Back To You | Ricky Garcia

Chapter Eight

Jon's POV

As Ricky stormed up the stairs, there was a moment of silence between Francesca, Evan, and I. We all just stared at each other, as if we we're confused out of our minds. Which, we were. 

There were two things that Ricky implied during his whole speech.

1- He was a jerk who didn't know to treat a woman. 

And 2- Ricky was regaining feelings for Charlene.

After all these years of  annoyance and hatred, Ricky liked Charlene again. 

What a plot twist.

"I don't know whether I want to smack some sense into him, coo over the fact that my brother still likes my best friend, or panic because she hates his guts, and we'll never get to tell them about us." Francesca paced frantically around the sofa. I couldn't help but smile at her.  

That's my girlfriend. She's a weirdo, but I love her anyways.

I mean like - I like her anyways.

 I shook my head, trying to forget about my thoughts, and I caught her in the midst of her panicking. I placed my hands on her shoulders, and she stood still. There was still a frightened expression on her face, but she stood still, staring at me. Her face then fell, as if to say What are we gonna do?

"Calm down, you little chipmunk. We'll fix this, I promise." I said, pulling her closer to me. She was short compared to me, so I rested my head on top of hers, and and I stroked her light brown hair. She snuggled into my chest, and held onto me like her life depended on it. 

"Ahem" Evan cleared his voice. I almost forgot he was there. He looked at us, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. He must still be thinking of the whole Ricky- Charlene situation.  Francesca and I pulled away, looking down at our feet. 

"Sorry" we both mumbled to Evan. He just nodded back at us, and walked out the door. Evan was the only one to know about us being together, since he found us holding hands on the sidewalk one day.  We both sat down on the couch, and stared at the empty coffee table. 

"I just can't help but feel so guilty, I'm lying to two people I care about. Well, I only care about Ricky when he's not being a douche, but that's besides the point. Charlene's like my sister, and she does'nt know that i'm dating her arch nemisis's partner in crime. I'm sure she wouldn't mind me dating you, you're not the problem. Ricky's the problem. You just happen to be his best friend." She chuckled, and then sighed sadly.

"I feel guilty too, Ricky and I have told each other everything since we met. He was my first friend here in New York. He's the whole reason I met you." I said, biting my bottom lip out of habit. I grabbed her hand, and played with her fingers.

"I know those two hate each other, but that'll never change the way I feel about you. I just hate that I have to pretend I don't care about you when Ricky's around." I continued to play with her fingers, and thought back to when this all happened, the first of May.

-

I walked through the park, heading towards the Library to study for a Chemistry test I had tomorrow. I examined the trees as I walked by, taking in the fresh air. As I walked past the gigantic oak tree in the middle of the park, I noticed a familiar face sitting on the grass, laying her head on the oak tree. She was reading a book, and looked completely encaptured in it. 

It was Francesca.

I smile tugged on the corners of my lips, and I turned my feet to walk towards her.  I walked around the back of the oak tree, making sure she wouldn't notice me. I hid behind the tree, and creeped my head next to hers. 

"Boo!" I screamed, and she fell on her side, head first to the grass. Her book went flying a couple feet in front of her. I laughed as loud as I could, my face starting to ache. I fell to the ground, rolling in the grass like a dog. Francesca got up, her breathing heavy. She looked at me with wide eyes, her mouth slightly open.

"Jon?" she asked. 

" Yea, but you can call me "The best prankster in the whole entire universe." I said smirking at her.

She crawled to her book, and picked it up. She then crawled back next to me, and started hitting me repeatedly with it.

"Why. Would. You. Scare. Me. Like. That. You. Jerk!" she screamed, hitting me with every word. I grabbed my arm, which now throbbed in pain.

"You just looked so peaceful, so relaxed. Obviously, I couldn't let you stay that way." I smirked once more, still rubbing my red arm. 

"Well, now we're even." Francesca said, laughing at my red arm. I smiled at her, and pulled my arm back to the grass. 

We laid under the oak tree until sun started to make it's way down the sky. We spent 5 hours talking about the randomest things, like her favorite books, how many pranks i've pulled, and some memories we had  from when we were little. 

"Remember when you ate my crayon in 2nd grade, and you ended up with food poisoning and chronic diarrhea for the next week?" She said laughing at her memory. Her hair fell to her face, and I tugged it behind her ear.

"I guess I sorta had a crush on you back then."  I said, looking down.

"I could say the same, Klaasen."  She looked at me with a huge grin on her face. She got up, and brushed off the grass and leaves on her jeans. She grabbed her book, and looked down at me. 

"I better go, it's almost 8, and my parents are gonna start to get worried. It was nice talking to you again, Jon. Just like old times." She said turning around to walk to the sidewalk. 

"Wait!" I screamed out at her. She turned around, her eyebrows raised in confusion. I got up, and ran to stand in front of her.

"How about we meet up at the small cafe downtown tomorrow? I mean just as friends, unless you want to call it a date, than that's perfectly fine. I'm not gonna force you to go if you-" I was cut off with a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you at 5, Jon." She smiled, walking away.

-

Lets just say, I failed the Chemistry test the next day, but it was so worth it. 

I glanced down at her head laying on my shoulder, and I leaned down to kiss it. 

"Everything will work out, I promise."