so if you will please fall in love with me!

chapter 3

Journal Entry #47 -- 3/28/20

So... Not a lot to say in the Yael dept. But we... did? Talk about a lot of stuff the other day? I don't want to go into detail because it was a bunch of personal stuff, so like. Yeah.

Sorry, I'm kinda shit at this, whoops.

Buuuuut lately when we hang out (im probs reading too much into this) she's like?? Been more, uh, touchy? Ish? Or maybe thats not the right word.

Uh well anyway I don't really have much to say

So I guess I'm outtie for now?

---

A couple days later, and despite it being the middle of Spring (or rather the beginning), Yael comes into school shaking from the residual cold left over from winter. She finds Michael, who she knows is a human heater and aggressively taps on his shoulder. "Jacket. Now." She shivers and adds, "Please?"

He stares at her for a moment before dropping his bag down by his feet and gently resting his headphones on top of it, shucking off his hoodie. "You are so lucky I'm wearing two layers today. Why aren't you wearing a jacket in the first place?" He frowns and hands it over to her.

Yael drops her bag immediately and pulls the jacket on, scrunching her nose up as she tugs her head through the collar and sets her phone into the pocket. "I woke up late and forgot one," she sighs softly and fluffs her hair out. "I owe you one, thank you so much!"

"Hell yeah, you do. And not just slushies," he points out (adamantly ignoring how much warmer his face and neck feel).

She giggles and kisses his cheek. "I gotta run, but I'll see you at lunch!" She picks up her bag and races down the hallway to her first period English class.

---

As time goes on, Yael slowly gets over the break up she went through, feeling comfortable enough to hang out with all her friends and not leave everytime he shows up too. Finally, they've found a ground to see each other around friends and not get entirely emotional.

However, she does have her moments of missing him, or rather the constant physical affection and sweet words that mean more coming from a significant other rather than her friends. But lately, she finds herself searching for that affection elsewhere. She used to get it from her pillow late at night when she'd be texting or scrolling on TikTok until the birds sang.

But now she finds it in messy, dark hair and big, cliche nerdy glasses. Wide and always bright smiles. Warm brown eyes and an even warmer hoodie patterned and patched with a variety of patches. It's new. It's a big change from where she found it before. But it's good, she thinks, it's a good change.

She stays up late one night, mostly because the late Spring heat is creeping into her room but she can't lay on her side without a pillow, so she's overheating. But it's okay because she's thinking about Michael and how happy she gets just from talking to him and buries her face into her pillow.

yael 💕: hey just wanna let you know that you make me incredibly happy and giddy and

She scrunches her nose up and deletes the message.

yael 💕: michael.
yael 💕: i need to tell you something

mikey: ok well that just spiked my anxiety
mikey: whats up!

yael 💕: NO im so sorry please tell ur anxiety to take a seat its nothing bad i promise
yael 💕: i just wanted to tell you that youre amazing and i dont think i couldve ever really gotten over rich if it werent for you helping me and !! you just mean so so much to me and you make me incredibly happy and bubbly so!!!
yael 💕: yeah anyway im sorry if its super late and you wanna go to bed and im keeping you up!! but its really hot in my house so i cant sleep anywya sorry for rambling !!!