Closer - Noah Centineo/Peter Kavinsky

Closer (Part 10)- staredown

The attention I get on the next day at school literally almost knocks me off of my feet. The news of tonights party is spreading around so fast. I'm getting ''see you tonight'', and ''Elle can't wait for the party'' from literally almost everyone in the hall. Butterflies have managed to appear in my stomach since the early morning. I don't know whether to feel excited,  or nervous. I don't want to dissapoint anyone, but I have the greatest friends ever to reassure me that everything will be fine.

I go to biology with Violet to see that Mr. Sheer has rearranged the tables, so that there are four people at a table for group work. Usually, I just sit with Seth and Violet sits with Jay in the row in front of us. We take a seat at the group desk as Seth runs through the door, panting. He gives me quick peck on the cheek, and Vi a hey, before sitting down next to me.

"Why are you breathing like that dude?" Vi asks, looking at him as if he were the weirdest person on Earth.

Seth pushes back his tosseled hair with one hand on his chest, trying to control his breathing. "I forgot my keys in the car and I had to run back before the doors automatically lock"

Violet bursts out laughing, calling him a dumbass and I catch myself letting out the shortest laugh ever, before realizing that the seat right across from me is empty. "Wait, where is Jay"

The banter between Vi and Seths stops, and Seth shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know. He left the house before me. He literally walked all the way to school. He's probably shooting some hoops before class starts"

I nod, just saying oh while my mind drifts off to the incident last night at Walmart. Jay didn't bother to look at me for the rest of the night, but acted completely normal, as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't been threatened by someone. I jump at the ring of the bell and my eyes dart to the classroom door where I see Jay rush in, before Mr. Sheer closes the door. I immediately feel more at peace, seeing that our group table is not empty anymore. Jay mumbles a quick hey to all of us, and sits down across from me, his eyes flashing at mine for the shortest second before he turns to Seth.

"Dude, you just disappeared," Seth says.

"Sorry man, had to get a few hoops in," Jay chuckles, while looking at his desk with his hands fidgeting. I look at how he almost nervously plays with them. I can't help to think how much I like his hands. It's almost the first thing I notice on a guy. His are huge, tan and slightly calloused. They look like they could protect anyone from anything. I glance back up to see Violet staring at me with the most confusion on her face.

"Did you sleep?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I did sleep. Why?"

"Cuz I just asked you something and you literally snoozed off," she laughs, handing out our group work.

"Oh,  no my minds somewhere else. I guess it's the party stuff," I shrug, feeling myself blush at my stupidity.

Seth places his hand  on my knee, smiling at me. "It'll be great. We will all be there earlier to help out"

His voice reassures me that I have nothing to worry about, and causes me to break into a small smile. "Yeah, you're right. I'm actually excited" 

The conversation dies down after Mr. Sheer tells us to stay quiet, and do our work privately in the first part of the handout. Seth is hunched over concentrating on this work, with his beach blonde hair falling all over the place. His face is almost hidden. I glance up to see Violet chewing on her pencil, completely bored while doodling, and then to Jay who's sitting upright and casually ignoring me, while writing down his answer. My eyes fall back down to the sheet of paper in front of me. I don't have the patience nor motivation to do anything in class, but I try to force myself to concentrate and get it done.

The musky wooden scent in front of me is not helping, and I can feel his eyes stare down at me, since he's already so tall and sitting upright. I look up at him with probably the biggest and intimidated eyes , not having the power to say anything. I feel his face soften a bit while our eyes stay locked together. I almost feel guilty, but also special that only him and I know that there is a secret out there, even though it's his and he doesn't want to tell me what's  up. 

I know more than the others and thats  what makes me feel special. His chocolate brown eyes pierce through mine and I almost have to wince, because this stare down is too much for me. I shift loudly in my seat, causing Seth to whip his head back up. But I notice that Vi has been looking at me the whole time with a stern look on her face.

After class, I feel her drag me into the girls bathroom, leaving the confused boys behind us. "Whats up?" she asks, folding her shoulders.

I go to look at myself in the mirror and brush out my ponytail. "Nothing," I shrug.

I don't know what she wants to hear from me. But, at the same time I understand where she is coming from, as a best friend wanting to know whats going on in  my life.

"Elle, come on. You're acting weird. I saw that weird stare down between you and Jay. What is up with that? You left me and Seth just hanging there," she argues.

I look at her sparkly face with the overdo of highlighter which actually suits her before sighing, "There was a weird incident at Walmart. Like I was looking for you guys and then I ran into him at an aisle on the phone" I stop there, deciding its enough. But, of course it never is with a best friend. 

She stares at me, waiting to hear more. "Basically, I creeped up on him by accident while he was on the phone, and I heard him mention that he  was being threatened by someone. He was literally so pissed. And then, he sensed that someone was behind him and quickly hung up the phone. I asked what was wrong, but he told me to leave it alone, and basically ignored me the whole night," I shrugged.

She nodded, "Yeah, I think i noticed that. Do you think he's really being threatened? What could he have done?"

I feel myself getting irritated at the last question. "Why do you assume that he did something just because he's being threatened?" I hiss.

I see Vi raise her eyebrowns suprised at my outburst, and put her hands up. "Chill dude, I'm just saying we don't know who this kid is"

"Yeah, but we see how he is around us. And he's completely normal. No one  has the right to judge without all the information"

The need to protect Jay from any type of bashing from anyone seems to take over me. I hate it when people assume without knowing everything and I feel myself starting to not like when someone has something to say against Jay, in a way which I cannot understand. It makes me feel weird and out of place. I don't have the right to, especially since Vi has a point. We don't know smack about him, and he's had weird phases where I see the light in his eyes shut down. Something is definetely there and I'm craving to know more.

"Elle, I'm sorry, you're right. I just don't think its your place to know if he doesn't want you to. If he wants to tell someone.  He'll tell Seth," Vi says, patting me on the shoulder.

I nod silently and give her a small smile. I don't feel like talking about it anymore, so we go out to find our group and move on.