betwixt - enhypen

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐧: 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞

when she woke up the next day, joori reached over for her phone, as usual, to check for any texts from jay. for every day since they had met she did so, faithfully anticipating a good morning or a let's make plans.

almost every day her phone had been dry, and unfruitful. today was no different. at least they were back on speaking terms, for now. it wouldn't be a lie to say joori missed her new friend, and her life felt lonely without him.

maybe it was the warm smile he would give when she needed it or the care he would show that paralleled the boyfriend she was missing. jay was more to joori than just the person who would help her complete her plan.

speaking of which, she had sort of abandoned the plan. falling for jay was something anyone could have seen coming, but she did still want to get payback on jake. she never planned for jake to take her back, she just wanted change for herself, which she had found in jay.

walking along the corridor to class, early as usual, joori was surprised to see the person she had been daydreaming about enter class before it started for once.

maybe she was rubbing off on him, she thought, although the smile that crept across her face disappeared as she decided that wasn't a good thing, since it should have been the other way around.

before she could spiral into more self-deprecating thoughts, she had reached the doors to the lecture hall, where jay was standing slouched against the frame. no one tended to use the back doors other than jay, joori and a couple of other students that didn't want any fuss. it allowed jay to stand there for long enough to have a conversation with someone on the phone before he had to put the device away and move to the side, letting joori pass. he followed in after her like a puppy following her scent trail.

jay had never thought about joori's scent before, largely because she didn't really have one: fresh linen and the occasion faint notes of lavender from the shampoo she had bought with him.

jay on the other hand smelt much stronger, of his vanilla and sage cologne mixed with the leather of his biker jacket he seemed to never take off.

there was something delicate about joori that warned jay to stay away, to not taint someone so pure, and so unlike him. she was just a human, like him, but it felt wrong to be with her sometimes like she was wasting her time with him when she should be somewhere else with someone else.

"sunshine," he called her name and pulled her back into the corridor since she had only walked a few feet past him. "you still want to be like me, right?"

his use of the nickname already boxed her in, so of course joori nodded. how else would she answer? she had already told him this though, so clearly his words held a more specific meaning than on the surface.

"skip school with me."

and there it was. what jay had wanted to ask all along, but was convinced joori would say no to. he didn't mean to push her, but with some encouragement and the right choice of words he did manage to back her into a corner.

"fine. just for today though." inside, joori's heart was pumping so fast. was it the heat of the moment or nerves that arose every time she did even the smallest thing out of line that filled her with a swarm of butterflies?

bowling. joori had skipped her lecture to be taken to a bowling alley. not just any bowling alley, one that had been through enough renovations it would be a gamble if her ball actually made it down the aisle. with pieces of duct tape lazily hanging from gaps in the carpet and most of the venue semi-permanently shut, joori was a little confused as to why of all places jay would choose to go here. he'd never even mentioned bowling before around her.