psycho | jaeden lieberher

twenty one

"Hey, Lieberher." I slide into the seat beside him. He always says hi to me first, and I a small part of me has always wanted to break that pattern, so I did.

"Hey, Corinne." Fuck all those friend zoning articles I read in middle school. Everyone knows that by returning being called by your last name by calling them by their first name you are basically just ignoring the friend zone. Does this mean I have to keep trying to friend zone him or are we able to maybe like each other now? Should I be flirting? Fuck I don't know how to flirt first, normally people flirt with me not the other way around.

"I like your shirt." I look at his shirt. It's a button down, kind of a light blue denim looking material. It's adorable.

"Thanks, I like yours." He smiles. I'm wearing a tight red t-shirt with a slit at the cleavage area, the kind of thing you wear purposefully to get boys attention. I didn't even think about it catching a boys eye today, but I guess it worked without me even trying.

"Thanks." I grin and slouch back in my chair. Flirting with Jaeden is exhausting, mainly because it isn't even flirting. Jaeden is always a sweetheart to me, no matter how I am back, so it's hard to tell if he is complimenting my shirt because he likes looking at me and that part of my body or because I complimented his and he needed to return it. Ugh, I hope it's the first one.

--

Rehearsal is quick and boring today. It was the group scenes, nothing with just Jaeden. The show is in two weeks, meaning starting next week it's crunch time, meaning at the end of next week it's dress rehearsal, meaning about three times during dress rehearsal I will be kissing Jaeden, meaning for the next few days after that I will be kissing Jaeden a whole lot. As I walk out of the auditorium I wonder if stage kissing Jaeden will be the same as when it's real. A part of me hopes it is, because I guess you can say I miss having his lips connected to mine. But a part of me hopes it isn't, because if it's as good then I might not be able to break away.

I take the long way out, so I can think about Jaeden more before I see him. I want to do something about our awkward tension, like so bad, but I have no clue what I can do. When I finally get outside I see him standing in a clump with Emily Skinner and the other theater kids. I've noticed Emily and Jaeden talking more often, but if he even remotely likes me there is no way she could ever be his type. I walk closer to the group, praying there is a big enough space beside him for me to fit in. I manage to fit in next to Emily, they're all laughing about a joke someone made. I lean in front of Emily to see Jaeden on the other side of her. I stare at him for a second, not sure if I know what I'm doing, when he turns and our eyes lock. "Can you talk for a minute?" I try to smile even though thinking to hard to genuinely smile. He nods, and we both walk off to the other side of the small waiting area.

"Jaeden?" I look up at him, using his first name. Fuck friend zoning. He is standing directly in front of me, in a way that reminds me exactly of last night.

"Corinne?" He looks down at me, not smiling, not frowning, just regular. But his eyes are shining in that way they always do when he looks at me.

"So um there's a party tonight, it's at Lilia's recent date's house, you know how she weekly dates and stuff, so yeah um I was wondering-"

"Wanna go with me?" I look up from where my eyes were rested on the floor behind him to look up into his eyes. The shine is still there, maybe even brighter than before. No part of him looks unsure, every part of him looks like he has been waiting to do this for forever. The shine in his eyes, the goofy grin on his face, the fact that his hands are out of his pockets for the first time all day, the fact that he is standing just close enough to me that any second we could break the distance but we know neither of us are actually going to.

"Sure," I manage to get out.

"Just sure?" He takes the smallest step possible. Small enough to make the tension invisible to anyone that could see us, but meaningful enough to build that tension incredibly. 

I repeat his step, "Yes, just sure." I watch the look on his face shift from happy to pure sexual tension. We both feel it, he knows that. "Pick me up at 8." I decide to break the tension, maybe end this extremely perfectly frustrating conversation on a happy note, so I go on my tippy toes and kiss his cheek quickly, then proceed to walk past him and back to the group.

Tonight I'm going on a real date with Jaeden Lieberher. And I can't stop smiling.

________

one of my favorite chapters yet

i know last chapter i said i'd upload by sunday and i didn't, but it's only monday so give me a break

next chapter coming soon because i have a 25 minutes till i have to go and all of it will be used to write !!