It doesn't have to end

Chapter 12

Odessa's POV

Day 11. Three days more. I would be lying to myself if I said I'm not a little bit sad this is coming to an end. I don't know why, but I wish he made this deal last till the days of finals; that would have been longer. But three days? Three? I still want to be around him, but I don't want to seem too clingy.

Three days will be over soon, but he's stressing me out by being too hard on himself. When did I start caring about the male species?

Even though I was lost in thought, I could tell Tiana was looking at someone, so I followed her gaze to see Xavier talking to his girlfriend. If I'm being honest, I don't think they're actually in love. I mean, she's the most popular girl in school and dates anyone. I can only imagine what she's going through. Knowing your crush has a girlfriend. Okay, ouch.

"Oh, Tiana," I say, making her turn her attention towards me.

"Yeah, you were saying?" she says, completely dumbfounded.

"For or, you know, they were forced into dating, or they're about to break up," I say, and her eyes widen.

"Was it that obvious?" she asks in disbelief.

"Very," I say, and she bursts out laughing, causing people to look in our direction.

I shut both of our lockers and drag her to our first class of the day: History.

"She was still laughing, and I wondered what was funny.

"What's funny?" I ask, and she answers, "Me thinking I was being discreet," she says, in between laughter, making me burst out laughing. Now we looked like two fools. Thank God we were almost in history class.

She plumps her ass on her seat, and so do I.

"You know Adam has a crush on you, right?" I ask.

"Yeah, we spoke on Friday. Haven't you realized he doesn't really hang out with us anymore?" she says.

"Yeah, I have. What's up with that?" I ask.

"Okay, so on Friday, he told me he had a crush on me, and believe it or not, I knew. But anytime he hinted he had a crush on me, I changed the subject or at least tried to. So right now, my mission before finals is getting him a girl that fits his standard," she says, and I say, "Count me in. I think I may have someone in mind."

"Sounds like a plan," she says, rubbing her hands together, which made us laugh.

There were still a couple of minutes left till class starts, so we just spoke and used our phones.

I got a text from Christian telling me to meet him outside. I looked up from my phone and saw Tiana recording me, and I snatched the phone from her and ran away. She chased me, and I have a fear of being chased, so I was screaming and laughing, almost being out of breath.

I was almost out of the classroom when she caught up to me and tickled me into giving her the phone and bolted to her seat.

I was still laughing when I was face to face with Christian.

"Hey, beautiful," he says as I lean against the wall, hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.

"Hi," I greet.

"My teammates and I will be going out tonight. Wanna join?" he asks.

I know his best friend and his girlfriend will be there, whom I am really great friends with, but I don't know.

"Do you want me there?" I ask.

Wrong idea.

"What do you think?" he asks.

I knew the answer was yes.

"Yeah, you wouldn't want me there for sure," I say, finally breathing evenly now.

"Oh, really?" he says, coming closer. He knows I hate public affection, especially in the hallways of this school.

"Alright, fine, I'll come," I say, finally giving in.

"By the way, I need a favor," I say, and he remains silent.

"You know my friend Adam, right?" I ask, and he says, "The dude that's always with you? Yeah."

"He's my best friend, of course, he'll always be with me," I say, trying to piss him off.

"Perhaps, do you know any girl who looks and acts like Tiana or at least has her personality?" I ask, and I think he got the idea of what I was trying to do.

"If I do find him someone, will he be around you less?" he asks.

"Sounds like someone is jealous. But yeah, he will. Even though it'll break my heart, if that's what makes him happy, then why not?" I tell him.

"Who says I'm jealous?" he asks.

I cup his cheek and say, "You are. Admit it, and I'll be there," I tell him.

"Oh, really?" he asks, and I nod.

"So, what is it going to be, pretty boy?" he tilts his head and squints his eyes, and I cock my eyebrow, hoping he will admit it.

"Des," he says my name.

"Hmm?" I respond.

"I am not jealous of Adam," he says, and I knew he was lying.

"Alright, see you tomorrow, then," I say and turn to leave.

He grabs my hand, and I don't turn, and he asks, "Des, do you want me to be jealous? Hmm?" he comes closer, lowering himself to my height, his face near mine, and close to my ear, and adds, "Admit it."

"I don't want you to be jealous, Christian," I say, turning my head to look at his face, and we're really close. I was fighting the urge not to look at his lips, but he didn't even bother hiding that he was looking at mine, which drew my attention to his lips.

"Eyes up here, love," he says, which makes me turn red, and I finally leave.

I sit down and get a text from him that reads, "See you at 8."