Teasing Me as You're Loving Me

Chapter 21. I've waited.

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Jayre

My eyes open at 4 AM like clockwork. I use up a good 30 minutes to get ready before I stride over to Layla's bed. I smile down at her.

I planned to do something over the top today. I gained so much hope when I had heard the disappointment in her voice yesterday. But the hope was short lived when I began questioning myself if it was disappointment because I wouldn't tell her, or because she wanted to know so badly but couldn't. I was really hoping it was the second option.

I shook her awake. "Huh?" she grumbles, looking around. I hand her glasses to her as she yawns. "What now..." she groans. I had learned early on that Layla, was not a morning person. And if she's freshly woken up, I can guarantee that if given the chance, she'd rip your throat out.

"Come on, you don't need to get ready, you look good. Just get up." I wasn't lying too. Layla was still beautiful even in the morning. In fact, her messy hair looked intentional, like she had spent an hour pent up in the bathroom doing it. I sigh, grabbing her wrist before practically dragging her outside. It was still dark before I kept stringing her along till we got to the spot I wanted. It was a spot on the beach, near the water.

I laid the towel down on the sand as I pat the spot beside me, indicating for her to sit. Once she was sat beside me, I pull out some gummy bears from the bag I had been carrying and hand some to her. A smile grows on her face as she sees them. "How thoughtful." she says. "This will surely make me forgive you for waking me up at 4:30 in the damn morning." her voice drips with sarcasm and I laugh.

"Well, my apologies for wanting to watch the sunrise with you." I smirk as I lean back on my hands. "I heard the beach here looked exceptionally beautiful while watching either sunsets or sunrises." I say, which was true, some other couple in our class informed me of that.

"The sky isn't even showing a hint of light yet, it's so early that it's still dark!" she groans.

"It is kinda necessary to wake you up that early if you want to watch a sunrise."

"Whatever, this is ridiculous." she sighs before popping a gummy bear into her mouth. She's gazing at the sky. Still dark and blue. But I'm gazing at her. Still beautiful and stunning.

We sit there for a few moments. Silent, peaceful. A comfortable silence. Our shoulders were touching. I let out a content sigh.

The sun began to rise and as I looked over at Layla, bathing in the sunlight, I concluded that this was better than any other sunrise. It was hard to rip my gaze from her.

"It's beautiful." she breathed beside me. I wish she knew that I was only looking at her. But I just nodded. "Jayre?" I met her gaze. Tilting my head slightly. My heart almost flew out of my body, is she finally asking if— no. Calm down!

"Hm?"

"Are you gonna tell me who the mystery girl is anytime soon?" she asked with a cheeky smile. My heart sunk. I wanted to scream 'It's you!' so badly. But I couldn't. So instead I just shook my head. She pouted but turned her gaze back to the beautiful sky, it's light, careful blue fading into a beautiful light orange, reflecting on the crystal sea. But I'm still looking at her. Soon. I tell myself. When she gives me the signals.

The birds began to wake, the clouds began to swirl, the tides beginning to ride up, other people beginning to run to the shore. Yet there we still were, bathing in the sunlight. Sitting on the towel I had brought, empty bags of gummy bears in my bag. "You know... this might be enough to turn me into a morning person." Layla laughed and I looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Yeah." I stare at her for a few moments before she bursts out laughing. Her hair flying in the wind, her smile, so radiant. I could get used to this.

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Layla's laughter lingers in my mind, even when I approach my friends and take a seat next to Hayden. Ace and Jack look at me with a weird look. "What?" I ask. Ace exchanged a glance with Hayden and I see Hayden mirroring their confused expressions. "What?" I repeat.

"What are you smiling about?" Oh. I hadn't even realized I was smiling. Is that how much Layla affected me? To the point of constant joy even with other people around me?

I shrug. I didn't need to tell them. But Hayden catches on. He looks at me with narrowed eyes before he groans and shakes his head. "It's about Layla isn't it?" Now both Ace and Jack groan as well. Did they have a problem with Layla or something?

"So what if it is?" I ask, rolling my eyes.

Jack shakes his head. "It's always about her dude!" he pauses for a moment. "Maybe you should move on. Plus I overheard a few girls gossiping about your hair and how good it looked on the way here." he says with a smirk.

Ace nods. "What's so special about her anyway? Sure she looks good, gets good grades, the good girl every parent wants..." he trails off. "But did you see how much times I used the word 'good' I mean, come on Jayre. I'm sure someone like you can pull more than just 'good'"

"True, do better man." Hayden laughs. I stayed silent. "Plus aren't her and Zander together or something? Or was it Wacky?"

"Or was it the other million guys she hangs out with." Ace and Jack join in Hayden's laughter. I hear a murmur in the back, but I ignore it.

"She told me her and Zander or Wacky were just friends." I state.

Ace raises his eyebrows. "And you believed her?" Jack is laughing even harder now, and Hayden has tears forming at the corner of his eyes.

"Why wouldn't I believe her?" I murmur, my voice annoyed. I didn't bother hiding it too. But they don't seem to hear me. Why were they talking about Layla like this? Layla might look like a stereotypical mean girl, but she's pretty far from it. She only has a few friends in her inner circle, all of which are far from being mainstream or popular.

Hayden looks at me. "Seriously Jayre, she's way out of your league, look at her friends."

"Not to mention she has a superiority complex. Always acting like she's better than us, and plus, she always brags about her score to you doesn't she?" Jack adds.

I stay silent.

✎ᝰ. 𓍢ִ໋🀦 ✎ᝰ. 𓍢ִ໋🀦 ✎ᝰ. 𓍢ִ໋🀦