Inexperienced

As I walked to sixth period I realized I’d be right back next to Jared. A chill ran down my spine. Why does the simple thought of him do that to me?

I took my time reaching the classroom, and time seemed to tag along with me. I reached the room upon the ring of the final bell and I was slightly surprised to see Jared already occupying the seat next to me. Normally he was the last one in.

I sucked in a deep breath and sat down next to him. He glanced at me and gave me a crooked smile. “Long time, no see,” he joked.

I smiled genuinely. “No kidding.” I let out a small laugh. Maybe this whole friendship thing could work.

“It’s nice to see you smile,” he said, pleased with himself.

I felt my face heat up and I turned away from him, a smile still plastered on my lips.

“So are you willing to be my friend? And no longer act like I’m a nobody?” he asked, interest sparkling in his eyes as I turned to look up at him.

“I never thought you were a nobody,” I murmured.

“Oh really?” He asked, surprise marring his features. “Then what did you think of me?”

Suddenly, I felt nervous. How was I supposed to answer that question? I let out a soft sigh and rolled my eyes, deciding to brush him off.

I felt one of Jared’s hands brush back a loose strand of my hair, and tuck it behind my ear. My skin suddenly burst into flames and the moment his hand moved farther away from me, a deep aching within me surfaced. “C’mon now, won’t you tell me?” I could hear the pleading in his voice.

“Not now,” I said in a harsh whisper, eyeing around me.

“Well when?” he asked curiously. I probably looked like a total fool because I knew I was reading way more into Jared and I’s growing relationship, or whatever you could call it.

“I guess we’ll have to see, won’t we?” I said in an equally curious voice because honestly, I was just as curious to my own answer as he was.

Just as Jared was about to reply, Mr. Hender came flying in the room, rambling on about how excited he was for the plans for today. I turned back to the front, trying to relax in my chair although with Jared beside me it was practically impossible.

Jared ran a hand through his tousled chocolate brown hair. He glanced at me, catching my stare, and gave me a small smile. I blushed lightly and returned most of my attention back to Mr. Hender, who was scurrying around his desk, stacking papers.

“So,” began Mr. Hender. “The other math teachers and I have reached an agreement regarding the lesson plans due date.”

Everyone in the class groaned.

“Now, now class. I understand that this isn’t the highlight of your year but truly, I think we could all use this to our advantage. Here is a sheet that will explain the guidelines and your group’s due date. I expect a lot of the work to be done outside of class.” He passed out the rubrics for the project.

When one of the sheets of paper reached our table I read over it. This was going to require a lot of outside of school work, which meant Jared and I would have to meet sometime after school. My nerves started to go haywire.

“Well, looks like you can tell me what you thought about me after all,” Jared said, a defiant smile plastered on his face.

I shrugged, ignoring his radiating smile. “When do you want to get together for this?” I asked, pointing down at the assignment.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” he sighed, placing his arms behind his head in a relaxed position.

“How about tomorrow after school? I say the sooner we get it done, the better.” I bit my tongue after the last word, wondering if that sounded too excited or nervous or event too forward.

He didn’t seem bothered by it at all though and nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

“Where do you want to meet?” I asked, trying to calm down the excitement in my voice. Stupid girl. Don’t go obsessive now that you are spending time alone with him. My heart was racing a million miles per minute and my brain couldn’t quite comprehend that in a matter of twenty-four hours we would be alone together.

“How about I take you back to my place after school?” he asked, a cocky smile spread wide across his face.

I eyed him suspiciously and I swear my heart did a flip.

He threw his hands in the air innocently. “It’s only to work on this, I promise.”

My eyes still remained suspicious, but I nodded. Internally I had died a little inside. If only he knew how badly I wished it was for a little more than just school work. How ironic it would be that I’d spent all this time believing all he wanted was one thing, while all I can think about is going beyond just friends. And I wasn’t even sure we were even at friends yet.

I smacked myself mentally. I could never want something like that from a boy like Jared.

Mr. Hender redrew our attention, focusing on today’s lecture. My mind was already lost to this daydreaming world of what spending the day with Jared would be like tomorrow. I felt frustrated for letting my mind wander and fill with those thoughts but I couldn’t help myself.

The bell rang and I gathered my belongings and stuffed them into my bag.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Austin.” Jared gave me another one of his brilliant smiles before leaving me breathless and my face flushed.

My head was spinning.

The entire drive home I felt out of my element. I couldn’t wait one more minute for tomorrow. The need to feed my curiosity for Jared Kent raced through my veins and had my mind all over the place.

That night I slept with a small smile on my face, anticipating tomorrow.