"Here's what's gonna happen" he said to her, giving her a pointed look and either tapping or rubbing the toy on her. "I'm gonna edge you... and I'm gonna watch. But there are 2 rules."
"Rules?" she quizzically stared a him.
"Yeah" he answered.
He t...
They were split in pairs working on a task their lecturer had assigned in the group's last class for Wednesday. River was paired with David, oddly getting along, Payton was paired with Nadia and Eli with Jessica.
"So, fingertip classification?" David asked River, who promptly answered.
"Loops, whorls and arches" River said.
"Don't forget accidentals" Nadia turned to the 2 boys and quietly chimed in.
"Oh, yeah..." River poked his cheek with his pen.
"Okay, right it down here" David pointed at the assignment sheet and River immediately got to writing.
Eli's heart was thumping is his chest and it would also skip a beat or two when Jessica would look and smile at him. Why? He didn't know. He could see she was still somewhat anxious but having her friends with her seemed to make up for some of it. She constantly looked around the room as if she was expecting someone to do or say something to her.
"You okay?" Eli whispered when he saw her worried expression.
"Yeah" Jessica simply said. She didn't look at him, so he assumed she was lying.
I mean, her body language shows that much.
"Hey" he quietly called, grabbing her shaking hand. "It's okay, I'm here for you."
He meant what he said but the look she gave him made him back track a little as he struggled to synch the thoughts in his brain to the ones in his heart.
"I-I mean, we... w-we are here... for you" he stammered, pointing the pen in his other hand to the rest of their group.
Jessica looked at him and quickly released her hand from his, hiding it between her thick thighs, and bit her lower lip before saying something back.
"Thanks... I'm fine, though" she shyly whispered, shifting her gaze back to the papers on the table in front of them and, again, chewing on her lower lip.
Eli noticed she did that a lot, which made him think that it was her response to nervousness. But she also blushed.
She just blushed... right? But she lied too and I don't like that.
"Does being here make you nervous?" he asked her.
"No" she 'smiled'. Like...
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She looked at him with clear fearful eyes and the fakest grin ever. He could see that she definitely felt a way about the whole situation but, for some reason, she kept lying about it and shutting him off.
"Jess, literally, you're saying no but your expression isn't matching your answer" Eli quietly said and she just put her head down and sighed. "You can talk to us, don't keep it in."
"I'll talk to you later, then" she rolled her eyes.
Wait, did she mean... she will talk to me? Or to us?
"Yeah, okay, I'll listen... any time!" he immediately said, regardless of what she meant.
"Thanks" she sarcastically smiled.
That kind of felt like a blow to the face because Eli was being for real. It didn't discourage him, though, he already figured how Jessica behaved sometimes so he brushed it off.
"I mean it, Jess. You're not alone" Eli said.
Just as she was about to say something back, the lecturer's voice interrupted their conversation.
"Alright, take this assignment home and work on it. Bring it back next week so we can collectively go through it. I'll see you guys later" Ms. Derby, their Crime Scene Science teacher, said.
Walking out of the classroom, the 6 of them made a left towards the hall's double doors.
"Do you guys want to come over today? We could do the homework together" David asked his friends.
"Yeah, let's do that. You got anything in your fridge?" Jessica asked him as the rest of the group hummed and nodded their heads.
"Surprisingly I do, I went grocery shopping yesterday" the boy answered, chuckling nervously.
"You have any shrimp and sausages?" she asked him again.
"Oooooooh, fancy" Eli was suddenly very interested in the conversation.
"He better!" Payton chimed in.
"Yup!" David confirmed.
"Pasta bake it is, then" Jessica said, shortly before calling shotgun on David's car as they made it outside. It didn't look like she minded his weird behaviour, she was probably already used to it.
Eli wanted Jessica to ride with him but he didn't have enough courage to ask her, not even after a couple of months of befriending her.
