Crestfallen

22: So Cute

As I woke up, I felt someone else's breath fanning across my cheek. My eyes fluttered open as I rolled my head to the side, only to come face to face with Jeremy. I gasped, forgetting where I was. I felt a heavy weight across my abdomen and looked down, only to find Jeremy's arm wrapped around me. I felt oddly comfortable and didn't want to move.

I squinted in suspicion and turned around in Jeremy's arms. His eyes fluttered open and focused on me. A lazy grin grew across his face as he said, "sup blondie?"

I stopped squinting and rolled my eyes as I scoffed, picking his arm off of me, and getting up. It was a school day and I had to get there. I didn't actually know what time it was so I checked my phone, only to find that it was 9:00AM.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath, running a hand through my hair. I put my boots on as I said, "well, thanks for letting me crash, I'll be off then. See you around I guess? Yeah... bye."

I mentally slapped myself as he continued to look up at me with a glimmer of laughter in his bright green eyes. I opened the door and exited with my coat in hand. There was no longer a storm and it was actually quite warm out. I smiled as a cool breeze hit my face and started walking towards the school. It was quite close, as you could imagine, so I was there in a matter of minutes.

I realized that I didn't have any of my binders and hadn't thought this out very well, but nevertheless, I rushed into my French class. Mme Breault frowned at me as I entered, but didn't pause the lesson. Carter was sitting in the spot I'd given him and seeing as Jeremy wasn't here, I took his spot beside Carter.

I smiled at him awkwardly and asked, "hey, can I borrow a pencil and some paper?"

He smiled and nodded, quickly getting what I'd asked. Mme Breault was teaching 'futur antérieur' and I was very disinterested. Frankly, I nearly fell asleep. The only reason I didn't, was because Carter poked me with the pencil he was lending me. The one I'd actually return, unlike Jeremy.

I took the pencil and paper gratefully and took notes as best I could. About thirty minutes later, Jeremy entered wearing a completely different outfit. Where does he keep his clothes? I frowned. He stared at me for a moment, a hint of annoyance shining in his green eyes. However, he said nothing and took a seat at the front of the class. Is this character development I'm sensing? I brushed off the thought and hoped that I didn't jinx it.

I tried so hard to focus on the lesson, but as a wave of random thoughts hit me, I found myself clinging to one. Okay so, theoretically cereal should be considered soup, right? I mean, cold soups are a thing, so why isn't cereal categorized as soup? Or maybe it is and I just haven't gotten the memo yet. Cereal should officially be considered breakfast soup. 

"Ms. Hall," Mme Breault shouted, apparently for the third time. My eyes shot up in her direction and she stared at me expectantly. Frowning, I looked around to find that most of the class had been emptied and the hallways were now bustling with students. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Sometimes I get a little lost in my thoughts," I admitted with a small laugh. I noticed that Carter hadn't tapped me to wake me up before he left, maybe he thought I was aware of my surroundings because I was daydreaming. 

"I can tell," she replied dryly before returning to her desk. I quickly folded my sheet of paper and put Carter's pencil in my pocket as I headed for the door. "Casey? Is everything all right?" I paused near the doorway.

"Uh, yeah, why?" I responded confusedly. She stared at me for a moment as if judging my response.

"Nevermind, enjoy your day," she said with a small smile on her face. I frowned but left the classroom and headed to Biology. Thankfully Macy was already there waiting for me. As I took my seat beside her she started gushing to me.

"Okay, so I spent my entire first period class making the perfect playlist for a party. Turns out, my parents are going on vacation this weekend, and they're going to Cuba! The whole weekend, Casey! Do you understand what that means?" she gushed excitedly, almost bouncing on her stool.

"A fantastic memorable party that everyone will remember and idolize throughout college?" I answered rhetorically, stealing a piece of paper from her bag.

"Exactly! Though they'd probably remember it into early adulthood. Realistically, of course," she explained, combing her brown hair through her fingers dramatically.

"Of course," I agreed, allowing a small smile to slide onto my lips. For a moment, I had a burning desire to tell her what had happened last night. I wanted to tell her that my mom came home, that she tried to take me away, that I had stayed over with Jeremy... but I couldn't. There was always the lingering thought in the back of my head that she didn't really care or worse: that I was bothering her with my problems. It shouldn't be her responsibility to talk me through it, that's what therapists are for. Not that I could afford one... 

Biology went by relatively slowly because Macy was caught up in party-planning and playlist-making so I found myself lost in my thoughts yet again. I hadn't given it much thought, but what was this bet they had? And how does it involve me? And are all the boys involved? Or just Liam and Jeremy? I sighed inaudibly. Somehow my thoughts didn't scatter like usual, they stayed focused on the mitochondria that Ms Sutherland was drawing. Once the bell finally rang, Macy and I found a seat at our usual lunch table where Chris and Liam were waiting for us. We sat down across from them and I found myself starting to get used to this new dynamic. As Chris started to talk with Macy I started to zone in and out of reality. The lack of sleep was definitely getting to me. When I finally managed to blink away the daze that had captured my mind, I found Liam staring at me intently. I quirked an eyebrow and tilted my head curiously.

Almost immediately, he seemed to snap out of it. As he did, I heard my stomach gurgle nice and loud. Queue the cringe. It was loud enough to interrupt Chris and Macy's conversation, causing everyone at the table to look in my direction. Heat rushed to my cheeks and I gave them an awkward smile. I tried to think back to the last time I'd eaten, but the only thing that came to mind was the soup that had been spilled on the road when Jeremy had thrown me out of the way. "Oh, that reminds me!" Chris exclaimed, reaching into his bag.

His sparkling blue eyes locked onto mine as he smiled. "Here," he said as he handed me two bags of Nutella sandwiches, one in each. "Sorry for eating yours the other day," he continued with a sheepish grin as he rubbed the back of his neck. He dropped the sandwiches into my hands and my stomach gurgled once more. Without hesitation, I tore open the bags and began feasting on the sandwiches, allowing Nutella to coat the sides of my face. As the table burst into laughter, I could've sworn I heard Liam mutter under his breath, "so cute."

*Author's Note*

Y'ALL. I UPDATED. 

I mainly updated because someone reminded me that it has been a year and a half of promised updates... then I re-read the book and realized that I actually really liked it. I'm going to change the plot a bit, but it's going to come! HAPPY QUARANTINING!

Question of the chapter: what's the weather like where you are? It's cloudy here (and I love it)

Lots of love, Nat