Stay ≫ Jack Gilinsky

chapter fifty - my dear

We walk in to a restaraunt that Nash had choosen after a very uncomfortable car ride in which I was stuck between Nate and the door.

Several of my conversations with Nate had been interrupted by Jack which I thought was pretty immature but I decided to ignore him.

Once we are directed to our table, Nash and Jack sit on the seats whilst Sammy sits in the booth.

I go to grab another chair from a different table but Nate stops me, "sit in the booth and I'll grab a chair"

I smile kindly and don't argue seeing as otherwise I would be sat next to Jack on the end.

"Thank you" I say politely and Jack rolls his eyes whilst mumbling something.

I slide next to Sammy and he gives me a questioning look which I ignore and pick up the menu in front of me.

Nate sits on the end of the table nearest to me and he talks to Nash about something that I'm not paying attention to.

"So Nate" Jack says after we order.

"How long are you in town for"

"Well seeing as I have nothing better to do, and this is my town, you're stuck with me" Nate says slowly and leans back in his chair.

Jack smiles faintly and Nate continues talking to Nash whilst Sammy starts a conversation with Jack and I'm left to my thoughts.

"So, Sarah" Nate says in his raspy voice after a couple minutes.

"Play any sports?" he says slowly, smiles and leans towards me.

"Soccer" I smile kindly.

"Since when" Gilinsky scoffs.

"Since I was six, not that you would know"

"I like it" Nate says and smiles, letting his dimples provail as Jack bites his lip and clenches his fists.

"Oooh, soccer is up there in the top three hottest sports for a girl to play" Nash chimes in.

"Mhm, what are the other two" I roll my eyes.

"Volleyball and cheerleading" Nash says triumphantly.

"You only like volleyball because of the movie we watched the other day with the girls in the short shorts. You have a complete diaregard for the actual skill that the sport requires" I say in one go, making sure not to sound too harsh. I avoid eye contacts to make my words seem less intense and more casual.

I look over to see Jack almost smiling at my comeback and Nate rubs his palms together.

"She defends herself too" Nate raises his eyebrows, not breaking eye contact.

"You got me there" Nash laughs.

We continue talking about pointless things until our food comes and everyone seems to be fully emersed in their meals.

"Do you think piercings are hot?" Nash says all of a sudden.

"What?" Sammy laughs.

"I'm going through the questions people are sending me on twitter for my 'Sexual Q&A', it just came up and I can't decide whether I like them or not"

"Eh, don't mind them - the belly button ones are weird though" Jack says.

I scoff and it turns out louder than expected.

"What?" he sneers.

"Myself and my belly button would disagree" I say.

"You don't" Jack says in disbeleif and looks away.

Nate leans back and deepens his smile.

"Wait, how didn't you know she had one" Nash looks between us.

I look at him questioningly and Jack seems tense.

"Yeah, you'd think a guy would notice something like that when-" Sammy's voice fades off when he sees my facial expression.

Realisation hits me and I could snap Jack's neck.

"You didn't"

"Wait, you guys haven't fucked?" Nash adds.

Jack looks to the floor.

"Tell me you didn't"

"Not cool man" Sammy says, and stands up to confront Jack.

"Oh my god" I slide out of the booth and walk to the door before I say something my mother wouldn't aprove of.

Just when I thought Jack couldn't stoop any lower, he tells his friends that him and I..

The thought makes my stomach churn.

"Sarah wait" I see Jack running after me.

He stops me before I can get to the car and pulls me around to the corner of the restaraunt.

"Chasing after me? Really Jack, you're such a cliché"

"Just let me explain-"

"No Jack, I think it's pretty self explanitory"

"Fuck Sarah can you just listen for once in your life"

For some reason I have no urge to fight back, for some reason I feel as though I owe it to him. Even though I most definately don't.

I press up against the wall and lean my head back.

"Go"

His eyes close as he takes a deep breath and mutters something at super sonic speed.

He looks at me hopefully and I flash him a questionig look.

"I thought that if I told everyone that we.. you know"

"Had sex" I interrupt him.

He looks to the ground then continues, "that then they'd lay off you"

"Lay off me?"

"Oh please, Sammy is like all over you twenty four seven and not to mention Nate-"

"Sammy is my friend, something you will never be, and I've known Nate all of two hours. What are you on about?"

"Oh please, you'd have to be blind not to see the looks they always give you"

I look at him for a second and something changes in his face.

"You actually don't notice" his voice becomes softer, more gentle. His tone is like a question.

"You're so perfect and you can't even see it" he almost whispers as he rests his hand on my cheek.

I turn away from his touch, "so you decided to tell everyone that we were dating?"

"No" he says sharply.

"Oh yeah sorry, you don't want to be my boyfriend and you don't want to be my anything" I laugh and cross my arms over my chest, quoting him.

"It's not about what I want. It's about the reality of the situation"

He looks down shamefully so I take the oppertunity to continue.

"How can you go from screaming at me one second then acting like you care for me the next. One is an act and I'm assuming it's the second"

"You wanna know why Sarah, you scare the shit out of me" he yells.

"What?" I almost whisper.

He looks at me for a second then turns his back.

"This was a mistake, I'll tell the guys that it was a lie" he says and slowly walks off.

I stand outside the restaraunt, confused as to how someone could be that bipolar.

Nate comes out of the restaraunt a few minutes later as I'm making my way to the car, not even considering how the others would get back.

He opens the sleek black door for me and says slowly "you deserve better my dear" before shutting it and leaving me to my thoughts.