Hearts And Locks

7. conversations

True to his word, Jake showed up at her doorstep at exactly eight that evening. He looked really nice in his casual jeans and t-shirt. She was immidiately glad she hadn't overdressed.
"You look absolutely stunning" He smiled at her, taking her hand in his.
"This old thing?" She teased referring to her floral skater skirt and black off shoulder shirt, worn with her favorite brown boots. It had actually taken her almost an hour plus numerous outfit option photos to Paula for her to get dressed.
"I just threw this on"
"Well it works" He said with a small smile at her.
"So where are we going?" She asked.
"Well there is this place and they have the best pie"
June could already feel herself smiling. She never had pie while they were working out so him suggesting it meant He respected that she was done.
When they got to the restaurant Jake found them a little corner booth and rather than sit at opposite sides of the booth June slid in right next to Jake. The restaurant was dark enough that they could get a little make out session before dinner.
Jake was still telling I now stressful college was when the waitress in a too short too tight skirt came to take thier order.
She smiled flirtateously at Jake when she asked what his order was and June felt her temper flare. Could she not see her sitting right there?
"And you?" The waitress asked June, her flirtay smile instantly dropping and immidiately getting replaced by a warning snare.
"I'm not sure" June said delibrately being slow about her order. She scooted in closer to Jake and placed a hand on his chest.
"What do you think i should get?"
Jake reached out like He was about to check something on the menue but June picked I up before him and handed it to the waitress without even looking at her.
"Or maybe I'll just have you for dinner" she purred at Jake and He laughed as it suddenly dawned on him what June was doing.
"That sounds very, apealing" He said pulling June even closer and covering her lips with his.
June heard the waitress clear her throat and she turned like she just remebered that she was still standing there.
"I'll have what He is having" she said with her most gracious smile and the waitress all but huffed away in anger.
"What was that?" Jake asked the second she was out of earshot.
"She was flirting with you!" June said defensively. I needed to put her in place!"
"Is someone jelous?" Jake asked with an amused smile and June rolled her eyes.
"You wish, I was simply putting her in her place" June continued "it was disrespectful to my person i was sitting right here!"
"Whatever, you were so jelous" Jake said like He missed the whole of what June just said.
"I was no-" she began to defend herself but he cut her off
"Jelously looks sexy on you" then He placed another kiss on her forhead. June smiled and decided to just let it go.
He was a total gentleman the rest of the evening and when he brought her back home he gave her the sweetest kiss and said goodnight.
The date was perfect, Jake was perfect, everything was perfect, then why was she still thinking about Beck?

The next day at school June decided to bypass dropping of her books in her locker till after first period to avoid seeing Paula and Beck acting all couple like and grossing her out.

As a result she was in class almost twenty minutes earlier than time. Happy for the little quiet, she took her seat and pulled out her text book. At least now she could quickly review the chapter for the test and not totally fail.
She wasn't even done with the first paragraph when non other than Beck casually strolled in, a smile on his gorgeous face.
His smile only broadened when he spotted her and he walked over to his now usual seat.
"Hey" he said "thought you were winging it? "
"I had a few extra minutes" she said, trying to pull her attention back to her book.
She coudnt however because Beck just sat there looking at her.
"What is it? " she finally asked when she coudnt take it anymore.
"Why can't i tell Paula we met before? I mean I wasn't going to stress it but it seems like it's a big deal to you, just being curious"
June looked at him for the longest time. What was she meant to tell him now, she coudnt actually say it was part of her twisted mentality that if she didn't tell Paula about him then he would remain like her little secret, her own personal romance.
"Its just strange" she finally said "I mean would you be happy if you found out that your best friend and your girl friend once... " the word trailed of on her lips, she just couldn't bring myself to say it.
"What, that we kissed? " he asked so casually that she suddenly felt stupid for feeling insecure about it.
"Yeah, that" she said, and she could feel her cheeks getting redder.
He noticed it too because he fell quiet.
"I never thought i will say it but I miss living in Paris" he said changing the topic. "Things seem to move slowly around here"
"You get used to it" she replied "and I never really liked staying in Paris"
"Why? " he asked
"It gets lonely there sometimes" she was saying "my dad has work, and when he isn't working he is with his devil of a wife, not to mention her demon daughters, I feel kind of like Cinderella around there. I hardly know anyone there I kind of just walk around the whole summer, and sometimes I meet random strangers on bridges, sometimes they aren't there"
Why was she telling him this? She had never told anyone about boring Paris. Instead she made it seem like the best thing in the world to her friends, it was Paris after all.
"You never asked me why I never came back to the bridge" his eyes looked serious and his voice was low.
June swallowed hard, she wasn't sure what to say.
Suddenly she felt stupid, why was she allowing herself to be friends with this guy, why was she letting her guard down?
In that second in the few minutes before English class she realised why. Because she still liked him, because she always had. She liked the way his hair was so jet black and she loved the lustrous waves, she liked the way he smiled at her and she liked the way he always rubbed the back oof his neck, making it look like he was an Abercrombie model posing for a photoshoot.
Yes she was mean to him but it was a defensive mechanism because she knew she could never have him, because Paula had already claimed him.
And yet she kept talking to him, and now the more she looked into his eyes the more she felt herself falling for this beautiful boy in front of her.
And she felt stupid. How could she even be thinking about this right now? Paula was her best friend in the whole wide world and she would do anything for her, so what was she thinking.
"You know what, I don't care why you never came back, your life, your choices"
June saw that her words had hurt him but there was no turning back now. She just had to stop talking to him, for all thier sakes

"You surprise me sometimes, one minute your really nice and I feel like I can talk to you and the next you're the world's nastiest bitch. "
He said and she knew he was also trying to hurt her like she hurt him "where is the girl I met in Paris because she was beautiful and kind and someone I wanted to be with, everything you're not"
"You left her on the bridge that night" she replied without even thinking "So now you deal with what you have"
"Or I just ignore you" he said. June gave a little laugh
"You are so childish, you know that right? Don't talk to me see if I care, Jesus, you would think I asked you to be my friend"
"You know what, you're just not worth it" he said with a shake of his head.
The bell rang then, ending thier conversation and people started streaming into the class.
June felt hot all over and her heart skipped a beat when miss. Hale announced the test. She hadn't read a single word of it.

****
During lunch June felt especially caged in. They had found themselves in a regular seating arrangement and June always found herself between Beck and jo.
Usually it was easy to ignore Beck and she just had a conversation with Jo, or she piped in to the general discussion of the table, but today she felt like she was being choked and she had to leave the table, because now that Beck was also intentionally ignoring her she suddenly felt very alone on the table.
She was about to make her exit when Paula mentioned the party. The one June almost forgot about.
"You guys are all going to be there right?" Paula asked and June was please when they all said yes. She coudnt be the loser who threw a party no one came too.
"It must be great living on your own" Elliot said and June nodded
"Its super, and absoloutly no rules, I can do whatever I want"
Beck turned to look at her then like he wanted to say something, then he thought better of it and simply bit into his Sandwich.