Chasing you | ✓

Chapter 36 - Get in

Having a mind prone to wandering, the events of the last few days did nothing to improve my concentration skills. I clicked the pen in my hand several times as I watched the online assignment for my class in modern dance. Or rather, as I tried to watch it but continuously got distracted.

My mind was a bit more at ease ever since Dani and I talked things over, but that night still left me in a general state of feeling bothered.

My phone vibrated beside me, jolting me back to the present.

Jack
Are you busy?

I paused the video playing on my laptop and stared down at the message.

We hadn't talked since we ran into each other on the courtyard, when I told him he meant nothing to me. It hadn't taken long until I had started feeling bad about it and I had several times picked up the phone to text an apology. But something had always stopped me.

I still wasn't sure why he had given me access to his Instagram account, because he hadn't said anything about it.

Was that what the message was about?

I still hadn't decided what I wanted to do about our dance routine and, by extension, my entire future. Even though I had skipped our last practice, I also knew that I didn't have forever to decide what I wanted to do. There wasn't a lot of time now until the semester was over.

Me
Not really. Why?

Jack
I'm outside.

His words puzzled me. Why didn't he just come up to talk to me if that was what he wanted to do? I chewed my lip. Was he trying to respect my boundaries by letting me decide if I wanted to see him? Or was it a test, to see if I'd meet him halfway?

I played with the idea of ignoring him. Even as I put my phone aside without replying, my damn curiosity made itself known again.

I grabbed my phone and keys, stuck my feet into a pair of flip flops and headed down.

When I got outside, my head snapped back and forth down the sidewalk. I couldn't see him anywhere. Had he left already? I hadn't taken that long to come down.

A blaring car horn made me jump. I turned around, a scowl ready on my face to the idiot who honked when there was no traffic.

I blinked when I saw Jack in a silver car parked by the curb. He tentatively raised a hand in a greeting.

Taking the steps up to the car, I realized my legs were unsteady. Seeing his face again brought everything back from that night.

"What do you want?" I snapped, leaning into the opened window on the passenger side.

If Jack noticed my sharp tone, he didn't react to it.

"Can I show you something?"

His eyes met mine slowly, as if he didn't quite dare to look me in the eye. I softened.

"Uh, okay. What?"

"Get in."

My eyes widened. "What? Why?"