The Little Patterns

Chapter 4

A Few Weeks later

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(Jayden)

During the next few weeks after our first introduction it felt like Markus was completely ignoring me. Anytime I would go to call his name after class he would just keep walking.
During class when we'd get free time, he would put in earbuds and completely ignore me, and in all honestly I kinda hated it.

Near the end of class Mrs. Lena got the classes attached "Alright class it is time for you and your partners first project." She announced, making me spark with joy.

'There is no way he can ignore me now if we have to work together.' I thought happily, feeling a smile on my face.

"You and you partner will pick two famous artists you admire. You will making a slideshow on the two, going over their history in the art industry. You will then both make a art piece inspired by their art." she said, and with that the bell rang.

I saw Markus heading out of the class quickly. I struggled to grab my stuff in a hurry, and ran after him.

"Markus! Wait!" I yelled making him stop in his place as I caught up to him nearly out of breath and opened the door outside for him.

"Yeah?" He asked walking out the door, me following quickly.

"We need to plan a day and time for us to work on this project." I stated, hearing an audible quiet sigh come from him.

"When were you thinking?" Markus asked in almost a defeated tone.

"Well, I have afternoon classes from 12:30pm to 1:30pm on Mondays & Wednesdays, and morning classes from 7:30am to 9:30am on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays. So any time past 2pm is perfect." I explained happily.

Markus hummed in thought. "Tuesdays and Thursdays, at 4pm, how does that sound?" He asked and I quickly nodded.

"It's perfect! How long do you think we should work on it, hour wise?" I asked curiously

"I dunno, like 2-3 hours at least." He shrugged.

"Alright got it!" I said excitedly, hearing a quiet laugh from Markus.

I looked over to see a smile tugging at his lips. "You are really excited over working on a project, are you like a workaholic or something?" He asked with a blank expression.

"No, not really, I'm just excited to hangout with you more." I said with a smile watching his eyes widen as he looked away.

"Oh." I heard him mumble, sounding almost worried.

I leaned forward slightly seeing his eyes clouded and glossy. "Is that a problem?" I asked carefully.

"No!" He quickly said, shaking his head. "It's fine." He mumbled looking down.

"Okay." I said quietly, moving a hand up about to place it on his shoulder.

"I got to go, see you tomorrow." He said quickly walking off.

I watched him quietly as he got in his truck and slowly waved.

________________________________

(Markus)

I purposely ignored Jayden, and tried my hardest to avoid them. They honestly scared me with how nice they were, so I ignored them for the next few weeks until the teacher gave us group projects.

I was about to leave the building when the guy yelled my name practically across the hall. I immediately froze and waited for him not wanting to seem like a dick in front of so many people.

"Yeah?" I asked, staring at him as we walked out the doors.

I barely got much of the conversation that was happening, because as he talked to me I could feel myself fading in and out of the conversation. All I got from it was when we would be meeting for the project. I said a time and how many hours we should work.

I then noticed how excited he looked about the project, I had to fight myself not to smile. "You are really excited over working on a project, are you like a workaholic or something?" I asked curiously.

Jayden looked at me endearingly. "No, not really, I'm just excited to hangout with you more." He said with a smile.

I felt my stomach twist and I looked away quickly. 'Why is this feeling back, I haven't had twist in my stomach like that since...' I zoned out, seeing familiar memories of that cracked phone on a freezing cold night.

"Oh." I mumbled hearing it echo in my brain.

"Is that a problem?" I heard him, and it snapped me back to reality.

"No!" I quickly said. "It's fine." I mumbled.

I shook my head. "I got to go, see you tomorrow." I said bolting straight for my truck.

As soon as I was in the truck I started up and began driving.

After driving off the campus I yelled. "Shit!" As I pulled into an empty parking lot in front of an shut down food place.

"Why is that stupid twist in my stomach back!" I growled. "I thought that was in the fucking past." I mumbled.

I never thought anyone else would give me such a feeling again, it was so fucking bizarre.

I felt my hands shaking as I put my face in my palms. "This can't happen, not in real life, it would be even worse, shit." I mumbled tears falling down my eyes.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?" I asked myself sighing.