𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 ⟿ s. harrington

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞

NOT AS CLOSE AS THEY USED TO BE !

☀︎

AT THE LIBRARY, JONATHAN AND ALEX SPREAD OUT ALL THEIR BELONGINGS, READY TO GET SOME SCHOOL WORK DONE FOR THE DAY. Lately Alex had found herself falling behind in classes and wanted to use this extra time to try and get back on track. Unlike Jonathan, who had wanted to go to the library in the first place, Alex had been the one to dive right into her work and begun studying. Her attention had solely remained on her work as his eyes had began to wander around the room, fighting the urge to inform Alex of the two that had walked into the library and sat several tables away from them— Steve and Nancy.

Jonathan had begun to twirl his pencil between his fingers as he watched Nancy lean towards Steve, resting against him as she flipped his textbook to the proper page. A sting of jealousy had hit him and when he tried to refocus back to his own work, he stopped when he saw a glare was already sent his way.

Alex had stopped writing mid-sentence as she had watched Jonathan try and explain himself through broken sentences and stumbled over words. "Is this why we're here?" She asked him in a harsh whisper, hoping to not catch anyone's attention.

His cheeks grew a light shade of red and a guilty smile spread across his face. Nancy had mentioned just yesterday her plans to study in the library, and Jonathan just couldn't help himself to see her for another moment in the day.  Alex's shoulders slacked as she tried to be reasonable. "Do you wanna go over there then?"

"No, no," he whispered quickly. "I don't want to bother them or anything."

"Then actually study with me," she said, reaching over and lightly tapping his page. "I can't find the answer to number four. Mrs. Click totally blows at her job." Both had tried to focus on reading the fourth question on their packet, but their eyes soon did begin to wander. It wasn't long before they both had found themselves looking at the two leaving the pencil sharpener and heading to a private room. Too curious to look away, they watched as Steve had reached over, shutting the blinds.

"Gross," she whispered, thinking of what could be happening behind those blinds. In response Jonathan laughed, giving a tap with his pencil to her packet. "We're supposed to be studying," he reminded her in a playful manner.

"Hey, you started it," she pointed out.

After a few moments, Nancy and Steve made their way back to their seats, stressed out and exhausted with the company of one another. There had always been a strain on their relationship yet the two had always found an excuse to ignore it and force feelings they didn't feel any longer.

Heading back to their seats, their eyes wandered the room, finally taking notice of their two friends there as well. Placing a hand on Nancy's back, Steve had attempted to lighten her mood. "Apparently we're too uncool for them to come and sit with us."