Flightless Bird

Chapter 9

"Hey," I said softly as Jacob turned to me, looking weary.

"Hi," he replied. Despite his being obviously mad at me, he still then asked, "Are you feeling better now?"

I nodded, "Yes, much. Thanks." He bobbed his head.

"How's Lexi?"

"She's good," I told him.

"She really likes you, y'know? I think she's already decided you two are best friends," he said.

"Yeah, she's already been helping me with my problems. She's great," I said, smiling.

"Problems? You've been here, what, a day?" he asked, incredulously.

"Well..." I said, shrugging. I looked across the room to try and catch Lexi's eye, but instead managed to get a smirk off Adam. I couldn't help laughing when he started pulling faces, but that only made Jacob turn to see who was making me laugh. As soon as Jacob turned, Adam went back to talking to Clark. When Jacob turned back to me his face was stony, and he was grumbling to himself. All I heard was 'some friend'.

"Jacob, why are you so mad at Adam?" I asked. It caught him off guard, but he still answered.

"He knew how I felt but he decided to go and do what he ususally does anyway. I don't think he really cares," Jacob told me, looking at the desk.

"How you felt about what?" I asked. Jacob looked up at me, his eyes sad. He didn't have to say it; I knew.

"Oh," I whispered, "I'm sorry Jacob. Please trust me, there's nothing going on with Adam. He and I are just friends," I pleaded. Jacob just rolled his eyes,

"Heard it all before Kerri. Actually, no, I haven't," he said.

"What?"

"It's not like I've ever...felt like this before."

"Really?" I asked, trying to sound surprised. I didn't want to give Jacob any more reasons to be mad at Adam.

"Don't act like you didn't know! He spilled and told me everything, Kerri," Jacob said.

"I'm sorry. Can I tell you something?" I asked him. He didn't reply this time.

"Jacob, it's a really big secret. And I hope it will explain why I've not been...going about this very well," I told him. This time he looked up, but he still didn't say anything.

"Okay, fine, if you don't wanna know!" I called, turning away. He sighed, then prodded my shoulder to make me turn back to him.

"Okay okay, just tell me your big reason for being so...you," he said.

"Well, the reason that I have no idea how to be around you is that I've never really, liked someone. Or had anyone like me. Or been on a date."

I could see the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, and I thought he was holding back laughter.

"Hey, please don't laugh! It's embarassing!" I cried, hitting him. His laughter stopped,

"No Kerri. Actually, I think it's kinda cute," he said.

"Really?" I asked, smiling at him. He nodded,

"Really."

I guess we sat smiling at each other for long enough to look plain idiotic, because Miss came over and told us to get back to work. I picked up my book, a copy of Pride and Prejudice. I guessed our project was going to tie into the school play. Jacob and I looked at the board, then started doing the work; reading through all the important scenes between Lizzie and Mr Darcy and talking about what you think Austen did to make their encounters so intense. By the end of the lesson, about an hour and a half later, Jacob and I were in a debate about wether or not there was evidence to suggest Mr Darcy liked Lizzie from the start.

"He was an ass to her at the ball!" I exclaimed.

"Only because he was annoyed. She made him feel vulnerable, and he resented that. Until he realised how great she was," Jacob said.

"He should have come clean at the start, told her how he felt before she had to get in all that nonsense with Mr Collins," I said.

"Ah, Mr Collins. I have no doubt he only liked her for how she looked, since it didn't take him long to find a new girl when Lizzie rejected him," Jacob mused.

"She obviously knew by then how she really felt. But I think even before that she must have known," I added.

"I think they both liked each other all along. They were just too proud to admit it," Jacob said.

"Hence the title of the book!" I cried.

"How I love discussing these things with another intelligent mind," Jacob said, speaking in his 'gentleman' voice that I heard him use on the night I first met him. I laughed, nodding. We were still talking when the bell for lunch rang, and Jacob said,

"Got any plans?"

I shook my head,

"None."

"You do now."