blind • j.r.a [PAUSED]

•12•

jack's p.o.v.

aria's been talking to corbyn the rest of the time we spend at the mall.

every single time aria would laugh at one of corbyn's comments, the firey feeling in my stomach would grow, and i'm not liking it.

i'm walking around an urban outfitters with the rest of the boys, aria, and her roommates on behalf of liv.

i lean against one of the walls as i feel my phone vibrate in my back-jean pocket, and i take it out to see a text from aria.

aria 💕: you ok?

i smile at the fact that aria's been watching me, and is suddenly concerned as well.

i quickly type in a reply.

jack 😊: yeah. you've been watching me?

i look over to see aria looking down on her phone, flushed, as she starts typing away.

aria 💕: uh no. not really. but i did notice that you're not acting like yourself right now :/

jack 😊: mhm. ok. and fyi, i'm perfectly fine

aria 💕: ok. just checking :)

i don't reply back, and just leave her on 'read'. yeah, i'm probably really rude for doing that, but i'm not in the mood to reply back with a smiley face right now.

we go through a few more stores for a while, aria and corbyn still talking away.

i probably shouldn't be jealous, since i know corbyn wouldn't do such a thing, since he knows how much aria means to me. at least, so far.

but at the same time, i can't help myself...

finally, we finish our giant shopping spree, mostly because of us complaining of sore feet from walking from place to place.

we walk out of the mall and start our way to the parking lot, where aria and i parked the boys' and i's car.

i notice that aria starts slowing her walking pace a bit down, and goes back to normal speed when i reach her.

"hi, jack," she cheerfully greets me.

"hi," i say, hands in my pockets and eyes on the floor.

there was a few seconds of silence.

"are you sure you're okay?" aria asks, tilting her head down, trying to get a glimpse of my face.

"yeah. i'm sure," i say, obviously not meaning it.

"we can talk about it if you want," aria offers, obviously sensing that i never meant it.

"you wouldn't understand," i say.

"of course i would understand, jack. you know, you can talk to me whenever you need to," she reassures.

"thanks, but not now."

"ok," aria quietly says.

we get to the car when daniel realizes that the car can't fit all of us.

the car is a 7 seater, and there's 8 of us.

"uh, guys, we can't all fit in the car," daniel says, walking back towards the rest of us.

"the skatepark isn't that far from here, maybe two of us could walk back?" jonah suggests.

"i'll walk," i offer.

i really need some alone-time to think right now. like, you know, straighten out all of my feelings.

"i'll walk with jack," aria suddenly says.

so much for 'alone-time.'

"okay, then. see you back at the skatepark!" kaylani says before they all pile in, leaving aria and i outside.

i start to walk out of the parking lot, heading towards the skatepark, as aria soon realizes i'm not beside her anymore.

she jogs up to me and starts walking with me, but there was a silence.

now and then, i would steal glances from her; just admiring her.

as i was about to take another look at aria, i found her looking back at me. she quickly turned her head back down, looking at her feet, blushing.

i smiled at myself, knowing the effect i have on her.

soon enough, we reach the skatepark, and we see the car already in the parking lot.

"you know, we could do this again sometime, but, like, alone," aria suddenly says, not looking up from the ground.

i look at her, surprised, as we continue to walk.

i turn my head away, "yeah, of course, i'd love that."

we come to a stop at the front of the skatepark, making eye contact.

"great. text me then," aria smiles, as she walks away, waving.

"ok," i quietly say, waving back at her.

~~~~~

a/n

the tea is bOiling

also, i kind of have an idea for another book, and i already know the storyline and stuff, but i'm not really sure if i can handle updating 2 books at a time :/