“Girl, please. I am a doctor. Un doctor de amor,” Mike said, rolling the R on amor until he was practically purring. I fought to suppress the shiver that shot up my spine and got extra snarky to cover it up.
“Love doctor?” I scoffed. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”
“Why don’t you stand up, and I’ll prove it?” Mike’s challenge was playful, but my eyes went wide, and he assumed I was embarrassed. He was right, but for the wrong reasons. I was embarrassed, because he had no idea how much I wanted to take him up on his offer.
“Snap! Jay, he’s calling you out.” Becca laughed. “Are you going to take that from him?”
Yes, I was. Because I sure as heck wasn’t going to let him prove it right here in the lunch room. It’s not like he meant it anyway. “I don’t want him to prove it to me.” I waved Mike off as if I didn’t care. “After your date, you can tell me if he’s everything he claims to be.”
“Ooh, double burn. Okay, you two, I’m calling it before a fight breaks out.” Becca laughed. “So, what’s up, Mike? You want to join us for lunch?”
“Actually, I was coming to ask if you guys wanted to join me?”
“I don’t know,” I answered. “Last time we ate lunch together, we had a fight. And you heard Becca, no fighting.”
“You had a fight? Like a real fight?” Becca asked, frowning. I’d failed to mention our little tiff to her. I’d failed to mention a lot of things that happened between Mike and me. I usually told Becca everything, but for some reason, I didn’t talk to her about him. Maybe it’s because I was worried that he secretly liked her, or that she liked him. Or that even if they didn’t like each other now, that they would after Saturday. Perhaps I just didn’t want to share. Whatever the reason, I started to feel guilty. I was about to spill, but Mike covered it up.
“We had a fight? I don’t remember any fight,” he said, selling his confusion masterfully. When Becca looked at me, Mike gave me a wicked grin. And he thought I was the brat?
“I guess I was imagining things,” I replied, then stuck my tongue out at him when Becca looked back his way.
“That’s an easy mistake,” Becca quipped. “Everything you guys say sounds like a fight.”
Well, wasn’t that the truth?
“We’d love to join you,” Becca said, picking up her food. While I didn’t share her enthusiasm, I was curious if things would go better this time around.
Once we got to his table, a few of his friends looked up and nodded. Bianca smiled at me, which she hadn’t done last time, so that was progress. “Hey, Becca and…”
“Jayden,” Beth supplied quickly.
“I knew that.” Bianca glared at her sister. Though I wasn’t sure she did, and I’m pretty sure Beth didn’t believe her, either. But Bianca resumed smiling at me, and it seemed genuine enough. “We didn’t scare you off last time, huh?”
“If I can’t scare them off, no one can,” Mike said, trying to make me feel less awkward. He flung his arm around my shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. Maybe things would be better this time.
“You got that right,” Bianca agreed, laughing loudly. I thought it was a little rude, but Mike shrugged it off like it was nothing.
Everyone scooted down to make room for us. I sat next to Beth, and Becca sat across from me, next to Bianca. Mike took a seat between us on the end, and everyone fell into a friendly groove. Everyone except me, that is. Becca and the girls were talking about Saturday. Mike and the guys debated whether the football team would get stomped at the homecoming game. I listened quietly, because other than Mike, nobody bothered to talk to me.
He was still acting like popular Mike, though he’d noticeably toned it down. He tried to include me in the conversation a few times, but I don’t know much about football, so his efforts were in vain. He reached under the table once and squeezed me on the knee, which was the highlight of my time with the A-team.
In all fairness, I wasn’t trying very hard, because it felt forced and futile. No matter how much I liked being around Mike, I’d never fit in with his group. They weren’t being unkind to me; we just didn’t click. But that was more than I could say for him. I listened for half an hour while some of his so-called friends did nothing but make fun of him. They treated him like the person he’d made himself to be; too dumb to be taken seriously. It was his own fault, and he might not have been bothered, but I sure was.
