Notice Me

5

Do you remember your first crush? I remember mine. Her name was Lacey-Grace and we were in second grade.

I remember the first time I spoke to her. I looked at her face, the way she was smiling so brightly and for the first time in my life I felt the nerves of love.

This kind of nerves is so different from the typical nerves. It's mixed with excitement and it's settled right inside your stomach. It bubbles all around you, you can feel it all the way down to your toes. And for some reason, your mouth becomes unable to form the words that you want to say. I haven't felt those nerves since the day I asked Lacey-Grace to borrow her pencil crayons.

I felt them today.

"Zane?" Seren asked me, her eyes were glazed and it was no doubt due to the alcohol she had been consuming all night. "You okay?"

The way she giggled and looked sideways at Jax made me want to kick myself. Like she was saying who is this guy and why is he here?

"Yeah." I said, but it came out in a squeak so I cleared my voice and tried again. "Yeah. I'm good."

"Okay." Seren slurred out. She went to take a drink from her red plastic cup, but pulled a frown when she noticed it was empty. "For fuck's sake."

She rolled her eyes in an exaggerated way, before she turned to Jax. "Can you get me another one?"

Jax smiled, looking towards the ground and shaking his head. "You know if it was any other girl who asked, I'd say no way."

"But it's me, Jax." Seren muttered, lowering her gaze so she was looking at him from under her lashes.

"Fine. Fine, Seren, but you owe me." He leaned in, and quickly kissed her cheek before walking away.

I only noticed the way Seren's face changed when his lips touched her face because I was laser focused on her. If she was anyone else, I probably wouldn't have noticed the way her lips pointed downwards. I wouldn't have noticed the way her shoulder nudged upwards, wiping against the skin that he touched like she was trying to wipe the feeling away. I did notice, though. I noticed a lot of things about her.

"Woah, there." I said, raising my hands in front of me and bracing them around her waist. She had attempted to turn back towards me, but she stumbled as she did. Her ankle went sideways over her high heel, and man did it look like it hurt.

"You okay?" I asked her, releasing my hands from her immediately once she regained her balance.

"Oops." She said, the word tumbling from her mouth. She smiled as she looked up at me. "Thanks."

"You sure you want to drink more?" I asked her, feeling the skepticism in my words. I knew the answer already, she definitely shouldn't be drinking more.

"I'm barely even drunk." Seren said, waving her hand at me, dismissing my concern. "I'm fine."

"If you say so..." I told her. I had a feeling that she actually believed that. I had a feeling that she intended to get way more intoxicated than she already was.

"Do you want to have a drink with me?" She asked me, and it was a little concerning how excited at the thought she seemed.

"Nah." I told her, raising my cup a couple of inches into the air. "One and done tonight. I'm driving."

I saw the way her lips curled into a look of disgust at my words, like the thought of only having one drink was enough to make her sick. "That's boring."

"Yeah, well," I shrugged, not knowing what else to say. "You don't have to drive right?" I asked her, suddenly concerned that she was going to attempt to drive home.