Confusion was not something Skye was used to. She was quite confident in the things she believed to know. However, things have been quite different lately. Ever since a few days it had gotten extremely confusing.
It was a regular Monday morning when Skye went outside, shivering a little at the brisk breeze that whisked all the cold air of the morning in her face. Nothing was out of the ordinary on her way to the coffee shop that was just a block away. Skye smiled, remembering Jane's view on cold weather. "Cold weather is the best time to think of beautiful memories that warm up your heart and fight the freezing from outside." Her sister still loves metaphorical drama.
Silently mocking and secretly admiring her sister's leaning towards over-romancing situations, she orders two coffees. Thinking that her sister's romantic streak might be rubbing off on her, she wonders whether or not the barista is hitting on her. He was new, that was for sure. Skye knew she would have recognized his dark brown eyes if she had seen them before.
He handed her the two to-go cups with a wink and pointed at the one in her left hand.
"I hope this one is not for your boyfriend?"
Skye was taken aback. He really was hitting on her.
"Nope, don't got one of those. Don't need one either."
That was true. She didn't need a man in her life. Well, at least not as a boyfriend.
Skye turned and left the little shop, not even noticing the dramatic wink brown-eyes send after her. What an idiot, she thought to herself. What makes him think he can start a conversation by asking her whether or not she was single. As if anything was depending on her relationship status.
Her pace had quickened because of the feeling of anger rushing through her veins. She made it back to her apartment in just four minutes instead of the regular five and a half.
She was early and angry, which was not a good combination for the guy she was waiting for. Jeffrey Tifton. Her best friend since childhood who lived across the hall now that they were both studying in Boston. Said person was also running late that day. A fact that did not improve his situation.
When he exited the building he was two minutes behind schedule. That was not a lot in the regular world. Unfortunately, he was dealing with an angry Skye who had been waiting for him impatiently. She snorted which was a very dangerous sign. Handing him his coffee wordlessly was the next.
Jeffrey smiled. "You snorted like a horse, Penderwick."
Skye punched him playfully in the side. "Don't mess with me, Tifton."
"Oh oh, now you're Tifton-ing me. You really must be in a bad mood. Have you not made someone cry yet? I should have known that this is an important step in your daily routine."
"Stop mocking me. The new barista was just annoying this morning."
Jeffrey tensed and his expression changed. He looked honestly worried. "What did he do?"
"Don't worry about it. It's really not a big deal. It just annoys me that everyone assumes they can shamelessly flirt with me just because I'm single." She rolled her eyes.
He wanted to say something. She could see it in his eyes. But he didn't. That was unusual for him. They usually talked about everything. Usually.
Skye headed to her experimental physics course and waved Jeffrey goodbye who turned in the other direction. Spotting her friends Skye immediately forgot about the unusual situation with Jeffrey.
They didn't see each other until the afternoon when they met up at the entrance to walk home together. The temperature had risen over the course of the last hours and Skye considered opening the zipper of her jacket when Jeffrey started talking. She could tell from the tone of his voice that something was bothering him.
"Skye? Is that barista's name perhaps Daniel?"
"What?"
"There was writing on the cup that you gave me this morning. It went, and I quote, looking good. Call me. Daniel. And then some phone number that you were supposed to call."
"Oh. I guess that was him."
"I threw it in the trash."
"Good."
"Good? All you say to this is good?"
"What else am I supposed to say?" Skye was starting to get irritated with Jeffrey. What was his point?
"You know that that was just plain rude and that you shouldn't be treated like that?" His voice was sounding angrier, which was really weird considering the fact that Jeffrey never got actually angry. He was the one that always saw the good in people and had to calm Skye down pretty much on a daily basis.
"I know. I told you that that guy was being an idiot. You seem to put a lot of thought into this, are you okay?"
Jeffrey took a deep breath. There was something telling Skye that he wanted to explode and tell her. He didn't. Again.
"Yea, of course. I guess it just stood there all day watching me and getting me all worked up about it."
Skye shot him a smile. "Don't worry about me. You know what happens to people who cross with me."
