Melody's Crush

Chapter 4

Friday arrived too fast. The two days before, not once did Jake offer to drive me to school and he only showed up Thursday at my window. He acted like nothing ever happened. Like seeing my half naked body had no effect on him, whatsoever. He was back to his old teasing self which had my blood boiling.

Obviously, he was unaffected by my stripping in the closet incident and that slapped my ego a little. The whole time I thought I had embarrassed him as much as I was embarrassed. But, it was just me dancing alone in that imaginative corner.

Idiot!

So he wasn't showing up at my window, he wasn't driving to school with me and he wasn't texting.

That only meant one thing.

He had to be pursuing someone.

What hurt worst was that he normally asked me for my opinion before he went on the prowl. Why not this time? What made this girl so special?

Sheesh. One sided crushes really sucked.

The morning classes passed by in a flash it seemed. My palms started sweating the moment my foot crossed the classroom threshold to health.

The bell rang signaling for everyone to take their seats, but there wasn't a person in the room settled. We all were on edge for the pairing off of husband and wife. All the guys were practically squirming in their seats knowing they would have to move in with their 'wives' for the next four nights. The following Tuesday, the gals had to move in with their 'husbands.'

Mr. Lloyd rose from his seat carrying a black top hat that looked like a prop swiped from drama club. Shaking it around, all eyes were glued to it as if we expected him to pull out a rabbit or a dove... or something at least magical.

Alas, there was nothing magical about a bunch of girls' names written on tiny pieces of cut up printing paper.

Not holding back or trying to alleviate our nerves, Mr. Lloyd signaled for Jason Anderson, the first of twelve guys, to stand up and head to the pairing hat.

Ah... this was going alphabetically.

That meant Jake would pair off somewhere in the middle.

Although my nerves were on edge, I wasn't worried. Or at least I kept telling myself that. Seeing Jake chatting with Mr. Lloyd before class put my mind somewhat at ease.

Thursday, I promised Jake that I would take care of the baby for the first four nights in my room and he could take care of the baby the remainder three nights at his house with neither of us having to worry about the awkwardness of staying in the same house.

It was a win-win.

But, he insisted that we would live together as it was important for the grade. That had my heart skipping every other beat for the rest of the day and it was still skipping now.

Jason reached into the hat pulling out the first name. Everyone was holding their breath. Unfolding the little piece of paper, he slowly peeled open his eyes. Smiling, he called out Janette Shipley. Everyone clapped as Mr. Lloyd told Jason to go sit over next to Janette to which both seemed pleased to be paired together.

Looking at them next to one another, the two looked cute and I was sure they would make an even cuter baby.

My gag reflexes tripped unexpectedly. 

The next six were paired and neither Tricia's nor my name had been called. It was Jake's turn to draw from the hat causing the rest of the girls to sit on the edge of their seats. Even though I knew it wouldn't matter who he drew, I still held my breath in anticipation.