Between Two

Chapter 16

It was after school on Thursday and ever since Monday, I've been eating lunch with Chris and Jonah along with Tara. I enjoyed having lunch with them, I was comfortable to be myself in front of them. Jonah so far has been giddy, always wanting to spend time with me. Which is what's happening right now.

"I have a lot of homework." Jonah followed after me, gently grabbing my arm.

"We'll do it together." I smiled sweetly at him, pulling the door open to the library.

"Now why do you want to do homework with me?" He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me in close to him.

"Because I just want to spend time with you. I like being with you." I blushed, walking towards a table near the back.

I then redirected towards a different table after seeing Chris sitting there alone. Jonah followed after me, waving at Chris. I took off my backpack and sat down next to Chris which made Jonah frown, sitting in the chair in front of me.

"Hi, Chris." He smiled at me, leaning back in his chair.

"What are you doing?" I pulled out my binder and a pencil while he pointed towards his laptop.

"French project, I need a picture of you." I frowned, not understanding why.

"Um... why?" He put his laptop between us, showing me the project he was working on.

"Because I need pictures of people that are important to me, and you're one of them. I don't really have many people. I need a minimum of eight slides. I have five, the beginning slide, my mom, Gracie, Jonah, and now you." I let out a breath, looking through his slides.

I felt sad that he didn't have anyone else to add. It made me even sadder that he didn't know his dad.

"I'll let you take a picture of me... don't you have any uncles or grandparents?" Chris looked away from me, taking his laptop back.

"My mom was an only child and had me young, they practically disowned her. They don't give a shit about me." Jonah didn't say anything, opening up his own laptop.

"Well, there has to be someone else? I'm sure there's a lot of people that care about you and are important to you." Chris clenched his jaw, slamming his laptop shut.

"There is no one else, Avi, no one fucking cares." He stood up, grabbing his laptop and backpack before walking away.

I stared after him, my heart aching for him. "This topic is just sensitive for him. He'll get over it." I opened my binder, pulling out a piece of paper.

"He shouldn't have to get over it, Jonah, he should feel like someone cares." He kept quiet, typing something on his laptop.

"He's like that, Avi, he just wants your attention." I scoffed, going to put my stuff away.

"Are you serious right now? He's your friend." He looked up at me, an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry, that's just how he is. I've known him, basically, my whole life. This is his way to get to you." I rolled my eyes, zipping my backpack up.

"Well, great, I'm going to go tell him it's working." I stood up, putting my backpack on as Jonah quickly started to put his things away too.

"Aviana!" I walked away from him, mostly in a hurry to find Chris.

I honestly couldn't believe Jonah would say that about Chris, his own friend. I wouldn't ever talk about Tara like that, so why was Jonah talking about Chris like that? Didn't he feel any sympathy for his friend?

My steps were fast as I walked around the quad, looking for Chris. I wanted to comfort him, do something nice for him. I just didn't know where he was.

I pulled out my phone and started calling him, but of course he didn't answer. What a surprise. I called him again, sighing when my call was declined. I started walking and smiled seeing Tara walk out of her art class. I jogged up to her, grabbing her arm.

"Oh my fu- Jesus! Don't do that, you scared me." I rolled my eyes, looking around, searching for any sign of Chris.

"Have you seen Chris?" She moved her hair, walking around me.

"Um... I think he left to the student parking lot. I saw him rush that way through the window from the art class." I thanked her, and quickly walked away towards the student parking.

I spotted Chris tossing his backpack into the backseat of his car, "Chris, wait!" He looked up in surprise, his lips parting as I tripped over my own feet and landed on the ground.

He jogged up to me while I felt my cheeks redden in embarrassment, "Are you okay?" I nodded, letting him help me up.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it wasn't that hard of a fall." I wiped at my knees, still embarrassed.

"You sure?" I nodded, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Yup, totally." I laughed it off, still not looking at him.

He grabbed my hand, pulling me after him towards his car, "Do you need a ride home?" I sighed in relief, happy for the subject change.

"Yeah, if you don't mind." He opened up the passenger side door for me, offering me a small smile.

"I don't mind at all." Chris grabbed my backpack, the smile never leaving his face as he tossed it in the back.

I buckled up while he closed the door, glancing up at him when he walked towards the drivers side. I wanted him to know that I cared for him, even if we've known each other for a short amount of time.

He got in, his face void of emotion, "What are you going to do for your project?" Chris sighed, leaning his head against the headrest.

"I don't know, I probably might just not do it." He closed his eyes, the exhaustion showing on his features.

"I'm sure your teacher would understand, maybe you could try asking to do something else for the credits." Chris shrugged, glancing towards me.

"Maybe... it's just... I don't have as many people that are close to me. Jonah has a perfect family, and I... I'm fucked up." I reached over, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulled him close to me

"No, you're not, Chris. You do have people that care about you, even if it's not that many. I care about you, Jonah does... your mom and Gracie do too." He hesitantly hugged me back, resting his chin on top of my head.

"Thanks, Avi, but some days I just feel alone." I hugged him tighter, wishing I could take his pain away.

"You're not, I can promise you that." He chuckled, slightly pulling away from me.

"You're amazing." I rolled my eyes, looking him in the eyes.

"Thank you, for everything so far, Chris. I'm glad we're friends." It was quiet for a moment, his hand moving to cup my cheek.

He leaned in towards me, our noses touching. I closed my eyes, but as his lips brushed against mine, I turned my head and let him kiss my cheek. I felt him smile and he kissed my cheek again, my breathing shallow.

"I'm sorry." He muttered it, pulling away from me.

"It's fine..." I looked away from him, staring out the windshield while he studied me.

That was close, too close. I wasn't ready to have my first kiss or maybe I was. I'm not so sure anymore.