Jack Kelly x Reader

Chapter Eight

(y/n)'s POV

"(y/n), hey! Did anything exciting happen today?" Kath sat down next to me, winking. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, but I think you were there." I said sarcastically, swallowing the nerves that came with thinking of the whole incident.

"I am everywhere and nowhere. I am the light and the dark. I am Batman," she said cryptically. In response I rolled my eyes and threw her unopened yogurt at her.

"No violence at the table!" Crutchie scolded as he sat down. I stuck my tongue out at him and he did the same to me, while setting his crutches down on their designated spot on the ground. He got polio when he was younger, since his mom was anti-vax before the whole thing, and lost control of his leg. It was inconvenient, but the school luckily had accommodations for those with disabilities and he'd never let it bother him too much.

"But mom!" Katherine and I whined in unison. He rolled his eyes and laughed at us, before giving us a knowing look.

"Did today work?" He asked quietly, looking around to see if anyone was coming. Nobody was, yet so he signaled for me to talk.

"I think so. Even when I looked away, I could feel him looking at me," I told him quietly, with the same level of caution. "And at one point he seemed a bit flustered."

Kath squealed excitedly. She was huge on shipping and her OTPs or whatever, so this was probably, to her, a romance novel laid in front of her eyes.

"What's the squealing about?" Finch sat down, giving Kath a weird look.

"She's gushing about some romance book she read recently," I lied easily, and he nodded. We all knew that she was a hopeless romantic, so my excuse was pretty believable.

"Jeez, again? How do you have so many books?" Finch sassed playfully. She acted mock offended and pressed a hand to her chest.

"Excuse you, my father's rich," she said and we all chuckled. He was indeed rich, being a famous news reporter for CNN and from the Pulitzer family. She could buy new books whenever she wanted and not make a dent on her allowance.

"Yeah, we're aware," he rolled his eyes, and just then Jack and Davey sat down. I shot them a small smile and turned back to watching the conversation taking place, but I felt two pairs of eyes fixed on me and I knew exactly why. Jack had probably told Davey about the whole thing, with them being best friends and all.

"Hey (y/n), how was the science test? Please tell me it was easy or I just might die," Finch said dramatically and I scoffed.

"Physically impossible, now go perish," I told him flatly.

"No like actually," he prompted seriously.

"Pretty easy, mainly multiple choice. There's two essay questions at the end, though," I told him, earning a sigh in relief. I glanced out of the corner of my eye to Jack, whose eyes were fixed intently on me. Had he always done that? I didn't mind it, but at the same time I felt like I had to put on some sort of show for him, since he was watching and all.

Being watched by him though, that felt good. Jack had a way of making you feel like the most important person in the world when he looked into your eyes.

"So, how was everybody's day?" I asked in a dry but high pitched voice, imitating a mother desperately trying to stir conversation at the dinner table, which earned a small laugh from Jack.

"First period was good. Hey Jack, why were you late to first period? I thought I saw you come in on time," Crutchie said, and I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"Oh I... had to do... things..." he said lamely, and he made quick eye contact with me.

"What kinda things?" Finch chimed in. Other kids were sitting down, and Race plopped next to me, lazily wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"Kath needed help with somethin' weird, I don't really remembah that well," his New Yorker accent thickened, which normally happened when he was lost in thought or nervous. Judging by the way he was shifting awkwardly, his flushed face, and my knowledge of what exactly happened earlier I assumed it was the latter.

"And (y/n), you were late too. Did Kath need you too?" Race asked, and I discreetly elbowed him in the ribs.

"No, I just slept through my alarm this morning." I said with a little bit of a glare. I was lucky I was a good liar, since otherwise this little scheme could have ended up exposed, or worse, our friends would insist on getting Jack and I together. And I didn't want that.

I only thought of Jack as a good friend. I would not be happy if he kissed my face off right this second. Absolutely not.

"Why do literally none of us besides Davey have our shit together?" Albert joked, earning a little bit of laughter.

"Because we all drank the Dumb Bitch juice before he got here?" I chimed in.

"Maybe it's in our DNA!" Elmer piped up.

"We could be descended from unproductive aliens!" Crutchie joined in with a smile.

"Or Davey's just weird." Kath shrugged.

"Well yeah, that's a given," Finch said. We all laughed, and Davey gave us all a half-hearted glare, which made the laughter swell in volume.

I never noticed how good Jack looked when he laughed, but the look of genuine joy while he shook Davey's shoulders and threw his head back was absolutely beautiful. If I could paint, I'd have snap-shotted that moment in my head and painted it later so I could remember that in perfect detail.

I'd never noticed how wonderful he was until today. I could still feel his strong arms holding me against him in a secure embrace, and the muscle on his chest through his shirt. I could still feel his hot breath fanning my face and his fingers tracing little circles on my back.

And I really wanted that again.

(1038 words)