To Darkniteangel2004: You have no idea how glad I am to hear that! lol. Thank you. I realize this is a bit late, but better late than never I like to say. Anyway, it's nice to hear compliments, so thank you.
To Samantha: I like a deeper Dustin too. (Obviously.) I'll try to unravel the mystery that is Dustin (lol), but have mercy on me if I confuse you. Psychology isn't my strong suit. You read my mind about having a chapter from his POV, though you'll notice that the style of writing is a little different. I have a feeling that while Dustin may be faking a lot of his ditziness, he's still a bit of a goof under the mask too. As for my mini-epic, it's really confusing and it's actually a mini MMPR/PRNS crossover. And it has a Hunter/OC/Dustin triangle that ends up having a twist of a happy ending.
Disclaimer: All I own is Jordan. Everything else is Saban/Disney or their respective owners.
Author's Note: Anyone who can guess where I got the character of the pro rider from gets a chapter dedicated to them.
Learning
I watched her pretend that she was fine with our movie night turning into a night out with the team. Oh, I knew she would never admit it, but I wasn't as clueless as everyone tended to think I was. I had been watching her from out of the corner of my eye when the guys had started in on me. And before you say it, I never said I wasn't airheaded, I just said that I wasn't that airheaded. I really should have known better to just admit that I was planning to go over to a woman's house on a Friday night. But my brain had instantly gone into Jordan-land when Hunter brought up tonight, so I hadn't bothered to think about what I was saying and who I was saying it to.
It really bothered her, the guys thinking that we were going out, even if they hadn't known it was her at first. Otherwise she wouldn't have tried to cancel on me, making up that story about the Cycles so that everyone would know it wasn't a date. I sighed at that memory, even though I had known that she didn't see our time together in that way. I wasn't sure which was worse, having everyone think that I was pining after Marah or knowing that I was going overboard trying to become Jordan's best friend so I could spend more time with her.
"Dustin? Where you at man?" Shane asked me on the ride to the theater.
Uh oh. It wasn't good to be too obviously lost in thought. "Dude, did you hear that Factory Blue is coming to town? It'd be so awesome to race one of the factory riders." I exclaimed, knowing it would cover my slip.
I saw Jordan frown for a second out of the corner of my eye when Blake and Hunter grabbed the topic and ran with it. I knew she didn't like it when I donned the space case persona to get out of serious subjects, but I knew she wouldn't say anything. Not in front of the others anyway. And not when she tended to hide behind the sarcastic tech rep for the exact same reason.
"Better start practicing bro." Blake laughed. "Those guys are the best of the best. I don't think even Hunter or I could beat one of them."
"Well yeah. But just to share the track with one of the pros would be totally out of sight." I retorted.
Hunter shrugged. "Who knows, you might get your chance. We should try to find out when they're going to be here and scope them out. We might learn something."
Blake nodded. "Anything that can help improve my race I'm all for."
"You'll have plenty of time. They're going to be here for a week." Jordan said quietly.
All three of us looked at her in surprise. "How do you know?" Hunter asked.
She shrugged. "My brother was tight with one of the riders. Josh McGrath."
I exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Blake and Hunter. "Dude, how come you never told us that before?" I exclaimed.
Jordan smirked wryly at me. "You never asked."
I smirked back at her. I was going to get her for that. I mean, I may not be entirely about motocross, but this was a piece of information I would have liked to have found out before Blake and Hunter.
I was grateful when our arrival at the theater moments before the beginning of the previews let me out of having to keep up the mile-a-minute conversation I knew the others expected of me, especially since we were talking about motocross. But my relief didn't last long before I forgot all about having the chance to be quiet without arousing suspicion. What could rain on my proverbial parade you ask? A flash of green. And I'm not talking about Cam's shirt.
I was probably imagining things, but it seemed a little too convenient that Hunter ended up on Jordan's free side. And he kept whispering something to her that made her laugh and smack him on the shoulder half-heartedly. Did they have to be so damn obvious? Geez. Rub it in why don't you? Yeah I know, I really didn't have the right to complain since I hadn't given them any reason not to flirt a little. But it was only fair not to make the innocent bystanders heave into their popcorn buckets. Yeah, I don't handle jealousy very maturely. So sue me.
Let me tell you, sometimes it really pays to have a reputation for having a two-second attention span. I might get annoying sometimes, having everyone treat you like a space case. But when you're too busy obsessing about your mega crush flirting with one of your best friends to pay attention to a movie everyone else ends up talking about later, you have a handy excuse not to know what the hell they're talking about.
"...Dustin?"
Uh oh. "Uh, what?"
Tori rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I asked you for your opinion of the movie."
I grinned sheepishly. "I wasn't really paying attention dude. Sorry."
The others just shook their heads in amusement, except for Jordan of course. She really looked worried now, and I knew I was going to be in for it the moment she got me alone. But I didn't really care. I was just looking forward to being alone with her. It was getting late, so we decided to call it a night, and I wasn't really surprised when Jordan said that she felt like walking home since it wasn't very far. She had been a great sport, but I knew being in a crowd wasn't her most favorite thing in the world. That and I knew she wanted me to volunteer to walk her home so she could corner me.
I was surprised however, when Hunter beat me to the punch. Jordan looked as surprised as I felt, and I could tell she didn't know how to turn him down without causing a big fuss. I wished she would just ask me to come with her, but I knew she wouldn't. It would give the others the impression that she favored me and I knew that was something she didn't want.
Jordan shot me an uncertain look before agreeing reluctantly and it was all I could do to keep from making the fuss I knew she was trying to avoid. What was going on here? Since when was Hunter into Jordan?
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I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but it seemed to be the only way I could finish it in Dustin's POV and have the story still make sense. So to make up for it, I've posted two chapters this time. Enjoy :)
Jen
