The Hooded Figure

THIRTY ONE

I paused mid-step, looking up at him with surprise. Was this why he had been practically ignoring me?

I thought about it for a moment, my mouth slightly agape. I was about to answer when Jamie beat me to it.

"At least let me drive you home," he said, smiling shyly from underneath his hood.

"Actually, I drove here..." I trailed off awkwardly, rubbing my hands together.

"Oh." We stood there for a moment in silence, unsure of what to say. "Well, I guess I should go then. The pizza was great," he commented, reaching around me to drop a twenty on the table.

"See you." He waved and started to turn around. I clenched my fists and took a deep breath while I shut my eyes tightly. C'mon Amy. You've had an awful week and this is the universe repaying you.

"I'll go," I said suddenly, peeking one eye open to see the he had stopped and turned around. "If the offer is still on the table," I rushed out, opening both my eyes and twiddling my fingers. I didn't usually get very nervous, but when I came to relationships, I was an absolute mess.

Not that I'd know, you know, never having had one before.

I imagined his eyes lighting up with joy, but all I got was his elated smile and that would have to do. "Cool, cool, cool," he said before frowning at his own words. I smiled and withheld a laugh.

"So... I'll pick you up tomorrow? At six?" He inquired, shoving his hands into his front pockets. I hated how awkward this was, but at the same time, I was loving it.

"That sounds great," I replied, smiling. "Should I give you my number..?"

"Oh, yes please," he answered, taking his phone out of his back pocket. He quickly opened contacts and angled his head up at me. I noticed he'd let his hood slide back enough for me to see his face, probably since the diner was so empty. His caribbean blue eyes twinkled with excitement, almost as I had imagined them. I gave him my number and as he put his phone into his back pocket, he smiled at me, his eyes crinkling near the corners.

"See you tomorrow," he said shyly before waving and turning around. As he walked out of the diner, I caught myself smiling at nothing in particular.

At least I was worth somebody's time.

I brushed the thought out of my head and exited on the other side of the diner towards my car. Asher was pulling up in the delivery car just as the doors closed behind me. He got out of the car, his hair slightly messy under his Marco's Pizza cap.

"Hey." He smiled at me as we walked past each other.

"Hey," I replied, returning his smile. There was nothing more to the encounter but Ash looked like he wanted to say something more, but didn't. I ignored it and entered my car before driving away.

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Tomorrow came faster than anticipated and here I was, standing in my room surrounded by every single article clothing that I owned. I would've called Layla and asked for help, but even though we 'made-up' I was still skeptical and a little hurt. Jade? Well... I actually haven't seen her in a week or two. Did something happen? Am I so caught up in my own world that I hadn't noticed? I brushed off the thought with an exasperated sigh.

"Ugh, there's nothing to wear!" I didn't even know where we were going. What if I wore a minidress and we were going go-carting? What if I wore ripped jeans and we were going to some fancy rich restaurant. What if I wore a nice, long dress and we went bowling? I have him my number but he didn't give me his and since he hadn't texted, I couldn't even ask him.

Hell, he wasn't even at school today.

For all I knew, he could've bailed on me.

For all you know, the Earth could be flat.

I frowned. Looking around my room and halting all irrelevant thoughts, I finally found something I deemed suitable. I looked in my full-body mirror that hung on my door and smiled. I was wearing skin tight jeans, dark wash, and a loose light pink t-shirt that had a slit in the back, revealing my criss-cross bra.

It was only 5:30 so I used the extra half an hour to put all my clothes away. My hair was already in a ponytail so I left it and I applied a little bit of highlight to my cheekbones.

Let's hope it's not a fancy restaurant.

When the doorbell rang, neither of my parents were home so I skipped down the steps and opened the door excitedly. The relief that flooded through me at seeing him in his own dark jeans and white t-shirt was almost indescribable. "Hey," he said with a goofy smile.

"No hood?" I asked, trying to keep the excitement out of my voice.

"Do you want me to go grab it?" He asked with a quirked eyebrow, clearly teasing me.

A rush of confidence hitting me, I said, "and deprive me of this view? I'll pass." Jamie's eyebrows practically flew up to his hairline at that and I laughed. Jamie's face flushed red as he rubbed the back of his neck and shoved his other hand in this back pocket.

We stood there for a moment and I smiled nervously. "Are we going to stay here on my porch? Or..."

"Oh, right, right, sorry," he said, moving aside so that I could lock the door and walk past him. He followed behind me and watched as I paused. He then watched my smile grow as I eyed the Camaro with happiness.

"Shall we?" I hadn't noticed him move, but he opened the passenger door for me.

"Thank you," I said as I began to step in. I paused for a fraction of a second when I caught Alexander looking down at us from a window on the second floor of their house. Briefly, we made eye contact and I swear I saw him smirk before turning away.

I quickly continued to get into the car as if I hadn't seen him and smiled at Jamie as he closed the door. He got into his side and smiled excitedly. I buckled myself up as he did.

"Ready?" he asked, looking over at me.

"Ready," I replied, smiling as he pulled out of my driveway.

• Author's Note •

My first regular update! I finished this chapter yesterday, but I decided that I'll start updating every Friday.

Lots of love, Nat 💕