Musical High School!!!!

Part 13

Brrrrrring!
The end to another school day has arrived. It's been two days since the sleepover where you'd realized your feelings for Jeremy, and you just can't seem to get him off your mind.
Does he ever think of me that way? Could he ever even like me that way? I know I can't interrupt him and Christine, he's liked her for weeks now. He deserves to be happy. But then...what about my feelings?
Your thoughts spar with one another inside your head, driving you crazy.
I just can't seem to get my feelings in check. I need to-
"Chill out." Michael looks at you, concerned. "You look seriously conflicted. Come back to earth please."
"Sorry. Just thinking." You say, looking away. You lean back against a locker with him and watch the students go by. Jeremy approaches the two of you, an uncomfortable look on his face.
"What's wrong, buddy?" Michael asks, his face full of concern.
"Is there something we need to add to the humiliation sheets?" You question.
He sighs, then shrugs.
"I dunno. I was just thinking about my date with Christine yesterday." His tone seems kind of down.
"Dang. I almost forgot to ask about that. Where was it? How'd it go?" You ask excitedly.
"It was ok. We went sledding." He replies.
You and Michael look at him, waiting for more details.
"It just felt like the date didn't have enough excitement, or chemistry, you know? I think maybe I just picked a bad place for a date." He finishes.
"Sledding? No way. That's adorable!" Michael exclaims. He's about to continue when he gets a call from one of his moms and dashes off with a wave.
Probably them picking him up since he didn't want to drive today.
"Anyways, I dunno. What went wrong? Was it the date idea? Was it just not good enough?" Jeremy continues.
"...Why don't we just test it out?"
"What?"
"If you're so worried about whether it was a good idea, why don't we go? Just to see if it can be enjoyable or not."
"Wouldn't that kinda be like a date though?"
"Nope. Just two friends, testing out a date idea. Nothing wrong with that." You state, with a casual air.
"Right. Let's go then." Jeremy says, a determination in his voice. He smiles at you nervously and you melt, smiling widely back.
After you guys get the sleds at his house, the two of you start walking to Bunnyhouse Hill, the biggest sledding hill in the city. When you reach the top, the wind is cold, and it blows snow in different directions. You start to shiver. You latch onto Jeremy, cuddling into his warmth, and you feel him laugh.
"N/N, get off. I wanna sledddd."
You stubbornly shake your head against his puffy jacket.
"No. You're cuddly. Like a bear. A Jere-Bear."
Eventually, he gives in and hugs you back, tossing the individual sleds onto the ground. They start to slide away and you laugh as Jeremy breaks away and tries to grab them, but before you know it, they're all the way at the bottom of the hill. You grab the two person sled and shrug.
"Guess there's only one way to get down." You wiggle your eyebrows as you sit down on the front seat of the sled. "If you want... we could share it." You say dramatically.
"Psh. What is this, a Wattpad fanfiction?" Jeremy scoffs and sits on the back, holding onto you.
"Do the honors?" You gesture to his legs.
"Of course." He pushes the sled down the mountain with them, and you start to head down the mountain at a high speed.
Sledding down fills you with a thrill you rarely feel, and an adrenaline rush kicks in. You and Jeremy laugh in joy as the cold wind and snow hits your face, grasping onto each other tightly, happiness and excitement overflowing as you spin out of control down the hill. All is well until you accidentally lose the handle to the sled, and it starts going on its own path. The two of you shout as you're about to crash into a-
"Jeremy, the fREAKING BUSH! JUMP OUT!"
You yell, panicked. Just as you're about to get hit, you leap out of the sled, accidentally propelling Jeremy-who was too slow- along with the sled, straight into the leafless bush.
You get up and run to him, as he groans, pushing himself up.
"Oh my god, Jeremy are you ok? Are you hurt? Are you-....laughing?"
Despite being covered in snow, and there being a huge scratch on one of his arms, Jeremy's cracking up on the ground. You take one look at the whole situation and start laughing as well, throwing yourself down next to him as he almost cackles with glee.
Once your laughter has died down, you grab his arm and take a look. The branch that scratched him went straight through his puffy jacket, and even drew blood. He doesn't even wince.
"Jere, doesn't this hurt? It's bleeding a ton." You ask, concerned.
"No, it doesn't. I think it's the adrenaline. But we should probably go get it bandaged." He says.
"I know an IHOP nearby here. They have a first aid kit for this exact situation. Let's go check it out." You say, grabbing all three sleds. After about a five minute walk, you step inside the IHOP. The waitress gives you one both look, and gestures to an extra room.
"There's a first aid kid in there, along with some extra bandages for bigger wounds. Make sure to toss some disinfectant on that thing. And if it gets worse, take him to the hospital. No dying in my IHOP." She says sternly.
"Yes ma'am." You and Jeremy say, equally uncomfortable. You head into the warm room, and he sits down on a little cushion and gently removes his jacket. You grab the hydrogen peroxide and gesture for Jeremy to join you at the sink. He does, and you pour it over his arm.
"Oh god oh god oh god oh god that stings. My arm's definitely not numb anymore." He clutches his jacket really tight as you cap the liquid.
"Sorry Jere. I really don't wanna hurt you."
"It's fine. I'm glad you're doing it, even if it stings like a bitch. I know I'd never do it myself." He blows softly on the large cut. You hold his arm gently and wipe off the blood that had spilled out with a cloth, then proceed to grab a roll of bandage.
"This is gonna hurt a little, so whenever you need to, feel free to squeeze my hand, kay?"
Oh god, does this count as taking advantage of him? I sure hope not.
He holds your empty hand without any hesitation, and squeezes it a little. You start to wrap the bandage, and the pressure on your hand increases, but by the time you're done he's completely let go. You look up at his face to see what happened, just to find him watching you, a strange look on his face.
"...Jeremy? Earth to Jeremy? What's up? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I dunno. Maybe..Maybe I'm just seeing you in a new way." He smiles sweetly at you as you tenderly place his arm back at his side.

"So, did we achieve the goal here? Opinion on the date location?" You ask, as the two of you approach your house.
"Oh, it's definitely a cursed date spot. But I'm glad we went. Thanks for being amazing, and for helping me out with my arm. Sorry you got dragged into this mess." He says, with a guilty smile.
You shush him.
"Don't thank me, and don't apologize. I was glad to help. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
You pull out your PAC-Man keychain that Jere got you on Halloween, and find your house key. As you unlock the door, you feel a hug from behind.
"I mean it. You're the kindest, most amazing person I've ever met. Thanks for being my friend." He mumbles all this into your ear, and you can hear a slight tremble in his voice as he says it. He lets go, and his arm brushes yours. "I'm heading to Michael's place. I'll catch up with you tomorrow at school. Or you can just text."
"Oh. Are you sure you wanna walk there with an injured arm?"
"It's cool. I gotta talk to Michael about something anyways. See ya."
He waits for you to get inside your house(cuz he's a GOOD BOI), and you notice some snowflakes falling from the sky through the window. As he walks away, he turns back one more time and waves with a smile on his face. You wave back, a wide smile of your own forming on your face.