Nerds Are Lovable

42: Nerds Are Lonely

After the first night, Jaxon offered one of his guest rooms to Jayden. Apparently, Jaxon's parents were way more understanding than Jayden's for being of the same social status.

He'd spent the past two weeks there with minimal contact with his parents. I knew he was struggling with it, the whole no contact thing, but he also didn't want to face them. And it didn't seem like his parents were eager to talk to him either. They hadn't even asked where he was staying or if he was okay. They just told him that they better not get a single absence call from the school.

"Will you please, please let me do your makeup for Prom?"

"What do I get in return?"

"Beautiful makeup," Emma shrugs like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Mmm, tempting."

"Come on, Haley, please," She begs me, "You always do the same thing and I want to try this new look on you."

"Only if you promise I won't look like a clown," I squint my eyes at her, trying to make sure she's not gonna make me look ridiculous.

She nods profusely, "I would never do something so cruel."

"Yeah, okay," I laugh sarcastically, "I specifically remember a unibrow at one of the parties."

"I was mad at you that day, you can't hold that against me," Emma holds her hands up in mock surrender.

"Also," Emma rummages in the duffel bag she brought with her, "Jaxon gave me a jersey of his for you to wear at the game, he knew you wouldn't have any red and gold in your closet."

"How does Jaxon know what colors are in my closet?" I ask as I grab the shirt she was holding out for me.

She gives me a pointed look, "Black and black is pretty easy to memorize."

"That's not," I look down to see my black crop top with black jean shorts, "True. Okay, maybe you have a point."

"I always do," She winks at me.

The whole point of going to Jaxon's game and dinner after was for Jayden to be surrounded by those that care about him. Jaxon had not-so-subtly implied that Jayden had not been feeling so great since he left his own house. Not that the rest of us couldn't tell.

Jayden was putting up an act that everything was fine and he was unbothered by the situation. Let's just say acting is not one of the great Jayden Monroe's skills. His eyes were always glazed with worry and pain. Yet, every time I tried to bring it up, he quickly changed the topic.

I felt so useless. But I understood not wanting to talk about it. Hell, my whole reputation is because I acted out instead of talking to someone about my issues.

"He won't talk to me about it, but I can tell he's hurting."

"Sounds like someone I know," She smirks.

I throw a pillow at her and laugh when she catches it and throws it back. With a playful glint, I throw the pillow back and grab my own, trying to hit Emma before she regains her balance. Unfortunately, she knew exactly what was coming and hit me right in the gut with her pillow, sending me to my bed.

Emma jumps onto the bed and turns to face me, a playful scowl on her face as she waits for me to get ready to fight. From the floor, I try to bounce the bed with my hands so that Emma is off balance when I jump onto the bed with her.

We continue playfully pillow fighting until we both tumble to the edge of the bed in a fit of laughter.

"So, tell me a secret," I manage to regain my composure, "What's going on with you and Jaxon?"