My lovely readers,
Here is the next part of jasmeets story. I can promise that you will enjoy this chapter very much. Make sure that you read the WHOLE chapter as in the end something interesting will happen. The picture shows the hair of Jasmeet and the two boys.
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People think that walking away from a fight or argument makes you weaker, but really you are stronger than they'll ever be. - Unknown
Shawn's POV:
I won, I challenged Jasmeet in doing a stare contest which I won, as someone distracted her by a single touch. When I saw who the cause for my victory was, I clenched my teeth in anger and fury together. Enzo stood in front of us and touched Jasmeet without any shame. Apparently, he decided not to hide his obvious attraction for the said girl. Did my best friend, really just laid his hands on Jasmeet Hailee Kaur? I could not believe this as this would pose a evident threat to our friendship. The last argument was because of her and it seemd like he mocked me by behaving this way.
Was he going to show that they were an item, even so publicly, attracting gossip for sure? Did it happen faster than expected? Were they already together? The way the looked at each other confirmed my suspicion, there was a warmth in their glances which showed this. At sight of this, I felt something piercing my heart, making it hard to breathe for me, and I could not believe what I felt. My heart felt like it was ripped in two pieces; why did I feel like this? Was my sister, after all, right about her suggestion that I felt more for this girl that I let myself and others believe?
It seemed like the floor was suddenly gone, I just saw his hand on his waist; she made no attempts of making it move, and I could barely stand, as I felt all air leave my chest. I leaned again the wall for support, and tried to pull myself together as I did not want to show any sign of emotional turmoil I was currently experiencing. It was clear to me that I had to maintain my composed status, as I would be inviting gossip by acting otherwise.
I glared at my best friend, was he still this person for me; the person who was always there for me and with whom I could talk about everything? Or did everything change the moment he stood up for Jasmeet Hailee Kaur? He just returned the angry look and then after a long time, he answered my question, sounding annoyed and frustrated by my angry reaction: "Shawn, calm down!"
This statement built up the rage I was feeling and I was merely an inch away from blowing up. How dare he talk to me like that? I was relieved that his hand no longer rested on his waist and I could start to think more clearly.
Something was really messing up with my mind and making me act not quite like myself. I just hissed angrily, fixating Enzo angrily with my eyes: "Do not dare to say this!" I was sure that if looks would kill, he would lie on the floor motionless. Having said this, I turned around and went to my locker, ignoring both of their reactions and my fellow classmates. I knew that it was unusual for me to walk away from a fight; however, I did not want to argue with him in front of such a big crowd. Whisper and soft talks I could hear while I walked away from this confrontation.
I was surprised that I did not seek to have a fight with him, however, I did not want to raise any suspicion or rumors. My old self would have clearly attacked him and caused a scene, but something in me made me act differently and not like I always had. It pained me more than it should, the mere thought of his hand on her tigh made me furious and, I supressed the need of slamming my hand into my locker, as my hand still hurt from the last punch I threw on the wall and I had no intention of experiencing this pain again. I opened it and took out my books; I decided to focus on my classes and hoped that this would distract me from my previous thoughts of attacking or tackling Enzo. I had to admit that Jasmeet was special and it became harder for me to constrain and contain my obvious affection for her. Affection for Jasmeet Hailee Kaur? What was I thinking?
The way her eyes sparked with fire, intrigued me and I wanted to find out more about this flame within this girl. Glancing at my timetable, I was happy that I did not have history until the fourth period, which gave me much possibilities and room to calm down; I was still very tensed and angry. The whole day started not good, I thought to myself. The classes I shared with Enzo, I just pretended not to see him as the sight of him made my anger return, and he also paid no heed to my presence, showing me that he had not intention of reconciliation.
He really took his word serious of not supressing or hiding his obvious infatuation for her, which unsettled me, as I never thought that he would betray me like this. Did he really deceive me? Was this betrayal or merely a passing fight, which would resolve slowly? Was a girl more important than our friendship? I could not believe that he would throw our long bond away, just to impress a girl with whom he would never end up.
Jasmeet was Indian and I knew that she refrained from having a relationship with anyone. It was just not a part of her culture to indulge in this type of affair or being close with males, at least not before her marriage. I could not sense back then, that this thought was totally wrong and that she would surprise me by proving that this was not the case. Many classmates stared at me, still wanting to find out why I walked away, and urged me with expectingly glances to elaborate on the reasons why I did not seek to fight with my closest friend.
Without hesitation, I just shot them annoyed looks and I knew that by doing so, I discouraged them to bother me with annoying questions as fury and annoyance radiated from my glances. I did not see Jasmeet or Aryan, which was a relief for me. Suddenly I could hear my phone vibrate and I retrieved it from my jeans pocket, I opened the screen and saw that Jasmeet texted me: We still have to do the presentation today, Bradley! Let us meet after school! It is in two days and we should practice the whole thing.
