The Exception

Chapter 12

Right, the human girl from my math class...

"Yes, of course" I smiled simply for her sake.

"So what are you doing?" She asked as she attempted to sit down in Tyler's seat.

"Meeting my friend, Tyler, here for lunch."

She realized what I was referring to and stood back up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"Oh no, it's fine. Don't worry about it." I reassured her.

I looked past Allison to see Tyler chatting it up with Selena and the guy who saved Selena at the lake yesterday. Suddenly, I felt jealous.

"And there he is now," I stated simply, "If you'll excuse me."

"Oh, sure!" She responded, but I paid no attention.

My main focus was on Selena as I made my way towards the table.

*Selena's POV*

Right before me, Jake, Tyler, and Josh were all engaged in conversation. I tried focusing on eating my food, but I accidentally knocked a fork off the table in the process. As I reached down to grab it, I could hear Jake laughing at me.

"You want some dirt with that fork?" He said teasingly.

I chuckled a bit, but what happened next, I wasn't prepared for. I expected Tyler and Jake to laugh. But this was the first time I had ever seen Josh fully laugh as well. I heard him chuckle when we were tubing, but I had never heard him laugh quite like this. Not to mention that all three guys were now laughing at my clumsiness.

"You must have a fork problem. Want us to tie that thing to your hand?" Tyler winked.

They erupted into laughter once more.

Wow, are they serious right now? I chuckled at their silliness

"No, No. Guys, I'm pretty sure she was aiming for my foot!" Josh commented.

I decided to play along. "Yeah. Sadly I missed," I smiled sarcastically.

"Geez, Selena. That's not very knife," Jake said cunningly.

We all laughed at the hilarious pun Jake had just made.

"Ok, ok. Knock it off guys."

Once they began to calm down, I tried to prevent anymore jokes at my expense.  

***

I had hoped that Tyler and Josh would have went back to their own table, but as it turned out, they came and sat with me and Jake. Not only that, but the girl who was sitting with Josh earlier decided to join as well. I don't know quite how I felt exactly. I kinda felt glad that they were sitting here, but I couldn't help but feel both awkward and confused. 

Mainly, it's confused I am by Josh. He avoids me and rarely talks with me. Yet, in this moment, he seemed to laugh and joke with me as if he's known me for a while now. I don't understand him. I am actually kind of skeptical. I feel like I don't get any attention from him any other time. But as soon as Tyler and Jake were paying me attention, he decided to join in and act like every thing was ok.

So, as it turned out, Jake and I never really got to talk. We finished our lunch and went out to our cars. I was about to open the door when Jake called out to me. As I turned around he had his arms open, signaling for a hug. I stepped toward him and returned his hug.

"We'll talk later, ok?" He muttered softly in my ear.

"Ok." I replied.

I wish I hadn't, but I happened to look over and make eye contact with Josh. He was back to his straight faced self. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but before I knew it, he broke eye contact and got into his car.

I closed my eyes and held onto Jake.

How can he go from being so relaxed, then right back to being cold?

Honestly, I wanted to cry, but I held back tears. I'm pretty sure Jake must have felt me tense up or something because he quickly pulled back from me.

"You ok?" He questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied. I hated how I pretended like everything was fine, even if he knew I wasn't. But, I wasn't about to deal with Jake if a fight were to break out in this parking lot.

He looked into my eyes, and for a moment, I thought he was going to interrogate me. But, instead, he sighed and let it go.

"Ok, if you say so."

I knew he knew something was up, but I guess he was afraid to push me too far after what happened Saturday.

"Look, I'm sorry, Jake. I should have told you, regardless of whether or not you would have taken it well."

"It's fine. Just promise me you'll always stay honest with me. Even if you can't be honest with yourself."

I must have given him a strange look because he repeated himself.

"Just promise me?"

I slightly chuckled, "Ok, I promise."

Before I realized what happened, I felt his lips touch my cheek.

Looking me in the eyes, he smiled, "See you tomorrow, Lee."

And he was gone.