Grace; misanthrope // Jai Brooks

Chapter 14

At lunch, Chloe and Bella were going on about the paint prank. I tried to laugh with them as best I could.

"I still can't believe you missed it," Chloe asked, with a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"Small bladder, I had to pee," I said, mouth full of salad.

When Chloe took her trash up to the bins, I caught her with Jai again. This made me somewhat nervous and jealous, although their encounter was, again, brief. I tried to hold back but I was unable to resist.

"You know Jai?"

She looked at me like I was stupid, "Everybody knows Jai,"

"But you talk to him?"

"Yeah, sometimes," was all she said.

I let it go there, but still didn't like how my heart felt. I didn't say much for the remainder of lunch, but I could tell that Bella sensed some tension.

At the end of the day, I gathered my things at my locker. I felt a hand on my elbow and I was pleasantly surprised to find Jai standing there.

"Hey,"

"Hi," I smiled brightly up at him.

He grinned at the ground, avoiding my gaze.

"So, Luke is having a party next weekend. Want to come?"

"Luke won't mind?"

"No," he insisted. "He's trying to invite as many people as he can. He doesn't care,"

"Oh, so I'm just another person on the list?" I teased.

"No, I didn't mean it like that," he reassured me. "I want you to come,"

I caught that glimmer in his eye, again. I nodded and agreed. He flashed me a smile and was on his way.

When I got home I started studying, trying to get ahead for the week. As usual, whenever my mind began to wander, full of thoughts and curiosities about Jai Brooks, it was difficult to get much school work done. I put on a Pearl Jam album and chucked on some comfortable clothes.

My phone rang and it was Bella calling. She asked me what I was doing next weekend because she had been given some tickets for a local concert. I felt bad and conflicted because they were my best friends and I didn't like letting them down, but Jai had already invited me to a party. I told her I already had stuff going on but if anything changed I would let her know.

Why couldn't I just tell my own best friends how I was feeling? I really had never had much of a crush on a guy before, so I was unsure about myself and the situation. Jai said himself that he hated how I was the only girl who didn't chase after him, he had sort of told me he liked me, he said the kiss wasn't an accident, we danced together, he kissed me again at the dance... Did I need more proof? What was I to do with this information? The more I began to pile together all my evidence, the thought of Jai didn't feel so easy anymore. I felt nervous and hot in the face.

Next to Jai was now my permanent seat in study hall. Some days we talked more than others, but he always seemed to enjoy messing with me. He was always trying to get a reaction out of me, only I was never bothered because I liked his attention, and it appeared he wanted mine as well. I would sit quietly, working on homework, and Jai would rock his knee side to side, bumping into my leg over and over. Sometimes, I would take my finger and press it on his knee to make him stop. He would stop momentarily, just to start doing it again. And I didn't mind.

At work that week, a guy I recognized from school came in with a couple of his friends. His name was Max and he was on the tennis team. I didn't know him well but he'd always seemed nice enough. But I was really taken aback when he started flirting with me.

"You should come to our next tournament." He flashed me a million dollar smile.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" I laughed while handing him his ticket and drink.

"I'd be honored to have such a beautiful girl at one of our tourneys."

He was really charismatic, a friendly and charming guy. I was unsure what to say, but I couldn't help my face turning into a tomato.

"Maybe," I chuckled.

"I'll let you think about it," he said.

A bit later during my shift, Max came out of the theatre. He approached me very nonchalantly.

"I'd really like to ask for your phone number," he proposed.

I smiled, unable to help it. Reluctantly, I gave him my number. I was feeling very conflicted for the rest of the night, thinking about Max and his dazzling smile.