Love Lessons

C H A P T E R F O U R || J E S S

C H A P T E R F O U R || J E S S

|➵| T H E D E A L B E G I N S |➵|

The bitter October weather forced students to abandon class and hibernate in their dorms. The cold weather called for laziness and sickness. Days where the wind slaps my face and numbs my nose makes me wish I had also stayed inside my dorm. No matter how bundled up I was, nothing beat my warm bed. I hated every step I took, as I got closer to my math class. As students passed by me, they seemed as dreadful as I seemed to be in this weather. As my music stopped playing, my mind suddenly drifted toward Cole. Blushing, I thought about our ridiculous deal.

Love lessons.

What were love lessons?

It all around sounded like a bad idea and although I knew deep down that I would get hurt in the end. Ignoring the facts, I continued to think about the deal we set. I should have thought more about it; everything about it screamed bad idea. To top it off, Cole hasn't spoken to me in two days.

Not as if I was waiting around for him, but I figured after our "deal", he would at least acknowledge me in some way. Instead, we had this constant silence and awkward tension between us. The unknown scared me and as much as I would like to turn around and take it back, I knew it would be bad idea. I needed to live a little, and unfortunately, this was my way to do it.

When I made it into my math building, I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Cole couldn't get the best of me and no matter what happened between this deal and us; I would still stay the same. I made my way to my classroom and found my friend Nicole on her phone, probably texting me. She smiled widely as I sat down and shook her head.

"One minute to spare." She laughed.

"I know, how depressing." I sighed.

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It wasn't until I made it into a common building where they had various small shops and conference rooms, where I ran into Cole. Walking out of one of the coffee shops, I barely missed him as he laughed with his large group of douche bags. He pushed past me, as if I wasn't there at all. For a second, I believed he hadn't seen me, until he turned around to make eye contact with me. Frowning, I avoided his eyes and headed back into the coffee shop, trying to swallow the dry lump in my throat.

Honestly, I didn't know what I would be upset about; we never talked before so it wouldn't make much of a difference now. I just wasn't sure why he didn't acknowledge me at all. He and his friends were gone in a flash, nothing but one glance exchanged between us, leaving me with an unsettling feeling. This just happened to be the start; I wasn't going to be good enough to talk to in front of his friends, ever. I didn't pay attention to who was in front of me and instead kept clouding my thoughts with Cole. In complete oblivion, I collided with a muscular body, almost knocking myself over.

"Oh, fuck." I gasped, looking up at the taller figure in front of him. His eyes twinkled in amusement and I could see the smile twitching on his lips.

"I'm so sorry!" I apologized, checking him out to make sure I didn't spill any of my hot tea on him. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks as I scanned the familiar fac.

"It's alright." He chuckled. His green eyes twinkled as he laughed and I did my best to figure out how I knew him.

"I have a class with you, which one is it?" I blurted. I felt my cheeks warm as I thought about how stupid that sounded but he smiled in response.

"Our education class." He laughed.

"Oh! I think you're right!" I smiled. "Who are you?" I asked. I mentally slapped myself for not knowing proper manners or etiquette with strangers.

"Jerry." He smiled brightly.

"I'm Jess." I responded awkwardly. Jerry laughed and patted the side of my arm.

"Let me grab a coffee and we can walk to our class together. We still have a bit of time." He laughed before he walked to the small line to the coffee shop. I felt nervous waiting for him, still shocked that he even wanted to talk to someone like me. Cole made a point to let me know people don't like me; so why would Jerry? Before I had time to analyze it, he had his coffee and we walked out of the warm building back into the cold, bitter weather.

"Are you enjoying campus so far?" He asked casually. I bit back my smile, trying not to laugh at the basic questions everyone asks each other as they get on campus.

What's your major?

What's your minor?

Where do you live?

What are you involved in?

It seemed like a broken record half the time but when he asked, it seemed so normal.

"It's pretty great, eventually going to get involved; how about you?" I asked him.

"I do basketball, honors program, Habitat for Humanity-"

"Okay, show off." I snorted. He laughed and shook his head at me as we continued walking.

"Don't be jealous." He teased. I rolled my eyes and blushed when he held the door open for me, surprised by his kind actions. Sure, it was a thing boys should do to show their manners, but since I'm usually ignored, I had no idea how to handle a simple gesture.

"Oh, thanks." I mumbled, feeling my cheeks warm. He smiled at me and followed behind me toward our class. As I headed toward my usual seat, he grabbed my arm and frowned at me.

"Hey, where are you going? I promise I don't bite." He teased. My cheeks colored once again and I couldn't help the smile that formed its way on my lips. He noticed my discomfort and broke into a breathtaking smile.

"Okay."

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