Hi loves! This is a new one-shot I came up with after reading about HOAluver13's contest for her story Anubis: Trip to America. If you haven't read it, you definitely should. It's really good. She's rewriting it though, so I'm not sure how long the original will be up. But you should all keep an eye out for the rewrite when it pops up. It's definitely worth it.

Now, on with the one-shot. It's Jeroy. Cause I love them. :)

Jerome Clarke stands against the wall of one of the hallways at the school, after school gets out, his best friend Alfie standing next to him, talking to him about whatever crazy thing is on his mind this time around. But Jerome isn't even listening; because his mind is pre-occupied with something else. That something else, just so happens to be a someone else. Joy Mercer.

At that moment in time, Joy is standing on the opposite side of the hallway, right in front of her open locker, talking to someone. Jerome can't get a very good look at who it is, but he can tell that it's a teenage guy. And he can also say that he isn't too happy about it. This is one of the few times when he's actually seen her talking to this guy, and he has only ever seen the back of this guy's head, even when he walks away. And this time when he looks at her, talking with that guy, his mind takes him back to that night, and how she seemed to make the whole world stop spinning, just by looking at him.

*Flashback, Prom*

"Thanks for going with me to get this suit, man," Alfie says, approaching Jerome, Amber at his side.

"No problem," he smiles, "Why aren't you two out there dancing? And why doesn't Alfie have any food in his mouth yet?"

"Because we just got here," Amber replies, like it's the most obvious thing in the world, "But now we're going to go and dance. Come on Alfie, you can eat some food later." She grabs Alfie by the arm and drags him out to the middle of the dance floor. Jerome chuckles at the face Alfie gives him. That boy does not know what he got himself into.

Jerome leans back against the wall, drinking his punch, and watches the students dance all around the gym floor. He watches as some of the students just stand along the walls, like him, except they are actually talking to other people. He also watches as some of the students stand near the refreshment table, eating the snacks and drinking the punch.

That's when he hears it, the laughing ringing out just a few feet away from him. He turns his head to see who it is, and spots her. Joy Mercer. She is standing off to the side, laughing about something with her best friend Patricia. He just looks at her, taking in her appearance. He loves the way the dress she is wearing fits her so perfectly, just barely accentuating the small curves of her body, but not too much. He loves the way in which her hair is pulled up, but how a few pieces of it hang along the side of her face. And he loves how she is wearing just enough make-up to highlight her facial features, but not too much that it makes her look a completely different skin tone. He also notices how she laughs so naturally and easily when she is around Patricia. He loves her laugh. That's when he sees his chance.

Jerome takes a deep breath, tossing his empty cup into the trash can next to him. He straightens his tie and his suit jacket, pushing himself off of the wall. He moves across the room, weaving through the crowd, until he finally arrives at the other side of the room.

He waits for a break in the two girls' conversation to speak, "Hello ladies." he greets the two of them.

Joy and Patricia turn to look at him, "Hi Jerome," Joy says. Patricia just smiles at him in acknowledgement of his presence.

"Say Joy," he begins, "I was just standing over there, against the wall, and I was wondering if you would care to dance. With me." he throws her a sincere, yet nervous smile.

Joy smiles back, "I don't know Jerome. I'm not really much of a dancer."

"Just one dance," Jerome insists, "Please?"

Joy looks over at Patricia and raises her eyebrows in silent question. Patricia subtly nods her head and Joy turns back to Jerome and smiles, "Sure. One dance. But that's it." Jerome smiles back, holding his hand out to her. She accepts it, and he leads her out to the dance floor.

When they reach the middle, the song changes to a slow one. Joy goes to pull away when Jerome grabs her wrist and pulls her back, "Where are you going?" he asks.

"I don't do slow dances."

"One dance Joy," he reminds her, "you said one dance."

Joy sighs, "Fine." Jerome smiles and pulls her close to him, placing both his hands on her waist. Joy wraps both her arms up around his neck.

"This is nice," Jerome smiles after a while.

"What is?" Joy asks him.

"This." He says, gesturing to the two of them, "It's nice."

And as Jerome gazes into her eyes and at her smile, he has a realization right at that moment. Jerome has feelings for Joy.

*End of flashback*

"JEROME!"

"What?" Jerome asks, startled out of his thoughts. He turns his head to see Alfie looking at him with a weird look on his face.

"Dude, I've been trying for like the last 5 minutes to get your attention. What had your mind so pre-occupied?"

"Uh, nothing. Sorry man," he says, turning his head back to across the hallway.

"Anyways," Alfie continues, "Like I was saying…" Jerome returns to tuning him out, going back to watching Joy as she talks with that boy.

He sees and hears her laugh at something the guy said, that very same natural laugh he heard that day when she was with Patricia.

After another moment, he sees Joy hug the other guy and then he walks away, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Jerome still doesn't get a good look at his face. Joy turns back to her locker and digs inside of it, and it is then that Jerome sees his opportunity.

