It's been two weeks since working on this project, apart from me not murdering Megan yet its going great. We are just finishing up for the day, and I have noticed Jason is acting more nervous than usual. He kept fiddling with his pen and avoiding eye contact from all of us, particularly Millie. I think he really likes her. It's sweet that he blushes when she gives him a compliment mentioning him being smart or that she likes his glasses. I gather up my stuff and start to head to the door, and someone grabs my arm. I look to my left over my shoulder and notice it is Jason. I wonder what he wants.
He doesn't start talking to me until the others have left; then he opens his mouth, and I can tell whatever it is is bothering him a lot.
"Hey, I know we only talk during the class and the project, but I was wondering if you could—never mind."
"Wait a second, you can tell me if you want." He looks at me and then past me at something, but he just looks back at me again more confidently.
"I was wondering if you would help me get to know Millie more; every time I look at her, I almost forget where I am. I don't know much about her, and I thought that maybe... I don't know; help me learn things about her." He kept looking down at his shoes and rubbing the carpet with them to distract him from looking at me.
That was incredibly sweet of him to ask me about her. I tried not to act all lovey-dovey with his situation, but I did let him know that I knew quite a bit about her as she was pretty popular but not the bitchy kind, unlike some people.
"Since we don't have to do the project tomorrow, would you consider meeting me at the café down the road to show me what she likes?"
"Of course. I'd love to help you out. Do you think she likes you back?" As our conversation progresses, we start walking towards the exit. I can tell he has calmed down a lot since then.
He blushes. "I have seen her look at me when she is with her friends, and I've heard my name once or twice when walking near them."
"That's a good start. What time do you want to meet tomorrow?"
"What time do you finish?" Jason asks, looking at me.
"Three"
"Oh, good, me too. I guess we could meet at the entrance at the gate?" He looks at me hopeful. I nodded in return to him. He looks behind me at something again, and just as I am about to turn around to see it, he speaks again.
"Could you do me a favour and not tell anyone? Nobody knows I like her, and I would like this to stay between us."
"Of course, but why are you telling me this? I mean, Caden can help you; he is also a guy. So why me?" He ponders the thought for a second before answering me, and then he finally speaks after a few seconds.
"I want what you and Caden have." Now this takes me by surprise; we haven't even confirmed to each other if we are in a relationship or not. Caden looks at me. Then I am brought back to my mind when Jason continues. "I look at Millie the way Caden looks at you, like there is nobody else in the room they would rather be looking at or being with."
"I'm sure Caden doesn't do that," I say confidently.
"Maybe you were doing something and never caught him in the act; it's clear whatever he feels for you is real. Today, when I was thinking of asking you about Millie, I looked at you for a second, and when I looked to your left, I saw Caden's face; he looked like he would gladly punch my lights out for looking at his girl," I am quick to interject.
"We aren't dating; I am not his girl,"
Yet. With hoped in my mind.
I look back, and Jason's face is priceless.
"Really?!" I nod at his voice being higher from not believing me. "Well, you could have fooled me. But you two would make a great couple; you should be together already."
"What makes you think I even want a relationship with Caden?"
"Oh please! Whenever I brought his name up in this conversation, your cheeks would turn the slightest shade of red, and you smiled. A smile I have noticed you only give Caden." He looks proud, and I look amazed he picked something like that up; I didn't even know I had a certain smile for him. Am I that obvious?
Curious to hear the answer, I voiced the question out loud.
"Yeah, you really are," he says in a happy tone.
"Oh," I say, looking embarrassed while laughing awkwardly.
"You shouldn't be embarrassed; you should be flattered. I came to you because I want what you have. And hopefully I can, if this all goes well."
After a short while of us talking we finally leave. He is a sweet guy, Jason and Millie would look good together.
As I split from Jason, I started walking to the other side of the school, and when I got around the corner, I heard a slightly angry voice approach me.
"What did he want?" I turn and see Caden push off the wall and walk towards me with a cigarette in between his fingers. I thought he didn't smoke.
"Well, I do, sometimes. It's when I need to get the pressure off. Helps me relax." I must have said that out loud because now he looks more angrier than before. SHIT!
"I will ask again. What did that guy want?" It was more of a statement than a question. I don't know why he is so angry. He was getting so worked up.
"Well, that guy has a name; Jason was just wanting to know if..." I stop as I remember that he doesn't want anyone to know about his crush and our meeting tomorrow. I'll have to think of an excuse. "Jason wanted me to give him some notes from today's part of the project." I think that went well.
Caden doesn't look convinced and looks more guarded.
"Are you alright, Caden? Why are you getting so worked up?" He looks away and rubs his hands on his face after throwing the cigarette on the ground and stomping on it. I walk closer to him and take his hands away from his face, and I can feel his hands shake. I look at his face and see worry.
"What's wrong?" He avoids my eyes, shakes his head, and looks back at me. I can see his mind working, but he isn't giving anything away.
"Nothing, don't worry about it," He says, smiling and kissing me on the forehead. I go and wrap my arms around his waist because that is how high I can reach without going on my tippy toes.
"You would tell me when something was wrong, wouldn't you?" I asked in a hopeful voice, looking up at him.
