Whispers in the Dark

Is This a Date?

Written by Me

Jackson's POV

I looked in the mirror and messed with my hair. Does my hair look alright?

I straightened out my flannel shirt. Does this look alright?

Why am I worrying so much? Piper is not going to care what I wear! This isn't a date.

Right?

30 Minutes Later

I enter the Wendy's, my heart beating double-time in my chest. I keep on straightening out my shirt and messing with my hair. I wonder if I have a funny look on my face. I probably do. I always do!

Jeez, I need to calm down.

My eyes scan the tables around the place, and I don't see her.

Of course! She isn't coming. Why would she come? She barely knows me, and I barely know her. I barely know her, and yet I am infatuated with her.

I rush out the door, bumping into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, looking up at who I bumped into.

It was Piper. She had a pink skirt on and a green turtleneck. "Jackson, why are you leaving Wendy's?" Piper signed. Her eyebrows furrowed and and her nose crinkled. She's adorable.

"Uh...I thought you weren't coming."

"Of course I would come!"

"Well...you barely even know me."

Piper rolled her eyes, which was even more adorable. "That's the whole point of coming here! To get to know you."

"Oh...right," I said, idiotically.

She stared at me.

"What?"

She smirked.

"Do I have something on my face?"

The corners of her lips turned upwards like a bird's wings turning upwards towards the sky. Then, she bursted out laughing. It was the most beautiful laugh in the world. I wanted to make her laugh all day. No, not all day. All year. No, not all year...for our entire lives.

I wanted to make her laugh till her sides hurt and her lungs weak. I wanted to make her laugh till her eyes filled up with joy and she cried with tears of happiness, not tears of pain and sorrow.

When I looked into her eyes, I could see pain and heartbreak. She tried to hide it, but I could see straight through her. She was hiding something. I wonder who caused her this much pain, and I wonder why she chose to keep this pain a secret.

I grinned. "I'm a idiot, huh?"

She laughed some more. "A cute idiot."

I raised my eyebrows, and her cheeks turned burning red. "A cute idiot?"

"What? You're delusional," she signed, narrowing her eyes. "All I said was 'Yes, you're a major ugly idiot' and nothing about you being cute!"

I chuckled. "Yeah, sure you said that."

Could she possibly like me too?

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, you big major ugly idiot, lets go into Wendy's."

20 Minutes Later

We both ordered our food, and I interpreted while she signed her order.

When the waiters gave us our food, we just stared at each other and ate.

"It's so nice just eating and not talking," I said through a mouthful of food. "I could do this all day."

"Sorry, I can't understand you with all that food in your mouth. Did your parents ever teach you manners?"

"Manners? What are those?" I joked, still talking through a mouthful of food.

Piper rolled her eyes.

I smirked.

Sighing, she signed,"So, why do think that Mr. Cooper wants to do this project?"

I stared at her, my brown eyes wide. Is she testing me? Does she know of the conversation Mr. Cooper and I had? "Um...obviously so we could get to know who we're sitting next to better. Duh!"

"I hate to admit it, but you're probably right," she said, and I sighed, glad she wasn't testing me. "He probably wants us to make friends in this camp."

Little do you know, I thought, he wants us to be more than friends.

"So, what animal did you research for our journalism project?" Piper asked, obviously wanting to make this a useful conversation.

"What animal did you research for our journalism project?" I answered with a question.

She narrowed her eyes. "I asked first!"

I sighed. "Ugh, ok...well if you must know, I did my project on humans."

The middle of her nose crinkled again, making me smirk. "Humans aren't animals."

"Seriously? How come no one seems to know that humans are mammals, which is a type of animal."

"Yes, we all know that," she signed, looking at me like I'm stupid. "But that's not what Mr. Green meant."

"He never said we couldn't do our project on humans." I folded my arms, trying to prove a point.

"He didn't have to say that!"

"Yeah, he did!"

"No, he didn't!"

"Yeah, he did!"

"No, he didn't!"

People started looking at us, probably thinking we were crazy. Me, yelling and crossing my arms. Her, waving her hands in the air and stomping her feet. Then, all of a sudden, we both looked at each other and started crying laughing. The people around us started starring, probably thinking we were insane.

"Well, anyways," I said, ignoring the people around us. "I said in my project that I found it spectacular how humans fall in love. Speaking of love, is this a date?"

Why did I say that? I wanted to face-palm myself.

She raised her eyebrows, surprised and no doubt a little irritated. "What did you just say?"

I'm screwed.