Jack Kelly x Reader

Chapter Nine

(y/n)'s POV

"Hey, Kath. What's up?" I asked as I answered her FaceTime call almost an hour after school had gotten out.

"Oh nothing much. But you were acting kinda weird earlier. Is something wrong?" She looked worried, and my mind flashed back to the events of the day, and heat filled my face.

"Well I- I guess the whole being-on-top-of-Jack thing was kinda weird, I guess. I'm fine though!" I answered, reaching up to twirl the same lock of hair I always did when I was describing a crush to Kath, however subconscious it was.

"Oh my god, do you like him now or something?! You're twirling your hair!" She gasped, quickly noticing my weird behavior. My eyes widened and I shook my head violently, removing my hand from my hair.

"That can't be it! I never thought of him that way before, and a 'moment' can't make you develop a crush on someone that quickly!" I dismissed. I was sure I didn't like him. I would have told her if I did, but I didn't, end of story.

"Sure it can! Plus, he is totally boyfriend material. Tough and charismatic but still sweet and protective, plus he is handsome AND an artist. I could totally see why you'd like him," she said smugly.

"Well yeah but- I don't like him! I can't, it's not possible." I said, turning my head to look at my playbill collection instead of her.

"This is perfect! Now it'll be less weird if you two flirt and stuff!" She said, ignoring my protests. My face grew even hotter than it was before.

"Fine, okay? I might like him..." I whispered softly. I heard her squeal. This totally was a romcom in real life to her. Despite my awkwardness, it felt good to admit it, because I thought it could be true. Yeah, maybe I could like Jack. It wasn't the end of the world, right?

"If the fall thing worked on you this well, imagine how smitten Jackie probably is. We all know that he's a total helpless romantic," Kath commented lightly. I nodded, smiling at the prospect of Jack liking me.

"Yeah, but we ought to be more thorough. We'll give it tomorrow to all settle down and then I'll start flirting, I guess?" I was reluctant to flirt with him, but that was the plan all along. It would have been so much easier to not fall for him, just flirting with no strings attached on my end.

"That sounds like a good idea. I'll ask Crutchie if he's gotten any news from Jack. Catch ya later!" She waved and hung up, leaving me in silence. I felt a huge urge to text Jack, so I decided I might as well. It didn't have to be romantic, just sending him a meme would calm my brain that was desperate to talk to him.

So I found a good picture of my dog, Lily, doing a weird pose and sent it, deciding against a meme after all. He read it almost immediately, and started to text back after about ten seconds. Not that I was counting or anything.

"Your dogs adorable"

I grinned down at it and looked over to see the same dumb ol' thing laying on the ground by a knocked over laundry hamper. She loved laying in dirty clothes for whatever reason.

Jack's POV

"Your dogs adorable?" Seriously? That's all I could come up with? I was seriously overestimated when it came to being smooth. I didn't need to text Davey to know that I was an absolute idiot.

"just like you ;) lol that was so bad ew" I saw her text appear on my screen, sending a flurry of butterflies through my chest and stomach. What did she mean? Was she actually being serious and trying to cover it up?

"It wasn't TOO bad" I decided to respond. It gave away nothing, but was still reassuring. Good save, Jack.

"dude, it was one of the most cursed things i've ever said. and i have my Quote Note™ filled with awful stuff that me and our friends have said"

"Quote note?"

"it's just a note on my phone where i put weird stuff ppl say, their name, and the year it was said. i wanna look back at it in 4 years and remember my friends stupidity"

"Valid. Can you send me some of the quotes? Am I in there?"

"oh hell yeah you are. lemme get some of your best ones, brb"

I set down my phone just to stare at my dark blue bedroom wall. Was she flirting? I kind of really wanted her to have been flirting just then. She was the only girl that had ever made me feel like this, and though it scared me, I also really just liked her a lot.

I picked up my phone when I got her text, and saw probably the best things I'd ever read displayed across my phone.

"The Earth isn't flat, it has hills

-Albert DaSilva 2k17

Oh, it's a threesome

-Jack Kelly 2k17

Why exactly are we petting my skin?

-(y/n) (l/n) 2k18

Why do my shoes look like a modern art installation?

-Jack Kelly 2k18

It's like this musical was WRITTEN for jazz squares!

-(y/n) (l/n) 2k19

those are some of my favorites"

I grinned down at my phone after reading the quotes. I did remember some of those, but the others confused me a lot.

"What was the jazz square one about?"

"i was telling kath about Bonnie and Clyde bc oh my god its just... perfect..."

"The one who has an actor who looks like me?"

"yup, Jeremy Jordan. i recommend it, btw. if youd be into listening to musicals lol"

"I trust your judgement. I'll give it a listen later"

"cool beans! have fun :)"

"I'm sure I will"

I sighed, setting my phone down. My cheeks hurt, I realized, from smiling so hard. But I couldn't help it, I'd been talking to (y/n).

Why was I such a lovesick idiot after admitting to myself and Davey that I actually liked the damn girl, though? Was it just that everything I had hidden for ages was rushing out?

Or was it this morning, maybe?

I could still feel her pressed up against me, holding my shoulders with her legs tangled with mine. I hoped that if there was a next time that it happened, it would be intentional and that I'd have the balls to kiss her right there. It wouldn't happen though. I was sure of it.

(1108 words)