Meet Me Half Way

Chapter 3

Culinary. When I arrive Jack is already there, and he meets me halfway to my seat. 

"So Blair. I wanted to talk to you after school. You know, the note. Do you accept my invitation?" He asks guiding me to my chair, pulling it out in the process of sneaking onto the chair before I can sit down. 

"Hey! I was going to accept, but you stole my chair so now I'm not sure." I say pouting and looking away. He snakes his arms around my waist, pulling me down onto his knee so I'm sitting on the chair with him. I shriek as I fall onto his lap, blushing in the process. 

"How 'bout know?" He asks. I can sense his eyes penetrating the back of my skull, burning holes so big that the whole class could see right through to Jack. His tousled brown hair, ice blue eyes that are deceivingly cold but show warmth and kindness to me, and his full pink lips. His lips I tell you are the icing on the cake because they puff out just enough that they pull you in, but guard his secrets just enough to make you want to discover them. 

"Blair? You okay?" Jack asks me turning me slightly to look me in the eyes. He furrows his brow to show his concern. I smile slightly and nod.

"Yea, just thinking about how lucky I am to have you treat me the way you do." I say smiling. His husky laugh cuts through the rough classroom air. 

"Well I am lucky that you let me treat you this way." He says,hugging me and pulling me closer. The bell rings and I stand up, letting him stand up and go to his seat behind me. I sit down and look at the board. Veggie and Meat Dishes. Great. We are doing a lot of cutting today. I am usually very good with knives, clean cuts and good food. Whats better? I got this in the bag. I smile and wait for Mrs. Smith to start the class. And no, she is not related to the ever so popular Anna Smith. 

"Today class we will be cutting a lot of veggies. I have changed my mind and we will not be doing meats. That can be tomorrow. Any questions or can we just look at the folders I have already placed on your tables so you and your partners can get started?" Mrs. Smith says. Nobody raises their hands so she allows us to begin. We are timed on every challenge but I usually do most of the work because my partner, Lisa, doesn't do anything but gossip about her terrible love life. We get started by washing our hands and this time Lisa does the usual. She just sit there and talk while I prepare the knives and veggies. I grab a peeler and start peeling potatoes. Once I finish peeling the potatoes, I start chopping them. I am about to cut a slice of potato when Lisa screams, causing my knife to slip, slicing off a large piece of my hand. I shriek with blood instantly running out of the wound. Jack comes around the table, hearing my shout, and running to me when he sees the river of blood coming out of my hand. I grab my hand, pulling it up away from the food. There is a large slice of my palm on the cutting board. I hear a thud and I see Lisa laying on the floor unconscious. Wimp. 

"Oh My God! Are you okay Blair?" Jack says. I feel the tears stinging my eyes and I see Jack look up at me.

"It's okay to cry Blair," he whispers in my ear. " Mrs. Smith! I have to take Blair down to the office. She's bleeding pretty bad." He says as he guides me out of the classroom. We go down to the office leaving a lovey bloody trail around the school behind us. By the time we get to the office I have a slow flow of salty tears running down my cheeks. 

"Mrs. Willow! We need you here now!" Jack shouts into the office, while putting a protective arm around me. Mrs. Willow comes out of the back to see us. She explains to us that she can't fix this. I have to go to the E.R. Great. Mrs. Willow calls an ambulance and I talk with Jack as we try to clean my hand a little. 

"Mrs. Wilson, who would you like to accompany you to the E.R.?" Mrs. Willow asks me. I shrug and look at Jack. He gets my message and nods his head.

"I will." He responds. God he's so sweet. I stare into his eyes and follow him outside. The ambulance arrives and I am too short to just get into the back. I can't lift myself because I can't put my hand down. Jack voluntarily lifts me up, putting me on the stretcher. He sits down next to me and waits for the paramedic to join us.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He asks, out of the blue. I smile and shake my head. She smiles as well and the paramedic arrives in the back.

"What happened here?" He asks as the ambulance starts driving towards the hospital. I roll my eyes.

"Well, I cut myself in Culinary because my partner wasn't doing anything and scared me. The knife slipped and I lost a piece of my palm." I say leaning on Jack as the paramedic inspects my palm. He pours something on my palm and it stings. I flinch and Jack squeezes my shoulder. I am thankful for the support, so I give him a thankful smile. We arrive at the hospital and I lay down on the stretcher. Jack jogs next to us to keep up, or else he won't be able to stay with me while the doctor fixes me up. We arrive in the room and I get transferred to the bed. I slide over and pat the bed next to me. Jack slides in next to me and I lean on his shoulder. There is something about him that makes me feel safe. I feel Jack pull out his phone and pull up Snapchat. He adds himself on my phone, and I do the same on his. He takes a selfie with me and I bring my hand up into it, blood and all. We are both smiling, I'm leaning on his shoulder. It's adorable. He puts on a caption: In the E.R. with bae! I smile and blush. He posts it to his story. I take a selfie with him, no hand, and put no caption. To the story it goes! I take a photo of my hand only and caption it: Culinary Mishaps! Whoops! Jack laughs as I post it to my story. We wait for the doctor to come in and he tells jokes to take my mind off my hand. I sure think I have the best boyfriend ever.