Jayden & Astrid [On Hold]

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - DOUGHNUTS AND CHICKEN NUGGETS

🎬“Behold, the doughnut! Each morsel the perfect combination of precisely measured ingredients for maximum nummy in the tummy” - Dr Fox🎬

Unikitty, ‘Dawn of the Doughnut’

“So, what’s the deal with Astrid?” A suave voice asked.

Jayden looked up from his lasagna to find Olivier Gagnon’s intense blue eyes on him. Although they were both in the same grade and had two classes together, Jayden had only had enough interactions with Olivier to know a few things about him: Olivier was the school’s star tennis player and he wore too much cologne. And it didn’t even smell sweet and fruity like Astrid's but chemically and spicy with a scent so prominent that Jayden could almost taste it whenever they were in close proximity.

“What’s the deal with Astrid as in why does she look like she’ll be attending a seaside red carpet event later today? I don’t know. I generally stopped asking about the why of her actions years ago. She moves to the rhythm of her own drum.” He answered with a shrug.

Olivier furrowed his brows. “I mean she does look especially good today but I was asking about what her deal was in general.”

It was Jayden’s turn to furrow his brows. Beside him Anika, still dressed in her cheerleading uniform, snorted. “Let me cut this conversation down a few sentences. Olivier and some of the other guys at the table want to know if Astrid has a boyfriend.” She explained.

The conversation was a long time coming. But the guys of Olympus Montessori had been struggling with how to pose the question. With Jayden confirming that he was in no way related to Astrid and pictures of Astrid and her dad popping up on multiple sports gossip sites, they had ceased to worry about him playing the role of an overprotective brother. But with one worry gone, came a myriad more. Were they actually just best friends? Were the two best friends secretly dating? Did he have a crush on her? Did she have a crush on him? Did their friendship exist in an awkward limbo stage where they both had crushes on each other but neither of them was willing to risk admitting their true feelings for fear of rejection or ruining their friendship?

Jayden spotted her at the other side of the cafeteria. She was on the line for doughnuts and had struck up a conversation with her fellow drama club member Elisa Marino and her track athlete girlfriend Aisha Mustafa, completely oblivious to the nearby freshman that was enthralled by her every move.

Jayden shrugged. “I don’t think so. She would have said so if she did.”

“Oh cool, cool.” Olivier admitted trying to pass off his excitement as nonchalance. “So what kind of stuff does she like?”

“Astronomy. Basketball. Desserts…”

“You are aware that you can get that type of information from actually talking to her.” Evelyn cut in from the end of the table. “Or like maybe looking at a couple of her Instagram posts.” Jayden didn’t know if it was a coincidence or if he was reading too much into it but it seemed that she had been avoiding him but still strategically observing him. It was mildly unnerving. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that in his letterman jacket and with Anika, her worst enemy, in her cheerleading uniform, it looked like the two were a stereotypical high school power couple.

“What’s her name on IG?” Zeus Angelos asked as he opened the app on his phone. While Jayden was generally indifferent about Olivier and his possible crush on Astrid, he had multiple reservations about his basketball teammate. He wasn’t going to give him any means of contacting Astrid if he could help it. Zeus was just shy of being every bit of an asshole as the actual Greek god.