Eastwood Academy

Chapter 19: Jealous

I keep thinking that ignoring River will get easier. After three weeks of it, I have the skill of pretending not to notice him down to a science. Outwardly, I'm sure it appears that I'm indifferent to him. Inwardly, the opposite is still true.

Gavin and I have been working on compiling a list of Eastwood alumni and local business owners for the donor list. We've spent a couple nights per week in the library deciding on who we should have on the list and then ranking them in order of who to reach out to first.

I'm grateful for our easy friendship. We laugh and talk easily. Both of us have a lot in common. The librarian has come over to scold us for "inappropriate volume" more than once. A couple of times, I've seen River a few tables over. He always looks irritated these days, and I can't help but wonder why.

I also can't help but notice that since the night I broke up Elena and Gabby's fight, I haven't seen him with any other girls. Even Beth. Some pathetic part of me hopes that I have something to do with this phenomenon, but I try to keep these thoughts at bay because the rational part of me knows it's not true.

Three weeks into River and I ignoring each other, I walk with Gavin into the fourth Monday committee meeting. I have to admit to myself that we look and sometimes act like a couple. Once or twice since the conversation about the dance, I've considered possibly dating Gavin. We get along so well. Maybe my feelings could deepen into something romantic. But then I thought about the negative impact it could have on our friendship and decided it's better to leave that door closed for now, even though I know that Gavin wants the opposite.

When we walk in the door, both of us are laughing from watching a hysterical tik tok, Jessica sent out a group chat. It's a good distraction for me because every time I walk through a door of a room I know River is in, I have to pay extra attention not to let my eyes seek him out. Or at least not to be obvious about it. I spot him now, out of the corner of my eye, watching me laugh with Gavin. His expression is neutral, but I swear I can detect a hint of pain in his brilliant green eyes.

This meeting starts like all the others. Connell and Nina update us on any Eastwood sports news we need to know, and then we all share the progress we've made and make any iterations to the plan that are needed. The last couple of meetings have been short and efficient. River and Tyler don't have much to report. They quickly got the team to agree to participate in the tournament. I'm sure the guys think the idea of playing with a group of people who probably haven't kicked a soccer ball since grade school will be amusing.

I'm a little surprised when Marina announces that her group (Beth and Anna) is slightly behind with video editing content to put on the school's social media account, but Nina tells them not to worry and that they'll find someone in the group to help.

Last week, Gavin shared our progress, so this week, I give the update: the donor list is done. We'll create and launch a webpage through the school's sports website and then begin outreach with a series of emails and follow-up calls next week. Since we're on track to hit our goal targets, I expect Nina to move on to the next person when I'm done speaking. Instead, she turns to Gavin.

"Hey Gavin, we had multimedia together last year, right?" Nina asks.

"Yeah," Gavin answers wearily, sensing where this is about to go.

"If I recall correctly, you were a pretty good video editor," Nina says.

"I'm decent," Gavin admits reluctantly.

"Perfect, you can help Beth, Marina, and Anna finish the editing they need to do for our socials," Nina declares. To my surprise, Beth turns and gives Gavin what seems like a genuine smile. Ugh, I have to stop myself from scowling at her. I guess I just assumed she disliked him as much as me. Apparently not.