Maybe that made me a hypocrite. After all, I’d behaved the same way when we first met. But I didn’t know him then, and it didn’t take me long to see past his act. These guys were supposed to be his friends, yet they had no clue who Mike really was. It was easier to make him the butt of their jokes than to find out. At least Brady didn’t tease him, but he didn’t stick up for him, either. For all Mike’s effort to repel bullies, his friends picked on him an awful lot.
My weird protective instinct kicked in, and I wanted to tell everyone off. But that’d just ruin his cover and make him upset with me. Instead, I silently fumed through the meal, and when it was over, I politely said my good-byes. Mike walked with Becca and me to fifth hour.
“See, Jayden, my friends were nice to you today.” Mike elbowed me lightly in the ribs.
“I suppose so,” I answered, unenthusiastically.
“You don’t agree?” Mike asked when I didn’t give the response he’d expected.
“No, they were very polite to me. But they weren’t very nice to you.”
“So, they were giving me crap. No big deal. They do it all the time.”
“Hey, Becca, come here for a sec,” someone called from down the hall.
She looked up and waved, then said, “I’ll be right back.”
Good. Now that she was gone, I could speak freely. I stopped walking, so I could look him in the eye. “And you’re okay with that? Friends shouldn’t treat each other that way.”
He gave me a pointed stare. “You treat me that way.”
I clenched my jaw in frustration. “Sometimes, but that’s different.”
“How?”
“Because I know what you’re really like. I provoke you because I like you and I want you to be better. They give you a hard time because they don’t think you can be better.” Mike shrugged, and my frustration grew. “Doesn’t it bug you? Even a little? Sometimes don’t you just want to pull out your super-size vocabulary and make them eat their ignorant assumptions?”
Mike gave me a sad look. Obviously, I was angry over nothing. “Jayden, calm down. I’m the one that created my reputation as a simpleton. You can’t blame them for believing me.”
“Fine. If you really don’t care, then I don’t care.” I lied and stomped ahead of him.
As I walked away, I heard Becca say, “What crawled up her butt?”
Mr. Thompson had gotten sick of our inability to pay attention. So, for today and tomorrow, he’d brought in a movie, but we had to watch it in Spanish. I’d only seen it once, so I wasn’t catching stuff because of familiarity the way other people were. And I was annoyed, because he refused to turn on the subtitles. Consequently, I was in a worse mood when I left fifth hour than when I’d arrived. I didn’t even wait for Mike and Becca, because I didn’t want to talk. I packed up my stuff and headed out the door.
“Jayden, aren’t you going to wait?” Mike asked.
“I feel like walking alone.”
“Just let her go.” Becca sighed. “When she’s in a funk, it’s pointless to argue. It’ll burn off before the end of school.” No, it wouldn’t. I was living up to my bratty reputation right now, but I didn’t care.
I’d almost made it to physics, when Mike caught up to me and wrapped his arm through mine. “Jayden,” he said softly. “Please don’t be mad at me. I’m not even sure why I’m in trouble.”
I sighed as I turned to face him. “I’m not mad at you, I’m mad for you.”
“Well, don’t be. I already told you it’s okay.”
“But it’s not okay,” I argued. “I just don’t u
nderstand.” I felt the tears pooling, and a stray one slipped down my cheek.
“Why are you crying?” he asked with a chuckle as he reached up with his thumb to swipe the tear away.
“Because I’m being a stupid, emotional girl.” I laughed through my tears.
“Yeah, I have no response for that.” Mike held up his hands in a gesture of innocence.
“That’s because you’re smarter than I am.”
“Are you going to tell me why this is bothering you so much?”
Suddenly, my mouth opened, and I had no control over my words. “Because after you told me you were bullied, I started to understand why you act the way you do. But I wish you wouldn’t. The real you is amazing. And I think if you’d let your friends see that guy, they’d agree. I understand why you used to be scared. What I don’t get is why you’re still scared. It’s unbearably frustrating.”
When I’d finished my emotional spewing, Mike’s mouth quirked up on one side. “You think I’m amazing, huh? I knew it.” He grinned.