He turns to look at Alfie, "Sounds good buddy," he interrupts him, not even knowing what Alfie had been talking about, "Excuse me for a moment." He walks away from Alfie and pushes through the flow of students walking through the hallway, making his way over to Joy. He steps up beside her, leaning up against the locker net to hers. He opens his mouth to speak, but she cuts him off.

"Hi Jerome," she says without looking at him.

"How did you know that it was me?" he asks, "You didn't even look up."

"I saw you watching me from across the hallway," she replies, closing her locker door and turning to face him.

"I wasn't watching you," he tries to defend himself.

"Oh really?" she says with a smile, "Because when I glanced up from my conversation, you were staring over here with a blank look on your face."

"I wasn't staring."

"Sure you weren't."

"I wasn't," he laughs, "I was just trying to figure out who you were talking to. You've been hanging with him a lot lately," then he gets a sly look in his eye, "Has somebody finally gotten over their little crush of someone that rhymes with Sabian?"

"Oh shut up," Joy says, shoving Jerome's shoulder, "I haven't liked Fabian for a while now, you know that. He's just a friend. As is the guy I was just talking to."

"And who is he, might I ask? The guy you were just talking to."

"Tyler Johnson. He just moved here a while ago. He's been telling me about his hometown and his old life."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, apparently he moved here after his mom got remarried. His twin brother Andrew goes here too."

"Interesting. And how did this little friendship come about?"

"I saw him sitting alone outside of the school the other day and I decided that I'd go over and talk to him."

"He must have trusted you right away then."

"Well, he doesn't know many people here, so he kind of has to get to know somebody. And he thought I'd do I guess."

"And he knows that you're just a friend?"

"Yeah, he likes someone back where he used to live anyway. And why all the questions?" Joy gives Jerome a funny look.

"No reason," he shrugs, "Just curious."

"Okay," she says.

It's quiet for a moment before Jerome speaks up again, "So Joy, this may seem kind of weird, knowing us, but I was just wondering if sometime you would want to…"

"Joy!"

Jerome and Joy turn their heads to see Tyler walking up to them, completely ignoring Jerome, going straight for Joy, a huge smile on his face.

"Oh, hey Tyler," Joy smiles, "What's up?"

"It's Kim," he says.

"What about her?"

"I did as you said. I called her and told her how I feel about her."

"And?"

"And she said she feels the same way. She didn't say anything to me though, because she didn't think that I felt the same way."

"That's great! I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks. And on the next break that she has from school, she's gonna fly down to come and see me."

"Wow. That's wonderful."

"Yeah. And I have you to thank. If it wasn't for you, I never would have plucked up the courage to tell her. So thank you, a lot."

"No problem. I mean, if nobody helped me when I had feelings for someone, the least I can do is help someone who does have those feelings. Especially since I don't like anyone right; it gives me something else to do with my time than pining after someone. I've wasted too many years of my life doing that. I don't need to waste any more."

Jerome's heart sinks. She doesn't feel the same way about anyone that he does about her. So it's obvious that she doesn't like him. Now there's no point in asking her out. But then again, how could he be stupid enough to even think that she would have feelings for him of all people. After all, he is Jerome Clarke. He's a player, a jokester, a prankster, and the son of a con artist.

"Jerome?" that sweet, calm voice of hers pulls him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, what?"

"Tyler's gone now. I'm sorry he interrupted you. You started to ask me something before he came. What was it you were going to ask?" he swears he can almost see a glimmer of hope in her eyes, but he throws it out, knowing that it's just his mind messing with him.

Jerome's face gets cold and hard, "It's not important anymore."

"Are you sure? It sounded kind of important."

"I said it's not important," he repeats, a little harsher than he intended, making Joy flinch. He closes his eyes for a moment and then reopens them, looking directly at Joy, "Sorry. But I have to go now. I'll see you around, okay?" He turns around and begins walking down the hallway towards the front entrance of the school.

"Goodbye," Joy calls after him. "I wonder what that was all about," she says quietly to herself as she watches his retreating figure.

As Jerome walks away through the school, he has to use all of his willpower to keep his tears at bay. He doesn't cry. And if he does, he doesn't let anyone see. So why start now? He cannot let anyone see him cry. He cannot let anyone know that he, at one point, had feelings for Joy Mercer. Because she broke his heart, without even trying.

So? What did you all think? I think it's one of my better ones. Let me know your thoughts in a review below.

Also, I have a question for all of you that are big HOA fans. I need help with something. What kind of job do you think each of the following would have?

-Jerome

-Joy

-Eddie

-Patricia

-Alfie

-Willow

-Fabian

-Mara

-KT

-Nina

-Amber

-Mick

I already have a few jobs picked out, but if you have anything better, please let me know. Thanks!

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!