heavy backpack onto the floor with a loud thud. “And I am perfectly fine. The traffic on the way over here was just a complete nightmare, that’s all.”

Jace leaned back in his leather chair, a slow, dangerous smirk spreading across his handsome face as he watched me pace around the room. “You're a terrible liar, Kale. Your energy is completely frantic today, and you haven't even stepped into the recording booth yet.”

He stood up from his desk and walked over to me, his tall frame completely blocking out the light from the large windows behind him.

The familiar, scent of roses hit my nose, and my stomach did a violent flip as he stopped just inches away from my chest.

He reached out, his warm fingers gently catching my chin and tilting my head upward so I had no choice but to look directly into his piercing eyes.

“If we are going to work together, you need to be completely transparent with me,” Jace whispered, his thumb brushing lightly against my lower lip in a casual gesture that made my entire lower half twitch with sudden heat. “I need to know exactly what is happening inside that pretty head of yours.”

My heart hammered against my ribs, and I had to actively force myself not to lean into his touch like a pathetic, desperate puppy.

I wanted to tell him about the anonymous texts, and about how much my body was screaming for him to just drag me against his desk and kiss me until I forgot my own name.

But the memory of that creepy message flashed in my mind, warning me that nothing in this studio was as it truly seemed.

“It is just the competition pressure,” I whispered back, my voice shaking slightly despite my best efforts to sound tough. “The next round of CGT is coming up fast, and I don't want to look like an idiot on national television.”

Jace studied my face for another second, his eyes dropping down to my lips before he finally released my chin and stepped back with a soft, knowing laugh. “Don't worry about the television network, Kale. As long as you listen to me and do exactly what I tell you, you are going to absolutely dominate that stage.”

He walked over to his desk and picked up the thick stack of papers, sliding them across the smooth wood toward the edge. “Now, sit down. We have a very important contract to discuss before we can start tuning those beautiful vocal cords of yours.”

I nodded, swallowing hard as I moved to sit in the chair across from him, trying to force my mind to focus entirely on the legal documents. But before Jace could even open his mouth to explain the first clause, the heavy office door suddenly swung open behind me.

“Jace, I have the final market distribution reports you asked for,” a familiar, cool voice announced from the doorway.

I froze instantly, my entire body locking up as the blood drained directly from my face. I slowly turned my head around, and my jaw nearly hit the expensive rug when I saw exactly who was standing there.

It was Noah. He was dressed in a sharp, expensive designer suit, looking incredibly polished, professional, and corporate. He walked right past my chair, completely ignoring my existence as he approached the desk and extended his hand to shake Jace's hand in a firm, businesslike greeting.

My face burned a bright, fiery red, and a wave of absolute heat rushed to my cheeks as my brain violently glitched. Noah worked here? He was Jace's right-hand man? The realization hit me like a massive freight train, and I could feel my throat completely closing up as I stared at the guy who, just a few hours ago, was thrusting into someone else in a messy school bathroom.