"You build a dartboard with a picture of their head on it?"
"Worse."
He smiled at her and they went on talking about their day.
Later they were hanging out at Jeffrey's apartment. He was showing her the latest piano piece he was working on when someone forcefully banged on the door.
"Hey Jeff, are you in there?"
"Coming, give me a second!"
He left his seat at the piano to open the door. Skye was still sitting on the floor, running her fingers through the fuzzy carpet she was sitting on. She wasn't eavesdropping, more unconsciously listening to their conversation. Not catching all of it, she simply heard the term "girlfriend".
That made her wonder. Did Jeffrey have a girlfriend? Peter, the guy Jeffrey was talking to certainly did not. He was a little of a douchebag and did certainly not call his on-and-of-relationship-partner his girlfriend. So it had to be Jeffrey. Why didn't he tell her about that? She knew he kind of liked someone but he never wanted to talk about it. Skye guessed that the girl he liked probably had a boyfriend. Maybe they had ended their relationship and now Jeffrey had a chance…
Her thoughts were interrupted by the squeaking sound of the closing door.
Jeffrey walked back in and sat down at the piano. He started playing again but abruptly stopped when Skye asked: "Do you have a girlfriend?"
The chair squeaked at him turning around with an undefined facial expression. "Excuse me?"
So he didn't. He wasn't that good of an actor so Skye could tell. Still, there was something he was not telling her. Something big. She was sure of that now. She was not sure why, but she needed to know.
She was never good at manipulation people to tell her what she wanted to know so she relied on her tactic of confrontation.
"There is something you're not telling me."
"Is not." She could see that he was lying. He never did. At least not to her.
"Idiot." She stood up and left not without loudly banging the door shut. She felt betrayed.
She did not get Jeffrey a coffee the next morning. Skye was still so mad that she did not even wait up for him and walked to school alone. Well, not entirely alone. There was a tall guy walking in front of her. His pace was just slightly slower than hers so she caught up to him. It was Peter.
"Hey Peter"
"Hey Jeff's girlfriend"
Yep. That was Peter. Annoying as ever. Still, his comment caught her attention. Deciding that she could give him a piece of her mind later, she responded quite calmly.
"You do now that I'm not his girlfriend, right?"
"You're really not?" He sounded honestly surprised. "Well, that sucks then."
"Excuse me?" What on earth was he talking about? Was there something she was missing?
"Hey," he stopped her and put his hand on her shoulder. Being surprised about this turn of events Skye stopped as well. He paused. "Was it Sarah?"
"Skye."
"Oh, yea. Like the eyes." He paused again, unsure of what to say. "You should talk to him." He didn't need to say a name. They both new he was talking about Jeffrey. Skye was just simply not sure if she actually wanted to talk with him.
They started walking again next to each other silently until they reached the entrance of University and said bye before heading to their classes.
Skye couldn't concentrate all day. What was all this about? She thought of the strangest scenarios. Thinking that she maybe had a piece of Jane's fantasy, she decided to be sorting through all this more rationally. So, no crazy thoughts about complicated stories with three plot-twists.
After everything Peter had said, or not said this morning it was most likely that Jeffrey liked her.
That realization hit her 30 minutes before classes ended. She started to panic.
What should she say to him when he told her? Would he tell her? He had not done so far and how could she tell if he ever would? Or was he hinting something?
Thinking it all through, a lot of situations made more sense now. Still, that did not help with how she should react. Gosh, she needed someone to talk to. Usually she would have turned to Jeffrey, but that was impossible in her situation. So, she turned to the only person that she knew about that knew of her situation. Peter.
She had to catch him before classes ended. Talking to him later would mean Jeffrey seeing them and asking questions. Although her thoughts were a huge mess, Skye was sure that she would definitely not be the person to bring the topic up in a conversation with Jeffrey.
Lucky for her, Peter had decided to not attend his last class and was walking the halls with some of his "guys" or whatever he called them. They for sure looked skeptical, when Skye walked up to them and asked Peter to talk to her alone. One of his friends looked scared, Skye guessed that she had recently given him a piece of her mind. She could not quite put her finger on what exactly, but it was something about her choice of clothing.
