Crestfallen

20: Silent Brooding Doesn't Work

"So you're sure you don't mind me staying the night?" I sniffled, rubbing my hands up and down my arms. I paused for a moment and looked around, "where do you go to the bathroom?"

Jeremy looked up and smiled sheepishly. "The janitor gave me an extra key." I gaped at him and shook my head sympathetically. He shrugged, "the showers in the school are nice and free."

"Yeah, but..." I didn't really know what to say. There was a dull aching in my skull but I couldn't tell if it was from my head injury yesterday or simply from the cold.

"Yeah, but nothing. It is what it is," he stated adamantly, leaning back against the wall.

"No, it is what you make it," I corrected, giving him a sad smile. He seemed to frown at what I'd said for a moment as if he was thinking it over, but as quickly as the expression got there, it vanished.

"So, why do you live here?" I asked him, genuinely curious and concerned.

"Why did you come here?" He retorted with a quirked eyebrow. He ran a hand through his brown hair while I thought it over.

"Fair enough," I said before bursting into a coughing fit. I looked up at him apologetically when I finished, "sorry."

"Oh, it's fine, it doesn't really bother me," he smiled almost sadly.

I frowned confusedly. "But earlier you said—"

He cut me off by saying, "Earlier I was a dick and I'm really sorry."

"What did Macy do? Did she give you something?" I questioned inquisitively. Jeremy looked taken aback as he gazed at me with his green eyes. Then he laughed wholeheartedly and I let out a few chuckles myself. I kind of liked his laugh, as much as I hated to admit it.

"No, she just made me realize that the way I was treating you was unfair," he told me with a small smile on his face.

"Oh, but I thought being a 'silent brooding jerk' got you all the girls, why change tactics now?" I hadn't thought about the conversation I'd overheard until now, but I was feeling sassy. Even though he let me into his... home, I was still kind of hurt whether I wanted to admit it or not.

"You're still on about that?" Suddenly he was back to the cold Jeremy Storm I knew him to be. Him being nice and understanding was just too weird for me to handle at the moment.

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say.

"It's rude to eavesdrop," he stated, changing the subject. He knew he was guilty and so did I, I wouldn't let him get off that easily.

I stood up as I said, "it's rude to talk about people behind their backs." Standing up probably wasn't the best idea because although I was 5'8", Jeremy was easily over six feet tall, so when he stood too, he towered over me threateningly.

He said nothing as he took small steps towards me. I looked up at him, glaring angrily. "I could kick you out," he threatened. I knew he could and I knew he would, but I wasn't going to back down. Call it pride, but I'd rather find somewhere else to sleep than have him brush me off and belittle me like this.

"Then do it," I challenged, an angry look on my face. For a moment, he looked like he was going to. There was a vein popping in his neck and he was clenching his fists at his sides, but with a moment's notice, his features relaxed and so did his fists. He took a deep breath and sighed. Turning away from me, he returned to his bed and sat down.

"Yeah, well, obviously being a silent brooding jerk doesn't get you, now does it? Liam was right," he admitted, surprising me. My lips parted as I stared at him in awe. Numbly, I took a seat in the chair once more.

"Does that mean you're trying to get me?" I wondered aloud, my blue eyes wide. My blonde hair was a mess, I knew that for a fact. It was probably unbrushed and frazzled, but I wasn't worried about that at the moment. Jeremy just shrugged and I slumped back in my chair.

"Well, for the record, being a jerk doesn't get any girls," I informed him with a small smile on my face.

"It got the whole cheerleading team," he muttered under his breath, but I caught it.

I smirked at him, "yeah, but that's the cheerleading team, none of them care about personality. For them, that's just another word for ugly."

He chuckled and smiled at me, making me feel oddly warm and fuzzy. It's because he's attractive. Making good looking people laugh is a good self-confidence booster.

"Fair enough," he said with a shrug. "So, how would I get a girl who wasn't like that?"

I quirked an eyebrow, wondering if he was actually doing this right now. My shivers were gone and I was feeling weirdly warm for how cold it was in the room. I noticed Jeremy had a thick blanket covering his legs and envied him a little bit.

"What's this girl like?" I asked him, looking for more details.

"This is fictional, she doesn't exist, it's just research," he told me, his green eyes flitting from thing to thing as if he couldn't look me in the eye.

"Okay, but I need something to work with, give me some of her characteristics," I stated, thinking to myself, is it wrong to think that he's asking about me? It is, right?

"Well, she's pretty, she has a cute ass—" I stopped him there with a wave of my hand.

"I meant her personality," I said grimly, narrowing my eyes at him. He raised his hands in mock surrender before putting a thoughtful look on his face.

"She's funny, sarcastic, feisty, kind, smart," he listed, smiling as he thought of her. At this point, I knew, there's definitely no way he's talking about me.

"Well, I'd tell you to be nice to her, but not too nice. A girl like that would like someone who has a backbone, but isn't too stubborn," I advised with a shrug, smiling at him happily. I was glad he'd found someone he liked, maybe he'd be nicer to everyone.

"Perfect," he stated, grinning. "Thanks, Casey."

To that, I replied, "Anytime."