BECAUSE IT WAS YOU

Chapter 8

"Stop right there young lady!" Chris exclaims, on our way to class. "You could've got lost!!!"

"Chris you're missing the point!" I respond.

This always happens with her.
Our discussion could be of major importance, but she always picks up a few irrelevant points. And then she forgets what our entire conversation was actually supposed to be based on.

"Fineee!" she sighs. "What if Jayden is interested in you??" her eyes widened.

"What on earth are you saying? If anything, he probably wants to kill me." Ouch that hurts.

"Trust me! This is how all those love hate relationships begin." she shakes her head.

Oh she's serious!

"We're talking about a guy who doesn't even believe in love!!!" I point out.

Which is true. I've certainly come across people who don't believe in love. But not a single soul who believes it to be a myth or a fiction.

"Do you think he had like a bad breakup or something?" I ask her.

"You think that's why he doesn't believe in love?"

"No! No no!" I shake both my hands. "It's just that Ashley sai-"

"Ash!" Chris corrects me.

"Ash said that Jayden had his own reasons. Remember?" I rephrase

"Oh yessss! Probably something huge. For a person to be totally against romance. I mean, duh!" she rolls her eyes.

But what is it?
On top of it all why do I care?

"Well it's his personal life. It's his wish right? I hope I don't have to face such awkward situations again. I can't resist the frustration whenever he speaks." I say.

Whenever he speaks to me rudely! Not when he's nice to me!

I mean he was nice enough to offer me his jacket.

I make it to the english class and take my seat.
I spot Jayden seated a few rows behind me on the opposite side.
I try not to look at him.
And I don't.

I keep my books on the desk and start reading a novel.

"Can I take that seat?" a voice comes from next to me.

I look up to spot a young man, tall and well built, standing right next to me.
He was dressed in a white T-shirt and blue jeans with a black backpack hanging on one shoulder.

"Yea. I guess you could." I smile.

"Thanks!" he smiles back, taking the seat next to me.

"Hey! I'm Emanuel!" he offers to shake hands, once he's settled down.

"Hello Emmanuel! I'm Emma." I shake hands with him.

"Woah! Emma and Emmanuel. How twin-ish!" he widens his eyes and shakes his head.

"Do you think we could be long lost twins?" I act surprised.

He starts laughing and I couldn't help but join in.

"Lover? I don't know. I don't know if she loves me. I don't know if I love her. All I can say is-" Emmanuel looks at the novel in my hands.

"She's the one I think about. All the time. She's the voice I want to hear. She's the face I hope to see." I complete the dialogue. "You've read it!" I smile.

"I've got your number? Of course I have! That's one good book." he flashes a warming smile. "You've already read it too I suppose? That dialogue is from the last pages of the book."

"Countless times." I answer him, confirming his assumption right. "I'm glad I met someone who loves it just as much as I do!"

"Love is nice when you read about it." he tilts his head.

"You don't believe in love?" I widen my eyes. "What is it with me coming across people who believe love to be a lie?"

"I believe in love. A spark between two people is irresistible. I just haven't been in love to know it for certain. That's why I said it's nice to read about." he grins.

"Ohh. Forgive me!" I grimace. "I was just annoyed."

"You take it quite personally don't you?" he giggles.

"I like to be optimistic." I shrug.

"And there comes Mrs. Lopez. Time for an interesting english lesson." he looks over at Mrs Lopez, our English professor, who walks inside.

While preparing for class, I turn to place my bag next to me, when I mistakenly, and I'm being honest when I say mistakenly make eye contact with Jayden.

He stares at me, right into my soul.
Not like he did the first time we met.
With a scowl on his face, he keeps staring at me.

Unable to resist the annoying heat that always magically appears whenever I see him let alone talk to him, I turn back around.

"Are you alright?" Emmanuel asks me.
"Your face is kinda red."

What the...