7"BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!" I ignore it.
"BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!" I turn off my phone. I fall back asleep.
"TINK! TINK!" Something hits my window. I ignore it.
"CLUNK! CLUNK! CLUNK!" Lord have mercy.
I groan dragging myself out of bed. I open my window.
"What the hell is your problem? Normal people sleep at night you know!" I whisper-yell at Jared.
"You said you would text me!" He whisper-yells back.
"What?"
"You said that when you got home you would text me. And so at two o'clock when you hadn't texted me yet I called you, twice! And then your phone went to voicemail and I thought- I thought-"
"Okay, I get it. I'm sorry, I forgot. But I'm okay, and extremely tired." I glance at the driveway.
"Where is your car?" I ask.
"I walked- well ran." He says.
"Why? Its freezing out there and your house is a mile from here!"
"I let my mom borrow it because hers is in the shop and she took it to Indianapolis for some business meeting." I sigh.
What kind of friend would I be if I let him walk home in the cold?
"Meet me at the back door." I say.
I tiptoe downstairs and quietly open the back sliding door. We sneak back upstairs to my room. I lock the door behind me and climb back in bed. Jared slides under the covers next to me, spooning me, like all best friends do.
"You really scared me." He says kissing the back of my head.
"I'm sorry." I say.
When I wake up Jared is already gone. I suppose this is a good thing. If mom or dad saw him sneaking out they would flip.
I groan when I realize that I have to be at soccer practice in an hour. We normally wouldn't practice on Saturday's but we lost the game against Southside Thursday. Of course that means all we will be doing is running. Even though we only have one game left on Tuesday.
I decide to wait to shower until after soccer, putting my hair in a ponytail and changing into a t-shirt and running shorts.
I really do not like running. Partly because I'm bad at it. Mostly because every time I run a two mile or a ladder I feel like killing myself.
Jared drove me to soccer because he "had nothing better to do".
"Have fun Jazz." Jared grins.
"How can you be so cruel as to have joy in my pain?"
"Oh, it's a gift. Now go. You don't want to be late."
I drag myself out of Jared's car and make my way towards the track.
"Alright ladies," coach calls as I lace up my running shoes, "lets do a two mile."
Double fudge brow-nies
Double fudge brow-nies
Double fudge brow-nies
Double fudge brow-nies
Double fudge brow-nies
Double fudge brow-nies
My inner chant gets me through the run. Sometimes when Jared picks me up after soccer he brings me treats. I live for brownies.
Jared pulls to the curb around the same time the girls and I start towards the parking lot.
"So are you and Jared going out yet?" Katy, one of my good friends on the team, asks.
"Why does everyone seem to think Jared and I are going to get together?" I ask.
"Because everyone except for you and Jared see it." She says.
Just then I catch a glimpse of Jared or rather what is next to him. He is leaning against the hood of his car with a plate of his mom's double fudge homemade brownies sitting next to him. I squeal and run up to him. I grab a brownie and take a bite. Heaven!
"I love you Jared! You are the bestest friend ever." I squeal planting a kiss on his cheek. I grab the plate and sit in the front seat.
Jared takes a little longer to get into the car.
On the way home my cell phone starts vibrating. I put down my third brownie and dig through my bag pulling out my phone. I don't look at the caller id.
"Hello?"
"Hey Jazz." Tony's smooth voice enters my ear.
"Hey Tony." I say glancing at Jared. His knuckles have gone white from gripping the wheel so hard.
"How about we go out Friday night?"
"Sure, sounds good."
"Alright, well I gotta go. I'll call you later?" He asks.
"Yeah, sure. Bye."
We don't say anything for a few minutes. Somehow I have to tell Jared that I'm going to miss our Friday night this week.
"Jared?" I say.
"Huh."
"I'm going to go out with Tony Friday night."
Again his knuckles turn white, he doesn't say anything.
"If you want we could do Friday night on Thursday or Saturday." I say.
"No, if you want to ditch then ditch."
"Jared."
"No, Jasmine.
"Come on Jared. Don't be like this." I say.
"Like what Jasmine?"
"Like a- like a-" I can't say it.
"Like a what?" he demands as he stops in front of my house.
"Like a jealous boyfriend!"
"Get out." He says calmly but sternly.
I do.
"What's wrong?" Tony asks. We have been talking on the phone for a couple minutes now.
"Nothing." I say.
"No not nothing." He says.
"Jared and I got into a fight."
"Why?" He asks.
"I told him that I wasn't going to be around Friday night. We always hang out Friday nights and he got mad and I told him he was acting like a jealous boyfriend."
"Oh."
"You kind of pointed that out already though didn't you?"
"Yeah, well I guess I understand. He doesn't want to lose you to me." He says.
"Sounds like it happened to you."
"Kind of. I was dating this girl, and I liked her. A lot, but then this new kid came to our school, and the way she looked at him. I knew I wouldn't have her for much longer."
"I'm sorry that sucks. But Jared isn't my boyfriend."
"That doesn't mean he doesn't like you."
"Oh he doesn't. In the eighth grade I pledged my love to him and he rejected me." I say. I usually don't tell people that because it is extremely embarrassing.
"Well maybe he changed his mind."
"Maybe." I say.