His Little Brother

Chapter Twelve

The next morning, Jazz still felt a bit confused after her conversion with her mom. But, she refused to allow it to dim the excitement that she felt about meeting up with David, alone. Her mom asked her if she spent time with David before, and the meet-up would be the perfect time to get to know him more.

"Earth to Jazz!" she felt Hailey poke her in the side.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"Jazz, I love you but you've been zoning out all day. Are you that excited about your meeting with David? It's going to go fine," Hailey assured her.

Jazz sighed. "I'm not that nervous about the meet-up. I've just been thinking about something my mom said last night," Jazz whispered, not wanting anyone else in the cafeteria to hear.

"What did you two talk about?"

"Well...she sort of thought that Dylan and I liked each other."

Hailey choked on her milk. "Dylan...as in David's little brother Dylan?"

"Yes. That Dylan. Crazy right?"

Hailey looked at Jazz and gave a small shrug. "Well, now that I think about it...it doesn't seem that far-fetched."

"Really?"

"Not at all, actually. Dylan is a cool kid, and you seem happy when you're with him. At the Book Fair you spent the entire day with him. I don't even think you noticed. You were literally together the entire time and you were smiling the entire time. I also caught him staring at you a few times when you weren't looking."

The warm feeling Jazz had been experiencing lately returned. "Really?"

"Yes. Really," Hailey told her, and looked her in the eyes. "Jazz, do you like Dylan?"

"I like David," she quickly responded.

"I know you do. But, maybe you don't like him in the way that you think you do."

"What does that even mean?"

"I mean..maybe you just like the fact that David is a nice guy. Maybe you liked the idea of David."

Jazz sighed. "My mom said the same thing,"

Hailey squeezed her hand. "See how things go from here. Get to know David a bit more and see where he's at. I think that's the only way that you can sort through your feelings for Dylan, if there are any feelings there at least. Okay?"

Jazz didn't know what to think, but finally let out a breath, "Okay."

The rest of the day, Jazz pushed the thought of Dylan at the back of her mind. After she finished her last class, her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest. She was eager to get to the library to clear her head before David arrived. All the thoughts about Dylan was making her head spin. 

"Hey Mrs. Cooper. How are you?" she asked when she arrived at the library. 

"Hey Jazz, today was a better day. I heard that the Book Fair was a success. I knew that it would be."

"Yeah, it turned out great. We had so many donations this year."

"Yeah, I know. A young man came in here a few days before asking about different books that I thought you'd need for the kids."

"Really? Do you remember who it was?" Jazz asked, taking out her laptop. Not many people took interest in the book fair before. She thought to herself.

"I don't actually. He seemed really eager. I think he was responsible for a lot of the boxes that showed up at the last minute."

"That's great. I'm glad people are realizing how much those kids deserve it."