Half-Hearted

Chapter 8: Unknown

"Hey Adam."

"Hey babe. What's up?"

"I just asked Tommy to come meet us here for lunch so you two could get to know each other and meet each other for the first time. Sorry. I should've asked first."

"No. That's okay. I want to meet this Thomas guy."

"Okay. Great. He should be here soon. Oh! There he is! Tommy!"

Jacqueline ran to hug him and Adam followed her.

"Hey J. You must be Adam."

"Yeah. So, I guess Jacqueline has talked about me a lot. Only good things, I hope."

"Only good things, yes. Should we grab a table?"

"Yeah. What should we order?"

"I know for a fact that J loves pizza. Why not get that?"

"I'll pay. Put that wallet away, Thomas."

Jacqueline and Thomas found a table while Adam was getting the pizza.

"You like him, right?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

"It's just, it doesn't seem like you like him. Like you're pity-dating him."

"I like him, okay? This is about last night with you and Dylan, isn't it? You promised him that you would take care of me and that you would learn what is going on with me and tell him! Why would you do that to me?"

"It's for your own safety. You know your brother is protective."

Just then, Adam came back with the pizza. "Hey. What you talking about?"

"Not much. School."

"Okay. Let's eat." He kissed her before he sat down and opened up the pizza. 

After they had finished, Jacqueline stood up and excused herself to the ladies room.

"Hey, Thomas."

"Yeah? Man, thanks for the pizza. I owe you."

"Yeah, you do. I need you to stay away from Jacqueline."

"Why? Why me? I've known her my whole life. You've known her for one week."

"Because I said so. Now, either you leave, or I'll tell Jacqueline how you really feel about her. You like her, don't you?"

"What do you mean? I just like her as a friend. It would get too weird if anything happened between us."

"No. You are jealous that she likes me. Okay?"

"But-"

"Hey babe. Should we get back to your house?"

"Sure. Let's go."

"Wait. J, I need to talk to you."

"Can it wait till tomorrow? I really have to go see how Dylan is doing."

"How about tonight? After he's in bed? Please? It's really important."

"Okay. See you tonight."

"Great. See you later."

Jacqueline had no idea what was going on. She was shocked that Thomas needed to talk to her that urgently. She smiled and waved and asked Adam what was going on.

"Nothing, babe. I'm sure it's just for school."

"Okay. I'm worried about him though. I've always been there for him and he's always been there for me. I wonder what could be bugging him this much. But, you're probably right. It probably is just school."

That night, Jacqueline went over to Thomas' house.

"Hey. Come on in."

"Hey. What's up?"

"Okay. Now, if you don't believe me, that's okay. But you need to know the truth."

"Now you're scaring me. What's going on?"

"It's Adam. After you left to go to the bathroom, he started to tell me these horrible things."

"Like what?" Jacqueline asked curiously.

"He said that we can't be friends. That if we stay friends, he'll tell you my secret."
"What? What secret?"

"He is going to tell you that I like you."

"I know. You like me as a friend. If we like-liked each other, things would get weird, right? I've received that speech, given that speech, and heard other people give lots of people that speech."

"Really?"

"Really. You have nothing to worry about. He doesn't even know that we are neighbours."

"Okay. See you tomorrow."

"Bye."