Teardrops of Roses [Completed]

Chapter 28: You, drive?

And if I had continued doing what I'd always done – afraid to do anything remotely close to showing my true feelings, would I have continued to miss the signs that were laid out for me? If I hadn't had reached out to him, would he have had the courage to make another move? This was like Luke and Mandy.

Mandy spent the whole time clinging to my sides.
"If it's making you so upset, maybe we should just leave Mands" I tell her.

"No. I can't leave."

I shake my head, it was like she had something to prove by staying there the whole time even though it was made her sad. In a way I could understand this need for gratification.

Luke kept his distance as usual and Max was absolutely spent; he had to run back and forth between us as he'd also picked up that something had been going on between them.

That afternoon, while watching the group dynamics, I questioned deeply whether or not Luke really moved on to Jane completely. Were they really together-together, or were they just friendly? I hadn't exactly seen them do anything particularly couple-like or romantic except that they stuck around together lately. He'd totally been avoiding us at school for weeks now and it seemed Mandy had started to accept the situation at face value.

Nevertheless, one thing was for sure. I could tell that Jane actually like Luke a lot, as in romantically. She wouldn't stop gushing about him in a super obvious way during Ball Committee meetings, not to mention the way she insisted on staring at him so intensely, even right now, it was a bit much.
Although it wasn't my place to judge, I doubt she really knew him that well from just a few weeks — not as well as Mandy at least who was his childhood friend.

It was nothing against her character at all, however, it just seemed almost un-natural how Luke was suddenly a lot more quiet and reserved around Jane when normally he'd refuse to shut up around Mandy and I, or any of his other friends. It was if he let her do all the talking instead.

As the day wore on, I started to have the inkling that Luke was still secretly battling his feelings for Mandy. I've been watching him all afternoon and couldn't help but notice him shooting glares and being a little distant towards his buddy, James Macker. And I had a sneaky suspicion that it must be due to the fact that James was now Mandy's partner to the ball. Well, that was as good of a sign if there ever was one.

By the end of the study session that afternoon, small victories were made. I'd managed to convince Mandy with plenty of hugs and cuddles to join in with the table at the centre. Once we were all engaged in our own little groups, reviewing our knowledge on her favourite subject Human Bio, her mood improved. She even let go of my arm!

Finally. I rejoiced at my new found freedom and shook my arms out, even managing to catch Luke's eyes as it happened to have wandered Mandy's way. I smiled at him, which he returned a little shamefully, like deer in headlights.
This was a good sign after all.

~❤︎~

Sunday rolls around again and I'm feeling confident enough with my studies that I managed to convince my parents to let me cover the day shift at The Cobblestone after one of our floor staff called in sick.

Catching the bus into the restaurant and bar, the crowd was steady. Plenty of roasts, wood-fire pizzas and baked casseroles were sent out as the weather cooled down over the weekend. A few hours later as I was delivering a mug of cappuccino and hot chocolate to a table, Mum calls me over.

"Yeah, Mum?"

"Here," she passes me a plate of pan fried fish sitting on a mound of neat white mash with multiple coloured puree with some small greens stacked on top. Strange, I didn't recognise it off our selection.  "The lunch rush is over now, I think we can handle the rest baby. Danny will be clocking in soon so you–little Miss – should have some food before you go home to study."