My Heart Breaker (On Hold Until Further Notice)

Chapter 11: Pretending

Jessica was stunned from what Jason said. She couldn't get it out of her head no matter how hard she tried.

She didn't want to meet Brody all confused the way she was. She didn't want Brody questioning her. She would give in and possibly ruin his friendship with Jason. She wouldn't be able to bear that guilt.

As she was walking towards the cafe, she decided that pretending was the best way to go. She would pretend to be happy by placing a smile on her face. She was desperately hoping that Brody would fall for the smile. 

As the cafe came into view, she took a deep breath and plastered a fake smile on her face. She pulled open the door and immediately spotted Brody. He was sitting in the same booth from last time. 

Jessica walked towards the table and watched as Brody turned around and smiled at her. He then stood up and pulled Jessica in for a hug when she was close enough. Jessica wrapped her arms around Brody's torso while Brody had his arms wrapped around Jessica's lower back. Jessica inhaled his musky scent and sighed at the comfort she felt being in his arms. 

"Hey," Brody said, pulling back, looking at Jessica's brown eyes.

"Hi," Jessica replied, looking up at Brody from under her eyelashes. 

Brody smiled down at Jessica and motioned towards the booth. Jessica forced a smile at slid into one side of the booth while Brody slid into the other side of the booth, sitting in front of Jessica.

Jessica wouldn't look at Brody because of Jason's voice ringing in her head. 

"So, what's up?" Jessica asked, looking at Brody, but refusing to make eye contact.

"Nothing, I just missed you."

Jessica's eyes snapped to Brody's when he spoke those words. She was looking from one eye to the other, searching for any indication that he was lying. He wasn't. He genuinely missed Jessica. That realization warmed Jessica's heart.

What if he's a really good liar, Jessica thought. What if he is just tricking me?

She quickly looked away from Brody at those thoughts.

"Hey," Brody whispered, "look at me," he continued softly.

Jessica wouldn't look at him. She didn't want him to see the pain in her eyes. The insecurity. The need to be reassured. She didn't want him to think of her as a weak person. 

"Jessica," Brody started, "what's wrong?"

"N-nothing."

"You're lying to me," Brody stated.

Jessica looked into Brody's eyes at that statement and she saw disappointment swimming. At that, she looked down at her hands and fiddled with her fingers.

"I-I'm sorry. It really is nothing. It's just the past."

Jessica once again looked up at Brody, silently pleading for him to understand.

Brody sighed and shook his head, sliding out of the booth at standing up. 

Jessica's heart broke, thinking that Brody was about to leave her. Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of Brody walking out of her life. She knows that she just met Brody, but she had the urge to be around him. She needed him.

Instead of leaving, Brody slid in next to Jessica. Jessica looked at Brody with a look of confusion. Brody sighed again and pulled Jessica into his side.He then started petting her head.

"Love, I'm here for you. You shouldn't feel like you need to lie to me. You can be completely honest with me. You should've came to me about this."

"I'm sorry," Jessica whispered, resting her head on Brody's shoulder.

"You don't need to apologize, sweetheart. I understand. Do you want to talk about it?"

"N-not yet," Jessica replied, shaking her head.

"Okay. I'm here for you, okay?" Brody said, kissing Jessica's head.

Jessica nodded in response.

"You know I missed you too, right?"

"Of course."

Jessica sat up straight and turned to look at Brody. They just sat there and stared at each other.

"I'm hungry," Jessica whispered.

"Okay," Brody replied, smiling.

Brody and Jessica discussed what they wanted to eat for a little bit.

Jessica decided on a chocolate chip muffin with milk while Brody decided on lemon cake and milk.

Brody got up to order their food while Jessica just sat there and waited. As she was waiting, she pulled out her phone and decided to text her mom and see if she would finally reply.

Jessica: Hey, mom! 

Jessica sat there, waiting for the three bubbles to come up or any other indication that her mom was about to respond. There was nothing. Feeling deflated, Jessica placed her phone back in her pocket.

When she looked up, Brody was walking back with their food. Their milk was in a sealed bottle as their sweets were in a white bag that Brody was carrying. Brody set their food down on the table and slid in next to Jessica. Jessica turned and smiled a genuine smile at Brody. Brody smiled back.

Their pulled out their food and began eating. Jessica took a bit from the muffin and decided that she wasn't too fond of the taste.

She pushed the muffin away from her.

"What's wrong?" Brody asked, about to take his first bite of the cake.

"I don't like it."

Brody placed a piece of the cake into his mouth. He then swapped the muffin and cake to where he had the muffin and Jessica had the cake. Jessica looked at Brody, confused.

"No, that's yours."

"I wasn't too fond of the taste and you didn't like the muffin, so I switched it. You seemed to like the cake last time."

Jessica stared at Brody for a while until she gave in and ate the delicious cake sitting in front of her. Brody devoured the muffin as he loved the taste of it.

Once Jessica was done, she turned to Brody. "I don't get how you don't like the cake. It's delicious!" 

"I could say the same to you about the muffin."

"That muffin was gross!" Jessica exclaimed.

"You're gross," Brody retorted.

Jessica gasped and placed her hand on her heart.

"You wound me," Jessica said, shaking her head.

"And you woo me," Brody retorted, smiling at the girl sitting with him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How was the chapter?

What do you think?

I decided that I will be starting another "book." It's not really a book, but it's just a place where I can put my thoughts and feelings. There will be no schedule for it as I will just update it when I feel like it. That should be up soon, so keep an eye out for that!

Don't forget to vote!

Bye my fellow Masqueraders!

-Masquerade

You are perfect just the way you are!

Have a good day/night