My friends and readers, since I began this journey I've been saying one thing consistently: I have a plan. All I ask is that you have some goddamn faith.
You woke up feeling better than you had in weeks, your conscious now guiltless and things having been smoothed over; for the most part anyway. You still weren't on great terms with most of the girl population in school, but with Jotaro's words in your mind, it gave you the boost you apparently needed. You got dressed in your uniform, adding an extra layer here and there to combat the cold, making sure to pack extra clothing and other essentials for (B/f)'s house. Not that it was a big deal if you forgot something, as she didn't live far from you, but normally you just ended up wearing each other's clothing. Both of you guilty of stockpiling "borrowed" clothing for who knows how long. You took a moment to slip on your sea glass bracelet, taking a moment to admire it in the morning sunlight. You weren't sure if Jotaro picked this one specifically because it was close to his eye color, or if that was just an observation made on your own, but you liked it none the less; a secret token of affection between just you two. Well, sort of secret, as (B/f) also knew about it.
You dashed out of the house, (B/f) planning on meeting you at the corner to walk to school together, which was a rarity in the winter months as usually she would hightail it to school as fast as she could, rather than waiting around in the cold. Instead, this time it was you waiting on the corner, shifting from foot to foot, cursing your school's uniform. You rubbed the top of your foot over the back of your leg, switching to the other foot, probably looking like a grasshopper as you attempted to keep your exposed skin warm by some means. You could see (B/f) rounding the corner, dressed as warm as she could be as she walked towards you, arms crossed in efforts to retain body heat.
"It's Friday." She said in a sing-song voice, you smiling at her enthusiasm. "Are you ready?" You weren't sure if she was bouncing out of excitement or trying to keep warm, or possibly both. You waved your hand in a "so-so" motion. "I guess so, I mean, I'm not exactly jumping for joy about school-"
"Oh, you know what I mean!" (B/f) interrupted, playfully swatting at you, "I wasn't talking about school." She clarified with an eye roll, "Anyway, how was John's?"
"John? Who the hell is- Oh, ha ha," You brain finally caught on, letting out a mock laugh, "Right, John. John was great. My good friend John." (B/f) snickered, leaning in close as she gave you a pointed look, "And?" She drew out, lips in a full grin. You playfully pushed her away, acting coy as the two of you approached the gates to the school. "And what?" You shrugged, (B/f) giving you an exasperated look, "Come on, (Y/n)."
"Alright, alright," You chuckled, "Yes, after school." You shooed her out of the way of your locker, opening it and retrieving your books. You followed her to her own locker, idly loitering around, waiting for the bell to ring. A familiar red head passed by, on the way to his own locker, shadowed by a six foot something dark haired boy. "Hey." You greeted as he passed, receiving a quick 'hey' in response. "'Sup, John." (B/f) muttered quietly under her breath, both of you giggling at the dumb insider. Both boys exchanged looks, probably confused as to why both of you were laughing, shrugging as they continued walking. "So stupid." You said shaking your head, still grinning.
"You started it." (B/f) nudging your shoulder as she opened her own locker, immaculate and orderly compared to the chaos that was your own. The inside had a few photos of family and one of you two, taken a few summers ago. The bell rang, you and your best friend exchanging looks as you headed off to class, a smile on your lips. You walked into History class, sitting in your seat as you bounced your foot energetically. Kakyoin walked in a short minute later, giving you a questioning look, "Good morning, (Y/n), you seem to be in good spirits." He gave you a gentle smile as he took his seat next to you. "It's Friday." You answered simply, with a shrug and a smile. "Big plans for the weekend?" He asked, flipping the prominent bang out of his face suavely. You rested your chin in your hand, "You could say that. Heading to (B/f)'s house after school, and going to binge watch movies all night." The bell rang, cutting the conversation short. The teacher stood in front of the board, talking about the Egyptian Dynasties, leading you into your next big assignment, writing an essay about an Egyptian God. You slumped in your seat a bit as the teacher passed out the dossier, outlining the specific format the essay was to follow, the word count required, and the due date.
