The Hard Crush 1 (Feelings For You)

NINETEEN

Jerry was leaving the school's premises with Sebastian beside him.

"So, you're going to talk to Ashley," Sebastian said.

"Yeah," Jerry confirmed, his eyes darting around frantically in search of Ashley.

"Well, I think I already know why she's so upset," Sebastian stated.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes."

As they exited the school hallway, Jerry caught Sebastian glancing at him from the corner of his eye.

After a few seconds, Sebastian sighed. "Are you kidding me right now?" He asked. "You're not going to ask me what I know?"

"Oh, come on, bro. You don't actually need a green light to keep talking."

Sebastian scowled at him. "Hilarious," he said, somewhat irritated. "Anyway, I think Ashley likes Tristian."

"Of course she does, they're literally best friends."

"No, I mean like like."

Jerry stopped in his track and then slowly turned to look at Sebastian. "What do you mean? Like she has a crush on him?"

"Exactly."

"No way."

"Yes way."

Jerry was quite speechless. A barrage of questions ran through his mind. But he just had to ask the obvious one. "So...how does that make her upset with Tristian?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes in that ridiculous manner when trying to let someone know they were dumb. "And here I thought you were the one who knew more about women," he said with a sardonic smile and a wink that drew a frown on Jerry's face. "And come on dude, you live in a house full of women too."

"Don't try to underestimate me," Jerry warned, a tad annoyed. "Oh, and do you mind? Let's skip this part and jump to the part where you explain to me why Ashley's mad at Tristian."

"Well, clearly she's just jealous."

"Jealous?"

"Yes. Tristian has been giving his undivided attention to Winifred and Ashley is pretty mad at him for being such a jerk. And I certainly do not think that Ashley likes Winifred either."

"Oh, so that explains why Ashley kissed me the other day in class. Probably to get Tristian jealous."

"Ashley kissed you?" Sebastian asked, he's eyes going wide.

"Yes, on the cheek. We'll talk about that later. Right now I need to find her." Jerry flung around in search of Ashley and finally spotted her sitting on a bench in the lawn.

"Well," Sebastian said retracing his steps. "Good luck, buddy. I gotta find Tristian. I'll see you tomorrow."

Jerry approached Ashley. "Hey, stranger."

Ashley looked up at him with a slight smile. Her blue eyes were shinning in the reflected rays of the sun. She moved a little to give him some space to sit on the bench.

"How you doing?" Jerry asked, sitting down next to her.

"I'm okay," came her reply. She averted her eyes and then decided to look the other way instead.

"And how's Rodney?" He asked all of a sudden.

Jerry watched as she flinched and then slowly turned to look at him. She tried to keep her expression as impassive as possible, but she was doing a terrible job at it because Jerry could clearly see the nervous tension in her eyes.