All in my Head

Chapter 13

Ava's POV

Jonah opens the door for Ava and me as we enter the bar, shooting a smile both our ways. I've never seen such perfectly straight teeth in my life, my God. I was happy he decided to walk with Jul and I the couple of blocks from the office here. It was only casual small talk, certainly not anything groundbreaking, but for me this was a major milestone in Operation Jonah. I try not to think about how quiet he got when we started talking about Nick, though. It was as if he couldn't have cared less that someone was encroaching on the person he was, I was sure, certainly secretly admiring. I guess my secret admirer - what a grossly middle school term - could be Nick, but I genuinely can't see him feeling any sort of romantic feelings towards anything other than his computer. No, it had to be Jonah, which meant I had to really capitalize on this trivia night we were all venturing into at the moment.

It took all the control I had in me to not run right towards him when he entered in the bar behind the group. He had stood so close to me in the elevator, and it was purely electric to me. I had butterflies from just being near him. And my God did he smell good. A delightful mixture of a musky cologne and a scent I can only describe as him. I needed to be near him again. I had to make this work.

"Alright everyone," Leslie says as we all gather around her, shouting just a little to be heard over the noise of the crowd already gathering in the bar. "The first round of trivia should be starting in just about five minutes, so why don't we try to split up into teams here. There's a four person maximum, so how do you guys want to team up?" she asks.

"Why don't we do it by cluster?" Kacie suggests. I let out a small disappointed sigh. Not that I don't want to be on a team with my cluster - I actually really like my deskmates, and even Kacie is starting to become more tolerable to me. But I was really hoping that Jonah and I could be on the same team. Oh well, I think as I attempt to conceal my disappointment.

"Oh, perfect idea, Kacie," Leslie responds. "Ok then, get together with your clusters and then we can all sit next to each other over at those three tables against the back wall," she says, pointing towards the back of the bar that had some of the only remaining available tables left in the place. "Petey, Calum, and Janie, would you guys mind if I join your team? That way they can all be even with four people and I can play along too," Leslie says with a smile.

"Of course," Petey answers as Calum and Janie nod in agreement. I really don't know those cluster three kids at all, but they seem to be really friendly.

We head over to the back wall and all take our seats. I make sure to take a seat in the long booth/bench against the wall on the side closest to the table Cluster 2 chose. Jonah slides into the spot next to me, separated by a few more inches than normal because of the way the tables are positioned. I'm happy when Jul sits across from him. I definitely need to strike up some conversations with Jonah, but having a neutral third person present makes me feel just a little more comfortable. I know my currency, and I know for sure it's not one on one conversations or sultry flirting. Even with my new confident attitude, group settings are still where I'm most comfortable. So as a voice begins to explain the rules of the trivia night, officially called Quizzo, I'm feeling very happy to be right here in this moment.

"Welcome ladies and gentleman, to our weekly Quizzo Powered Happy Hour! For those of you who are new, teams can be no bigger than four people. There will be three rounds consisting of ten questions each, and after each question is asked, teams will have thirty seconds to write their answers down on the white boards in front of you. Judges placed around the room will keep track of your scores up here near the front, so there's no chance of cheating. I'm looking at you, Johnny," he says, making eyes at a player wearing a John Hardy t-shirt near the front of the room. I don't want to judge, but I can't help but feel that that t-shirt choice says a lot more about Johnny than his cheating tendencies.