The Jock and the Nerd (A Jc Caylen and Kian Lawley Story)

Chapter 21: Homecoming

Song of the Chapter: Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift
Jc:

Homecoming was one day away. Which means for girls, getting the right dress, shoes, accessories, and having the perfect hair and makeup. For guys, that meant dreading the clothes and all the things that make homecoming, homecoming.

You could feel the homecoming energy in the air throughout the entire school. The hallways, classroom, lunch room, even when you passed the teachers' lounge. You could hear the girls shrieking at their boyfriends that everything had to go perfect.

That wasn't the issue for Kian and me.

The issue was the going part. Kian had realized that he was a bad dancer and thought I would ditch him for someone else once I saw him dancing. As if.

So I tried to teach him to dance. Not that it mattered to me. But Kian insisted. I don't even want to go to this stupid dance anyways, but I feel bad because I went last year with some girl and I don't want Kian to feel like I'm embarrassed by him in any way. I'm really not; screw what people think. I just want to be with him and make him happy. And if going to homecoming makes him happy, then we'll go to homecoming.

I huffed at my textbook, pushing my glasses to the top of my head and shoving my book away. I rested my head in the palm of my hand, sighing and closing my eyes. Thinking about homecoming stresses me out. Everyone expects so much to come from it, including Kian. I don't want to disappoint him.

"Why don't you wear your glasses to school?" Kian spoke from across the room, and I turned all my attention on him. My eyes lingered on his face, grazing over his eyes, nose and lips. I looked back up to his eyes and answered, "I'm not as confident as you."

"What do you mean?" Kian asks, shifting his weight onto his elbows, staring intently at me.

"When I was in elementary school, I was bullied harshly for wearing them to school." I shrugged as if it was a meaningless part of my past, but in reality, it still stung to think about. I think Kian could sense something wrong, because he crawled across the room to me and pulled me into a hug, my head resting on his chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist, sighing, feeling peaceful as I took in his familiar smell.

"It's okay, baby. No one can hurt you, not as long as I'm around." He kissed the top of my head, rocking me back and forth soothingly.

I must've fallen asleep, because I woke up in my bed. I looked over at my bedside table, feeling groggy, and I saw a note with my glasses set on top of it. The note said:

I went home, I hope you don't mind. I'll see you tomorrow at homecoming.
By the way, you're a beautiful sleeper. But then again, you're beautiful all the time.
Love, Kian

Kian:

I rolled my sleeves up and looked at myself in the mirror. I look okay, I thought to myself as I picked the sleep out of my eyes. Today is homecoming, and before the dance is always the football game, and of course I'm going because Jc is on the team, and he happens to be starting. I'm so proud and excited for him. He's really worked hard.

I parked outside of the school. The parking lot was packed and I had to find a spot around back to park. I met up with Ricky, Connor, Trevor, Charlotte and Gretchen. We found a seat in the bleachers, just a minute before kick-off.

Ricky and I made small talk, but I really wasn't in it. My mind was focused on Jc and spotting him in the group of buff teenage football players. I was a little worried, to be honest. I always was when he played in a game. You could get really hurt. It could be life scarring. Hopefully, nothing happens to my baby.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ten seconds left in the game. All we needed was one touchdown to win. It was such a cliche moment, but all I could think about was getting that ball passed to Jc to make a touchdown. I'm pretty sure everyone was thinking the same thing. You could feel how tense the air was with anticipation as the ball was thrown into a spiral that probably went a lot faster than it looked. Everything was in slow motion to me. From the ball being thrown, to the spiraling ball in the air, to Jc catching the ball, making a touchdown.

He did it.

He made the winning touchdown.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jc linked his fingers with mine as we entered the gymnasium that was turned into a party room with tables with juice and cups on them and a DJ with his own table. To be honest, I was quite impressed. It looked more like a party than last year and the turn out was bigger than last year.

I trailed behind Jc, our fingers still intertwined, as we met up with our group of friends on the edge of the dance floor. The couples were me and Jc, Trevor and Gretchen, Charlotte and Conner (they hooked up two weeks into Jc and my relationship. Cute, right?). The only one not paired up in our group was Ricky, and I immediately felt bad for him. I guess we all had been caught up in our one little 'couple world', that we never realized Ricky didn't have a date.

Jc must have noticed, because he used his free hand to pat him on the back and carry a friendly conversation. I stood, looking down at Jc as I watched them converse about the football game earlier. As if on cue, the five 'queen bees' of the school came up to Jv with fake, wide spread smiles.

"Jc," Vanessa, the leader of the queen bee group, came up to Jc, cutting me off from Jc and interrupting Jc and Ricky's conversation completely. She chewed her gum obnoxiously and stroked Jc's muscular arm as she said, "Wow, you were really great at today's game. And that winning catch; talk about impressive!"

I rolled my eyes and turned away from the crowd that Jc had drawn in and motioned for Ricky to come with me. We sat down at a table that was in the corner of the room and hidden in the dark. I looked out at all the people dancing and having a good time. I was having a good time, too. Ricky is great company.

Ricky asks me if that kind of stuff bothers me. You know, when a swarm of girls consumes him in a hole that never ends. I just shrugged it off, not wanting to answer. Because really, I've never been more jealous.