sweatshirts in the summertime| l.mh /ft. p.js

chapter 13

After school we meet in the gym to decorate for the dance. Lia and I are decorating a banner. Jisung and Chae are hanging streamers. Mark and Hyuck are setting up tables. Everything is going smoothly, it's starting to look really nice in here.

"Are you ok Jae? You seem kinda..." Lia asks not finishing her sentence. "I'm fine." I say simply. She looks up at me and studies my face for a while before looking back at the banner. Honestly I'm just tired and a little irritated that I couldn't sleep last night.

Jisung and Chae finish on the streamers. Chae walks over to me and Lia. I don't acknowledge her. "This banner looks a little sloppy." She criticizes. "First of all, who asked for your input?" I snap at her. "Well this is my dance too, I don't want to take pictures in front of a sloppy banner."

I'm not in the mood to deal with her today. "Jisung, come get your dog." Jisung looks up surprised at the words that just came out of my mouth. Chae gasps. "Who are you calling a dog?" She asks offended. I stand to my feet and stand over her. "You." I say looking her directly in the eyes. I see the anger fill her eyes. It makes me feel accomplished. She finally knows how she makes me feel. I smirk a little at her red face.

"You gonna do something about it?" I ask pressing further. She chose the wrong day. Before anything else can happen, Mark runs up behind me and ties his jacket around my waist. I'm shocked at the sudden contact. He directs me out of the gym with his hands on my waist.

He guides me all the way to his car. "Hey! What was that about?!" I'm upset, I wanted to talk with Chae some more. "Umm... you uh" he stutters. "Spit it out!" I shout still angry about the situation. "There's blood on your jeans." He says looking away. "Oh..." I say finally grasping the situation. I'm not embarrassed at all but it is awkward. More for Mark.

"Do you want me to take you home?" He asks. "No, my parents aren't home and I was so tired this morning, I left my house keys." I explain to him. "Ok, I'll take you to my house. You can get cleaned up there." I nod my head. "Wait, what about your seats? I don't want to stain them."

Mark goes to the trunk of his car and pulls out a towel for me to sit on. I take his jacket off my waist before climbing into the seat.

"So, is that why you've been acting strange today?" Mark asks me. "I guess so. I didn't really get much sleep last night because of cramps. I've been really irritated all day and Chae was not helping the situation."

The whole ride, I was ranting to Mark and he listened the entire time. He didn't zone out or anything. He payed attention to everything I was saying. I felt bad for talking his ears off though. Once we got to the house, he guided me upstairs and gave me some of his clothes to wear. He didn't want Lia to get upset about me wearing hers, which is understandable.

I showered then changed into the clothes. I put a pad on and came out of the bathroom. My hair is wet, I'm wearing his large t-shirt, and a pair of his sweatpants that are kinda loose on me. Mark is pretty skinny so his clothes weren't too baggy on me.

I walked into Mark's room to thank him. The boy looked at me like he's never seen a girl before. He's just sitting there gawking at me. He must realize he's staring because he quickly jumps up and clears his throat. "Do you need anything?" He asks me, turning red from embarrassment. "No, I just wanted to thank you." I say with a smile trying not to laugh at his awkwardness.

"You look really good in my clothes like, I mean, they look better on you. You wear them better than-"
"Thanks, Mark" I say calmly, cutting him off.
"Right, you're welcome."

It's strange seeing him like that. Normally he's confident and easily gives compliments. I've never seen him nervous before. That's usually how he makes me feel. Like my heart is beating out of my chest.