"Who are you writing about, Noriaki?" You turned to see the boy curling his finger around his bang, violet colored eyes staring at the top of his desk, seemingly lost in thought. "Um, Noriaki," You tried again, touching his arm when he didn't respond, "you okay?" He blinked, snapping out of whatever thought he was having and turned to you, "Sorry, (Y/n), I spaced out for a moment. What was it you were saying?" Your eyebrows knit together with worry, unsure if there was something bothering Noriaki. "Um, I, uh, asked what God you're going to write about?" You said, offering him a good natured smile. "I'm not sure yet." He said, his tone returning back to his usual one. "I was thinking about Ammit." You said, leafing through your text book idly. "She's the devourer, right?" You quirked a brow up at Noriaki's question, surprised that he actually was playing attention through the class apparently. Maybe he finally found a history subject that held his attention. "Uh, yeah." He hummed in response, a very Jotaro-like characteristic, as he looked over the various Egyptian Gods on the page. The two of you spent the rest of class taking about various bits on the subject; who knew Noriaki was versed in Egyptian Gods and lore. The bell rang, you excitedly putting away your books and notebook before slinging your bag over your shoulder. "See you later, Noriaki." you said cheerfully as you walked out of the room, dodging the incoming students, Jotaro among them. You met his eye for a fraction of a second, smiling as you looked away and headed to math as if nothing had happened.
You took your seat next to (B/f), oddly enough the girl who wrote you the letter gave you a small wave as you sat down. You gave her a small wave before exchanging questioning glances with (B/f).
"First period sucked." She announced, breaking the odd silence, "Like, when in my life am I ever going to need to balance equations?" You couldn't help but giggle, your thought process on the subject much the same. "I have an essay due next week, so I feel you." (B/f) made a noise of distress, knowing that she too would likely be assigned an essay for that class. "Is it at least over something interesting?" She asked, tapping her pencil against her notebook. You shrugged, "Maybe? It depends on what you're into, I guess. We have to pick an Egyptian God and write about them." She perked up a bit, "That sounds mildly interesting." The teacher quieted the class down after the bell rang, announcing a pop quiz, which made the class groan. You struggled your way through, earning a passing grade, which was all you cared about; your parents, while thankful you had passing grades, pressed you on trying harder, their hopes of you being valedictorian long-since shattered.
"Ouch." (B/f) commented as she looked over at the red marks on your page. "Hey, passing is passing." You said with a cheeky grin as you pit your things away, zipping up your bag. Your friend scoffed as she led the way out to the hall, "Yeah, I don't know what the age limit for infanticide is, but my mom would probably bury me in the backyard if I brought that quiz home."
"Pretty sure she's about sixteen years too late for infanticide, I think it's just straight up murder at this point. Luckily, my parents lost hope for me years ago." You said as the two of you entered the gym hall, which today smelt like some kid emptied an entire bottle of cologne into a box of gym socks and let it marinade in the sun. As the two of you changed out into your gym clothes you saw a few girls rolling up their shorts waistbands a few times, something some of the girls did to make their shorts look shorter. You gave (B/f) a look, telepathically asking what their deal was. She just rolled her eyes and led the way to the gym.
"Oh, that explains it." She said as she opened the door, her tone flat and unamused. You peered around her, breath hitching. "He's not supposed to be here." You said under your breath as you spied Jotaro taking up residence on the bleachers as he likes to do. (B/f) looked at you as if you had some answer as to why he was here, "Hey, don't look at me," You said raising your hands in defense, "I don't need this shit." He had a notebook in his lap, a textbook out beside him. Was he doing his homework? Some of the girl's eyes wandered towards you, curious looks as well as threatening glares aimed towards you, silently telling you that if you dare try anything you were going to get your ass handed to you. You turned your back to the boy in the bleachers, facing (B/f) as you crossed your arms.
"I'm ready for this shit to be over." You muttered under your breath as your best friend casually leaned against the gym wall. "Soon." Her eyes widened a bit, "Ooh, this'll be good." (B/f) said, an amused smirk on her lips, causing you to position yourself to where you could see whatever it was out of your peripheral. A girl with a wrapped foot sat in the bleachers, one row up from Jotaro, her eyes occasionally glancing over to the blue eyed boy, inching closer discreetly. "Playing the helpless dumbass? I've heard it works well."
