The Mistake

Slow

"Rough night?" Breanna asked as I played with my food at the lunch table. I knew I must have looked awful after another sleepless night; my face was all puffy and my hair was a mess. And next to Bri, who was somehow always put together, the contrast was even more evident.

"Remind me to never have late night coffee again." I smiled and ate a piece of toast on my plate. I felt Sophie eyeing me wearily and gave my hand a quick, subtle squeeze in reassurance.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I took it out to see a message from Jacob, making my heart race nervously as I read.

"What is it?" Sophie whispered to me. I turned my phone to show her. I'd already caught her up on what had happened at my house yesterday night.

"He wants to talk after school."

"Hey, I told you, you got this. If he really likes you, he'll be completely fine taking it slow, and if he doesn't, dump his ass." I nodded, but I got a knot in my stomach, feeling a pang of guilt and embarrassment from the outburst.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I smiled, going back to pushing my food around my plate.

***

He was there, his backpack slung across one shoulder, sitting on a bench outside next to one of his friends. His eyes were darting around, and he looked almost as nervous as I felt. When his eyes landed on me, he said goodbye to his friend and walked over to meet me.

"Hi." I said, my voice low and careful.

"Hey." He smiled easily at me. "Listen, Sam, about yesterday, I'm sorry if I was too-"

"No, Jacob, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I- I don't know why I freaked out on you like that. It's just-" I stopped for a moment, trying to be careful with my words and stop myself from accidentally telling him about my anxiety attacks. "I just... want to take things slow, if that's okay."

Jacob looked away for a quick second, almost like he was the slightest bit annoyed, or expecting some further explanation. But then turned back to me and nodded with that same, sweet smile. "Yeah, of course that's fine. We'll take it slow." I nodded along with him, but there was a small part of me that was afraid I'd disappointed him.

I felt more at ease when he laced an arm around my shoulder warmly. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home."

***

Alex

'Tomorrow 10 am?'

I took out my phone to see the text from Sam, reminding me of our study session tomorrow for my English quiz. I was sure I'd pass it, but she insisted I needed more practice since I'd always get distracted.

'Sounds good. See you there' I typed back.

"Hey, we should go watch that new action movie that came out tonight."

'And remember to bring me my candy bars!'

I read the text from Sam and smiled. I couldn't remember what other stupid bet I'd lost to her, but apparently I owed her two Milky Way bars. I made a mental note to stop by the store later and get them.

"Alex."

"Sorry, what did you say?" I pocketed my phone and turned to Kimmy, who was sitting next to me on the couch as the tv blared.

"I said we should go catch a movie later."

Oh, yeah, sure. Let'd do it."

"So, who were you texting?" She asked absentmindedly, running a hand through her long brown locks. Kimmy had a type of unique beauty that made you look twice at her when she walked into a room. Maybe it was in the way she carried herself, but I found myself attracted to her since I first laid eyes on her.