I groaned at the mentioning of the project, this was the last thing on my mind. Without any emotions, I responded to her: Okay, Kaur. Let us get this over with!
She did not bother to reply me, which did not matter to me or at least I tried to make myself believe this. I put it back into my jeans and proceeded to go to my class, as it was time now to indulge into studies. It was a lonely day for me today, as I did not have Enzo by my side and Mason was absent, he liked to skip a day or two sometimes. Although Mason was not a close friend like Enzo and even his presence would not have cheered me up.
I was walking to my history class when suddenly Enzo stood beside me, surprising me. I shot him an annoyed glance and disregarded his presence by glancing out of the windows. "Shawn, we have to talk. I do not want us to fight! Let us sort this thing out!" he told me sincerely, fixating me with his brown eyes. It seemed genuinely that he wanted to leave the fighting behind us. I did not know what I thought of this, but the mere consideration of us not being close anymore made me sad and I agreed with him: "Enzo, okay we will meet after school, as soon as I have completed the presentation with Jasmeet, we can leave and talk!"
When I mentioned Jasmeet, a certain glow appeared on my best friend's face. I was sure that he was already in love with her and I did not know what to think about this. However, it also seemed bad to me that I was endangering our closeness and I tried to ban my tentative feelings for this girl into the back of my mind. He nodded and we sat down in the class, waiting for the teacher to arrive, engaging in careful small talk. It was never like this. We were brothers, not by blood but by heart and I really felt the urge not to let a girl come between us.
Suddenly Jasmeet entered the room, making everyone look up, taking in her obvious transformation. It was evident that her changed attitude made many students wonder what caused this transformation. Even today, she wore something which would be considered decent or even pretty. I did not realize that I stared at her, until she gave me a questioning loo, surprise clouding her eyes, and I just lowered my gaze. To my luck and relief, Enzo seemed to be engrossed in some book and did not witness that I peeked at her.
She sat down in front of me, as there was no other seat available, and pulled out the books and notes needed for this class. The closeness confused me and I found myself noticing the enticing scent, which was radiating from her. It was like spices with a hint of flower, foreign yet interesting. It was the same one I smelled when she nursed my wound. Instinctively, I examined it, remembering the moment I shared with her, and as soon as I realized that, I slapped myself for indulging in such matters. The hour passed away quickly as it seemed as if Mrs. Stevenson changed her ways to teach and made the lecture nearly interesting and worthwhile hearing.
"Mr. Bradley and Miss Kaur, I would like to have a word with you! Could you please stay behind?" Mrs Stevenson told me when I was nearly out of the door. I gave her a surprised look, and I could also feel that Jasmeet was wondering why the teacher told us to stay behind. Normally she addressed no words at us and let us leave in peace. "How is your project going? I hope it is going well!" she interrogated us, sounding very tense and worried. Finally, she realized it that it was a wrong choice to pair us. "Mrs. Stevenson, I can assure you that everything is going well. We completed nearly everything and did our work with diligence and conscientiousness!" Jasmeet spoke up, as I could not voice any sentence because I had once more lost the ability to speak up.
The teacher smiled at us, visibly content, and responded: "I am glad to hear that, I will examine the quality of your work and if it is well and consistent that I will make your permanent partners!" At her words, both of us whisper-yelled: "What?!" She elaborated, fixing her glasses, looking at us strictly, making us not to question her judgment: "Yes, you will be the whole year partners if you do a great job. I believe that even enemies can put their differences aside and act animously! You two are one of the brightest students and I expect nothing less from you and that collaboration between you two, will benefit the outcome of your projects!"
Once she completed her sentence, she dismissed us and we both looked at us in disbelief. Were we supposed to be partners the whole year? How would this work? The same thoughts of confusion and surprise were painted on Jasmeet's face, as it was unlikely that we would be good partners. I attempted to say something but suddenly, Aryan stood beside her and pulled her away from me, leaving me in a mess of emotions.
Why was fate so adamant of pulling us together as nothing could happen between us? I really wondered what the reasons behind these events were. In my entire time at school, we were never a team and now we were expected to put aside our differences aside and act happy and content together, presenting the best results possible. No, this really seemed far-fetched and not likely to happen.
Absent-mindedly I walked to lunch and ate my food without saying anything. I was so lost in my thoughts that I did not hear a word Enzo was saying. A slight punch into my shoulder snapped me out the daze and I just spat angrily: "What is wrong?" Enzo gave me an amused look and told me, chuckling softly: "You totally spaced out, what is happening to you? Why did Mrs. Stevenson tell you to stay behind?"