You shot her a look, before you broke into a smile of your own, "Been there done that. Maybe she should try something more original." The girl scooted closer, now almost behind him, eyeing what he was doing. He apparently sensed she was there, turning and glaring over his shoulder at her, saying something you couldn't hear. The girl said something back, probably trying to engage in conversation. "Wish I could hear them." You said, mildly curious in how Jotaro was reacting to a girl who was in a similar situation you yourself were in a while back, minus the trying to garner his attention.
"I'm no Leon, but I can give it a shot." She cleared her throat, "Look, Jojo, I hurt myself just like that dumbass, (Y/n). Do you love me now?" You chuckled, holding a fist to your mouth to cover up your smile. "Leon does it better." You commented, (B/f) lacking the perfect falsetto of your guy friend. She gave a deep sigh and pulled down an invisible hat brim, "Yare Yare Daze, you're a dumb bitch." You couldn't help but laugh, (B/f) breaking character and doing the same, you unsure if she was talking to you, or interpretating what Jotaro may be saying to the girl; possibly both. A quick flash of blue eyes in your direction quickly shut the two of you up, whistling innocently as you went back to not facing him. Surely he couldn't hear you from there, right? Whatever it was he said to the girl had made her frown, looking away from him dejected.
"What a ladies man." (B/f) said, apparently noticing the girl's face as well. You hummed, "Oh, I don't know, I'd say he has good taste." You gave her a mock-cocky look a she rolled her eyes. "And I'd say you have Stockholm Syndrome." She retorted as she pushed away from the wall, you rolling your eyes as the coach entered the gym, blowing their whistle to gain everyone's attention. You did your best to stretch without feeling self-conscious about yourself, positioning yourself towards the back of the gym trying to hide; It was hard enough to ignore his presence before you liked him, let alone now that you two had mutual feelings. Once again, some of the girls, namely the ones who had rolled their waistbands, positioned themselves in front of the bleachers. Both you and (B/f) made noises of disgust as you watched them attempt to get attention, any attention, but his eyes remained glued to his notebook and textbook, occasionally flicking up to find you discreetly before looking back down.
The coach rounded everyone up, explaining the rules to whatever game they had planned for the day. You and (B/f) opted to cover the goal, seeing the least amount of action. "Don't wreck your ankle this time." (B/f) joked as the ball came towards the two of you, bouncing a few times before lazily rolling by. You picked it up and tossed it back into the game, officially earning the ability to say you participated to some degree. "Trust me, I learned that lesson. Definitely won't be trying it again." Then again, while you weren't too thrilled with the dumb bitch who slammed the ball into your ankle, it did seem to open the window of opportunity for Jotaro to break the ice; sort of, in his own unique fashion. It was certainly an odd start to a romance, if you could call it that, but then again, he doesn't seem like a typical romantic.
A few minuets before the class let out, Jotaro stood up, and pulled his bag over his shoulder, descending the bleachers, much to the still pouting girl's dismay. Him leaving nearly brought the game to a halt, half the players stopping and watching him leave. Instead of trying to get everyone back in the game, the coach sighed and dismissed the class a bit early, telling those who were listening to have a safe and good weekend. A stampede of girls ran out, you guessed they were going to try to get dressed as fast as possible to catch up with Jotaro. You rolled your eyes and followed them, walking though instead of running. You opened the locker room door, immediately wondering if you should just stay in your gym clothes the rest of the day as you'd walked into two girls in a screaming match. (B/f) pushed past you, ignoring the two girls as she made way for you to follow.
