He was a mess. His hair looked as if it was combed down, but also as if it hadn't been combed in days. His eyes had bags under them, they were red and puffy too. He was anxiously tapping his fingers against his knee, his foot tapping the floor.
"I have had this insane crush on you for years, and I didn't know what to do. So I was an idiot and asked out your cousin to make you jealous and see if you would do anything. It didn't go the way I wanted to, so after that I just pretended to hate you to make it easier. I knew you weren't pretending though, so it was hard." he wipes his palms on his thighs and I look at him with sympathy spread across my face.
"Grayson..."
"And everything I said about you I didn't mean at all, which just made it even worse. Every time after I said stuff to you, I felt horrible and pushed it aside. I figured it would go away eventually." he explains, "But it didn't, so I kept going on with the act. Then, we were partnered up for the project together and I figured now was my time to make a move. I didn't know how, though, so I loosened on the act, then I just- I couldn't contain it anymore. And I went in to kiss you in that classroom and I never should've done that because then I knew even more how you really felt. And then the gym and I'm sorry."
I sit there for a minute, just staring into a blank space. How do I react to this? The guy I have actually hated for years actually loved me?
"Who knew?" I ask, looking at him.
"Ethan, Jake, Jack, and Aaron. And our sister." he responds and I nod slowly, licking my dry lips and biting the inside of my bottom lip.
"I really-- I don't know what to say." I murmur, "I-i really wasn't expecting this. I, uh, I don't know what to do."
What the hell do I say? I'm clueless, I'm fucking confused. How do I go on from this? Do I go out with him or do I hate him? I can't keep hating him, I can hardly look at him right now, he's heartbroken and if I look at him like this then I'll probably fall for him.
You've already fallen for him, you know you have. You wouldn't be this nervous if you didn't. You loved that kiss; you couldn't even go to school for three days because you were thinking about that kiss. Yeah, maybe freaking out about it, but it was a good fucking kiss.
"Well, you can either keep on hating me and ignore what just happened or you could give me a chance and we can take things slow." he drawls and I nod. "I'm gonna go. You think about it. I'm sorry, and I understand if you want nothing to do with me and if that's what you choose than I'll ask Mr. Roberts to do something about the project."
He stands up and walks out, what the hell do I do?
I quickly rush out of my house and into the car, speeding over to Julia's. When I get there, there's no cars in the driveway which means she's either not home or she's home alone. I get out of the car and run to the front door, knocking harshly on it. Hopefully she opens it because I'm a mess.
The black door swings open and Julia stands there. I haven't talked to her since that morning we drove to school. She embraces me in a hug, "Madison..."
I explain everything that happened and what Grayson said and she sits and listens, not really having any reactions. When I finish, she sits there with the same expression as I did. "Wow."
"What do I do?"
"Well...I don't have experience with boys, but I say you give him a chance." she begins, "He's not playing you, Mads, he really cares. I saw him in school, he was a mess. He asked me every time he saw me if I had spoken to you, he sat in the back and kept to himself. He barely even talked to Ethan."
"Do I just ignore everything he said about me, then?"
"He said he didn't mean it, didn't he?"
"I don't know!" I groan, lying back on her bed with my hands in my hair, "I don't know what the hell to do."
"Give him a chance." she says, "You'll be left wondering what happened the rest of your life. It could make something perfect, and if it doesn't, you forget about it."
"You sound like a mom."
"Shut up."