"Of course I would." He holds me tighter. I wish I could believe him, but I think he is hiding his emotions. If it was something really bad, he would tell me, right?
I hope I am not overthinking this.
"Hey, is it okay if I come round to your house the day after tomorrow?"
"Sure." I don't know why he has to ask, but I don't press the matter. So I just nodded.
I am sitting in the canteen in me and Clara's usual place; we agreed to meet as we both met this morning to catch up before meeting for lunch. Caden texted me that he was sick today, and I offered to go and check up on him, but he said no. Caden then asked if I could come round during the week, but I said I would come as soon as I was free.
I see Clara come in; she looks in a weird state. It looks like she has just gone through a tornado, her hair hasn't been brushed through which is making her hair look frizzier than usual and her clothes are all mixed up. I open my mouth, but her voice is what comes out.
"Caitlin… I don't know... later on… help me… Shop online," she rushes all out after looking like she ran a marathon. She sits down in front of me.
"Sorry, I think you dropped a few sentences along with a few of your brain cells when you came in." She fills me in.
"It's Caitlin's birthday tomorrow, and I don't know what to get her. I was hoping you would help me."
"And you chose me to help you because...? I know nothing about her."
"Yeah, but you are really good at noticing what people like; you got Caden those earrings, which, by the way, he hasn't changed since you gave them to him."
"Wait, really?" the smile on my face and my focus completely gone from the problem at hand.
"Focus on me and not him!" She hits my arm from where I am sitting.
"Okay, okay umm... She works at the music store; maybe try and get her a record she has wanted or something I don't know." I shrug, trying to rack my brain.
"That's a good idea. I thought I could get her a photo frame with a picture of us; the only problem is that her parents don't know she is gay, so we don't know how to react."
"How about a locket with a photo so whenever she sees the photo, she will think of you?" She looks at me like I have solved every problem she has ever had.
"Yes! Thank you so much!" Clara gets up and hugs the life out of me.
I check my watch, and I see I have a few minutes before class, and I ask Clara about how Caden was acting yesterday.
"By the way you are describing it, I think he is jealous of you and Jason hanging out together after the project."
I look at her.
"Caden is not jealous. He has nothing to be jealous of."
She looked at me like I was the first alien on earth. I dismiss it, say goodbye to her, and head to my first lesson of the day.
The day went by as smoothly as it could. Caden never texted me back when I checked up on him. So I just wrote notes down to give to him when I next see him. I hope it's really soon.
It is nearing the end of the day now, and I remember that I am supposed to meet Jason at the café. So I text him, I am on my way; I hope I can help him.
I get a warm feeling because I find it so cute that Jason wants Millie. She really deserves a nice guy, and I think Jason might be the one for her right now. Who knows if they will be together after college? Knowing there may be a possibility now, I will take that chance.
I get to the café early, so I go over to a table, put my things down, and head over to the music box. I put on 'Here I Go Again' by White Snake. I love that song, and by looking at everyone around me, they like it too.
I smile to myself, and I head over to where I was sitting; however, it's not the same as I left it since Jason is sitting on the chair opposite.
"I saw you put your things here; you might want to have a guard when you leave things unattended." He gave me a stern look to say, 'Are you stupid?' The answer is yes, yes I am.
I just laugh and thank him for looking after them. "It was only two minutes, and I kept looking back in case anyone took my bag," I reply as I sit down.
I notice he ordered himself a coffee. Huh. Maybe I took longer than I thought to choose a song, ADHD procrastination at its finest.
"Thank you again for helping me with Project Juliet." I'm more perplexed than puzzled by his expression.
He noticed my weird stare and filled me in.
"I chose to call it Project Juliet because I want to be Millie's Romeo, and she is already, in my eyes, perfect as Juliet." My heart, he is so sweet.
"Aww, okay, so have you thought about what you are going to say to her?"
"No…maybe... I don't know; that is why I need your help." He scratched the back of his head nervously. I smiled at him to help ease his nervousness.
"Why not after tomorrow's session, as we leave, I could say to Millie that you want to go over some work for the project with her, and you both could hang out for the rest of the afternoon?" I suggest that I look at him, and there is a small smile hidden.
"I take that as a yes." I laugh with him.
We stay an extra half an hour, just talking about how he is settling in. I learned his parents divorced and he moved here with his dad and little sister. His mum didn't want to leave her job back home. It's a bit of a shit excuse if you ask me; even if you are divorced, you should always be close enough to see your kids. But it's her life.
"I'm so sorry that happened to you, Jason." He looked a bit upset, so I touched his hand for support.
"It's okay; it's not your doing."
"If you want to talk to someone who has divorced parents, I am here if you want to talk about it; I find it easier to talk than keep it all in." We both smile and decide to leave it there. I have to get home to cook for Brody anyway.
"I really appreciate you helping with this and understanding what I'm going through; it's nice. You're really easy to talk to. I can see why Caden really likes you."
I blush, and we both head outside. We have to go opposite ways, and I wasn't expecting him to hug me, but I hugged him back, and behind him, I could have sworn I saw Megan's hair go round the corner.
Huh…weird. I'm sure I am imagining it.