listen before i go - jack will

four.

after school is over, jack, auggie, summer and i all meet back at our lockers. "do you guys wanna hang out at my house until we go to julian's?" i ask them, as summer groans, auggie nods, and jack looks down at his feet. "do we really have to go?" summer asks. i roll my eyes and laugh. "we don't have to, no, but i want to go." i tell her, and jack looks up at me quickly, and summer drops her mouth open, while auggie chuckles a little.

"wait- y/n.. do you like him?" summer asks with a mixture of joy and disgust on her face. jack's face grows red, as i try not to look into his eyes. "what? no. i just think that it would be fun to go, and plus, julian invited us and i told him we'd go. it'd be rude not to show up." i reply, taking my things out of my locker.

"hey guys. hey y/n." julian walks up to us. "hey julian." auggie and i say. as summer and jack ignore him. "so, we're all going to y/n's now, right?" summer asks, grabbing her backpack. "right." auggie and i say at the same time. jack remains quiet. "you're still coming to my party, right?" julian asks me, not taking his eyes off of me. "yeah, we'll be there." i say and he smiles, and we all head to leave the school.

"wait- before we leave, y/n, i still wanna talk to you about something." jack spoke up. "oh right, we'll meet you guys in the car." i tell auggie and summer, as they nod. julian glares at jack as jack grabs my hand and takes me out to the courtyard.

when we get there, nobody else is out there except for us. "what did you need to talk about jack? if it's about the party-" "do you like julian?" he cuts me off and sighs, fiddling with his thumbs. "jack- like i said earlier, no, i don't like julian.." i lie a bit. i don't think i like julian, but i don't know. he's been super sweet lately, and he kinda had a glow-up, not gonna lie.

"you're lying." jack says, biting the inside of his cheek. "i can tell." he adds, sighing again. "jack-" "look, i don't care if you like him or not, but if you date him, please just be careful. i don't want him to hurt you. i can't stand to see you upset, and after everything that happened in 8th grade, i-" he cuts me off and runs out of breath, looking down at his feet, so i speak instead.

"jack," i put my hands on his cheeks and lift his head so he looks back up at me. "i appreciate that you care about me, and that you don't want me to get hurt. but i don't want to date julian." his face turns red, as his eyes meet mine. "oh uh- okay, i just- you know, i don't want to see you crying again." he says, and i chuckle a bit. i take my hands off of his face, and grab one of his hands with mine. he looks down at our hands, his face becoming more red. "are you okay?" i ask him, as he looks back up at me. "oh- yeah, sorry. we should get going." he scratches the back of his neck, and i link my arm with his.

we walk back to the car, where summer and auggie are waiting for us. "you guys ready?" summer asks us and we nod, as we get into the back seats. "can we stop and get dinner before we go to julian's party? i don't really wanna eat at julian's." auggie spoke, as summer chuckles a bit. "yeah, that actually sounds really nice." i say, as summer puts the car in reverse and pulls out of the school parking lot.

when we get to my house, it's 3:17 pm, so we have a little less than four hours to hang out and go get dinner. "so, what'd you guys talk about?" auggie asks, as summer smirks at us. summer and i are sitting on my bed, while auggie sits in my desk chair, and jack sits criss-crossed on my carpet floor.

"nothing really. just about julian and his party." i answer, as jack puts his hands in his lap awkwardly. "oh, that's boring." summer rolls her eyes jokingly. "whatever. where do you guys wanna eat?" jack asks. "i was thinking maybe... yard house?" auggie spoke, and we all agree.