Anger Issues

eight

Austin

"I meant it.." Jess nodded.

I opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to it.

"Austin I'm sorry if I caught you by surprise. I know I did," she began.

"I won't take back what I said, but I want you to know that I don't want you to-"

I cut her off by grabbing her waist and kissing her. It was soft, yet passionate.

"I love you too, Jess," I smiled, as we pulled away.

I felt like a million pounds was lifted off of my chest. It was relieving to know that I finally said it back.

"Austin.." she began. My smile disappeared. I thought I did something right by telling her, but her tone made me think otherwise.

"What?" I asked, releasing my grip on her.

"Are you saying this because-"

"I'm saying it because I do love you, Jess," I said, offended.

"Is that not why you were mad at me? Because I didn't say it back?"

"Do you mean it?" She asked. I nodded. "I really do."

"You're not just saying it because I did, right?"

I sat down in one of the empty desks.

"Jess for my whole life.. I've never been told those words from anyone except Caleb maybe every few weeks. I didn't know how to respond to you," I explained. "I realized it when I got home on Saturday."

She stayed silent, but I didn't blame her. If someone said it to me I'm not sure what I would have said either.

"Why did you get so worked up then?" She asked.

"Because I thought you were mad at me for not saying it back, and you didn't even answer my texts or-"

"Austin, I still have not gotten my phone back," she cut me off. "No you had your earbuds on in class today.."

She put her hand in her pocket. "It's my shuffle," she pulled it out. I completely forgot those existed. iPod Shuffles were irrelevant for the longest time.

"I'm so sorry," I buried my face in my hands. "Don't be," she let out a soft laugh.

I felt her set her arm on my shoulder.

"Why have you been so distant all day?" I asked.

"Because I was embarrassed to face you," she admit. "What? Why?"

"Because of everything that happened," she said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel like it was your fault," she added.
I stood up and pulled her into a hug. "I love you," I whispered. She tightened her grip around me. "I love you, too."

"Do you want to ditch?" I asked. "Really?" Jess looked at me. I nodded my head.

"What if we get caught?" She worriedly wondered. "We won't, trust me. Get your things. We've got a good five hours, more or less."

We went back up to our lockers and gathered our things, meeting by the stairs.

"The freshmen are outside. If we wait a few minutes for them to come in, we can leave," I explained.

"How often do you do this?" She asked me. I shrugged. "Whenever I need to."

As the freshmen started coming back into the school, I grabbed Jess' hand and pulled us through the crowd.

"We're good," I laughed. There were no security guards out at the moment, so we had nothing to lose.

"Where to?" She asked me. "Your pick," I said.

When we got to the parking lot, we sat in my car, still deciding where to go.

"Let's go to a park. Nobody's going to rat us out at a park," Jess suggested. I nodded my head and began driving.

As we arrived at the park, I stopped the car as we walked in.

I joined my hand with Jess', leading her to the lake.

We sat by a bench, just talking about whatever topic came to mind, eventually playing would you rather.

"Okay, would you rather kiss your ex, or kiss your brothers ex?" Jess asked.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "This is a trick question," I smiled. "It is," she nodded. "Choose wisely."

"My brothers ex," I answered. She smiled in satisfaction. "Well done."

"Let's play truth or dare," I suggested. She nodded, questioning me. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," I said. "I dare you to.. Approach a random person and say a really cheesy pick up line," she smiled.

"You pick the stranger," I said. "Jogger coming up," she pointed.

I stood up and waited in the pathway of jogging, eventually getting the girls attention to stop.

"Hi, I couldn't help but notice how active you are," I began. "Oh, thanks," she awkwardly said.

"Anyway.. I lost my number.. can I have yours?"

"Sorry," she shook her head, taking off again.

When she was a safe distance away, both Jess and I burst into laughter.

"Alright your turn. Truth or Dare?" I asked. "Dare."

"Easy. I dare you to kiss me."

She smiled before cupping my face with one hand and connecting our lips.

I moved my lips in sync with hers, resting my hand on her thigh.

She put her other hand over mine, softly holding it.

I left my lips from hers and kissed her jawline then her neck.

"Stop," she let out a soft laugh, pulling my lips away from her neck.

"Why?" I complained. "Maybe because we are in public," she sarcastically remarked.

I stood up and pulled her up as well. "We'll go to my house then. Nobody should be home," I said.

She smiled and agreed, as we made our way back to my car.