What could go wrong?

Letting it all out

Today I'm sitting at lunch with HK. I'm trying to plan a date while she secretly stalks him from across the lunch room. "So would you like to.... HK!" I exclaim. "Wh-What?!" She says, jumping out of her daze. "You're gonna go out with him, there's no need to stalk him anymore." She kicks me from underneath the table, and I wince from the pain. "Ok, sorry grumpy pants." "I'm not grumpy, I'm nervous." She started twisting and untwisting her hands. Jimmy caught her eyes and flashed a smile. I laughed when she gulped. While he was looking over here, I waved him towards us and shouted, "Eh Jimmster! Come over here a sec!" He excused himself from his friends and strode over confidently. Another kick, but with much more force this time. "Ow! This is for your own go... Hey Jimmy!" I said, when Jimmy finally approached us. HK went mute. "Hey there little date planner!" He said, rubbing his fist into my head like I was his sister. I smiled while smoothing my hair down. He scratched the back of his neck and quietly greeted Hannah Kate. She gave him a small smile and went back down to concentrating very hard on her lunch.

"So... I was thinking maybe dinner at something not too fancy at all like... I don't know... Hmm. What do y'all think is not too fancy but date worthy?" "I'm fine with anything." He said. I sighed. "Well, name your favorite restaurant off the top of your head." "Olive Garden." They both said at the same time. That's when they looked into each others eyes for the first time and smiled, then quickly looked away. "Alright," I said through a grin. "Olive Garden it is. But you can't be this awkward on your date." "Katie!" HK exclaimed. I smiled sweetly as I grabbed Jimmy's wrist and pulled him into the seat next to me. "Good. Now act like big girls and boys and work the awkwardness out of this thing. Ok?" Jimmy nodded while HK gave me the devil's stare. I avoided eye contact while moving down to the opposite side of the table, smiling as I saw the two talking.
"Hey there." Said a very familiar voice. "Jake!" I exclaimed. He smiled sweetly as he kissed my temple and sat down. "Having fun playing love doctor?" He asked, eyebrow raised. "You know what? It might just become a profession for me." He started laughing at my joke when we heard a, "Excuse me. Can y'all clear somethin' up for us?" We turned to see some girls behind us. (And yes, that's how most of us talk down here. Don't judge, we know y'all wish you had a cute southern accent like us.) Jake cleared his throat. "Um, sure?" He said like a question. "Are y'all datin' or is that just a silly rumor?" He immediately grabbed my hand and held our intwined hands out a bit for them to see. "Absolutely. You got a problem with that?" He asked, as he saw their faces fall. "Oh! No no not at all!" She said, sounding exasperated at the fact that he noticed her disappointment. They clicked away, high heels and all, and I smiled at him. "Whatchu looking at smiley?" I pecked his cheek. "Nothing you need to worry about."

Some more people came up, two to be exact, and I liked them much more than the last group. "Hey HK. Jimmster." I said. "Jimmster?" Jimmy asked. "I call you that now. You can come up with something for me if it makes you feel better." "Hmm. Ok. How 'bout.... Cotton swab! Like your last name Schwab!" I rolled my eyes. "Never heard that one before." "But how 'bout I take it a step further. Q-tip?" I shrugged. "Fair enough. Now is the awkwardness gone?" They both looked at each other and smiled. "I think so." HK said. I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, so your talking around him now?" Instead of the death glare she responded by smiling at me. "Yes, I am. Just like you're talking around people that aren't me." I grabbed Jakes hand and displayed it just like he had before. "You can thank him for that." He smiled genuinely and squeezed my hand.

Later on, I was walking down the hallway alone. Someone threw a can at me and yelled, "Dork!" I looked at the thrower and stared him in the eyes. He had a mischievous spark in his eye. I rolled my eyes and walked away from him. "What? Is that it? You're just gonna walk away?" I turned around and walked towards him. "What did you want me to do? Punch you in the face?" His smile dropped. "No, it's just most dorks get mad about being hit with cans." Then his smirk returned. "Nope. Not this dork." I picked up the can and pretended to throw it at him. He flinched, and I smiled as I threw the can away. I was almost gone, when I heard a thud against the lockers and a, "You think it's funny to throw things at girls? Huh?" I turned around to see that Jake had pinned the guy against the lockers. His fists curled around the guys collar. "No no man! It was just a little fun..." "Fun?! You think it's fun to throw things at my girlfriend?" He interrupted. "No! I didn't know she was your girlfriend! I mean she's..." "What? She's what?!" He throws a punch aimed at the guys face, but it's immediately blocked, by me. "Jake! Cool your temper. He's just an idiot doing what idiots do." He kept his fist in my hand as he stared the guy down. "Hey!" He responded. I stared wide eyed at him. "Do you wanna keep your face? Cause if you do, then I suggest you shut up and let me handle this, dipwad."

He nodded shakily and ran off. His friends were left staring at us blankly. "And Dipwad's friends. Beat it." I said. They nodded and followed their fellow idiot leaving us alone. "Now that there is only one idiot in the hallway...." I began. He glanced at me, then stared at our hands. His fist still rested in my palm, softer than before when he threw it. I enclosed my slim fingers over his balled hand, and his stare intensified. "How often does that happen to you?" He asked, temper still clearly there. "Jake.." "How often?!" He yelled. Like him I stared at our hands. "Pretty often." I whispered. "What?!" He said. He was looking at me now but I wasn't looking at him. I refused to. "I'm used to it though." My voice cracked as my lip quivered. In my peripheral vision I saw how his face softened. The anger went away, and I couldn't tell if it was truly gone or he was just covering it up for me at the moment. "You're not used to it are you?" I looked at the floor. "I am." Again another crack. If a said any more I would break down into tears. "Katie, I know you wanna be a big girl and pretend that you're ok. But you're not." Then I got angry. I pushed him away. "Do you know what I've been through? Cans, food, tissue boxes, book, pencils, I've seen it all!" I ranted.

"And all this time, I pretended that I didn't care, like I had no anger. I have feelings!" I had turned toward him, putting my finger in the middle of my chest. Pity was unmistakeable on his face. "And all this, no one even noticed me! No one!" I put my face in my hands. I felt big warm hands wrap around my wrists. They took my hands away from my face and held them tight. I looked into Jake's eyes. "Are you forgetting someone?" He said softly. I smiled softly as the first silent tear fell. He carefully wiped it away, making me smile more. "There's that beautiful smile." I laughed as more tears fell. He wrapped me in his arms around me and enveloped me into him. I hugged him back, and the tears didn't fall anymore. "Thank you. I-I-I really like you." I said, words muffled by his chest. "No," he said, resting his chin on top of my head. "I don't think like is the right word." "Well, what do you think is the right word?" I could tell he was smiling. "Love. I think you love me." I pulled away, but we still kept our arms around each other. "How do you know that?" I asked, eyebrow raised. "Because I think I love you." "You think?" I asked. He shrugged. "I think we're both unsure, but we're going around that corner." I smiled, and leaned back into him. The big question, did I love him?
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Ooo! Romantic!
Wassup my players! I am so sorry for not updating. I would tell you my excuse, but you probably don't care. You should just know that I'm really sorry!! Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry, and if I wasn't clear before.... SORRY!! Here's this apology chapter that you just read as a forgiveness token. Thank y'all for staying with me!
@KS