"What's your name?" he asked sitting down beside me.
"Natalia," I said shoving my phone into my back pocket. All of a sudden he started lighting a cigarette, which made me leap out of my seat and to stand in front of him. I hate the smell of smoke...
Since when was I ever in a good mood on mornings? Today is Friday but usually I'm tired as hell. But today, I feel like I can run a marathon or two. Do you ever have those mornings? No? Just me? Ok.
Daniel is picking me up today as he has been this entire week. Lately, we have had video calls every night and we fall asleep on the call. Daniel likes to call them 'virtual sleepovers' which I think is cute.
I decided to wear a long sleeve sport shirt with light denim jeans. After I get dressed, I grab my backpack and head down the stars. I decide to grab some breakfast as I wait for Daniel. Soon after I grab a breakfast bar, I feel my phone vibrate in my hand.
Daniel: im here princess
I smile at the text nd I zoom out of the house. He instantly smiles when he sees ma and I return the smile. I get into the car and he keeps his eyes on me.
"Good morning," he smiled as he spoke in a low voice.
"Good morning." I answered as I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
"How was your night?" He asked which made me giggle. He quickly pulled out of my driveway and headed towards school.
"Well, you should know I woke up this morning and the call was still on." I laughed at him which made him smile.
"I know." He said with an innocent smile on his face. "Hey I have to tell you something." He said as he lowered the music of the radio a little bit.
"Sure." I answered a bit anxious to hear what he was going to say.
He took a deep death in before saying, "Nat, I really like you. Like, more than like but like like you."
This made me laugh. "Wow there, that's a lot of likes." I said making him shake his head.
"You know what I mean. I just had to get it off my chest." He said letting out a relieved sigh.
"You know I like you too?" I blurted out after a moment of silence. I felt the car come to a stop which worried me. I looked up and saw we arrived at school. Why would I say that?
"Really?" I heard him ask. Good or bad really? I looked over at him and could finally tell it was good. His eyes were brighter than the sky on a warm summer day. All I could do to reply was nod. He suddenly hopped out the driver's seat and ran over to my side. "Babe," he whispered into my hair as he pulled me close to him.
We pulled away and he looked at me with adoration. He put his hands on my face and caressed my cheeks. "That makes me really happy." He said as he placed a warm, soft kiss on my forehead.
***
During lunch, Opal spilled her rage.
"Alright, I get it now. I see why Jonah is mad. It's your little thing. You and Daniel." She said staring straight into my eyes as I took a bite out of my sandwich.
"Look, it wasn't anything until today." I said trying to reassure her.
"Oh, today? What happened today?" She said leaning in close to me.
I shrugged with a blush coming to my face as I thought about this morning. "Nothing... look, he told me he liked me and I told him I liked him back." Opal shook her head and laughed. "What?"
"Nat, I love you so much, but right now you are making a bad decision. I'm not sure why, but I'm almost 100% sure that Jonah is mad at you over Daniel. Do you see the way he looks at you when Daniel is around? It's almost as if he wants to rip Daniel to pieces. I get a bad vibe from Daniel." She said lightly shaking her head.
"Thanks for the advice but I'm fine. I promise if anything goes wrong you will be the first to know." I said sending her a smile which she returned.
"Ok." She said nodding. "Well. I gotta go now, text me."
"Will do," I muttered to myself seeing that Opal had already left. I started getting ready to go to FAC class. My phone buzzed in my hand so I checked it.
Daniel: hi love
Me: hello :)
Daniel: have a great day
Me: you too :)
I smiled as I shut my phone off. I walked down the halls praying Jonah would show up and be cooperative in FAC class.
I walked in and Jonah was nowhere in sight. Crap. I decided that I could just leave. I could ask to work with Jonah and home and claim he was 'sick'. Then I would just stay home because my last period was free.
As I was exiting the classroom, the teacher stopped me.
"Ms. Tucker." He greeted me.
"Hello sir." I replied. "So Jonah is sick, do you mind if I go to his house to work on the project there?"
"I don't mind, is the project going well?" He asked. I didn't want to say no so I nodded. "Good. Have a great weekend." He said as he walked into his classroom. Thank the lord I prayed in my head. Quickly, I ran out of the school and took the bus home.
I quickly jumped out of the bus when it came to a stop and ran to my room. I grabbed a hoodie from the closet and put a plain black shirt on. As I walked out the door, I put my hoodie on only to realize it was Jonah's. I ignored the urge to run back to the house to change. You got this I thought to myself.
I walked into his house to run into Mary.
"Hello darling," she smiled at me.
"Hey Mary, how are you?" I asked. She nodded in response and continued speaking.
"I'm fine. Are you here for Jonah?" She asked. I nodded in response. "He's in his room dear."
"Thank you Mary," I said walking up the stairs to his room. I slowly open the door. "Jonah?" I whispered as it all hit me. The vile smell of smoke and beer. Ew. There was a thick cloud of smoke in his room. What's wrong with him?