I laughed and slugged him in the arm. “Everything I said, and that’s what you took away from it?”
“No. I heard you.” The warning bell rang, and he sighed. “I guess I’m not really scared anymore. I just don’t know how to make the transition. It’s not like I can walk up to the lunch table and be like, Hey guys, how’s it going? Is everyone excited for this weekend? By the way, I have a 3.9 GPA and scored a 1340 on the SAT.”
“Yes, you can,” I snapped before his words registered. “Wait, you got a 1340 on your SAT?” I was flabbergasted. “That’s like eightieth percentile.”
He blushed. “Ninetieth, but that’s beside the point. If I suddenly stop acting like me and start acting like the other me, people will hate me for being a fake and a liar.”
I shook my head. “If that happens, then you’re better off without them. You’d still have me and Becca as friends. Can’t we be good enough?”
My question was meant to be rhetorical because, honestly, I didn’t want an answer. I wasn’t sure I could handle the truth. Mike’s eyes grew intense as he searched my face and reached for my hand. His touch was gentle, and I knew he wanted to say something, but his lips didn’t move. It was probably only seconds, but it felt like we stood there for minutes—eyes locked, words unspoken, feelings unshared. Once again, my heart started to flutter, and for the second time this week I thought he might kiss me. For the millionth time this week, I wanted him to kiss me.
“Better hurry, Jayden,” a girl’s voice called. “You’re going to be late.” Mike startled from his thoughts and quickly dropped my hand. It was almost like he hadn’t realized he’d been holding it. He turned to find my lab partner, Abby, grinning at us as she passed.
Mike wrapped his arms around my shoulders and squeezed tightly. “I’m glad you’re my friend. And she’s right. We better go.” The hug ended as quickly as it began. Mike smiled, then went to his class, leaving me to wonder if the last thirty seconds had been in my imagination.
I wandered into Applied Physics, dazed and disappointed. “Hey, Jayden,” Abby greeted as I took my seat next to her. Then she leaned over, ready to dish the dirt. Abby was a bit of a gossip. “So, are you and that guy dating?” she asked.
“No, we’re just friends,” I answered, trying to convince myself I was okay with it. It’s not like I’d expected him to kiss me right there in the hall. But I hadn’t expected him to jerk away when he realized people were watching us, either. I suddenly felt foolish for believing he had feelings for me.
“Are you, like, friends with benefits?” Abby pushed. For some reason, she looked concerned. “Because the last few days, you two have been really cozy in the hall.”
“Yes, I’m sure,” I said flatly, which was a lie, since until a minute ago, I thought we might be headed in that direction. But now my feelings were hurt, and I was trying to cover it up. “Can you honestly see him and I together? He’s totally not my type.” Another lie. He totally was my type. Only I didn’t realize it until yesterday.
“No, not really,” she said in relief. “I’ve been kind of worried the last few days but didn’t want to say anything in case you liked him or something.”
“Worried about what?” I asked in confusion.
Abby looked at me like I was clueless and it was her job to educate me. “Girls like you and me tend to be blinded by good-looking popular boys. Everyone knows they only talk to us because they think we’ll be flattered enough to put out. The sad part is, half the time it works. I mean, we all want to be the nerdy little smart girl who lands the cute athlete. But that only happens in books and movies. In real life, they use us and move on.”
I know Abby thought she was helping, but right now I wanted to slap the know-it-all look right off her face. I breathed in deeply through my nose before responding. “Don’t worry. Like I said, Mike and I are just friends. Besides, he’s not like that.”
Abby frowned and placed her hand on my arm. She obviously thought I was delusional. “Jayden, they’re all like that.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s not even that popular,” I argued, my attitude flaring up. Then, for good measure, I added, “Or that cute.”
Abby pulled her hand back and pouted. “Please don’t be mad. And for the record, he is that cute. I know I’d be tempted to hook up with him if he was paying attention to me. I’m not trying to be mean. I just want to help. We geeky girls need to look out for each other.” On that note, she smiled and pulled out her notebook, ending the conversation.
