SEVEN:
Oh shit, I just kissed Jason. Was he mad? Cody is his best friend! Cody is my boyfriend! Oh shit shit shitty shit!
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. I don't know what I was thinking," I said getting up quickly. I think I just ruined everything. Jason stood up too, but didn't say anything. He looked a little confused at first, but that kiss did feel pretty damn good.
"I'm such a horrible person," I said looking down at my hands, suddenly nervous to what Jason was going to say next.
"No you're not."
"Yes I am. I kissed you when you were just trying to make me feel better. And I already have a boyfriend, so I'm a terrible person!"
"No, you're just confused right now. It's okay," he reassured me. So he wasn't mad that I technically cheated on his best friend?
"Well I didn't mean to make things more confusing. We should just go home."
"Okay."
The ride home felt longer than on the way here. One stupid mistake changed the atmosphere just like that. What the hell was I thinking? I like Cody, I really do. Jason's right, I'm confused right now because of my family, whom I'm about to see. I wonder what they'll say when I walk in the house, close to ten at night.
Days went by, and Jason acted like we did nothing. I guess we didn't really, and I was thankful that we were friends again. I ended up not telling Cody about kissing Jason. Jason didn't mention it either, so things were fine between the three of us. I did, however, tell Beth and Tonya. They acted surprised, but it seemed a little fake to me. Either way, they promised not to tell Cody or Nate. I did still have some sort of feelings for Jason too, but I didn't share that with anyone.
I was at Cody's house on Saturday, watching TV with him when my phone rang; it was Beth. I sat up and answered right away.
"Hey Beth, what's up?"
"Sera," she sounded like she was...crying?
"What's wrong?"
"It's Jason. He's in the hospital because he was in a car accident-"
"What? We'll be right there!"
I told Cody the news and we both left in a hurry. I saw Beth at the entrance, and she told us what happened.
"He was driving his mom's car last night, and there was a drunk driver. His mom just called me and said we could see him because he's stable now."
"Oh my God," I said quietly. I immediately followed Beth to the room, not even noticing the tears slowly streaming down my face once I saw him. Was this really happening? His arm appeared to be broken and he had a bandage above his right eyebrow too. I couldn't see if anything else was broken because he was under the sheets of the hospital bed.
"Hey guys." So he was awake.
"We just heard what happened. Are you okay? I mean, clearly you're not, but we're so happy you're alive and-"
"Geez, don't overwhelm him Sera," Beth joked. I was too worried to joke about anything now.
"Yeah man, I'm glad you're okay," Cody said.
"Me too," Beth added, "I'm going to get some coffee, I'll be right back."
"I'll go with you. You want any Sera?" Cody asked.
"No thanks." He nodded, and they both left in search for decent hospital coffee.
I sat in the chair next to Jason's bed, putting my hand on his arm that wasn't broken.
"You look like shit," Jason smirked.
"Thanks. I'm glad your somewhat okay Jason," I smiled.
"So am I. It'd suck if I was dead, you guys would never survive without my awesomeness," he joked. The sad thing is that he's right. I probably wouldn't survive without him.
"You should get some rest," I said as I lightly squeezed his arm.
And he did fall asleep.
Jason got better faster than I expected. We hung out a lot more too, which I liked. I mean, we were friends after all. Every time something happened with my family, I always went straight to Jason because I knew Cody wouldn't understand. One day, I felt bad about that, and I realized we would just be better off as friends. So, before school on Friday, I needed to end things between Cody and me. I may sound mean, but ending things between us is better than going on without having feelings for him.
"Cody, we need to talk," I told him before we went in the school for first period.
"Alright, what's up?" Clearly he knew something was wrong.
"I'm sorry to say this, but I think we should just be friends. I love you, but I'm not in love with you."
He was quiet for a minute, until he said, "Okay."
"What?" Okay? That's all he could say?
"We've been drifting apart, so I understand that we should just be friends."
"Oh, okay. So friends." He nodded, and I gave him a small smile before turning to walk to my first period.
"And I won't be mad if you go out with Jason. He's a good guy." This made me stop immediately. I whipped around to face him again.
"How'd you, I mean, what?" I know, I wasn't making sense, but I was very confused!
"I figured it out when he was in the hospital, the way you looked at him," he shrugged.
"I'm sorry," I quietly said. He hugged me and we went to class.
My classes went fast, once again. It feels like I spend almost no time in my classes. I guess that's a good thing though. I sat at our usual table with everyone, except Cody was at the library to print a report.
"Where's Cody?" Tonya asked.
"Library," I answered.
"How are you two by the way?" Beth asked. She usually asked that randomly every week, so it was nothing new to me.
"Good. We broke up." Jason choked on his food, and I smiled. There's just something about people choking that amuses me. Unless their seriously choking; then it's not funny of course.
"What?" Beth yelled in my ear.
"Geez Beth, that was my ear you just yelled in," I joked.
"Well sorry! But what do you mean you two broke up? When did this happen?"
I shrugged, "This morning. We both agreed we're better as friends. So that's what we are, and it won't be awkward." Beth just started at me like I neglected to tell her an important secret for years.
"Beth, it's not a big deal. I mean, we didn't get into a fight or anything. It was a peaceful break-up. Okay?"
"You're both crazy. I thought you loved each other?" Tonya said. Where did this come from?
"We did, but like I said to him, I'm not in love with him. There's a big difference."
"Well, when did you realize this?" Beth asked.