I groaned and replied him, not concealing my annoyance and anger: "She wants Jasmeet and me to be partners the whole year if we have a good end result. She is really out of her mind!" Enzo gave me a confirming look and responded: "Yeah, this is really strange. Why would she put you two together as a team, when you hate each other!" I bobbed my head in agreement and resumed to eat my lunch, although I did not feel any hunger or desire to consume any food. It seemed as if my appetite was gone.
Finally, the bell of the last period rang and I packed my stuff together, happy that the day was finally over. Too much happened today and I needed some rest and time alone without any person interfering or disturbing me. It was clear to me that before this would happen that I had to talk to Jasmeet and Enzo. I groaned at the thought and walked slowly to the library. Surprisingly, the girl already stood there, with an annoyed look and her arms crossed in front of her chest. I greeted her with a nod, which she returned.
After sitting down, she pulled her computer out of her purse and started to open the documents we prepared for our presentation. I shot a side glance and noticed for the first time that her face looked smooth and soft, with her long hair cascading over her shoulders. It was evident that she was a beautiful creature and she mesmerized me. It took me nearly four or five years to realize this, but it was obvious that something about her pulled me in and made me want to get to know her better. What was happening in my life and to my routine? I could not allow myself to feel these things as I had to sort out my friendship with Enzo first as this was a pressing and urgent matter.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I did not react to Jasmeet who tried to talk to me. A hard punch into my arms brought me back and I answered her: "What is the problem?!" She replied to me; sounding irritated: "You were gone and I asked you for so many times to take a look on our final presentation!" I nodded and I examined all the slides and the content on them. I complimented her: "You did a good job, I think we can try to present the whole presentation to ourselves!" While raising her eyebrows, she gasped, not hiding her surprise and astonishment: "Is Shawn Bradley appreciating my work? Is this a dream? This cannot happen!"
She pinched herself and inhaled sharply when she apprehended that I did, in fact, just compliment her. I chuckled at her action and said to her, confirming her question: "No, this is the reality. I will not hide my approval when I see good work and we both did a good job. Now let us get to the presentation and then we can finally go home!" "Already tired of me, Bradley and here I thought that you would even enjoy my company!" she retorted, faking her disappointment.
Her reaction made me laugh softly and it surprised me that she soon joined me. What was this? Were we being civil with each other? This seemed so unreal as we seldom managed to be nice around each other and hated each other. Suddenly a realization hit me like a car, it was quite the opposite, at least for me. I did not hate her; since the inception of the project, I could see myself developing certain feelings towards her. Was this the start of a possible friendship? No, my pride said and hit me, internally, for even thinking like this.
An hour later, we finally rehearsed enough and were satisfied with the result as we could speak freely. Now we were totally capable of presenting this topic in front of the class as we prepared ourselves thorougly and with much care. The whole time flew by so fast, which surprised me as I did not expect this to occur. When I attempted to get up, a soft hand held me back and I motioned her to speak: "Shawn, why were you so angry when Enzo touched my waist?" The mere question sparked a fury in me and I repressed from being harsh to her. Her eyes portrayed that she was wondering why I acted like this, surprise and disbelief painted across them, and encouraging me to speak up. Her look also indicated me to answer her and it was astounding that I found no words.
I was always so confident and nothing could make me silent or speechless. I just stared at her in disbelief, not being able to form a clear sentence in my mind. "Shawn, tell me the truth! I know that you fought with Enzo last week and that this arugment was because of me!" she told me in a soft voice; her eyes portaying nothing but mere curiosity. I exhaled sharply and stared into her eyes, not believing what she just shared with me. She took cautiously a step closer to me and I felt that she was on the verge of touching me, making me uneasy and unsettled.
It did not occur to me that she witnessed the whole fight, I just assumed that she saw that I hurt myself and wanted to help me, not expecting her to be present the whole time.
The thought that she sensed that there was more to my angry behaviour unsettled me, as I did not want to face the depth of my emotions and did not want to show that I liked her in any way. I had to push to her away like I did last friday. It was the best for all of us. All these years it had been so easy for me to conceal and hide my feelings behind hostile and hateful actions, and I had no clue what I should reply her, as I did not want her to believe that I cared for her. "Shawn, please talk to me!" she whispered softly into my ears. Her proximity making it hard to breathe, I stammered: "Jasmeet...!"
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what will he answer her? do you think he will be honest or do you think he will make up some excuse? Please let me know what you think? I am so curious about all your opinions. I am so thankful to each one of you, as you make me so happy by supporting and voting/commenting for/on this story. It means so much to me.
By the way, which questions do you want to be answered? It is now the 40th chapter.. so what are you expectations for the course of the story?
Love
Sarah He.