The day I found you annoying

Chapter 16: Obvious

I recently realized something I think I had been neglecting for a while.

"Why are you giving me this?" I asked.

"It doesn't fit me anymore." Justin shrugged, holding the hoodie I liked so much in his hand, his arm extended towards me.

"But you wore it yesterday." I added, confused.

Justin shrugged. "If you don't want it..."

"I do! I do!" I quickly grabbed it from him, and he fought a triumphant smile.

I turned and climbed up the stairs of my uncle's house. Before I opened the door, I put it against my nose and smelled it.

"What are you doing?" Justin asked by the fence. Shit. He was still looking at me. I studied him. He always waited for me to get inside, he always walked me to the white house with the red door, even if his stop was way before mine.

"I just... I was wondering if you washed it." I lied. I just liked his smell.

He frowned. "You weirdo. See you at school."

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I recently realized something and I feel it could change everything f I acted on it.

Football games were always fun. I obviously got into the cheerleading team in high school, too. I mean, not to be cocky, but I was pretty good.

When the game ended and they won, I usually looked for Justin's number on the jersey. He didn't know I noticed but I knew he looked for me right after it ended. He took off his helmet and his eyes roamed the cheerleaders until they landed on me. Sometimes he feigned he hadn't been looking for me, other times he felt confident and gave me a little smile.

What he didn't actually know was how happy he made me with that little gesture.

I waved at him and applauded. I'd always be the louder one when it came to cheering him.

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I recently realized something, and now I'm scared.

Justin was like a little genius. He knew about everything and anything. The problem were his communication skills. He didn't know how to explain them to me.

"Please don't ever be a teacher." I frustratedly pulled at the hairs coming out of my already messy bun. "Don't ever consider it."

"Why?"

"Because you'd make a terrible one." I sighed, looking down at the notes he had just made on my calculus notebook.

"I could leave, you know?" He tsked his tongue. "I could be doing a million things better than this."

"Then leave." I said, pointing to the door of the van. "I didn't ask for your help."

Justin bit his lips, looked towards the door, then looked down at me again. He sighed and began writing again, his body leaned towards me so I could see.

"If you have better things to do, leave." I said irritated.

"But you're failing."

"So what?" I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back on the wall. "It's not your problem."

He shook his head. "I can't let you fail."

I stared at him until he finished writing those hieroglyphs. I stared at his profile. How he slightly bit his top lip when he was focused. How his eyes darted from the line beneath to the new one he was writing. How his ears turned red because he knew I was looking.