"When I found out I liked someone more than him," I said quietly.
"WHO?" Beth yelled again.
I looked at Jason, but quickly looked away. He was looking at me, but I hoped he didn't see that. However, I blushed once I looked down, so I knew I was screwed. How could I be so stupid? I should've never said anything!
"Oh goodness, I knew it," Beth said as she rolled her eyes.
"Knew what?" Tonya asked her. Luckily, the bell that signaled lunch was over rang, so we all got up.
"Time to go to class!" I said quickly. I grabbed Beth and Tonya's arms and dragged them with me quickly.
"You know, that she likes Jason," Beth said to Tonya. Shit! Beth talks so damn loud, I'm sure Jason heard that!
"Shut up Beth!" I didn't dare look back at Jason or Nate, who were only ten feet behind us. Beth was so dead later.
Usually nobody goes to the park on Friday afternoons, probably because teenagers have better things to do on Fridays. I, however, had nothing to do, so I walked to the park. I needed to go somewhere quiet to think. Today was...different. I was relieved Cody agreed to being friends, but I wasn't ready for Jason to find out I liked him though. Maybe he didn't hear Beth though. God, what the hell am I saying, people across the country probably could've heard Beth's loud mouth. I loved her to death, but she was just so damn loud!
I sat on my usual bench, just thinking over things, when I saw a guy in a familiar red sweatshirt come up to me. He had his hood on, but I knew who it was; Jason.
"Hey. What are you doing here?" he asked casually as he sat next to me.
"Thinking. What about you?"
"I needed to think too. What are you thinking about?" I smiled. The way he said things made me laugh sometimes.
"Stuff." I didn't want to tell him I was thinking about earlier, "You?"
"Stuff," he shrugged. Okay, this mimicking thing was annoying, but oh well. He was here, so I wasn't alone anymore.
We didn't say a word for several minutes. I could tell he was different though. Something about the way he was looking at me led me to believe he was different somehow, or at least thinking about something, like he said he was.
"So what happened between you and Cody?" he asked. I didn't answer at first, so he said, "Never mind, it's none of my business."
"No, it's alright. It's like I said earlier at lunch, we just agreed we'd be better off as friends." Oh no, I shouldn't have mentioned the conversation at lunch, because then he could remember what Beth said. If he heard, that is.
"And you like someone else," he stated.
"Possibly," I said as he looked down at his hands, "Actually yes, I do. And Cody figured it out a little while ago, so he wasn't surprised." Why was I always so honest with Jason? Well, except for telling him straight that I liked him. Clearly, I wouldn't do that.
Jason looked up and stared straight into my eyes. That's when I realized I knew he heard Beth earlier. Why would he be bringing it up again? Well, there's only one way to find out.
"You heard Beth, didn't you?" I asked, a little worried as to what'd he say about it.
"Possibly," he said, "Actually yes, I did." There he goes again using the same words I did before. What's with this mimicking? Wait, he just said he heard Beth. Oh shit.
"Oh. I understand if you feel uncomfortable around me or something, or if you don't like me like that-"
"What if I do?" he said in the middle of my ranting.
"-I mean, we could just be friends if you want. Beth has such a loud mouth and-"
"Seraphina!"
I stopped talking and looked at him. "Yes?"
"Didn't you hear me? I said what if I do?"
"Do what?"
"Like you. You know, more than a friend," he smiled. I think his smile was even more amazing than before.
I didn't know what to say to that. Did he really like me as more than a friend?
"Because I do. For a while now actually." Well, that certainly cleared things up for me.
"Really?" I was a little surprised. Hell, I was shocked!
"Yes. Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"When did you realize you liked me?" he asked.
I shrugged, "I always liked you, but my feelings for you changed the night I kissed you." I blushed.
His smile grew wider and he nodded at the memory, "That was a pretty good kiss."
I laughed, "When did you first realize you liked me?"
"When I met you."
"Like, the first day?"
"Pretty much. When we started talking, I had a feeling you'd be an amazing person, so I wanted to get to know you better. And I was right, you are amazing. "
It took me a second to realize that someone said that about me.
I leaned my head on his shoulder and quietly said, "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."
When I sat up after a minute, he looked straight into my eyes and kissed me. It was the best kiss I have ever had.
Jason's Point of View:
I finally grew the courage to admit to Seraphina that I've liked her since the first day we met. I even told her she was amazing, because she really is. She leaned on my shoulder for a brief minute, until she looked straight into my eyes. What else could I do but kiss such an amazing girl? After I kissed her, I immediately saw the blush flow through her cheeks, and I could feel mine heating up too.
We sat there on the bench alone and in silence for a while, until Seraphina spoke.
"Jason, you obviously know how I feel about you, but I think we should just stay friends for a little," she said with her head resting on me.
"What?" I was completely surprised by this. Why the hell would we both be just friends if we felt the same way about each other?
Sera sat up and looked me straight in my eyes, "Well, Cody and I just broke up earlier today. I mean, I know he guessed I had feelings for you a while ago, but I don't want to hurt him or anything. Or ruin your relationship with him, you know?"
Of course, Sera just wanted to protect everyone else from getting hurt. Why did she have to be so damn nice?
"I understand," I said. I really wanted to say that our relationship wouldn't change anything, but I agreed with her anyway.
So, Seraphina and I would remain friends and nothing more until she thinks we can be something more. But hell, I'd wait forever if it means I can be with the girl I love.