Hanging by a Moment [Completed]

Further Away

I know, I know, I'm an awful being who shouldn't write a story if thisis the rate sheuploads at, but at least it's somewhat long?

Miles Away

“Oh, hey, sorry.”

I’d distractedly been trailing one step behind Tina and hadn’t realized that she’d stopped walking till my shoulder bumped into hers.

“Huh-yeah, it’s fine.”

My forehead creased. She seemed as distracted as I had been, but just as I opened my mouth to question what was wrong, because something clearly was, Peyton spoke.

Apparently, he also had an idea as to what had brought about her abrupt halt. “That’s her, right?”

Peyton clarified before I could phrase the obvious question. “Her sister. The chick I heard her talking to yesterday.”

I followed Tina’s gaze across the hallway and onto two girls who were chatting away animatedly by the lockers and understood. We’d be passing them in a few minutes, and whether or not she acknowledged us directly, or whether she’d even seen us, this would count as the first test.

I wasn’t entirely sure who ‘she’ was, though. “Oh, cool,” I said, “but, uh, which one is it?”

“Jayden!”

“What?”

Peyton was shaking his head, a half smile playing on his lips. “Who is your sister?”

It didn’t click immediately. Not until I’d halfway gotten through confusedly stating that I had no sister, and that Peyton knew that. “Oh, right. Sorry. But you know what I meant.”

She giggled.

“Sue me.”

She giggled again. “It’s just funny, alright? But she’s the one who’s in the sneakers.”

I stuck my tongue out at her before turning my attention towards studying the girls again, this time with careful interest. The one my ‘girlfriend’ had alluded to was somewhat short, dressed not unlike Tina – jeans that actually looked breathable, a top (as Sarah once taught me, ‘Not everything is a T-shirt, Jayden!’), hoodie, and, as she’d pointed out, sneakers. She’d let her hair loose though, and she wasn’t a brunette like her sister.

“Cool.” I nodded thoughtfully, unsure of what to say at that juncture. She was her sister, and the reason we were pretending to be a couple, and she’d see us soon – all that was fine. I could understand why Tina had stopped – but…why was she looking at me like that? “So…”

She bit her lip.

“So now you stop being dense and act like a proper boyfriend.”

My best friend had that condescending look on his face, the one he always had on when he thought I was being a complete idiot. Which admittedly wasn’t something I was unfamiliar with – he liked to give me that look when I suggested doing things like getting mice and letting them loose in school before grinning and telling me we’d do it (but to confine the area so that we could get them back more easily and make sure they aren’t hurt).

“Right.”

Silence. The situation had rapidly deteriorated from ‘strange’ to plain ‘awkward’, with Tina standing there, now eyes on her shoes, Peyton looking at me with the same expression, and my eyes wandering all over the place. “So…” I said again.

“Walk with her? Talk a little? Flirt?”

“Right,” I mumbled, feeling my face flush. Tina was embarrassed too, I could tell – though I wasn’t sure if it was as much because of what Peyton had said as it was the relief that he’d said it for her. It made me feel both stupid and like a jerk.