Jerrie Short Stories

august (pt. 2)

october

There is no denying that Perrie feels a bit odd, sitting at the same restaurant which Jade has previously taken her to, without Jade by her side. She is here with friends from Introduction to Italian, a class she regrets taking more every time she needs to do any work for it. This language is so much harder than she initially thought, and that's not even something Jade can help with. That's why Perrie had to turn to a different direction to ask for help, and that is how she became friends with Katherine and Andrew. They often held study sessions in the library, and after a week or two, Alex, who is another struggling student, started joining them. Perrie suspects that he and her are the students that are the furthest behind in this class, so his presence isn't helpful, but he did make her laugh and so she decided it was alright to let him stay.

The four of them are now having dinner together, giving themselves a break from studying, although Perrie wasn't too sure she wanted to come here tonight. Truth be told, she is on a pretty tight budget, since she just started attending university, but can't forget the loans she had to take in order to fund her studies. Coming to this restaurant with Jade was an exception, because Jade is different, but Perrie is not about to waste the money she does have on eating out in fancy places often. After some convincing, she did agree to come along, just this one time, and then Alex offered to pay for her. It was quite unexpected, or maybe she should have foreseen it but didn't because Jade was the subject of pretty much all of her thoughts lately. Alex wanting to pay for her is actually financially worthwhile, and she is going to let him do it.

All goes well until the moment Perrie suddenly sees Jade, Jesy and three other girls she is not familiar with entering the restaurant. They notice Perrie and as soon as they receive their table, walk up to where she is sitting to say hi. It's always nice seeing a familiar face outside campus, and so they are all happy to see each other, but then, while Jade is talking to Perrie, Alex puts his arm around her. The shock is Jade's eyes wouldn't be obvious to a stranger, but Perrie can easily read it, and she instantly feels bad, or like she needs to clarify at least. The way Perrie sees it, she wasn't trying to give Alex the impression that she is interested in him, but it seems like he perceived her messages the wrong way. In this moment, Jade says a quick goodbye and Jesy and her return to their table.

During the rest of the evening, Perrie can hardly think of anything but Jade, and how this interaction must have made her feel. One side of Perrie wants to explain everything and assure Jade that Alex and her are just friends, but the other wants to keep things as they are. The whole point of avoiding getting into a relationship at the moment is not wanting to settle down anytime soon, to give herself time while she is eighteen and can still be young and reckless. She can't lie and say she doesn't like the attention she is given from all sorts of people here, it's a bit like a game for her, but she doesn't want to bring Jade into it. Jade's heart is too pure to be played like that, and it's enough that Jade wants a relationship but has settled for informally and casually dating Perrie. Perrie and her are genuinely good friends now, they hang out often, make out when they are alone and have opened up to each other enough to make sleeping together a habit. Perrie wouldn't want to play with Jade's emotions more than she assumes she already does, although Jade would never admit it.

When dinner is over, Perrie, Alex, Andrew and Katherine walk back to campus. It might be a coincidence, since it is getting late, but Jade and her friends seem to finish eating and head back right after them. Alex walks Perrie to her dorm, and as cute as the core of this gesture might be, Perrie directs her body language to make it clear that while a hug is alright, she doesn't want a goodnight kiss, at least not like that when she can see Jade standing a bit far and trying to pretend like she isn't watching them. Eventually, Alex leaves, and Jade walks over towards Perrie.