realist ━━ jess mariano

9| the importance of being earnest

IT WAS JAKE, the same Jake that was the reason why Rosie consumed an extensive amount of alcohol, leading her to have the encouragement to clean the rain gutters, thus breaking her hands. Discomfort coils around her spine at the sight of him. "What are you doing here?" When he wouldn't answer, she added; "You don't read."

    "Woah, that's insulting."

    "It's not an insult, it's fact." Rosie said irritably. "I'm speaking factually." He couldn't deny his distaste for reading; not when he's dropped numerous of comments on how useless reading was every time he'd catch her with a book in her hands. Once, he'd even gone as far as to throw her book in the school's water fountain when she wasn't giving him attention, it was done in a supposed teasing manner, but she just saw it as cruel.

    "Whatever," He dismissed in a low grumble. It was evident that he was irritated by her, which puzzled her because he was still so adamant on hinting towards their getting back together.  "I need to talk to you, about the other night."

    "The other night, as in, two weeks ago?" Aggravation shoots up her spine at the memory. "You know, when you sleep with a girl, this conversation usually happens the day after, not after giving her the cold shoulder for two weeks."

    Jake tracked behind her to follow her path around the store. "Look, I was caught up in something else, alright? Sue me for a having a life."

    She hummed, nodding. "Caught up in something else, huh? Is that something else named Taylor Kingsley?" She asked, catching him by surprise.

    He dropped his head. "Who told you?"

    "Actually, my friends and I have a firm policy not to talk about you, so no one did." She trailed off. "I saw it myself. I was at the party last night, but, you know what? I'm not mad about that. You know why?" He kept quiet. "Because i'm not your girlfriend, and you're not my boyfriend; so this whole conversation's a little unnecessary."

    He nodded solemnly. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually."

    The way he said it was all too familiar. It reigned on her that he was legitimate about wanting to get back together. She gaped at him in disbelief. "You can't possibly think i'll take you back."

    "If you change your mind... there's a party this weekend at Jenken's, and I think you should come." He offered, trailing after her through the aisles of bookshelves. When she didn't budge, he offered something else. "There'll be plenty of beer." He said it as if it would make her instantaneously accept the invite, and was a little caught off guard when she didn't.

     It was becoming glaringly obvious that he wouldn't leave until she'd fave him. Rosie exhaled a slow breath, spinning on her heels to face him. "Alright, what's this about? Because I know for a fact you don't care about whatever this is, so cut the crap, Jake— what are you really here for?"

    "I miss you, Rosie." His husky voice sent a shiver through her. "You're not going to believe this, but I do. I've had my share of hook-ups with girls, but none of them seem to measure up to you." He said ruefully, clutching onto her arm.

    Rosie eyed him sceptically. "I..." A little startled, she took a step back, jerking his hand off of her. "No."

    "No?"

    "No." She said, firmly this time. "I'm sorry Jake, but.." Her voice died down, glancing over at the exit. "I have to go."

On her way back, Rosie was furious that he had the impudence to say that to her. None of them seem to measure up to you? Pathetic line from a pathetic person, she settled. She sped up her pace, only growing more agitated the more she recalled the conversation in her head. She once loved Jake, but as she had come to figure, he was but a juvenile teenage boy lacking intellect while Rosie wanted intellect in a man, craving the analytical conversations.