PARADISE ↝ Leo Fitz

↳ THREE

          A familiar whoosh eventually informed her of a new email, and almost jumping in her seat, Jenna leaned closer to read every word carefully. "Of course you're almost done. You're really smart, duh. I don't have a class at the moment, it just ended and Simmons left me to go somewhere with her idiot boyfriend. Ugh. So now I'm awkwardly sitting on one of these benches and emailing you in the hopes of looking less anti-social", Fitz explained, and Jenna let out a quiet giggle as she imagined the situation, one that she often struggled with, as well. However, something in particular caught her eye, and that was the word boyfriend.

           "Jemma has a boyfriend? Who is it? If you don't mind me asking, of course. And what makes him an idiot?", Jenna quickly typed and sent a new reply, before realizing she had something more to say. "And aw, I know the feeling. Don't worry, if you ever need to look social and busy, I'm here for you and your cute emails", the second email said, and even though Jenna was a bit hesitant to send such a brave, confident message, she did so nonetheless.

           But it did cause her to feel regret and worry immediately — the kind of nervousness that you felt when sending a risky text, and she hated how it was eating her from within. Luckily, Fitz responded soon enough, and all the heavy weight lifted from Jenna's heart when she opened it and eagerly read over the lines he had typed for her.

           "This lad Milton. He's the absolute worst, with his stupid voice and a weirdly shaped head. But whatever. At least I have you — and I do appreciate it, Jenna. Thanks." Jenna's heart swelled as she imagined the sweet words in his adorable voice, and then, she suddenly felt the urge to do something she rarely did — ask him out. Not on a date, obviously, that would have been absurd. But since Fitz had invited her to the boiler room, Jenna wondered if the boy and Jemma would like to join her for lunch after this class — her stomach was starting to growl with hunger, anyway.

          "Well, if this idiot Milton leaves her side eventually, would you and Simmons like to have lunch with me after this class? It's completely fine if you don't, but I'd have to eat alone, so...", Jenna nervously typed one more message, and once she had pressed send, fear landed into the pit of her stomach and she ended up chewing on her bottom lip — something she had a bad habit of doing whenever anxiety kicked in.

         The seconds felt eternal, and with each tick of the clock on the wall, the ball of worry expanded within Jenna and she felt almost sick, beyond frustrated waiting for a reply. What if Fitz would refuse? Even worse, what if he wouldn't even bother to answer? What if it had been a mistake, what if Jenna had just set their friendship on fire? What if—

          But then, she received a new email, and exhaling shakily, Jenna opened it and expected the worse, only to receive the best.

          "We'd love to!"

—————

          THE EXACT SECOND that the teacher encouraged students to pack their stuff and turn off their computers, Jenna had already rushed out of the door behind an equally eager boy — she wasn't sure what was his deal, but Jenna herself was in a rush because she had agreed to have lunch with Fitz and Simmons. And, just like they had promised, the two geniuses were sitting on one of the benches in the hallway, both of them instantly smiling when their curious gazes landed onto Jenna, who found herself grinning as well. Shrugging her backpack onto her shoulder better, the blonde then gestured for Leo and Jemma to stand up and follow her, which they did without any questions or objections.

          "I need to drop my backpack and get my wallet from my room. It'll take just two seconds, I promise", she looked over to her friends, and nodding, both Fitz and Simmons assured that it was perfectly fine.