Flightless Bird

Chapter 8

"Hi," I sighed wearily, flopping down backwards onto my bed.

"Bad day?" Lexi asked from across the room. I nodded, moaning. Lexi stood up and went to delve in her bedside drawer, producing a bar of Galaxy.

"I think you could use a little pick-me-up," she said, moving over to sit cross legged next to me on my bed, holding out a large piece of chocolate to me. I took it, gratefully accepting the smooth piece.

"Thank you so much Lex. I really needed this," I said, thanking her. She smiled,

"Well, you obviously needed it more than I did. So, what happened?"

I groaned, annoyed at myself. I knew that most of today was my fault.

"Well, I spent free period studying with Jacob. It was going great, really. We were getting along like old friends, which is what he said. And I said that was funny, because that was what Adam had told me before, and I was saying how Adam walked me after Biology. After that, Jacob just got really weird and started asking me questions about what Adam and I were talking about," I told her, gushing. When I was done, she simply sighed and said,

"Jealousy."

"Jealous? Who?"

"Jacob, of course!" she exclaimed. Jacob? Why on earth would Jacob be jealous?

"Why?" I asked her.

"Well, because you started talking about how much fun you were having with another guy when you two were on a date. He wants to be that close to you," she explained.

"Okay, what?" I asked, perplexed, "first of all; it was not a date. Second; I only want to be friends with Adam, and last, I really doubt that that is what Jacob wants," I told her. She shot me a 'don't be such an idiot' look, and I sat up so I was looking her in the eye.

"There's more," I said.

"Kerri!"

"What? Just that I kind of had a panic attack, which turned into an asthma attack. Anyways, to cut a long story short I ended up in Charlie's room. He kinda...saved me. Then after that Adam walked me down, and Jacob kinda...saw."

"Saw what?" Lexi demanded.

"I hugged Adam," I said sheepishly. For some reason I felt like I had committed a crime.

"Oh no! Jacob's going to think you don't like him now, this is awful!" Lexi exclaimed.

"Why would he even care?" I grumbled.

"Okay, Kerri. I'm not going to say this again; Jacob likes you! And trust me, I may not have ever been all that close to him but in all his time here he has never, ever, had a girlfriend. And do you know how many girls he's asked to study? One. Just one. Now stop being an idiot, and go talk to him!" Lexi cried, slapping my leg and shoving me up off the bed. I look at her, confused, but she just shooed me out of the room, telling me to 'go to him'. I honestly think she was in some delusion she was in a Jane Austen novel. She took the houses very seriously...

I was wandering around on the second floor in the East wing, trying to find Jacob when the bell for third period rang. I was actually relieved, because at least now I knew where he was going to be. I found some stairs and went down to the English department to find the room where my next lesson was with Miss Sylvester. As I walked along, I saw all the posters we had put up last night, advertising the school play. Pride and Prejudice. Lexi told me it was Austen's year to pick the play, so they had chosen a classic. I was actually excited, since I was considering auditioning. I walked into the classroom and took a seat in the second row by the wall, making sure to keep the seat next to me free. When Lexi came in I was tempted to ask her to sit with me, but I didn't want to pry her away from Jayson when he looked so very happy. I wasn't surprised when Jacob was the last person to get to class, since I was pretty sure the reason I spent half an hour looking for him was because he was avoiding me. I saw him groan inwardly and look to Clark for help when he realised the only free seat was next to me, but all I did was smile at him and take my bag off the chair. He sat down reluctantly, sitting as far away from me as he could. I would've been hurt, but I knew this was all my fault. When, after a while, Miss told us to discuss in pairs and get to know our new partner for the project, I took my opportunity to set the record straight with Jacob.