The Deal [(SLOW) EDITING]

CHAPTER SIX

[EDITED 9/02/2019]

•••

"Dude, no! The word says it itself. It's an opportunistic disease: opportunity, meaning it's a disease that takes the opportunity to infect." I exhale deeply.

"That's why I'm gonna fail." Jace exclaims pressing his back on the white wall behind us.

"Biology is awesome and it makes sense so you better ace the class." I say standing up and grabbing my phone from Jace's desk. I check for any messages. None. I exhale deeply.

"Maybe he got bored of you." Jace says suddenly. He smirks.

"Woah, thank you man." I look away and sit on the chair by his desk.

It's been around three months me and Jack started hanging out. It's been around three months me and Jace started hanging out. Jack says I spend too much of my time in Jace's room instead of his. He wants me to call him every single second of the day but when I do he doesn't pick up. I hate being pressured to do something I don't want to do; just like calling him and texting him every minute. Plus, I hate being sad. And he makes me sad.

"Tell me what's wrong." The boy on the bed speaks. I feel tears filling up my eyes as I close and open them a hundred times to hide that I'm on the verge of crying. "You can cry, you know. Let it all out." And that's when I break down.

"He used to make me so happy and he was giving me so much attention but he's jealous of you and our deal and he wants me to text him all the time and he doesn't even pick up when I do call him and when he calls me I get an anxiety attack... I don't know if I want us to be the way we used to be though."

Jace is holding me close to his chest, caressing my hair whispering 'it's okay' in my ear. He holds me even closer every time I sob even more. Once I start, I can't stop. He says something but I can't listen to a single thing. A few seconds later I run out of tears and pull away from his embrace. Brushing my hands over my eyes I sit and look at him. I'm still sitting on the chair, cross legged.

"Break up with him." Jace speaks.

"But..."

"No buts! He clearly makes you feel horrible for no reason at all! You deserve so much better than that." Jace's eyes are staring directly into mine. They didn't even blink once while he was saying that. He doesn't understand. I like Jack. I like the time we spend together. I like having someone to text me 24/7 even though I can't do that but let's not be that loud. I exhale and grab my phone from the bed staring at the black screen.

Just when I am about to unlock it, it starts ringing. Jack. I look at Jace with horror as my heart begins to beat faster and faster. I find it harder to breathe and I feel the food in my stomach coming back up. I stand up and walk around my dorm in panic. Jace notices and stands up too. He grabs my arms.

"Hey! Take deep breaths. Close your eyes and breathe." I just stare at him feeling my eyes filling with tears as I am starting to understand that I'm having an anxiety attack. "Do it!" Jace raises his voice causing me to close my eyes and do as he says. "Good. One more time." I exhale. "Amazing. Now I'm gonna answer the call, put it on speaker and you talk, okay?" My heart started beating at its original pace and rhythm. I am okay. Jace answers the phone. I speak.

"Hey." I exhale.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Jack's voice is soft. I look at Jace and his eyes tell me to continue talking.

"Yeah, everything's fine. What's up?" I smile forcing myself to feel happy hearing his voice. A part of me is delighted, the other half wants to fall on the ground and cry forever.

"Are you down for dinner? At 7?" Jace exhales avoiding eye contact.

"Sure!"

"Great. I'll pick you up at 7 then."

"Alright." I move my first finger to press 'end' when Jack decides to talk again.

"Hey, Mel. I am trying to fix this, us. I'm trying to make everything right. Only if you want me to." I look at my feet.

"Yes Jack. See you tonight." The call ends.

"Mission aborted then." Jace says.

•••

The drive to the restaurant was silent and awkward. The radio was playing for the whole ride but none of us was talking. Instead, Jack was staring at the road through out the whole time and I was staring out the window. I found myself thinking of Jace for a few seconds but stopped myself, but let's not talk about that right now.

"Look, I like you and I think you know that. But I don't know if it's going to work." Jack talks swirling his fork around his food. I take a sip from my water before inhaling and exhaling slowly.

"I don't think we got something to lose by trying." I say. I like Jack. I like the attention he gives me. I like having someone care for me that way. I like having someone kissing me and going on dates with me.

"Okay." Jack smiles before touching my hand. He pulls his face closer to mine and kisses my lips gently.

We are back at it.

•••

I missed an update just because I had five tests in a row this week and I had to study.

What are your thoughts on this chapter???? ;)

Hope you enjoyed,

Stay safe babies

I love all 607k of people that have read this story. Honestly.

-M