Not Thinkin' Bout You

Chapter 28

PREVIOUSLY: "That's why I'm here. So you don't have to do this alone," Jonah whispered. Ellody stared into his blue-green eyes, wondering what he was feeling right now.

Does he feel it too?

"I wish I could come inside with you," Jonah grinned, looking over Ellody's shoulder at the school.

"No you don't. School sucks," Ellody informed him. The only reason she didn't like school was because she had no contact with the outside world, since they banned phones last year. Which meant no contact with any of the Why Don't We boys.

"I just want to be there with you. Not necessarily doing school work, but enjoying your company. It's gonna be so boring at your place without you," he sighed.

"You have Sienna," Ellody replied with a smile. Ellody was ridiculously happy that he was going to be bored without her. It gave her a sense of importance, that someone really wanted her.

"Not the same," he decided. Ellody shook her head and stared at the car in front of them as it drove away. Kids were milling around the carpark with their friends before school began, as usual.

"I'd better be going, then. Come pick me up at lunch and we can go to the cafe around the corner," Ellody joked.

"Really?" Jonah said excitedly.

"No! I can't just leave campus! I have things to do after lunch, like... oh my goodness... I didn't do my assignment," Ellody realised, going pale. Her heartbeat sky-rocketed as a panic attack began. I haven't failed to hand in an assignment since I was sick in grade nine. I can't miss the due date, I have to do this assignment, I have to have something to hand in. Why did I forget? School is usually my main priority. Oh my goodness, I'm going to fail my class. I'm going to get a zero for late submission because I didn't contact the night before or anything... what have I done?

"Ell?" Jonah said sharply as she slid down the car seat.

"I-I'm going to f-fail... I d-din't do my assignment and I'm a failure," Ellody whimpered, tears leaking out of her eyes. Tears turned to sobs, and suddenly she couldn't control herself. Jonah hesitated before unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the car, hurrying to the passenger door and throwing it open. He slowly helped her out of the car and into the back seat instead.

"OK Ell, just breathe," he instructed as he shut the doors and joined her on the other side. They sat in the backseat together as Jonah told Ellody to keep breathing. Ellody was glad that she was sitting here with him instead of having a panic attack alone, but nothing was helping her finish that assignment. "What period is it due in?" he asked, switching tactics.

"Fifth," she breathed, a sob escaping her lips.

"That's plenty of time. What do you have to do?" Jonah pressed.

"I-I don't know... it'll be on the class page," she added, wiping her tears off her cheeks. He reached into the front seat and gave her a box of tissues before taking Ellody's phone, which she unlocked, and finding the class page.

"It says you have to pick a character from this book and create a poster with all their information... I've got an idea," Jonah said suddenly and gave her phone back, pulling out his own.

~

Ellody hadn't pictured that her double science lesson that morning would be spent in the back of Jonah's car with a stolen piece of A3 paper from the supply closet in the art room they broke into and Googling a random character they found in the book.

"When was his birth year again?" Jonah mumbled.

"Um, 1932," Ellody replied, double-checking her phone to make sure.

"OK, well, it's nearly done. If you can just find who killed him, you can hand it in and... pass," Jonah said delicately. Ellody knew that a half-effort poster wouldn't do well. Hopefully her teacher didn't think of showing it to her mum at end-term interviews.

"Thank you for helping me. If this had been me by myself, I would be in science holding in my tears right now, and telling my teacher in fifth period that I forgot it at home," Ellody sighed.

"This is the least I can do. If I hadn't rocked up last night uninvited, you might have remembered it and actually gotten a good grade," Jonah frowned. Ellody shook her head at him to tell him she didn't care what mark she got, and that she was just grateful that he was helping her.

"Oh man, look at the time! I've gotta run in and be marked as here or I'm screwed. They'll call mum and tell her I didn't get to school today," Ellody gasped, throwing open the car door and grabbing her school bag from the passenger seat. "Thank you again, Jonah," she added. Jonah smiled at her as she slammed the door shut and ran to her science class, knowing that her teacher always forgot to mark attendance until the last minute of period two.

~

The bell rang to begin lunch, and Ellody waited impatiently for her teacher to let them leave the room. Finally, Ellody was running through hallways and slipping through traffic jams around lockers to get to the carpark.

"I don't know what I'd do without you," Ellody said breathlessly as she jumped in the car and shut the door loudly.

"Love you too," he laughed, reaching into the backseat and grabbing the poster they'd been working on. Ellody's heart jumped in her chest at his words, but she knew he was just being playful and that he didn't really feel that way. "I totally didn't go back to the art room and add a few finishing touches to the poster," Jonah laughed, showcasing the poster with red paint around the outside like a border. Such a simple addition made the poster a lot more interesting and eye-catching. I can't believe he did this for me, Ellody thought happily.

"Wow, thank you! It makes all the difference! How did you manage to get in?" she asked. Jonah shrugged and smiled easily, glancing out the window as though making sure nobody was listening.

"Very easily. I looked through the window to check no one was there, and I just walked straight in and sat there for ten minutes painting," he said, making it look as though it was no big deal. Ellody laughed, picturing a fan walking past and seeing the one and only Jonah Marais painting in the school art room.

"What if a fan had walked past? That was really risky," she commented.

"Any risk is worth it for you," Jonah smiled. Ellody's heart wanted to burst out of her chest with happiness, but she had to keep it in. He couldn't know she liked him like that.