catching feelings | paxton hall yoshida |

nine.

word count: 1,349
tw: none
*****

Paxton never responded to the group chat.

Georgia stayed up for hours, a piece of her hoping that he would text her. That he would deny it. Because he likes her.

But he didn't.

She tried to keep her mood neutral after reading Trent's text as to not alert her mother, and retreated to her room early to go to bed. She laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking.

She felt embarrassed.

Was it all in her head? Did Paxton not actually like her?

He couldn't look at her as some one time hook up, right? They were friends.

Maybe whatever was going on with Devi was over.

But then why didn't he text her?

It must not be. And Georgia won't get in the way of that. Paxton and Devi deserve to be happy together.

Her heart panged, and she rolled onto her side. Her eyelids fluttered closed, and she willed her body to relax.

Paxton's my friend. He's a good friend. So I'll be a good friend to him, she thought before sleep took over her exhausted mind and body.

***

When Georgia woke the next morning, the bags under her eyes were darker than usual. Shuffling her "you got this" playlist, she let out a soft sigh and sat at her vanity before pushing her headband back to keep her hair from her face. After going through her usual daily makeup routine, she looked at her reflection for a moment.

She felt insecure.

Georgia looked at the time and decided to add extra highlight to her cheekbones and quickly added a small wing in eyeliner to each of her eyes. 

She pulled on a pair of skinny jeans and paired it with a cream colored cropped sweater and her white converse before pulling her backpack over her shoulder and heading downstairs to see if Thomas was ready.

Thomas was finishing his chocolate chip Eggos when she walked into the kitchen. "Mom said to tell you she wants you to eat breakfast," he told her, his mouth full and edges sticky with syrup.

Georgia rolled her eyes playfully, "I don't get hungry first thing in the morning." But she opened the fridge and grabbed a bottled smoothie anyways. "You almost ready?"

The boy nodded and clumsily stood from his chair, taking his plate and placing it in the dishwasher. "I'm ready," he smiled widely at his big sister.

She laughed at the mess on his face, grabbing a paper towel and wetting it with warm water before cleaning him up. "Alright let's go," she ruffled his hair.

***

"And then Diego said Ms. Green looked like the Grudge, but it's just because her hair is long and curly but she doesn't look like the Grudge, she's beautiful," Thomas finished his long winded story to his older sister who listened as well as she could despite the several directions the story went through.

"You're right, she is beautiful." She smiled fondly down at him and zipped up the gap in his backup zipper when they reached the door to his class. Thomas nearly tackled Georgia in a hug causing her to giggle as she balanced herself. "Have fun! I'll pick you up after school."

"Bye, Georgia!"

The walk to Sherman Oaks High was only a few minutes from the elementary school and gave Georgia a breather to collect her thoughts.