"You purposely hogged the ball all game!" One of the girls yelled, a chorus of 'yeah' backing her up. The other girl, stepped towards her in a threatening manner, "Whatever, you're just a sore loser." The other countered, the girls behind her also chiming in. You and (B/f) just attempted to lay low, change and get the hell out without getting involved. "You were just trying to show off for Jojo!" Someone accused, you sighed, finding this more grating than usual. "I saw you over there eyeing him the whole game!" You smoothed down your skirt and began to stuff your gym clothes into your gym bag, and blocked out the argument, closing your locker with more force than was necessary. "You too, (Y/n)," You head snapped up, trying to figure out where or how you'd come into the conversation, "Just because you were Jojo's science partner doesn't mean you're anything special." You wide eyes darted around, feeling like a trapped animal as you subtly backed up to your locker, "W- what?"
"Hey, leave her out of this." (B/f) said, crossing her arms.
"I remember when you pushed yourself into him just to get his attention!" Someone called out from the small group. You didn't even bother entertaining a response, as that was absolutely ridiculous, not to mention how they'd just twisted the story from you pushing him to now you purposefully throwing yourself at him.
"Admit it, (Y/n), you like Jojo!" Another voice called out, a few others tossing in jeers at you while they were at it.
"I've already told you people, I don't like Joj- er, Jotaro." Well, you didn't tell her specifically, but you told the hive-mind that is their fan club. Your face was red with embarrassment and anger, stomach turning in fear as the last thing you wanted or needed right now was a fisticuffs match in the locker-room. "Whatever, I have better things to do than stand around in the locker room and argue." You mentally began panicking as soon as you spoke up, terrified that they'd retaliate to your words with their fists. Before there was any chance to do so, (B/f) planted her hand on your shoulder, steering you out if the locker-room, thankfully. You could hear a few snide remarks aimed towards you before the door closed, but you were thankful to be out of there at least. You could hear them turning back to arguing amongst themselves through the door as you walked away.
"Screw them." You huffed once you were absolutely certain that they were out if hearing distance, not wanting to add more fuel to the steadily growing bonfire you'd unknowingly started. "Just ignore them, in a few hours we'll be home free." (B/f) sighed, her own temper having flared a bit back there.
You took a deep breath, releasing it slowly, "You're right. Just a few more hours."
The rest of lunch was peaceful, but you now had a knot in your stomach, worried about whatever may come your way. Just two more classes and you'd be free. You knew that (B/f) could sense your anxieties, trying her best to keep you positive, reminding you that you had started off the day so optimistic, trying to get back the optimism. The bell rang, which both relieved and worried you, you were that much closer to the end of the day, but on the other hand the unknown worried you.
"Everything's going to be fine, trust me." (B/f) said, nudging you as you loitered in the hall for a few moments, stalling before class.
"I trust you." You said, heart fluttering as you remembered that you'd spoken those same words to Jotaro just the day before. You turned away from (B/f) before she caught the blush that dusted your cheeks. "I'll see you in a bit." The two of you departed, you heading off to your science class.
You took your seat, the room feeling colder than usual. You took your seat, setting out your text book and notebook before shoving your hands into your pockets for warmth. You hunched over a bit, wondering if it was just you, as the other students didn't seem bothered. Leon took his seat next to you, looking like he was over this class, mentally checked out and ready for the weekend.
"Hey, (Y/n)." He said, his usual hyper-self dulled down by the wear and tear of the school week.
"Hey, you look ready for a nap." You commented with a raised eyebrow. He groaned in response, "You have no idea. I closed last night and am feeling it today." His tone held an uncharacteristic tired tone. "At least it's Friday." You offered with a shrug, giving him a sympathetic pat on his shoulder before your hand retreated back into your jacket pocket.
At the sound of the bell, you noticed that Jotaro was oddly absent. You'd just seen him not but an hour ago. Did he decide to skip this class? What if he went home? You nervously bit your lip, trying to pay attention to the lesson as opposed to where your fellow classmate may be.
"Hey," Leon leaned towards you a bit as he whispered, "you okay?" You blinked, not having realized that you had your shoulders bunched up around your ears, hands in your pockets, freezing. You lowered your shoulders, and turned to him, "Yeah," you said uncertainly, "is it cold in here?" Before Leon could respond, the teacher turned, giving the two of you a pointed look just as the door opened, revealing your missing classmate.
