Nevermind (Sara Bareilles and Javier Dunn)

Untitled Part 12

Jenny had a smirk on her face, arms folded. "Trust me, I already know," Sara said, getting into the car.

"Oh, really? Maybe you should have known not to spend the night with someone you barely know." Jenny wasn't mad. She had more of a "duh, Sara," kind of look on her face. Sara looked disgusted.

"I don't barely know him. We've been on 3 dates. I think we're friends, at least." Jenny raised her eyebrows.

"At least?" Sara said nothing.

"Okay, what's the deal?" Jenny demanded. "You like him."

Sara sighed. "Fine. Yes. I really, really like him. I like the way he talks, he way he moves, the way he says my name...I like him." She realized she could go on practically forever and stopped herself from doing so.

"Ooh. Sounds like a classic case of almost-in-love." Sara shook her head, but in the back of her mind, she knew she wasn't telling the whole truth. She could see herself with Javier. Very easily, in fact.

"It's not like that. 3 dates. That's all. So far." Jenny smiled with a knowing look on her face.

"Come on, you really like him, don't you? Why are you fighting it?"

Sara made a face. "I don't know...it's just that he's probably gonna be a bust, too. I can see..."

"Being with him?" Jenny asked.

Sara gave in. "Yes. He just... is everything. He's cute, funny, smart, talented, and he treats me well. I just don't wanna get hurt again."

"Look." Jenny turned and put her hands on Sara's shoulders, being the wiser big sister she was. "I don't want that either. But you need to trust him. If you sense anything, stop and think. But don't block him out immediately. If every guy was bad, why do you think people get married?"

Because married people are usually older, Sara thought. But she knew Jenny was right. "Fine," she said. "I'll take your advice. But I'm still not gonna let myself take advantage of finding a guy." Jenny sensed Sara wanted to say more, and asked, "I know that look. Say it." Sara let out a huge breath and started from the beginning.

"Okay, so...we were on that first date. It was weird...I felt comfortable around him. Like he wasn't a stranger. We went to a bar for karaoke. I told him to sing, but he made me sing first. His voice...oh my god. When we got back, we were walking and we sat down on a bench. We were talking, just small talk. We kind of stopped, and I was like, 'I just really wanna...' and then he said, 'Kiss me?' and it was magical, Jenny. Everything about it. And then yesterday, we went to get coffee, and he bet that I couldn't write a bad song if I tried, so we ended up writing the stupidest song together. I had never been more...content with a guy. Last night, we were talking, and we just fell asleep. I could just watch him do nothing. I've never felt like this before." Sara's heart fluttered at the thought of him, and she wanted to text him. Now. She didn't.

"Ah," Jenny said. "You seem really serious."

"I guess I am..." Sara said.

"Ya know, at the benefit show, when we were talking, he seemed almost protective. Like he wanted you all to his self. But it didn't look creepy or anything. He was standing there looking jealous. It was pretty cute, actually."

"Are you serious?" Sara asked. "Jealous? Over me?" She felt a surge of not exactly jealousy, but more of "stay away from him" when Jenny said the thing about him looking cute. She pushed the thought aside, knowing he wasn't Jenny's type.

"Yeah! Admit it, you're falling. And so is he." Sara was stunned to realize that maybe she was right. These things weren't supposed to happen so soon, but how could she control how she felt? All she knew was that she wanted to be with him.