meant to be

chapter 3: jake

Jake was dying.
Well he wasn't actually dying, he was just in math class.
'Why do people like math? It's the worst thing on Earth. And not to mention useless. When am I ever gonna need to calculate the value of X after high school?' He wondered.
The bell rang loudly, startling him out of his thoughts. He shoved the worksheet into his bag.
"Don't forget to finish this as homework!" His teacher called after him.
'Yeah right.' He thought. If his teacher asked him why he hadn't done it he would say he just didn't hear the teacher say anything.
He stepped out of the classroom, his eyes glued to his phone. He had just received a text notification... from Sofia.

Things with Sofia started fine. If Jake was being honest, he hadn't liked her all that much.
They had started dating in the beginning of the school year, but things went downhill fast. Sofia was on of those flirty types, and even after they started going out she would continue to flirt with Jakes friends. At first, he didn't let it get to him... but there was only so much he could take, so he told her off. He told her how it made him feel, and she did a complete 180, saying he was being to controlling. Two days later, they broke up.

He clicked the notification from her and started reading.
Me and da fam went to Belize a day early!
He rolled his eyes. Another thing that got on his nerves about Sofia; she still talked to him like they were together. They aren't, non negotiable. He stuffed his phone and walked out of the classroom, his mind still on the whole Sofia thing. Suddenly he body slammed into someone coming from a different direction. He heard a yelp and looked down, alarmed.

"You good?" He asked, worried. Then, he recognized the wavy hair.
It was Mikaela.

'Shit.'

Mikaela was that one girl that you don't expect to be attracted to, but you are. Last year he had every single one of his classes with her, and they had gotten pretty comfortable with each other. Or at least, he had gotten comfortable with her. She still seemed quite on edge. He knew he had a very distinct personality.

She was wearing a baby blue tank top, a coral zip up, and black capris that hugged her legs. He had to admit... she looked hot. That was the thing with her. She could wear a totally normal outfit, but on her it looked amazing. He liked her style, it was a lot like his with the bright colors and beachy summer vibes.

"Oh...Mikaela... my bad." He said, his voice softening a bit.
"Jake!" She said. She looked up at him and met his eyes.
He liked it when she did that, looking up at him, eyes wide. They held eye contact for a couple seconds.
"Sorry." She said, as if coming back to reality. She disentangled himself from him. He kinda didn't want her too, but it would be weird to just be awkwardly pressed against her in the hallway.
He still kinda wanted to do it though.

He just watched as she fixed her hair and her backpack. Then she turned on her heel- but he didn't want her to go.
"Hey Mikaela." He called after her.
She turned looking... frightened. Why did she look so scared?
"Never mind." He said. He didn't know why he had said her name, he had nothing to say.
She said something too quietly for him to hear before turning around and speed walking down the hall.

He smiled despite himself. She was just... funny. It's like she didn't know how to act around him. He watched her go, noticing her swinging earrings.
"Hey." Said a voice from beside him. He turned to see his friend, Munch. Munch was on the basketball team with him, so they knew each other but weren't super close. He was a good head taller than Jake, but Jake had a bit more muscle mass than Munch, who was tall and a little on the gangly side.
"Why do you have that funny look on your face?" Munch asked.
"What?" He asked, trying to shake off his recent encounter with Mikaela.
"You just... your eyes are all moony." Munch laughed.
"Oh haha." Jake laughed. Munch could tell it wasn't genuine.
"Jakeeeee... do you have a crush on someone?" Munch asked, eyes wide. Jake could feel his face getting hot. Munch knew, and there was no denying it. Honestly, it was kinda obvious to anyone who just saw his face.

"Ok imma tell you something... promise not to tell anyone?"
"Yeah man. What's up?" Munch asked as the pair walked.
"So I... kinda like this girl. I've kinda liked her for a while, before Sofia. She's... she's not like Sofia at all. She's really smart and she's crazy awkward, but I dunno... it's..." Jake trailed off, shaking his head.
"Naw I totally get what you're saying man. Honestly, sounds like a girl I know." Munch said. Jake smiled.
"The girl I know... I kinda fucked things up with. I say just go for it you know? If you don't have classes with her, just like, find excuses to talk to her y'know? What class is it, what time is it, stuff like that. Both the boys and the girls have a game today, talk about that. Just... dunno. Stuff like that."
"Thanks Munch, I appreciate it bro."
"No prob my dude! Anyway, gotta get to English. See ya!"
"See you." Jake echoed back and Munch went down to a classroom and opened the door.
Jake kept walking down to his Spanish class and sat in his normal seat.
"Buenos días Jake!" His teacher said too cheerily for Tuesday morning.
"Jake, can you tell the class what time it is IN Spanish"
"uh, yo no se." He said, his mind still on Mikaela.
*          *           *
After the bell rang he dashed out of class... only to be stopped by his friend, Ethan and his girlfriend Camila.
"Hey Ethan buddy nice to see you but I gotta-"
"JACOB. WHAT IS UP MY GUY!" Ethan bellowed.
"Ethan actually I gotta-"
"GOTTA DO WHAT MAN? GOT A BONER TO GET RID OF OR SOMETHING? WHY SO PANICKED?" Ethan screamed. Camila giggled.
"WILL YOU LOWER YOUR FUCKING VOICE ASSHOLE?" Jake whisper yelled.
"SORRY." He whisper yelled back.
"I'm looking for a girl, I think she also had Spanish..." He said. It was a lie, he knew she had Spanish because he had seen her go in and out of Ms. Marrens room before. He wasn't a stalker though, he just noticed her a lot. For him, she was easy to notice.
"Who are we looking for?" Camila asked absent mindedly.
"Mikaela." Jake said, scanning to crowd that was thinning fast as the bell was about to ring. Then, he saw her. She was talking to a short girl with long dark hair and Power Rangers hoodie on.
"There she is, there's Mikaela." She said, more to himself than anyone else.
"Dude your the one who told US to lower our voices she totally heard you say that."
"Oh piss off Ethan." Jake muttered, walking towards Mikaela.
"Ay you too Jake!" Ethan whispered, laughing as him and Camila left.
He walked swiftly down the hall.
"Good luck at the game today Mikaela." He said as he walked by, trying to make it seem casual.
She turned around, looking surprised before recognizing him,  
"T-thanks. You too, Jake." She said, fiddling with a strand of hair. God, he liked hearing his name when she said it. He smiled despite himself. It was the little things that got to him. Her slight stutters, the way she tucked her hair behind her ear... she was just so... Mikaela.
Oh he was down SO bad.