Collision Course [+ Additional Levels]

Level Three - For Once

"The only reason why I joined is because somebody said they needed to eat. I, however, have eaten already."

"What?! When?"

"Right before we left! I thought you knew this, Hungry Mungry."

"I really said I was hungry? Or are you talking about Jessie?"

"I was talking about you."

"Well, I'm not hungry anymore, then."

Jessie suddenly felt the hairs on his neck rise, a chill going down his spine. He knew that people were watching him, so why was this different? Curious, he turned, hand massaging the back of his neck. His eyes met a table a little ways from theirs. Two guys were roughhousing, laughing and shoving like six year olds. A girl sat on the other side. He noticed that she was the one watching him. He turned his eyes to her face, but she had looked down, cheeks colored. His eyes traveled along her long, wavy hair. It looked nice. So did she.

Jessie abruptly realized that he was staring, and quickly turned back his head to face the table, where he was startled to find that Parker and Hubert were staring too—at him. Jessie blinked. "What?" he asked blankly.

The other two shared a glance. Hubert suddenly burst out laughing.

"What?" he asked them again, even more perplexed.

"Are you okay, Jessie?" Parker asked worriedly.

"Um, yeah. Why?" he said, glancing at chuckling Hubert.

"You are... um..." Parker wasn't sure how to say it.

"When you looked at that girl you started to blush," Hubert filled in for him bluntly. He pointed at him. "You still are, too."

Jessie's eyes widened, but his cheeks just warmed up even more. "What? I'm not—I didn't—but I... uh—I wasn't even, um..." he stuttered. Then he stopped and cleared his throat. "So?" he asked them, his voice suddenly much deeper.

Parker snorted and pressed his lips together tightly. His raised his eyebrows in amusement as he looked at him for a couple of seconds. Finally, "Jessie, do you find her pretty?"

They watched him blink, taken aback by the question. He frowned slightly and opened his mouth to reply, and stopped. He thought about how to answer, tried again, but closed his mouth again. Finally, he addressed Parker, "How do you mean?"

Hubert laughed. "Dude, you took waaay too long to come up with a reply for that."

Parker chuckled. "Jessie, how else would I mean?"

He shrugged, intensely massaging the back of his neck. "I guess, well... Yeah, I suppose she's pretty. By the definition of the word, of course. Maybe a little above average. I don't know, I'm no expert." Then he lifted his shoulders and leaned back, looking directly at them. "She is a—she is good looking, yes." He rolled his eyes. "Happy?"

Parker chuckled with a small shake of his head, rubbing his face. "You're a riot."

"I dare you to go say 'hi' to her," Hubert challenged.

"No," Jessie and Parker both immediately replied sternly.

"Oh, come on!" Then Hubert paused, and, looking at the both of them, said, "Okay, firstly, that was amazing. The timing made that whole scene just priceless. Plus you both had the same look on your faces and everything."

"Yeah, both for the same reason too. A reason that we thought you already understood," Parker told him. That wiped the smirk off his friend's face.