Cheek to Cheek

Chapter 17

A/N: You guys are so wonderful, I love all of you, and all of your comments, so please continue sharing them! And thanks for all the votes! I have officially entered this into the Watty Awards! Hope you all enjoy!

I didn’t know whether I was prepared to go back to chemistry the very next day. I was still not ready to face Jack and Lacey again, unsure of how I would react. I was almost positive they didn’t do anything once I was gone for the lab so I would have to hurry and finish it myself.

I was also a little concerned if Jake would still mention the invite for the party he had given me the day before. I really hoped he would not bring it up in front of Jack and Lacey.

I walked into chemistry with my head held high. The first thing I noticed was that everyone was in their lab tables working on the labs. Except for mine, of course. They were merrily chatting away, not even stealing a glance at the sheet in front of them. Jake wasn’t here yet. I was nervous walking up to the table, but I couldn’t show them I was scared.

I sat down across from Lacey, who had her arm rested on Jack’s shoulder, carelessly stroking his hair. I glanced down at the paper to find parts of the procedure I hadn’t done yet already checked off.

Before I could stop myself, I looked up at Lacey and Jack.

“Did you guys already do this?” I asked them, baffled. They looked over at me, amusement written all over their faces.

“As if,” Lacey retorted, rolling her eyes before smiling at Jack. I bit the inside of my cheeks to prevent myself from flipping out on her. Jack nodded once before trying to get Lacey off of him.

“Jake tried to do some of it while you were gone. Didn’t get far, though,” he explained. I looked away from his gaze; I refused to swoon at him looking at me like that. I didn’t even notice Jake was in the room until he sat down beside me, looking at the sheet.

“Hey,” I said, “you did this?”

“More like tried. It was hard as hell. Sorry I didn’t get really far,” he explaining, scratching the back of his head. I smiled at him genuinely, laughing.

“It’s alright. I really appreciate you trying, though,” I assured him. He stared at me for a moment, clearly surprised. Slowly, a smile formed on his lips, and he rested his arms on the table, grinning.

“I could still help you out,” he offered. I grabbed the sheet and nodded.

“Sure,” I agreed. I glanced over at Jack and Lacey, staring at us with their mouths slightly agape. Lacey leaned over diagonally towards Jack, staring at me from the corner of her eye.

“Since when are you guys friends?” she growled, acting as if I couldn’t clearly hear her. I silently fumed, sending her a dirty look. Jake wrapped his arm around me, pulling me closer to him.

“You kidding me? We’ve always been friends!” Jake joked, smiling at me, “I think it’s been a whole week!” I rolled my eyes, slightly elbowing him for his sarcasm. Lacey glared at me, pursing her lips.

“Right, Kat?” he nudged me, urging me to continue the joke. I chuckled, resting my chin on my hand.

“Yep. Best friends,” I added. This was really irritating Lacey, which only made Jake grin wider. He nuzzled his cheek against mine.

“Forever and ever,” Jake said. I pushed him slightly off, wiping my cheek at the feel of his slight stubble.

“Don’t push it,” I whispered under my breath, even though I clearly knew what he was up to and couldn’t help but smile at his cheekiness. Oh, the irony. Lacey glared at me before grabbing Jack’s arm and pecking him on the cheek. Jack paid little attention to her, but was caught off-guard as he was too busy paying attention to Jake.