In the morning I was excited to go see Evan again. He texted me before I was even up and told me he couldn't wait to see me. I smiled to myself as I climbed out of bed. Josh and I had a debate about whether or not to bandage my stitches. They technically didn't need to be, but Josh was worried about infection and what other kids would say. In the end he pressed down on my stitches and watched me flinch. "I think we'll cover it just so people stay away from it," Josh decided.
I got ready on my own and he patched me up right before he left. There was a five minute layover before Ryan knocked on my door. It was kind of a relief to be alone for once. "Ugh!" I groaned when I opened the door. "When am I going to be allowed to be alone?" I asked.
He laughed as he strolled into the kitchen to make us breakfast. He toasted some waffles. "Technically today should be the last day, but seeing as you still have the bandage, I'm guessing it's up to Josh."
I huffed. "He's too overprotective."
Ryan gave a small smile. "He was like that with me for awhile until I quit. You'll get used to it. He's not that bad to have around."
I laughed and started eating. "That's what you think. Why aren't you driving to school? You can now."
He shrugged. "I'm supposed to watch you and I know you'd rather sit with Kota than me."
I sighed. Now I was stopping him from using his shiny new license. I ruined everything. "So are you gonna flirt with Evan all day and rub it in Jacob's face?" Ryan asked.
I shook my head. "Jacob wouldn't even notice or care."
"Evan's charm didn't kick the Jacob feelings to the curb, did they?" Ryan asked as we cleaned up.
I shook my head. "I just want him to talk to me again."
Ryan hugged me as we picked up our stuff. "I'm sure your fight can't last that much longer. He'll talk eventually, but maybe you should try starting the conversation."
I shook my head. "I'd probably start crying."
Ryan squeezed me before adjusting his backpack on his shoulder. "You'll be okay," he promised while he opened the door.
I shouted goodbye to my parents and walked out to the road. Jacob saw me, but then turned the other direction. I stood with Ryan and his high school friends. When the bus came I was excited. In ideal circumstances I would've already called Julia to gush about my study date with Evan, but we weren't talking, so I knew Kota would fake excitement for me. He was just that sort of friend.
I dropped into Kota's seat with a big smile on my face and he noticed. "What's got you so smiley today?" He asked.
I blushed. "Evan came over last night," I said in a hushed tone because the bus was quiet. Jacob was only a few seats away. I knew he could hear.
Dakota looked genuinely interested. "Really? How did that go?"
"We started with history notes and he showed me how to cover things up so it's easier to focus with the concussion and then he graphed my math homework because that's apparently a lost cause and we kissed." I said the last part extra quietly and blushed really hard.
Kota's smile was a mile wide. "Cassie kissed a boy," he sang and I hit him.
"Shut up! No one needs to know."
He gave me a one armed hug and glanced behind me towards Jacob. I could feel Jacob staring a hole through me. "You'll have to tell me after school," Kota said. "I'm coming over. No arguments."
I yawned and leaned into Kota's shoulder the rest of the way to school. No matter when I went to bed, I was exhausted. When we got to school I couldn't wait to get off the bus. I rushed Kota toward the baseball team. He pulled on my arm to slow me down. "In a hurry?" He asked and laughed.
When we got up to the group the boys opened the circle and I stood between Evan and Kota. The other guys on the team were also getting used to my presence and greeted me. Evan didn't exactly make a move, but we stood closer together than normal and slipped each other glances while the other guys talked.
"Cassie's coming to our game Saturday," Evan announced.
Dakota looked at me with surprise. "Really? Are you going alone or what?"
I shrugged. "I'm sure Josh wouldn't let me go alone. Him and Ryan will probably come."
I was actually planning to ask them to. I didn't know anything about baseball and I would need someone to keep me informed on what was happening.
All the guys seemed excited that I was coming since most kids just went to football games and no one cared about baseball. When the bell rang Kota gave me a quick hug before he walked off with the team and left me and Evan behind.
Evan pulled me into a tight hug and sighed into my shoulder. We didn't say anything for awhile, but I pulled away so I wouldn't be late for class. "I'll see you at lunch?"
He nodded with a smile on his face and awkwardly rushed towards his locker across the school. I made it to homeroom just in time and found Jacob and Julia whispering over my empty seat until they saw me. I checked my phone before the bell and found another cute message from Evan. "Good luck on the science test (: You'll be great. Just remember the tricks I showed you."
I smiled down at my phone and slipped it away as the bell rang. Julia and Jacob were both staring at me. As much as I wanted to say something, I wasn't in the mood to talk to them. I wanted to fix things, but I didn't feel like homeroom was the place to do it. I wasn't sure that any place was the place.
No one said a word, but their eyes didn't leave me the entire time the announcements were on. I felt so awkward and as soon as the bell rang, I jumped up to get out of their stares. Moving quickly was still an activity that was frowned upon by my doctor. Taking it easy also meant taking it slow, but when I didn't do either while I hurried to escape Jacob, I stumbled. Jacob instinctively caught my elbow and I pulled away. I was thankful, but I knew there was no way he actually cared about whether or not I face planted. I hurried out and took my seat in the science room.
When Kota got there he trailed his fingers across the back of my head and went to his seat. "Ready for the quiz?"
I shrugged. "I actually tried to study this time and I had some help, so..."
Kota gave me a knowing smile as we both unloaded our things from our bags. Julia came in just before the bell and fell into the seat between us. The teacher called us to attention and announced that the quiz was actually going to be a full length test and told us to clear our tables. I groaned internally and prepared for the worst. I skimmed the test as soon as it was handed to me. I wasn't worried until I saw the graphs on the last page and everyone started passing down the scantrons.
I swallowed my pride and pulled some computer paper out of my binder so I'd be able to line up the scantron bubbles. A lot of people stared at me, but I blocked them out. This was about my grades, not what other people thought.
I seemed to take forever on the test, having to read all the questions over three or four times before I understood them and having to compare the answers a few times before I could be sure that the bubble I filled in matched the answer I wanted. Kota was finishing his last page when I was just turning to the second page. I still had three more pages left when everyone else finished. There really wasn't any way to hide my embarrassment as I realized that. My cheeks blushed, but I had to keep going. The class got increasingly impatient as I continued on my test.
The last page was a chart and graph about stars with three questions to go along with them. The questions shouldn't have been hard at all, but I couldn't even line up the numbers they asked for with the lines on the graph to be able to tell what it wanted. I worked at it for ten minutes and then the bell rang. I groaned and just filled in three random bubbles and prayed for the best. I wanted to cry.
I past Evan on my way out the door as he was coming in and he stopped me. "How'd it go?"
I shook my head. "It's a full test with a scantron and graphs. I didn't even really finish."
Evan sighed. "I'm sure you did okay."
"Everyone finished way before me. I took the whole class."
Evan shrugged. "Good for everyone else. They had free time. Your grades are more important than what they think of you. Don't let them get you down. Have fun in math."
I rolled my eyes and stalked off to my next class. The whole period was going to be on graphing again. Knowing that made me want to cry even more. Mr. Bolton was the only one who really seemed to understand my concussion aside from Evan. I didn't even really understand it. I just knew that I hated it and I wasn't myself because of it.
***Here's my update a day later than I promised. Things have been crazy. I worked a random 8 hour shift Sunday and they added extra days to my schedule this week and threw off all my other plans. Sorry this update is short and irrelevant. I'm working on the next plot twist. It just hasn't come together yet. Thanks for reading, voting, and commenting. You guys are bae.
Twitter: @JacobBeaMyBaby