Scattered Souls

Chapter 18 - His Confession

"I should get going."  I said as I rushed out of my room,  not really knowing how to respond to Xypher.

Jordan was still petting Chippy as I approached him.

"Wow, you look stunning." Jordan gasped as soon as he laid eyes on me.

I was wearing a pretty pink and blue sarong, which I tied around myself as a halter dress. It was a gift from Alexa.

What was with him these days? A few days ago he was making moves on my best friend, and now suddenly he's all up in my business every chance he gets.

"Thank you." I said, since it was the only acceptable response. 

"Shall we go?" I had to urge him. He was still staring at me with a dumbstruck look on his face.

The festival was bright and colourful as usual. This time it was a Mexican theme. Fun beach activities, Mexican food stalls, a bonfire area. It was an ideal escape from my Xypher dilemma.

I was beyond relieved to find Alexa as soon as we got there. I sensed that Jordan was even more hopeful after the kiss we shared last night.

She was rocking a red bikini. She had the perfect body for it. "You look gorgeous."

Scott came up behind her. Wearing a matching red shirt and denim shorts. Something changed between those two as well; all thanks to my drunken match making skills I'm assuming.

After stuffing our faces with the most divine tacos, the boys were playing a bit of volleyball while Alexa and I were relaxing in a spot near the bonfire.

"So are you guys a thing now?" she randomly asked.

"No. I did have a silly crush on him." I admitted. "But that seems to have disappeared now. "

She nodded her head. "He does seem quite different now, like he's dropped the popular senior act or maybe it's a part of his game to woo you."

"Possible." I agreed.

"What about you and Scott?" I wondered.

"There is chemistry." she said with a little blush.

"I knew it!" I called out.

She laughed in response to that.

"Is there anyone else?" she surprised me by asking.

I wondered if she was already planning on double dating. Would I be third wheeling now?

"Kind of. He's a bit different though and it's... Complicated." I said, for lack of a better word.

"Is he married?" she looked concerned.

"What? No."

"He isn't." I assured her again, noticing she was still eyeing me skeptically.

"Do I know him?" she beamed, visibly relaxing a bit.

"No. He's not from Campus."

"Ooh, fancy." she teased.

Jordan insisted on dropping me off at home after the festival. He came really close to pleading.

"What's your deal?" I asked as soon as we reached home. I was even more suspicious after he got out to open the car door for me.

"Chivalry isn't dead." he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"True. But I've known you for a while." I pointed out. "You don't do these things."

"Maybe I'm changing." he looked sincere.

"Or maybe it's an act. What game are you playing at? " I questioned.

"No games, I promise." he held his hands up in surrender. "I have feelings for you."

"You were into Alexa a few days ago. And you didn't even act this way with her. " I had to point that part out.

"It's hard to explain. But I feel this strong attraction towards you now." he looked very confused.

"Attraction?" heck, even I was confused at this point.

"Yes. Almost like I'm being pulled towards you." he sounded more certain.

"I think... I think I might be in love with you." he said almost as if he were just realizing this himself.

Okay, now he definitely lost me.

"Love?" I looked at him like he just grew ten heads.

"Yeah, I think I should go now." he said hastily.

"I need to process all of this." I said honestly.

His confession threw me off guard. I was just as confused as he seemed a few minutes ago.

I entered my room, with Chippy hot on my heels, going as fast as his little puppy paws would carry him. I waited for him to enter my room before I closed the door.

"Swapped anymore spit with the toad? "

"No." I giggled at the choice of his words.

"Then why do you look like your cat just died? " his tone was playful, however, he looked genuinely concerned.

"He confessed his feelings for me. "  I groaned.

"Oh dear.  It's even worse than I expected. "

"Exactly." I said. "Wait... What do you mean by worse than you expected? So you expected this to happen?"

"There's something I should tell you." he looked guilty as hell, causing my curiosity to sky rocket.

"Go on." I urged him, almost at the point of shouting, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Well when you wanted to go on that date with Jordan." he stopped.

I tried to give him my best encouraging look for him to go on.

"It needed a little magical help from me to make it possible... That's where things didn't go exactly as planned." he looked genuinely remorseful.

"What does that mean? What does it have to do with my current situation with Jordan? " I questioned.

"Well, when we made our deal which resulted in your date with Jordan..." he paused, scanning my face for an expression.

"Please continue... " I encouraged him, for what felt like the tenth time. My patience was running thin.

"It took a little interference on my part." he looked embarrassed.

"What does that mean?" I wondered. "What kind of interference?"

"Well... When I tried to redirect his feelings toward you, I may have slipped up a little... Resulting in his feelings for you being magnified." he blurted out all at once, leaving me staring at him with my mouth wide open.