Betting on the Nerd

Chapter 16: Mom and Dad.

Jessica's POV: 

"Jack, why are you telling me now?" I lean against the hood of his car, looking at anything but him.

"Honestly, all the pestering by you and Beth was getting annoying. I figured Beth would figure it out eventually and I wanted to make sure that I'd be the one to tell you."

"Okay, well, you know I love you, right? I mean we've been together since you were a nerdy little freshman and you're friendship means everything to me. You mean everything to me and, like I said I love you, but-"

"But not in the way, I'd want you to. I get it, Jess, don't worry, you're still my best friend. I just didn't want any secrets between us. There have never been any and I wasn't planning to start now." He pulls me into a hug, showing me that nothing would change between us. We stand in silence, looking up at the stars, his arm wrapped around my shoulders. 

"So...you really thought Beth would be the one to figure it out?"

"Jess, you thought I was gay"

"Fair enough"

"I should get going, it's getting late"

"You don't want to come in? You could spend the night! Oh, we could do face masks like we used to! Come on, for old times sake?" I give him my best puppy eyes and pouty face, which never failed.

"Fine! But only if you have ice cream!"

"When do we not have ice cream! You should know this by now, are you even a real friend, sheesh." He laughs and follows me inside. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I wake up to the sound of Jack groaning from the floor, "you know, I think next time I'll take the bed. "

"Or we could share like I offered twenty times. It's your own fault that you're in pain"

"Be honest, you move so much that I would have ended up on the floor anyways. At least this way I had a pillow and a blanket" I stick my tongue out at him and kick him out of the room so I can change. Jack comes back in a little later and plops down on my bed. "Hey, Jess?" I turn around, leaning against my dresser. "What's up with you and Chris? I mean, you obviously like each other, so why isn't anything happening there?"

"Jack...we don't need to talk about this, it's fine." I look down, feeling slightly awkward. How could he just talk to me about liking other guys when he had literally confessed that he liked me the night before?! 

"Yes, we do need to talk about this. You obviously want to be with him and I want you to be happy, so explain."

I pause for a second, contemplating whether it was really okay for me to rant about other guys, and then go off completely holding nothing back. "He's just so freaking confusing! One minute he likes me, then the next I'm being ignored. Like, what even is that! Do you like me or not? What does a girl have to do to find out, pick flower petals? Geez! And then, to add more to the pile, he only acts like he's into me when things are hard for him and I'm there for him, as a friend, might I add. He needs to make up his goddamn mind because I am not going to date him just so he can forget about me a few weeks later." I plop down next to him and cross my arms once I'm done with my little schpeel.

"Wow. How long have you been holding that in?"

I look down, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "A while, I guess. Beth is always busy with Alex nowadays and hides nothing from him, so I couldn't tell her and I felt weird talking to you about him because he's your cousin and that's, well, weird."

Jack turns to me, engulfing me in a hug. "You can always talk to me about anything. Nothing will ever change that. Best friends to infinity and beyond!" He says referencing some dumb thing us three came up with freshmen year when we all became friends.