The Probability of Love

Chapter 13 | Caught

Chapter 13 | Caught

"I'll take a pepperoni pizza with extra Italian sausage, please," I told the waitress as she came to take our order.

"I'll have the same, thank you," she answered.

"The pizzas will be ready in 20 minutes," the waitress replied.

My mom nodded her head and waited patiently. "I'm going to use the bathroom, I'll be right back," she said, leaving the booth to myself.

The restaurant was not that crowded yet because it was still a little early to eat lunch, but I was starving. The piece of gum I had earlier did not fulfill by hunger at all, it just added air into my stomach.

Suddenly the bell that was connected to the door jingled, which caught my attention. Low and behold, it was Raysen Pierce, standing in all his glory. He hadn't seen me sitting here yet all alone. At this very moment, I was wishing for my mom to come back from the restroom. I didn't want to be seen, especially by him.

I took out my phone and pretended I was occupied on it, just in case he did notice me.

"Jade!" his familiar voice called out.

Crap, I've been seen.

I could hear his footsteps coming closer to the table I was sitting at. Oh no, this would actually mean I had to have a conversation with him. Why would he want that when he's afraid to be seen with "the nobody"?

"Oh, hey," I said, finally acknowledging him.

"Are you here alone?" he asked.

"No."

"Oh okay, I'll make it quick then. Look, I'm sorry for calling you that, I didn't mean it. I just freaked out. Please just be my tutor again, I only get things when you explain it," he begged.

The look he was giving me actually looked genuine. What he said really did hurt me, but at least he's apologizing for it, and that already makes him better than most people.

"Fine," I agreed.

"Great! Can we meet tomorrow at the library again?" he asked.

I nodded my head and smiled.

"Thanks, tutor girl!" he shouted, then walked away.

I chuckled at his happiness. Mom came back to the table and had a grin on her face. The waitress came back out with our waters and pizzas. I took a sip of the ice cold water before devouring my pizza.

"Was that your boyfriend?" my mom asked.

I choked on the water in my mouth.

"No!" I exclaimed.

"He looks nice and handsome," she complimented him.

I snorted at her joke. She was joking, right? Raysen was occasionally nice. Sure, I'll admit he's not bad to look at, but his personality is on the edge.

By the way, I was acting, she could notice something odd. "Why? Do you not see him that way?" she asked.

"As a boyfriend?" I asked.

By this point, I totally forgot about my hunger. The thought of food just slipped through my mind.

My mom nodded her head to my question. I actually had to think about my answer carefully. I didn't want to say something wrong or offensive and have it come out the wrong way.

"Shane wouldn't approve," I muttered.

"Why not?" she questioned.

I took a bite of my pizza before answering her question. If I told her, would she judge me? She was my mom, after all, she should support my decisions, right?

"Let's just say him and Raysen aren't too fond of each other," I answered.

"Raysen? Is that his name?"

"Yeah."

"Let me give you a piece of advice if that's alright," she offered.

I needed all the advice I could get. I didn't want to tell Shane about Raysen just yet, but a part of me did, just to relieve the stress off of my back. But was I willing to face his wrath? That was a definite no.

As much as I hate to admit it, I love tutoring Raysen. He's a pain when he nags, but there's something in his eyes when he solves a problem correctly. Maybe it was the way he jumped for joy, or just got overly excited. It just gave me this warm feeling that I'm the one that did that. I gave him that surge of happiness.

"Yes please, I need all the advice I can get," I breathed.

"Well for starters, don't let your brother tell you what to do all of the time. He might be just a couple of minutes older than you, but that doesn't make you his slave. If you do something for yourself for once, it'll have a greater outcome," she finished.

"You got all that from seeing him for a few seconds?" I chuckled.

"Trust me, a mom knows where there's good and bad, and honey, that boy may seem bad, but he's not. I can see it in his eyes, he's not a bad kid. So, whatever Shane is saying, might not apply to everyone."

"Thanks, mom, that really helped."

"No problem, sweetie. Are you finished eating?" she asked.

I nodded my head and stood up. She left the tip and went to pay the bill in the front.

"Thanks for the food."

"Anytime, we should do that again sometime soon," she smiled.

"Definitely."

The car ride back to the house wasn't that long. For once, the freeways were clear and there was no mid-day traffic. Today was absolutely perfect. My fingers dug through the bag with my new journal inside.

I set it down on my desk. What was I going to write about? Mom said that it was her escape in high school, so maybe I should start off there.

Today was one of the best days of my life. I finally got the mother-daughter date I had always dreamed of. We went to a new pizza place at Princegate and shopped around for a bit. When we were eating pizza, Raysen came up to me.

Let me tell you a little bit about him. Raysen Pierce is someone different. He's not at all a stereotype. To be honest, at first I was going to have the hardest time tutoring him, but come to think of it, he's not all that bad.

Shane talks about him like he's the enemy, but I don't see that at all. From the times I've actually spent time with him, I've seen different qualities of him. He's funny, loud, and cocky. But he can also be nice and vulnerable.

On the very first night I tutored him, he had this bruise on his rib cage. It honestly scared me. I tried to push answers out of him as to how he got them, but he just wouldn't bulge.

It really did hurt me when he called me a nobody in front of his friends. It wasn't like I was dying or anything, but it still hurt. For once, I thought someone actually wasn't afraid to be seen with "the nerd", especially someone like him. I was only kidding myself.

I finally put the pen down and shoved my journal into the drawer near my bed. Writing actually did feel good. It got my mind off of a lot of the worries in my life. There was something about writing it down on an actual piece of paper that made it feel right. It was like that point in your life was official and marked down into your life's history forever. 

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A/N: Hey, guys! I hope you liked chapter 13! Thank you so much for 2.1k reads! I love you guys so much <3