No Name | Completed

Chapter 46 - Is This The Beginning?

Today was the day. The start of the two week countdown to flying back to Texas to finish my last year of school. I stood in the mirror, twisting left, then right.

I sighed. "I look like crap," I murmured to myself.

"Since when do you care?" Jared popped his head in, making me jump at the sudden sound of his voice.

"Jeez Jared," I breathed, holding my hand to my chest. "Can you knock?"

"When have we ever knocked in this house?"
He smirked. "Why do you look so nice? You're going to The Shack."

He had a point. Since when did I care about looking decent for work? I'll tell you since when. Lauren stops by The Shack every single day. Upon realizing I may or may not like Jesse, I have stepped up my game a little bit in order to keep me in the running...not that I want to date him.

Adam is still around I guess, but he's been off dealing with tour business so he is never here anymore. That left me to pine over the other dude...the idiot.

"I'm getting back in the habit for school," I quickly lied.

Jared laughed. "Since when have you ever looked good for school?"

Scowling, I grabbed my bag off of the bed and shoved past him. He trailed me down the stairs talking about some nonsense with Mom and Gerald that I clearly didn't care about.

I waved a dismissive goodbye and bolted out of the front door.

When I arrived at The Shack, I tossed my bag behind the counter and went in search of Jesse. I found him in the back with an iPad completing inventory.

"This is my official two weeks notice!" I fake saluted him with a cocky grin.

He glanced at me, but did a double take.

Yes! I knew this crop top would do the trick.

Clearing his throat, he glued his eyes to the screen once more, but his smile gave away the real reaction.

"Don't sound too excited," he smirked.

"Aww, you going to miss me?" I teased, plopping into the chair next to the computer in between, what I like to call, the stacks. They're really just a whole lot of shelves. Kicking my feet up onto the desk, I crossed my arms, satisfied that I was getting him to notice me.

At the movement, he glanced at me, but was again taken off guard.

"You going somewhere?" he quizzed.

Confused, I shook my head no. "Why?"

"Well, I've never seen you dressed like that here before," he said in a lower voice. I watched as his eyes raked over my legs on the table before meeting my gaze.

I simply shrugged and looked away to hide the lie that was sure to make its way to my face.

He cleared his threat again. "Ah," he began, but seemed lost in thought. "Anyways, yes. Yes, I'm going to miss having someone to prank everyday."

My grin fell and I responded with a quick eye roll. He responded with a wink before going back to his inventory.

Tapping my fingers on the desk, I chewed on my lip. Do I actually like him? Am I being ridiculous? No, I know I like him.

So, say it.

The thought made my heart drop, I couldn't possibly tell him. Yes, I quickly realized he was the reason I couldn't say yes to Adam's dates, but I can't tell Jesse either. What if it ruined everything? What if he doesn't like me? Now there's the issue of Lauren...