Accidentally

Chapter 9

It's been a while, so sorry I've been so inactive but I've been crazy busy. Hope this update makes up for it though!

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The rest of the weekend was relatively uneventful. I did my homework, albeit slower than usual, and thought about Lauren. Most of my downtime consisted of my staring at Lauren's contact and contemplating whether or not I should text her. I ended up chickening out every time however, and by the time Monday rolled around I still hadn't texted her.

It was the first time I wasn't consciously thinking about Perrie. It was quite nice to have some time without the guilt from what we'd done weighing me down. 

I was walking into school, staring down at Lauren's phone number for what seemed like the millionth time when Leigh Anne ran up behind me and threw an arm around my shoulders.

"Hey, Jade! How was your weekend?"

I shrugged, shutting off my phone and slipping it into my pocket before she could see what I had been looking at. "Nothing special," I replied as we walked down the hallway. My mind flashed back to Lauren momentarily before I shook it off.

She hummed in response, and I could tell she didn't believe me. I looked over at her, and she raised an eyebrow at me, a smirk prevalent on her face.

"What?" I asked, starting to get annoyed. "Also, you're not in my class. Why are you coming this way?"

"Can I not walk my friend to class?" She asked, stopping and dropping her arm from my shoulders. She fixed her face into a ridiculous pout, and I couldn't help but smile.

"C'mon Leigh," I said, my amusement fading as she still didn't say anything. "What's really going on?"

Her pout dropped and her smirk returned. "Who's Lauren?" She asked, her voice taunting.

My eyes widened, and my stomach dropped. "N-nobody," I stammered.

Smooth, Jade. Real smooth.

Her eyebrows rose again, and her expression changed to one of bemusement. "Then why were you staring at her contact information?" She asked.

My cheeks flushed involuntarily, and I subconsciously gripped my phone tighter in my pocket. "Why were you staring at my phone over my shoulder?" I demanded.

Leigh Anne gasped, attracting the attention of a few students around us. I shrank back, curling my shoulders down in an attempt to hide myself from their looks.

"Jadey's got a cruuuush!" She squealed, bouncing on her toes. I rolled my eyes skyward.

"Leigh, calm down," I hissed. "You're acting like a five year old."

"Oh, come on!" She said, returning her arm to its place around my shoulders as she continued to steer me down the hallway. "This is exciting! Tell me everything!"

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help the smile that made its way onto my face. "I mean, there's not much to tell," I replied. "Hate to break it to you, nothing really happened."

"Are you sure?"  She pushed. "I don't think you'd be staring at her contact if it was nothing."

My mind involuntarily trailed back to her smile, her eyes, the way her arm felt around me, and I felt hotness creep up the back of my neck and onto my cheeks. 

"Something did happen!" Leigh exclaimed, her gleeful reaction serving only to make me frown. "Why won't you tell me?"

I shrugged. "Wanted to get you all worked up?"

The reply I pulled out of my ass worked perfectly. She straightened up, her arm falling from my shoulders for the second time. "How dare you!" She said, her voice hot with fake anger. Or at least, what I hoped was fake anger. "You got me good, I really thought you were gonna hide everything from me!"