emotions, jack gilinsky

25

amara rahman

i subtly look at jack, observing his tired state.

"hey, amara." derek walks in with a sigh, taking a seat next to me.

"hi." i reply quietly, keeping my eyes on jack.

"cute." he sarcastically smiles, causing me to look over at him.

"what?"

"your little crush. you're a little brave, given meredith already has her hands all over him."

i scrunch my nose, "what? i don't like him. look at him, he looks like shit."

derek chuckles before speaking up, "hey, gilinsky!" my eyes widen and i look up at derek, alarmed. "amara thinks you look like shit."

subtle chuckles escape the quiet classroom, and our teacher shakes her head, unamused. jack looks over at me with an unreadable expression, in which i look down at my paper. "you fucking idiot."

"what?" he laughs. "aw, are you embarrassed? afraid of what he's gonna think of you now?"

"alright, get in your seats." ms.nawell orders, causing students to get up from their previous seats and to their assigned ones.

i catch jack walking to our table from the corner of my eye and i keep my eyes glued to my blank paper.

"amara? what's the schedule for this week?" derek nudges, and i ignore him.
"oh, come on." he mumbles, "you're seriously mad? it's a joke. here, jack. i'm sorry for saying that, and amara didn't say you looked like shit."

i briefly look up at jack, who glances at me with innocent eyes before rolling them, "i don't care."

i sigh silently, and he looks at me. i hesitantly open my mouth, mouthing the words 'are you okay?' to him. he slowly nods before looking away, but it wasn't enough to convince me.

jack gilinsky

"okay, so i remember you telling me there was some sort of quiz tomorrow, right? so i was thinking we could study for an hour instead of two today because like, it's just a quiz." amara rambles.

"sure, whatever." i mumble, stopping at my locker.

i feel her look at me from the corner of my eye, "are you sure you're okay?"

"i'm fine, amara." i snap. "just..stop worrying."

i watch as hurt fills her eyes, and they droop down. "you were kind ghost all weekend. i wanted to make sure, after friday, that you're okay."

"just peachy."

she stays silent for a few seconds. "so..7pm, right? my mom will probably be mad at me but..it'll be worth it." she attempts to smile before dropping it. "i'll see you, jack."

she leaves my side, and i watch as she walks away. come back—

i feel movement beside me, and i look over at meredith who was leaning against the locker next to mine, uncontrollably smiling. "hey."

"hey." i murmur.

"so..there's a secret party tonight. it's at that old building by the mall. you should come."

amara comes to mind, but she fades when meredith sets a hand on my shoulder, smiling at me. "i know you've been stressed lately, jack."

i frown, "no..i'm not."

she chuckles, "it's obvious. and this party..you can clear your mind. it'll be great."

"i don't—"

"you're gonna decline a party?" gloria scoffs, followed by the rest of meredith's group. "since when does jack gilinsky do that?"

i look past them, and at the disappointed expressions.

meredith steps forward, touching my cheek. "come on, jack."

amara rahman

"amara? hey." my eyes flutter open, and the first thing i saw was derek hovering over me with a concerned expression.

i furrow my eyebrows, rubbing my eyes. "what's going on?"

his concerned expression lasted for a good two seconds, as it was quickly replaced with an amused one. "did you sleep here the whole night?"

"what? the whole night—" i look outside and see the familiar morning traffic outside the diner, the sun peeking out from the trees. "oh my god, i slept here."

he raises his eyebrows, "what happened?"

"why are you here?" i ask, "what time is it?"

"i left my wallet in the back, so i was going to get it before school. by the way, that starts in like, 10 minutes."

my eyes widen, "seriously? fuck."

i scramble up from my seat and suddenly remember last night. i sat in the booth all night, waiting for jack to show up. and he never did.

i quickly run to the bathroom and smooth down my frizzy hair, readjusting yesterday's sweater. "i'm literally wearing the same thing as yesterday."

"nate wore the same outfit for a week." derek informs, "nobody said anything."

"because he's hot and popular." i tell him, rolling my eyes. "me..the complete opposite."

he shrugs, "true."

i shoot him a death glare, shaking my head. he smirks at me, "i can give you a ride, if you want."

"that'd be great."

***
gonna double update since this chap was short. love u guys.