《 Jason 》

~~Tuesday~~

Another day. I slept better last night. It's amazing what peace of mind will do for you. I woke up at 6:30 am, a man on a mission, fully committed to my goals. I was able to stay awake in Mr.Cullen's class. After attending class after class, English, AP Physics , and then Economics, the bell rang for lunch. I brought my own snacks with me today, a honey bun, a bag of Cheetos, and Gatorade. I know, not healthy at all especially for an athlete. Most of the time I do eat healthy. We sit and chat at the table. I can't help but feel super single when I see how Reese and David are sitting with their girlfriends. Reese is sitting between his girl's legs. David has Larissa on his lap, not worried one bit about their plastic kids. They have not started crying yet. They must be content. Lol.
I wonder where Kendra is. She should be coming any minute now. I see Elisha's eyes focus in another direction and then I see Kendra walking up. She sits at the table with me. I wonder if she feels the way I do, sitting with two happy couples in front of us. If only we could make it three. Maybe we can. Time will tell. I'm determined.
We all talk and eat until the bell rings for fourth period. We all get up to walk toward the cafeteria door. Reese and Elisha first then David and Larissa. I hold the door open for Kendra and she thanks me.

'You're welcome baby' I say in my head.

Reese and I head to fourth period but we stop at our lockers first to get our book.

"So whats up with you and Kendra?" Reese asks with a smirk on his face.

The question took me by surprise.

What did he mean? What had he seen? I thought I did a decent job at hiding my crush on her. I guess not. Was it really that obvious?

"Oh..um..n-nothing." I stammered.

"We just talk here and there when we.. um..hang out ..with all of us together"

Reese looked as if he was studying me.

"You feelin' her? Reese smirked.

I paused for a split second and then quickly responded.

"..We're just friends." I lied, saying the very word I hated when referring to our relationship.

We start walking to fourth period.

"Yall friends that quick? We only been in school a week." He chuckled.

I chuckled, reaching back to rub my neck.

"Well acquaintances is a better word... but I see us being friends, she's cool" I lied again.

"Hmhmm, you sure you just wanna be her friend ?" he narrowed his eyes.

"Yea", I said with emphasis, trying hard not to smile.

"I don't know, your cheeks turnin' red and shit"

Reese is stupid. I laugh, shaking my head and looking down.

"Reese you buggin' man"

"Nah, why you actin' like that?!" he smiled.

"Like what?!"

"All nervous and shit"

"Well I'm being interrogated so Im uncomfortable" I joked.

"Cap, you can't fool me, I see how you look at her. I've been tryin to get you with one of them cheeleaders for the longest and you don't look at them the way you look at Kendra."

'Dang I thought I was good at hiding it' I thought to myself.

I shook my head. "What are you talking about, how do I look at her?

"Like you never seen a girl before" Reese laughed.

I didn't have a good rebuttal. I didn't know what to say.

"You're seeing things Reese"

He busted out laughing.

"So now I'm seeing things? Why don't you just admit you like the girl? I know you never had a taste of caramel but its good, but I prefer chocolate though."

"You're stupid" we both laughed at his comment.

"The problem is I think she talking to some dude name Eric, unless you plan on changing that" Reese raised his eyebrows.

The thought of them together made me sick to my stomach.

"Don't remind me" I sighed.

"If you want her, go get her. She seems like your type"

"And what's my type ?" I asked tilting my head to the side.

" You like the classy, quiet type..the good girls. Trust me. I figured it out cause every girl I pointed out to you was a little wild but Kendra she's quiet, shy, probably a little naive".

"Naive?" I asked with a quizzical look on my face.

"Yea, that's the vibe I get. Its not a bad thing. At least you know she ain't a hoe"

I shook my head at Reese's bluntness.

He is right. She is classy. She is quiet from what I can see. She is shy, but I am too when it comes to her. Naive? I don't know her that well to say if that's true. And of course, no guy wants a girl with a slutty reputation. I didn't have to worry about that with Kendra.

"Am I right about your type? He smirked.

"For once in your life you're right about something" I joked. "And by the way, your matchmaking skills are terrible."
I laughed.

"Hey, I don't get credit for this one?" He stretched his eyes. "Im the one trying to get ya scary ass to talk to her"

"Nope. Definitely not, I been watching her for a while now" I finally admitted.

"Daangg! You really feelin her huh? Why you ain't say nothin'? I could've been hooked you up. All I had to do was tell Lisha to drop a hint and you would've been had shawty"

"I dont know. I didnt wanna risk things going wrong. I don't think she's the type of girl that would let someone hook her up with somebody. And plus, I want all the credit when I do make her mine"

"Ohh ok, confidence! I ain't mad at ya" He said quoting Tupac. This dude is a character. You gotta love em' though.

After fourth period is over, I put my book back in my locker. Reese walks in another direction for class. I walk in another direction for my fifth period class. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and I take it out. I get a text from my younger brother Josh telling me he's going home early because he's not feeling good. I text him back trying to get more details, when all of a sudden I run right into someone that feels much shorter and smaller than I am. I hear a loud thud as a book falls to the floor.

"I'm so sorry!" I say immediately, feeling a brief moment of panic, fearing that I hurt this person.

"I wasn't watching where I was going! ". I said.

At this point, I'm just talking, not even aware of who I just ran into because I'm in shock.

Then my eyes register who exactly I ran into...

Kendra.

She's looking up at me with parted lips.

Damn, I'm already messing up.

I bend down to pick up her textbook, with "Physics" written on the cover. I stand up slowly as my eyes roam over her body before connecting with her eyes again.

We smile at each other.

"Its ok, it's my fault, I wasn't paying attention" she apologized.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"Yea. Yea I'm fine. Are you ok?" she asked.

I laughed to myself.

"Yea. I get tackled daily by people twice your size" I joked.

She giggled. "That is true". We smile at each other .

I didn't realize I was still holding her book, distracted by her beauty, until she reached for it  saying  "Thank you". 

"Oh" I say while looking down at the book for a second, "Here you go" I handed it to her.

 "Physics huh, you like it?" I ask. 

"No" she said immediately, frowning.

"Really? I liked it. It wasn't too bad."

"I hate it. We're learning about electricity and this circuit stuff, it doesn't make any sense to me. And we have a test in 3 weeks. I need to talk to Mr.Fowler because I need serious help" She sighed.

"Oh Mr.Fowler, I had him too last year. He was an "ok" teacher. He does talk a little fast." I chuckled.

"Yea he does" she nodded, lifting her eyebrows.

"If you want, I can help you out. I did pretty good in that class"

I hope she will take the offer.

"Really?" Her eyes lit up.

"Yea"

"Ok. I would really appreciate that" she smiled. "I definitely need help. Thank you so much Jason".

"You're welcome". I smiled.

"Wait, but when would you have the time to help me? Don't you have football practice every day after school?"

"I can help you after school on Tuesdays. We don't have practice on Tuesdays."

"Oh! Ok. We don't have dance practice on Tuesdays either, so that works." She smiled.

"Do you want to start today?"

Yea. I know. I wasnt wasting any time.

" Sure, we can do that" she agreed.

" Ok meet me at the library. Is 3 ok?"

"Yea that sounds good". She nodded.

"Ok I'll see you then." I said.

"See you then".

We went our separate ways, planning to meet again, not by coincidence, but this time on purpose, with purpose.