Write In My Heart

Chapter 11: Tornado

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into nearly a month with little contact with Johnathan.

Layla and I began spending more and more time together, which included giving each other rides to and from school and spending my thirty-minute break between the end of school and the beginning of practice with her in the theatre practice rooms as she warmed up for rehearsals.

Though it was hard, I ignored Johnathan as much as I could. In homeroom, I changed seats to a single desk in the very back corner of the room, which he tried to play off as if he didn't notice. At first, he'd do the thing where he'd glance at me out of the corner of his eyes in an attempt to be inconspicuous, but Johnathan was never too good at lying low.

After the end of the first week, he didn't even try to hide the way he continuously glanced back at me as if his gaze alone would coax me into crawling back to him. It took every ounce of willpower that I had not to meet his gaze. It was nice that he was acknowledging me, but I wasn't going to be quick to run back to him. If he wanted to speak to me, he'd have to make the first move.

This, however, created an awkward and very noticeable tension between us at wrestling practice. Neither one of us spoke to each other unless we absolutely had to, and we didn't touch each other a second more than we needed to. Of course, my body yearned to become reacquainted with his and have the closeness that we used to have behind our closed bedroom doors, but I reigned myself in. There was obviously something bothering him and I wasn't going to put myself in the position to be hurt just to satisfy my teenage horniness.

So instead of letting my heart suffer, my wrestling technique did since I couldn't get the grip on him that I wanted.

Luckily (or unluckily) coach noticed and switched up the pairings after about a week of useless practices. And though I was grateful to be separated from the toxic dynamic between us, I had to admit that I instantly missed him.

Tragic.

At the end of practice, I practically ran into the locker room to get showered up and changed. Layla was already out of practice and we had less than forty minutes to go to the movies to see whatever random movie she'd been obsessed with.

"Asa?" My name sounded so soft as I slid on my shoes, I would've been convinced that I'd imagined it. The only reason I knew that it wasn't my mind playing tricks on me was when I felt a presence over me, and when I saw the familiar shoes that planted themselves across from mine, I knew exactly who it was.

My breath momentarily caught in my throat as I forced myself to look up and meet the eyes of the boy I'd been wanting to look my way–– to voluntarily look my way–– for almost a week.

I couldn't let him know that of course. He couldn't be clued in on how fast my heart was beating or how clammy my hands were becoming or how desperately I wanted to feel him say my name against my lips as he kissed me. He couldn't know any of that. I had to remain strong for myself and for my heart. For all I knew, he could be coming over here to chastise me for breathing too much of the same air as him. Based on the last voluntary conversation we'd had, it didn't seem too far off.

So, instead of doing something to cue him in on the conflicting thoughts that were fighting for dominance in my head, I simply leaned back and crossed my arms.

"What do you need, Banks?" My voice was void of emotion, but had an edge that I definitely didn't intend. However, I wasn't going to backtrack or apologize.

He seemed taken aback by my tone causing him to shift a bit. "Do you, uh...do you need a ride?"

This was weird. This was very weird. Not only because he'd done a completely one-eighty from the last time I saw him–– which was literally twenty minutes ago on the mat when he couldn't get away from me fast enough–– but also because he was nervous. Uncharacteristically so. Because of...me?

I swallowed as I shook my head. "Thanks, but, I'm riding with Layla once she finishes practice."

"Oh, okay. Tomorrow then? At my locker before practice?"

I nodded. "Okay, yeah."

The corners of his lips turned up in a small shy grin. "See you tomorrow, Asa."

And with that, he was gone.

Though the other boys around us were too consumed in their own juvenile conversations and listening to the music that flooded the room from Bobby's radio, all I could focus on the shift that'd just happened between Johnathan and myself.

But, to an outsider, there was no difference in me as I turned and walked out of the locker room, a tornado of thoughts tearing through me as I made my way to Layla.

***

Hey y'all, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If so, please feel free to vote and comment. The next chapter of this book is already available on Inkitt! I promise that you don't want to miss out on it. It has a lot of drama and answers a lot of questions. If you want to read it early, you can click on the Inkitt link in my bio (and I promise it's 1000% free). Have a great rest of y'all week!

Love y'all – Jordan :)