Your teacher's gaze flicked over to the door, "Mister Kujo, nice of you to join us, please take your seat," their eyes returned back to you and Leon, "And Mister Caldwell, whatever you and your girlfriend are discussing can wait until after class." A chorus of snickers and 'Ooh's filled the room. You may have missed Leon's cheeks reddening as he slumped down in his seat, but you certainly didn't miss the aqua blue eyes narrowing dangerously at your teacher. Jotaro said nothing as he passed by your desk, a seemingly menacing aura radiating off him from the teacher's comment. Obviously, everyone in the class knew that Leon and you were not in any sort of relationship, but the comment was still embarrassing and enough to raise Jotaro's hackles. The rest of the class you and Leon kept your head down, out of embarrassment as well as, for you anyway, trying to keep warm.
You were up as soon as the bell rang, eager to escape the cold room of your science class, offering a hasty goodbye to Leon as you passed by him. You stood in the doorway for a second, a wave of students blocking your way, taking a moment to turn towards the back of the class. Your eyes quickly met Jotaro's for a brief second, just enough for you to silently acknowledge one another, his eyes dropping to the piece of jewelry around your wrist as you turned and exited the room.
One more class. That's all you had to survive. It wasn't a hard class, but it was the class you shared with one of the "Alpha fan girls", the one that wrote you the note; one of the ones that yelled the loudest and had had no issues in the past with throwing a punch here and there. You tried to keep your breathing steady, reminding yourself that you had nothing to hide and that you just had to survive one more class.
As you took your seat you could feel the girl's eyes on you, scanning you for something, as if looking for any evidence you'd been lying about liking the same boy she, and half the school's population, liked. Of course, there was nothing. Instead she settled for just side eyeing you for a few moments, before going back to ignoring you. You assumed that your fellow locker room "buddies" had told her about the locker room argument, your name popping up in the midst, which is what made her go back to giving you dirty looks; better dirty looks than threatening notes, you supposed. You idly doodled in your notebook, religiously looking at the clock every thirty seconds to see if time had magically moved at double speed. It didn't, of course, and tire seemed to drag, you already packed and ready to jump up well before the bell rang. The minute hand moved teasingly show, rotating lazily around until it finally landed on the twelve, triggering the final bell. One more obstacle, and you could enjoy your weekend.
You spun the dial on your locker, pulling it open only for a large hand to reach over your shoulder and force it back closed. You spun around, startled as you saw Jotaro standing there, leaning down towards you as he used his body and arm to cage you in against the lockers. Everyone in the hallway stopped, watching silently, a heard of girls gasping somewhere down the way as they watched the two of you. It seemed like the entirety of the school stopped what they were doing, everyone waiting on baited breath to see what was happening. This was something entirely new. You saw Jotaro's lip twitch upwards a fraction, barely noticeable even to you, let alone someone who wasn't so familiar with his mannerisms. "Go out with me." There was no subtlety to his tone, voice ringing loud and clear, a few cries of despair echoed through the hall, gaining even more attention. It was the words heard around the world; or the school, at least. Your eyes shifted away, jaw clenching a bit to keep your lip from quirking upwards. You took a deep breath. This was it, this was your moment. You'd waited all day for this.
You looked back at Jotaro's handsome face, scanning it for a second before your eyes finally moved back to his aqua blue ones. "No."
As if nothing at all happened you ducked under his arm, not even caring about putting your books away, joining (B/f) as she waited by the door. You heard the hall behind you explode with all different emotions as the school door closed behind you, not even bothering to glance back as you and your best friend walked away, eager to start your weekend.
The end.
REMAIN. CALM. EVERYONE! THIS WILL ALL MAKE SENSE SOON, I PROMISE!
So, I decided to end this book here and continue the series with a new book.
My reason for this is because I personally find it daunting to pick up a book with like 103 chapters. I'd much rather read a series of books than one giant one. Does that make sense? Idk.
Next book will be out very soon! I have 99% of the chapter written and it's amazingly fluffy to make up for this chapter, plus I have my (late) Christmas chapter that'll be in there too.
Thank you all for reading, I hope to see you all in the next book,
Icee.