One Road

Chapter 4

I drum my fingers on the arm rest of my arm chair, staring at the phone on the coffee table in front of me. It's Saturday and I'm just sitting here, instead of reading or painting or doing something. Anything. I let out a sigh of exasperation and reach forward, picking up it up quickly and pressing on the contact before I can change my mind.

Me: Hey, meet up tomorrow to discuss?

The answer comes a lot quicker than I expected.

Tyler: Sure, where?

I smile faintly, typing out a reply quickly.

Me: Do you know where Olivia's Cafe is?

Tyler: Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've seen it around. 12:30 okay with you?

Me: Sounds great. See you then.

Tyler: See you.

I'm just about to put my phone away in my pocket when it starts ringing. I pick up.

"Hey Jess."

"Get ready, quick."

I frown. "What? Why?"

"Just do it, look pretty, be ready."

I roll my eyes. "I always look pretty Jess, what are you trying to say?" I glance down at my old pyjamas and long messy blonde hair, looking as far from pretty as ever.

"Knowing you, you're in your ratty old pyjamas and you haven't even thought about dragging a comb through your tatty hair."

"Eh, wrong. I've thought about it, just not got as far as actually doing it." I say, crossing my arm over my middle and passing my phone to my other hand.

"Get ready. Trust me, you'd rather be ready for this."

"Are you going to tell me what 'this' is?"

"Nope. Just be ready in 5 minutes, 'kay?"

She hangs up without waiting for an answer and I let out a breath of exasperation. Jess can be so irritating sometimes. However, I put my phone in my pocket and go upstairs to get ready for this ever so mysterious occasion.

I change into a white Central Perk top and black shorts, as well as brushing my hair and tying it back into a ponytail. Afterwards, I sit on my bed and wait for whatever I'm supposed to be ready for.

Maybe Jess is coming over here with a nail emergency. Or worse, a new boyfriend dilemma. Though usually I can just give her a tub of ice cream, stay in my messed up morning state and comfort her when she finally shuts up. Don't get me wrong, I love her to pieces, she is my best friend. But sometimes she can be a teeny, tiny bit too much.

The bell rings and I stand up quickly, walking past my older brother's room and down the stairs. I open the door.

"Jess, now can you tell me what this is fo-" I stop. "You're not Jess."

"And you're not Beyonce, so I guess we're both disappointed." Jake replies, grinning at me with his hands in his pocket.
His brown hair is styled back effortlessly and he looks good in his grey hoodie and black jeans, the chain of a necklace slightly visible underneath. A black backpack is hung over one of his arms, full of what looks like books.

"What are you doing here?" I ask bluntly.

"I'm here to study Maths with you. Why, don't you want me here?"

"Not exactly." I mumble.

He puts a hand on his chest in mock offence. "Hurtful." His eyebrow quirks up at me. "Gonna let me in?"

"Well I wasn't planning on it, but sure." I say, pushing the door open wider and stepping out of the way. He makes his way into the living and I pull my phone out of my pocket.

Me: I hate you.

Jess: Love you too x

I sigh and put my phone away again, following Jake into the living room.

"Do you want something to drink?" I ask politely, leaning against the door frame and crossing my arms.

"Sure. Do you have lemonade?"

"Is J.K Rowling possibly the best author ever?"

Jake smiles. "So you do have lemonade."

I raise my eyebrow slightly, surprised to find that he agrees with me. "Yeah, I'll get you some."
I go into the kitchen and get two glasses of lemonade as well as a bowl of Doritos and a bowl of normal Ready Salted crisps. Somehow I manage to make it back into the living room without falling and dying in the shattered glass, spilled lemonade and broken remains of Doritos and crisps. I set the bowls on the table and hand him his glass.

"Thanks." Jake says, taking a sip of his lemonade. I take a sip of my own and smile.

"This is my favourite drink." I say, for no particular reason.

Jake smiles faintly. "I know."

I glance at him in confusion, but he just pulls out his Maths book and a text book without looking at me. I groan in annoyance.

"It's Saturday," I complain. "Weekdays are for dying of boredom, not weekends."

Jake grins. "That's why I'm here, you can't die of boredom with someone as interesting as me around."

"Your lack of modesty never fails to astound me." I say coolly, taking another sip of my drink.

Jake just laughs and I go to get my Maths stuff out too. Before starting, we decide to move to my room instead just because it's quieter. We go over the theories and methods of some different equations before actually starting the questions. Jake sets up a rule: get a question right, get a handful of crisps and Doritos. If that doesn't make you want to work hard, I don't know what will.

After a while I wander into the kitchen and make some popcorn, pouring it into a big bowl and going back up to my bedroom. We're just throwing pieces of popcorn for each other to catch when my mother decides to walk in.

"Oh hey Bri, I didn't realise that you had company." She says, smiling at me slightly pointedly. "Is this a date?"

I open my mouth to reply but Jake steps in first. "No, no. It's more of a study date to be honest." He says politely, grinning slightly.

My cheeks go slightly pink. "It's not a date at all! He came over to study."

"Aha," My mother says skeptically. "Well, have fun 'studying'."

I throw a pillow at the door as she shuts it and Jake grins at me.

"You could have just admitted it was a date for her, you know. I don't mind."

"It's not a date!" I say, picking up another pillow and whacking him over the head with it. "And I don't care if you mind, I mind!"

Jake grins at me and grins innocently. "Sure, it's not a date."

I roll my eyes at him and go back to my text book.

"I should have made the rule: get a question right, get one kiss." He muses. "Maybe that would have made you work harder."

I hit him over the head with the pillow.