Leading her a few steps away from his group of friends he asked her what she wanted.
"I don't know what to say to him. How to react." She admitted.
"Well, I can't tell you what to do." He shook his head in disbelieve. "It depends on whether you want to be with him or not. He is a decent fella and will respect your decision. Just decide."
Skye was speechless. He was right.
Peter tapped the front of his cap twice and turned back to his friends.
I think it all through again and check my watch for the seventh time in five minutes. Jeffrey should be here by now. I am waiting at the entrance and eventually spot him in his red jacket. He isn't looking at our usual meeting spot, not expecting to see me waiting for him.
I walk up to him. "Hey"
He looks up, cracking a little smile. "Hey, you."
"We need to talk." The smile vanishes as quickly as it appeared.
"Do we really?" I can feel that he doesn't want to. I kind of don't want to either. But we have to talk about it at some point. There was no way around it.
"Peter told me."
"Hold on." Jeffrey stop. Looking me straight in the eye. "What exactly did he tell you."
"Not much, to be honest. It was just all really confusing and the only thing I am sure of is that we need to talk about it." Jeffrey's expression gets a little pained. "Don't look at me like that. We used to talk about everything."
"Yea, used to." His words sound bitter. "Until I realized I'm in love with you."
He said it. Just like that.
I was expecting it. But it still hits me like a train. I can't think.
Jeffrey. Jeffrey Tifton is in love with me. Him. Of all people.
He looks as if he was not expecting to say this as well.
"I…" I start my sentence but stop.
"Listen," he is trying to explain himself, struggling for words "I'm sorry."
This is not going the way I expected. He continues talking.
"I tried to stop it. I really did. But… ugh. Let's just go."
We start walking. I sometimes feel like walking connects my brain cells. I realize I need to say something. Right now. I swallow.
"Jeffrey?"
He doesn't even look at me. I only whispered his name so I'm not sure if he heard me. Then he makes a little noise, assuring me that he is listening.
"I think, I mean I know you and I and,.." Since when did I become so bad at talking? I need to do something. We are both feeling miserable and I can't even build a full sentence.
I take his hand. I didn't know why or what I am trying to do.
Somehow it helps. He looks at my face again and not on the ground.
"Skye, I know you probably think it is horrible and confusing, so maybe we should-"
I cut him off. "I like you too."
I can see that he can't believe his ears.
I start walking again. His hand is still holding mine.
"You… really…" he is still unsure of what he heard.
"Yes."
"Are you sure? I mean you used to always say that.."
"Should I write it down for you?" I carefully smile at him. "Yes, I like you." - "More than I should."
"It's just that I would have never thought that."
"Me neither. But here we are." I squeeze his hand a little.
"Yea. I still can't believe it." He squeezes my hand back.
We get to our block.
"I should go and do some research on my project." I tell him. What are we doing now? I certainly can't go and pretend nothing happened.
"Yea, probably... Skye? Just one more time. You really like me too?"
"I should probably build a sign that-" I can't finish my sentence. I can't finish my sentence because Jeffrey pulled on my hand he was holding. That hand is linked to my arm and my arm to my whole body and well, now I'm standing in front of the door kissing Jeffrey.
Jeffrey Tifton. Him. Of All People. And it feels great. Actually, more than that. It feels right.
When he admits that it's time to not block the door for other people wanting to enter, he walks me to my apartment, kisses me lightly on the lips and whispers: "I love you, Skye Penderwick."
With these words he leaves me standing there, grinning like a fool.
In the evening I knock on his door, Chinese food in my hand. He gives me the biggest smile and takes the food out of my hands, taking it into the living room. Giving me enough time to tape the poster I made to the wall.
He walks up to me to see what I'm doing, reads the words and kisses me with so much love that I feel like my heart is melting.
Yes, I like you too. – It says on the huge piece of paper that I stole from the printer in the library.
A few weeks later I replace it.
Yes, I love you too.