CHAPTER TWELVE
Somewhere along the lines of a friendship between myself and any guy, there comes a stage of unexplained awkwardness. Well, more so than usual. It wasn't really a problem... Okay, it bothered me.
Jack wouldn't talk to me. Not in gym class, the hallway, not at lunch. He was avoiding me. I was sure that he had some kind of reason, but I was unaware of what it was.
I didn't tell anyone about it, I simply acted like I didn't care. I didn't! Right? All through the rest of my week, I kept getting distracted between thoughts, did I do something wrong? Is someone spreading rumors? By someone, I meant Meghan. She still had an unnecessary hate for me, always glaring or rolling her eyes at me. I feared that she had started telling people things about me or Jen that weren't true.
I decided to confront Jack, and see what he would do. Would he ignore me? Act like nothing happened? Tell me what I did? I pulled him aside on the way to my bus that Friday afternoon.
"Jack!" I called from behind. He stopped suddenly at the sound of my voice, and turned after a short pause.
"Hi." He said, and pasted a grin on his face.
I gave a confused look. "How are you?" I asked, attempting to be nonchalant.
"Good." He took a breath. "How are you?" He tightly clutched the notebook in his hands.
"I'm fine..." My words trailed off a bit, letting the awkward silence sink in. It was an agonizing few moments and I could see in Jack's face that he was somewhat uncomfortable. "Do you want to walk with me to my bus?" I asked, thinking he would, because he usually did.
"You know, actually I can't. I have... A thing. That I need to do. So... I've gotta go." He stuttered in a childlike fashion. Of course. He was trying to get away from me.
"Oh." I breathed. Moving my eyes away from him.
He glanced at me with a sorry expression, and turned to leave. As he took a step, he almost walked into the double doors behind him, but stopped abruptly before it could happen, then took a deep breath before exiting.
I was disappointed. I came to him, seeking a reason for his strange behavior but I was just left alone and confused. Great! I thought. Just perfect!
I didn't talk to anyone on the bus ride home. Not even Jen, but she had Tom to talk to. Though I didn't speak, I did hear a few things. Tom planned to break up with Meghan. Jen didn't show it, but I knew how happy she was. Frankly, I was too. Meg didn't deserve Tom. He was too nice for her.
Eventually he got off the bus at his stop and Jen came over to sit with me. She cheered silently with a huge grin on her face. I found it kind of adorable how much she was blushing. She really liked Tom and I was happy for her.
As I got off the bus, Mark waited for me at the end of my street. He smiled at me, standing with his crutches. "Hey, kiddo." He said, turning around to walk with me after waving to my bus driver.
"How's it going?" I asked as the sound of his crutches hitting the ground filled my ears.
"Pretty good. I got some stuff in the mail that I want to show you."
I nodded my head as we approached the front door. I opened it for Mark and then stepped in after him. He walked over to the fridge and turned half way so I could hear him.
"Did you have lunch?" He asked me, grabbing some sandwich meat.
"Nope." I said as I took a seat at the table.
"Why not?"
I thought for a minute... Why would he care? "Well, I just wasn't hungry."
"Would you like something?"
