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Chapter 13- Need to be Nervous

"Jonah," the familiar voice called to him, the darker haired boy spotting his two friends as he turned a corner, peering around from the other side of a bush. Christine Scott had been the first to see him, immediately drawing Connor's attention, turning to face his friend with a smile, waving him over as the girl at his side called for his attention. Between her fingers was a lit cigarette that looked almost finished with already. It was now Friday, a week having passed since Connor's birthday, the young man still wearing the watch every day. The week had passed slowly, no particularly notable events occurring.
"What the hell took you so long?" she questioned him, a small puff of smoke escaping her lips as she spoke.

"I needed to speak to my teacher," he explained, stopping as he stood beside his good friends, "so I just told Connor to come and find you."

"For a second I thought maybe you weren't here," the redhead girl stated.

"Why?"

"Well, because I've rarely ever seen you two apart," the ginger girl explained, dropping her cigarette butt onto the ground, crushing it under her feet.
It didn't take long for Jonah to notice Connor's silence, having noted that Christine Scott seemed much more talkative, rendering their friend speechless.
Connor's conversation with his parents regarding the other boy hadn't been forgotten, leaving him somewhat cautious to say anything to him over the past week. Although, it took until Friday for his attempts to shy away from a conversation to become so painfully obvious. Jonah sighed, addressing him exclusively.

"Connor, can I walk you home after school today?" he questioned, the shorter boy looking at him only briefly, showing a quick smile and a nod before the conversation once again fell flat.

Christine Scott leaned closer to Jonah to whisper to him, "what's wrong with him? Have you upset him or something?"

"Not that I know of," Jonah responded in a hushed whisper, shaking his head. Even she'd noticed, and he'd seemed to be talking to her just fine before the third party member had arrived. He grew slightly paranoid that something he'd said or done over the past week had offended his best friend, but couldn't think of any time that he remembered saying something that could have caused any hostility or awkwardness between them.
"Do you think it's just something personal?"

"Maybe? Nothing he's mentioned to either of us, though."

Connor was staring down at the ground, his mind somewhere completely different, almost regretting agreeing to let Jonah walk him home already. It was his own thoughts on the boy that were causing his strange behaviour, and he himself had noticed a change in how he acted around him. He cursed himself for making it seem so obvious, hoping that the others hadn't noticed, while also having assumed that they did. Of course, they did. They weren't stupid. He sought something to say, eventually only letting himself perk up when he remembered something. To think, today he wanted an excuse to not walk home with his closest friend, remembering one that had gotten lost in the spiral of thoughts in his head.

"Actually, Jonah," he called to him, immediately getting the taller boy's attention, "I have work after school today."

"That's fine," Jonah shrugged, "I could walk you to the high street if you wanted me to."

The long-haired boy was at a loss after this proposal, sighing as he considered how desperately he didn't want to seem rude, but how desperately he wanted some time away from him, at least while he made a decision. "Sure," he said, mostly out of slight panic and confusion, seeing Jonah's smile at his response causing another collection of spiralling thoughts to arise.
He kept thinking of the options he had; tell him and risk their friendship, which had a small chance of becoming a romantic relationship, or say nothing, let it consume him and keep a friendship that would remain awkward until he got over it. Both had downsides that he wasn't willing to risk, but he had no idea that his decision would soon be made for him.