Ned Gets Stood Up

Chapter Seven

LENA

Snuggled up in the fluffiest throw blanket, Lena sunk into the crack of the couch with her hot chocolate in one hand and plate full of cookies in the other. She'd be satisfied to be left here forever with the cold outside and all the warmth and coziness trapped inside this blanket.

"Let's watch White Christmas!" Her father yelled from the kitchen while his wife was popping in a frozen pizza. He was making popcorn to go with his peppermint chocolate bark. Christmas was more about food to this family. Less about anything else.

"No, we already agreed to watch Rudolph!" Lena shouted back when her phone started buzzing. She jumped when Jason's name flashed across the screen and the temperature in the house skyrocketed.

Tossing the blanket away, she fast walked through the living room to get to the stairs and away from her parents. The moment she gained her first boyfriend, something unlocked in her father and he became more annoying than ever before. As if he never imagined she'd ever date as if it was the most embarrassing thing she could've started.

Not that she started it.

She would've never noticed Jason was flirting with her, if he hadn't straight up told her he was interested. She'd never forget homecoming. Never forget Jason meeting her in the parking lot, still in his marching band uniform. His dark hair was slightly slicked back from sweat. At the time, they were joking around about crushes, about who had them and who didn't. Lena said something about being destined to be single forever.

Jason told her, grinning from ear to ear, "If you're not in a relationship by the end of the year, I'll give you twenty dollars."

Little did she realize; he was playing to win.

"Hey, Jason," She whispered, her voice coming out annoyingly high as if her girlfriend voice and customer service voice was the same. In both scenarios she just wanted the other person to like her. Heat pooled into her stomach and that heat rose to her cheeks. "Are you done with work?"

#

NED

"Hey, Lena."

Jason stood over Ned, rubbing his back as he silently cried a little. He was in the back of the café, in their storeroom with his head in his hands. He was so embarrassed with maybe the ugliest crying face in the world like a baby with an old man face. There wasn't a single person in that café that didn't know what was going on.

Now, Ned Flowers had an audience to the second most mortifying experience of his life.

"Do you mind coming down to pick Ned up?" Jason asked, still rubbing Ned's back while keeping his eyes on the front.

Ned could just hear Lena's voice. "Is he okay?" She gasped on the other line. "You didn't tell him about the exhibit, did you?"

Ned's ears perked. He didn't move, focusing only on her words. His mind raced. An exhibit? He tried desperately to trace the strings, the threads of thought that would lead to his answer... maybe it was because she said it, but Ned recognized the way Lena said exhibit that it eventually clicked.

Earlier last month, she was talking about entering a comic's contest and Ned never got around to drawing her script. Well, he started but never finished. He got stomach curdling overwhelmed. Kept putting it off and off. Until it was already over.

Why would she be asking about that?

"No," Jason quickly said. "No. I wouldn't."

Ned's stomach twisted more. He squirmed, not really enjoying being in this room anymore. It felt the safest at the time, but now the air had thorns.