"i'm crazy but you like that" - skins

Episode 5.2

I sat on the college field with my legs crossed and sparked the final pre-rolled joint in my pocket. I inhaled as I stared up at the sky and the floating clouds.
I looked back down at my phone and counted the number of calls I'd rejected from Cook since I found out about him shagging Pandora forty-eight hours before. Twelve calls, two messages.

COOK
answer the phone

COOK
jofie, have i done something? what the fuck is going on??

I locked my phone and shoved it back into my pocket with a sigh.

"Hey." A voice came from behind me, and Naomi sat down on the grass beside me.
"Hey."
"I'm surprised you haven't got yourself suspended yet with the amount of weed you smoke on campus, you know?" She rolled her eyes. And then she playfully nudged me. "We haven't spent time together in a while. What's new?"
"Nothing." I lied. "What's new with you?"
"Uh, nothing really." She shrugged, staring down at the grass. It was evident that not only was Naomi a worse liar than me, but I found it easier to pick up on a blatant lie than her.
"Are you bullshitting?" I narrowed my eyes and nudged her, before instructing, "spill."
"Emily and I may have kissed, and now I don't know what to do." She sighed, hanging her head.
"When?" I raised my eyebrows.
"At Pandora's party last weekend." She answered.
I scoffed. "Fucking hell. What else happened at that party that I didn't know of?"
"What do you mean?" She pressed.
"It - it's nothing." I shook my head. I regretted saying anything.
"Come on, Jofie. You force me to tell you stuff when I don't want to, and you don't give up until I eventually give in and spill. Now same to you." She insisted, before looking me up and down and asking with a hint of concern in her voice, "is everything okay?"
I forced a chuckle, which was somewhat real given the situation, but partially just to cover the betrayal and hurt I felt. And then I told her, "Cook fucked Pandora."
I watched her jaw drop immediately. "You what?"
"You heard."
"At her party?" She asked in disbelief, still unable to pick her jaw up.
"Yeah, at her party."
And then Naomi laughed aloud. "What the fuck? That's so weird! Isn't it?" She chuckled as she spoke. And then she suddenly stopped as she studied my expression. "Are you bothered?"
I took a deep breath before admitting, "maybe." I felt an uneasy feeling in my stomach and even admitting this aloud. I felt ridiculous.
"Oh my God, Jofie." Naomi covered her mouth. "Have you fell for James Cook? You have, haven't you?"
I felt a stab in my stomach at Naomi's question, the exact question that I didn't want to even ask myself.
"No, it's not -" I started an attempt at backtracking and excusing my feelings, but Naomi wasn't prepared to listen to it.
"This whole time. 'It's just sex'. 'It's so easy to fuck with no strings attached'. 'No, there's nothing between us'. 'I don't like him like that'." She repeated all of the stuff I'd said to her over the past few months regarding this situation before accusing, "you love him, don't you?"
"You know what? I really don't want to talk about this." I shook my head and grabbed my lighter from the grass beside me as I stood up. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'll speak to you later."
And with that, I walked off, leaving Naomi with a whole new load of information.

***

I walked for ten minutes, knowing exactly where I was walking to.
Naomi hadn't helped my emotional state regarding the situation at all, and I knew I needed to suppress whatever unexpected feelings I had going on.

"Frederick!" I called once I reached the skatepark, causing Freddie to stumble off of his skateboard and wobble back to his feet with a lack of grace. "Smooth." I remarked, as he smiled.
"Hey, Jofie!" He called over to me, grabbing his skateboard off the floor.
"Come here." I instructed, and he did.
Freddie slowly jogged over until we were face-to-face and then he asked, "is everything okay?"
"We should go on a date." I sprung on him.
He immediately scoffed and laughed aloud, clearly under the impression I was joking with him. "A date?"
"Yes, a date."
His amused face dropped once he realised that I was serious, and it faded rapidly into confusion. "I'm lost. How did we get here?"
"Well, I asked you to come over here and then I asked you to come on a date with me. What are you finding so difficult, Freddie?" I condescendingly replied.
He chuckled again slightly, clearly unsure of how to react to my sudden proposal. "Well, you're seeing my best friend, for a starter. And you've known from the first day we met that I have feelings for Effy."
"And has she told you that she has feelings for you, too? I mean, in actual words, not just throwing herself at you for sex and manipulating you." I challenged him.
"No, but -"
"Has she even spoke to you in the past few days? Or does she always just distance herself from you and make you doubt everything until she wants something?" I made my point.
"I -" Freddie started, but I wasn't finished.
"And I'm not seeing Cook. I never was. Besides, he's too busy with his cock up Pandora to care."
Freddie's eyes widen and his jaw dropped identically to what Naomi's had fifteen minutes before. "You - Cook's what?"
I ignored his shock, unwilling to discuss that particular situation any further for today. "We're friends, right, Fred?"
"Yeah, of course we are." He answered without hesitation.
"Then - for the reasons I've given you - say yes to this." I smiled sweetly at him. "I don't want anything from you except an innocent distraction."
He shrugged, still looking slightly flustered, and then smiled at me. "Then sure. Let's go on a date."
"Cool." I smiled back at him before beginning to walk away. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at eight." I called back over my shoulder, and continued to walk away as he giggled to himself behind me.

A/N: I wrote this sooner than I'd expected to & in like 15 mins. 
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