JanTom: Complete Opposites

Chapter Thirty-Four : Something's Wrong With Him

Chapter Thirty-Four : Something's Wrong With Him

(Short chapter)

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"Tom...?"

    His eyes looked sullen while he stared at the soles of his shoes. Then he looks up from his stance and only stares at me, not uttering a single word.

    Not a bright and cheery good morning, or a wide grin on his lips on an early morning like this. It's scary...and unusual.

      Maybe he's just tired or not in the mood. Even people like Tom has bad days or days they just  want to be calm and quiet. Maybe I'm just overthinking things. ...and if somehow he has something troubling him, then I don't know what to say or do.

      I resigned myself, tucking my hands under the pockets of my jacket while I manuever close to him and stood next to where he stood.

     He doesn't say anything and starts picking up his pace, not looking back or a single utter spoken. It's as if he's trying to get away from me.

Damn it. It's really makes me queasy when you're so quiet, Tom.

   The only thing that could be heard was the screeching of tires and the barking of the dogs from a few steps away. It's like I'm walking by myself. And it's excruciating not knowing what to do.

     But I shouldn't chicken out. I took a deep breath, one that I poured every ounce in me to gather up some courage and start some probably dead conversation. "Tom...uh, the weather is nice..isn't it?"

      I stare at him, waiting for at least an obnoxious reply, but after a mere seconds he barely mutters. "Yea."

   
     Now what? "Aren't you excited for the school festival? It's nearing close."

     "Mhm."

I tried to be nice and at least considerate just this once. But he's really pushing my buttons right now--not to mention how I despise his monosyllabic  replies. It makes me feel like I'm just air passing through him.

     I stop in my tracks and grabbed the hem of his shirt, clenching it with my fingers. "What's the matter with you? It pisses me off how you don't see me."

      I flinch when his hands travelled thorough mine and took off my hands off his crumpled shirt. "I'm being selfish right now, aren't I?"

       "What do you mean? Explain it in the way I understand."

     "I'm a very selfish person, Janna. I'm trying to hold myself from being too greedy and asking too much," he murmurs under his breath with a raspy tone, as if he's enduring something.

      "So...let me be...just this time."

Then he picks up his pace, not bothering to at least  look into my face for just a mere second.

And somehow...it seems that there's a barrier between us.

. . .

"Earth to Janna?"

I blinked, then snapped out of my reverie when I see a hand wave in front of me tediously. I lift my gaze to find Oskar peering his head towards me.

"You alright? You look like you want to punch someone."

"I'm fine," I grumbled despite my efforts to seem like I was doing alright. The firm grip that I held onto a random book was the evident of that.

"You know, saying you're alright when it's obvious you're not is overrated, you know?"

"What do you want me to say, then? That I'm having a problem? That I'm troubled?"

"Calm down," he looks at me anxiously. "---you don't have to get so worked up about it."

He places a hand under his chin and pretends to think deeply, then glances back at me with a look that says he found the answer. "Let me guess...you realized you like Tom?"

I brought a hand up and lung it to his direction when he swerves to the right and misses my swing. I groan, flinging my hand back to my sides with frustration growing more the seconds that ticked by.

"You don't have to hit me to get your point across, okay?" he manages a faint smile, as if he was almost shot by a gun. "--I was joking."

"Well your joke isn't funny!" I smiled sourly. "Tch. You have bad taste in humour."

"So? What's truly troubling you?"

"That stupid idiot is acting weird," I grumbled under my breath, staring daggers at the spine of the books I just stacked up on the counter to be returned.

"He's distancing himself from me--like I'm so parasite."

"So you're worried?"

"Me? Worried? Why?"

Oskar looks into my eyes with so much wonders as he speaks casually---like he usually does. "Because he's special to you, right? You're worried that he's distancing himself from you and the moment you realized you're too late when he doesn't speak to you again."

"Tch," I clicked my tongue, eyeing him in distaste because what he just said struck at the core. "--it pisses me off how you know so much."

"I don't," he replied. "---but you're an easy book to read, Janna. It's like what they say "The eyes are the window to your soul."

"And I think I got an idea on why he's like that," he smiles at me mischeviously. "---but you think about it yourself. You can't just have people spoon feed you the answers all the time."

I groaned, wanting to chuck the book to his head but calmed myself down, releasing the pressure on my fingertips. "Stupid Oskar."

"You men are hard to understand."

"I think it's the other way," he clarifies with a grin. "--you women are hard to read. It's like a gamble on what to say or do."

"Whatever."

So something is really bothering him. I don't know what to do.

August 19,2020