“Thanks, Abby,” I mumbled, because it wasn’t worth fighting about. Maybe she was right. Abby was 100 percent geek. I’d never thought I was, but if she did, then other people probably did, too. And, if that was the case, Mike and I didn’t stand a chance as anything more than friends.
MIKE
That had been a close one. I’d completely forgotten we were in the hallway…at school…in front of dozens of people. And I was totally going to kiss her, too. Until that girl walked behind us and snapped me out of it. What was wrong with me? You can’t kiss the girl you’re crazy about for the very first time at a place like school. There’s nothing remotely romantic about that.
If I’d had any doubt about Jayden’s feelings, they’d flown out the window after fifth hour. She was crying, for heaven’s sake, and it was the saddest, sweetest, cutest thing I’d ever seen. Nobody besides my mom had ever cared that much about me. So, no matter how bad I’d wanted to, I couldn’t kiss her until I found the perfect moment. Because she deserved better than that, and the wait would be worth it.
I hurried from class to meet the girls at our spot. Knowing that Jayden liked me made me stupid excited to see her—even if I couldn’t kiss her. But I arrived to find that Jayden had company. In the form of her annoyingly tall and confident homecoming date. Now that I’d admitted I was in-like with her, I didn’t think I could handle her going out with someone else. Especially when that someone else had history with her. And, from the looks of things, he was hoping to rekindle the relationship. He had his arm around her shoulders and they were laughing.
I’d asked Becca about him once. She said his name was Logan, and that he and Jayden had kind of dated over the summer, but that it was more of a noncommittal make-out arrangement than anything. She’d also said that Jayden broke it off because they didn’t have any chemistry. But the fact that Jayden had called things off wasn’t making me feel much better. I wanted to walk over and make him take his grubby hands off my girl.
“You ladies ready to go?” I asked, choosing confidence over jealous maniac.
Logan gave me the once-over, then asked Jayden, “You sure you don’t want to go home with us? It doesn’t make sense for Becca to take you when we’re going to Summer’s anyway.”
Nice try, Mr. Tall, Blond, and Goofy-looking, but she already has plans with a real man.
“Maybe I should go straight home,” Jayden said, looking at Becca, then at me. “I really should practice before tonight. P
lus, I need to get ready, and iron my slacks…”
No way was she ditching me to ride home with him. “If you bail, Joy’s going to have a fit. She’s already mad that you didn’t come over yesterday.” Pulling the baby-sister card was a dirty move, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Jayden laughed. “Well, in that case, I better go with him,” she said to Logan. “Trust me when I say that you do not want to see Joy throw a fit.”
Logan shrugged his shoulders and said, “Suit yourself.”
“But if you guys are around, I’ll stop by tonight, so we can finalize plans for Saturday,” Jayden added.
“I don’t mind hanging around until you get home. If I’m not at Summer’s, I’ll be at Gran and Pop’s,” Logan replied, then smirked as if he’d won and walked away.
“Is it really necessary for you to stop by his house?” I asked when Logan was out of earshot. “A phone call would be more than sufficient. As a matter of fact, I think a short text message would probably do the trick. Honestly, the best thing would be for him to tell Becca what he has planned, and then Becca can tell you.”
“Somebody’s jealous,” Becca sang.
“I’m not jealous.” I scoffed. “I just don’t like that guy.”
“You don’t even know him,” Jayden pointed out.
“I don’t need to know him to dislike him.”
“Jealous…” Becca sang, more obnoxiously this time.
“I’m not jealous. But I do think Jayden would have more fun if she came with us.”
“No, I wouldn’t.” She laughed, and I frowned.
“Why not?”
“Because your friends don’t like me.”
“That’s not true,” I argued.
“Even if it wasn’t, which it is,” Jayden gave me a pointed stare, “you have a date with my best friend. And I’m not third wheeling it to homecoming. That leaves me with Logan.” She grinned in triumph, knowing I couldn’t argue.
“We could switch dates,” Becca offered.
Perfectly Misunderstood (The Perfect Series Book 4) Page 17
