𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐏 | 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐲

17. Panic

"Just here" I told the driver as soon as school was in view. He nodded, pulling over and stopping the car. I reached into my back pocket to grab my wallet but I didn't feel it there. I frowned. That's weird...

I shrugged, figuring I'd just left it at home - I did that a lot. "Hey, do you take venmo?" I asked him. He nodded, and I let out a sigh of relief. I unlocked my phone and venmo'd him the money before getting out the car. "Thanks" I mumbled before shutting the door and walking off towards school.

I checked the time on my phone, mentally cursing. I'd missed most of first period so there was no point showing up to that. Finally I was inside the school, walking down the hallways and still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

I bit my bottom lip nervously, deciding to wait by Daniel's locker for period one to end. I spent the next few minutes checking the time on my phone till finally I heard the bell ring out. Kids began pouring out of classrooms, and I awkwardly waited for Daniel.

When I finally saw him, I let out a sigh of relief, beckoning him over. "Zach, where have you been, you missed first period!" Daniel complained. I rolled my eyes, but subconsciously I was trying to hide my neck so that he didn't see the purple marks littered all over it.

I didn't want to move my hand from my neck or Daniel would see, so I tried to distract him with words. "Daniel, now's not the time to talk about that. Did you get it?" I asked nervously.

"Get what, the text you sent me?" He asked in an amused tone. I took a deep breath, knowing he was trying to annoy me. "No daniel, not the text, the thing I asked for in the text!" I whisper-yelled at him. He scoffed, reaching into his backpack.

He pulled out a large hoodie, just like I'd asked for, but of course Daniel had to go and try and be funny. I groaned, snatching the baby pink colored hoodie out of his hands trying not to pay attention to the smug smile on his face.

"Of fucking course, I should've expected you'd do something like this. Now I have to wear a pink hoodie all day!" I yelled at him. At least I'd be able to cover my neck better now, and hopefully no one would see.

I turned around and walked off, hoping Daniel would leave me alone and go to class. Daniel obviously didn't get the hint - or maybe he did and just decided to ignore it anyways - but he started running after me to catch up.

"Where are you going?" He questioned once he was by my side again. I speedwalked down the hall trying to ignore him. "To change" I mumbled. I heard him let out a small chuckle. "Wanna explain why you're wearing the same clothes as yesterday?" He prompted. "Did you even go home last night?"

I blocked out all his questions until finally I'd reached the bathroom. It would be empty by now since everyone had made their way to second period. I pushed open the door and tried to shut it before Daniel could worm his way in but I should've known it was impossible to keep him away.

He shoved his way in and I knew I'd just have to accept him being here. Probably too worked up over Daniel being annoying, I took off my shirt without thinking so I could slip on the hoodie, but when I heard Daniel gasp I knew something was wrong.

"Wh-what?!" I stuttered nervously. Daniel's jaw was hanging as a look of amusement took over his face. "Zach..." he gasped. As soon as I looked into the bathroom mirror it hit me like a ton of bricks. Shit, Daniel distracted me so much that I completely forgot about the hickeys all over my neck and chest....

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "So that's why you needed the hoodie, huh? To make sure no one saw your neck?" Daniel teased. I groaned in annoyance. "Daniel, just keep quiet. I can't let anyone know" I warned him as I pulled the pink hoodie over my body.

Hmm. Surprisingly enough, I actually didn't hate how it looked on me. It sorta made me look... soft. But I'd never admit that to Daniel.

"Ugh, I love seizing every opportunity I can to style you like a little barbie doll" Daniel joked, even though he was telling the absolute truth.

I scoffed. "Cmon Daniel, lets just get to class" I sighed. Daniel shook his head. "Uh-uh, not until I get an explanation" he sassed, folding his arms over.

I checked every stall, even though I already knew they were all empty. "I shouldn't tell you here" I whispered to him nervously. "But you will tell me, right?" He asked, and for the first time today I saw a sincere look in his eyes.

I rolled my eyes playfully, a small smile crossing over my face as my nerves finally began to calm down. "Of course I was gonna tell you, you're my best friend" I reassured him. I took a deep breath before deciding to just get it out.

"I... I stayed over at Jack's house last night... sleeping with Jack" I finally admitted. Daniel's jaw nearly hit the ground once he'd heard what had happened; his eyes were practically bulging out of his head. "You what?! Oh my god, did you have SEX with him?!" Daniel gasped.

"What?! NO!!" I yelled a little bit too loudly. I cleared my throat, lowering my voice. "We didn't have sex, you know I'm virgin as hell. It was weird, we kinda just... made out. And then we cuddled..." I admitted nervously.

Daniel raised his eyebrows, trying to contain his laughter. "So you're telling me you went over to Jack Avery's house and after a make out session he just wanted to cuddle you? Dang... maybe he's not as much of a player as we thought. Maybe he's just a cuddle-bug" Daniel teased.

"Hey, don't make fun of him!" I warned Daniel. "But yeah, you're right... that was a bit weird. I'm surprised he even let me stay the night. In fact, he asked me to. He was probably just being polite because it was dark and so late" I said, trying to convince myself more than Daniel.

"When has Jack ever been polite?" Daniel interjected. I sighed, trying to push the thought away. "Let's not overthink this, Daniel. Besides, we need to get to class..." I mumbled as an excuse to end the conversation.

Although for the rest of the day, his words circulated through my mind. Could it mean something more, or was I totally misjudging it? It could mean nothing at all...

But what if it meant everything?