Strictly Platonic

☼ D E S P E R A T E

I was sitting alone for about twenty minutes before Jace joined me at the table. The food court was still bustling with people, mostly teenagers, that were happily chatting amongst one another.

I, however, was not in a cheery mood.

Every time I looked down at the slip of paper in my hand, I would feel my face twist in disgust. Who is seriously that vulgar?

When Jace arrived, I nearly jumped out of my seat in relief. I wanted to talk to him.

"Why did you just hand this to me and walk off?" I asked immediately and he sighed, locking his jaw. "Jace, c'mon, answer me."

"I don't know." He replied shortly, keeping his gaze averted from my face as he sat down across from me. I wanted answers and Jace wasn't giving them to me.

"Do you want it back?" I held out the paper and he took it, and for some reason, I felt my heart sink in my chest.

Before I could comprehend what was happening, Jace was tearing the slip into tiny shreds and dumping them in the trash can behind him. I felt my eyebrows raise.

Why was Jace acting so weird? Girls acted like this around him all the time. He always accepted their offers with open arms, or should I say, open zippers. This wasn't anything new to him.

I had never seen this sort of reaction in him before, which led me to thinking about the Crystal chick. Maybe there was something wrong with her?

I reassessed what I'd seen about a half an hour ago and I couldn't find any flaws. She was gorgeous and obviously willing to...do stuff with Jace, so what was his issue?

Seriously, he said it's been two weeks. That's the longest he's gone without sex since he hit puberty. It was seriously some kind of record for him.

"Hey, guys. Where's Cody?" Matthew questioned upon returning to the table, holding Sarah's hand. He glanced between Jace and I, obviously noticing our sour expressions.

"He followed some chick into a store." I waved off, keeping my glare on Jace. Something was off about him.

"That desperate, huh?" Sarah laughed and Matthew rolled his eyes.

"He's always that desperate." Matthew mumbled under his breath.

"I don't know, you two. He seemed like he was in a trance when he looked at her." I shrugged, though I was being honest. The way Cody had looked at that Parker girl was kind of unnerving.

"Speaking of the devil." Jace muttered, gesturing with a nod of his head towards an approaching Cody.

"Oh my God," he beamed. "You'll never believe what just happened."

"What?" Sarah smiled sweetly, clearly amused by Cody's broad grin. He never smiled like that after talking to a girl. He usually just smirked.

"That was Parker Evans. Before I moved to Miami, I lived in Tampa and I went to school with Parker. Our dads were best friends since college, so we hung out all the time. We were best friends until I moved here when my parents divorced, then we stopped talking. Now she's here. What a small world!" He spoke animatedly, which made my glower from before transform into a cheesy grin.

"So why'd she dump a slushy on you?" I chuckled. Both Sarah and Matthew had shocked yet amused looks on their faces.

"She's a lot different than I remember." He frowned, lost in thought. Quickly, he shook his head and the smile returned. "She used to be super girly and her favorite color was pink. Her hair used to be blonde, which is why I was so surprised it was her. Still, she's just as fiery as I remember."

"That doesn't explain the slushy thing." Sarah pointed out.

"Oh, yeah. Well, when we were little, she used to do this thing where she'd always wrestle me, so I asked her if she wanted to wrestle again, but naked this time." He laughed, clearly not fazed by the blue slushy that was staining his white V-neck.

"You, my friend, are an idiot." Matthew told Cody, and both Sarah and I nodded. I looked at Jace and he was staring at nothing in particular, his chin resting on his palm.

Weird.

"So, did you get her number?" Sarah queried, wiggling her eyebrows at Cody suggestively.

"Well, she didn't want to talk to me, but her friend Crystal gave it to me because, and I quote, 'she wants her friend to lose her virginity to a hot basketball player'. How she knew I play basketball, I don't know." Now that I looked closely, I saw a small paper clenched tightly in Cody's fist. He looked like he was holding it like his life depended on it.

"What about you, Jace?" Matthew nodded at Jace, who was now snapped out of his stupor.

"What? Oh, no, I didn't get any numbers." He lied, getting up and coughing slightly, and I could tell it was forced. "I think I'm going to head home. I'm tired."

"Wait, I'm your ride though." Matthew called as Jace walked towards the mall exit.

"It's fine. It's not that far of a walk." Jace yelled back.

Funny. Jace's house was at least fifteen miles away.

••••

"Thanks, Matty." I sent Matthew a gracious smile as I stepped out of his car. Sarah was sat beside him, their intertwined hands laying on the center console. Cody was in the back seat, grinning goofily down at the slip of paper in his hands.

"No problem, Lex. It's only a minutes drive from the mall. Still, why did you want me to bring you to the beach?" Matthew had his eyebrows furrowed and I shook my head.

"Just some alone time." I lied, closing the car door and waving as he drove off.

I walked the sidewalk until I reached The Hangout. I instantly spotted a figure several feet away, sitting on the sand and staring out at the ocean.

"Jace, what's up with you?" I asked as I sat beside my best friend. He looked at me and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Lex. It's just, I..." He looked at the sand and drew my name in the sand. I smiled and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"What, Jace?"

"I just don't feel good today." He told me, leaning back and laying down on the sand.

"Really?" I questioned, concerned. I placed a hand on his forehead, but it wasn't warm. "Well, you don't have a fever."

"Yeah." He closes his eyes. "I guess I don't."

••••

Lmao what even is this