A/N - I have a really good reason as to why this chapter's pretty late. My mom passed out the other night, and last night, we went to the hospital to make sure she was okay. They did a bunch of tests on her, this heart screening, a hundred questions, yeah. It took nearly six hours to get it over and done with. I went to bed at 1 am last night, and I don't have school today because of a Jewish holiday. I'm looking forward to the Philadelphia zoo this week.
"Jenny, that's your fifth bread stick tonight," Shane reminds me. Dinner between Nate and Christie was going pretty well, and they were having small talk. Still, that didn't make my stress any less worse.
"I eat when I'm nervous, alright?" A kitchen helper hands me another bread stick, and I thank him for it. I bite into my sixth bread stick and continue listening, or spying, on those two hopefully soon-to-be lovebirds.
"So, the auditions are tomorrow," Christie says.
"Yeah, I guess it'd be cool to do a play. I'm not a good actor, though." Nate sighs.
"You'll definitely make it. It's me that I'm not sure about." Christie giggles again. She'd been doing that a lot tonight.
"The drama club will love you, I'm positive about it."
"So, if we do get the parts, no matter what, let's not back out, okay?" Christie says.
"Okay, I promise to not back out, just for you." Nate laughs.
"Nate, I never properly thanked you. I mean, coming to a new school's pretty rough, and you were my first friend. You got me acquainted, and you talked to me. So yeah, thank you for that."
Nate didn't speak for a couple seconds, and I was getting worried. "You're welcome. Uh, I mean, well, anything to help a friend." I can tell that he was still reluctant to be on the date, but at least they were starting to warm up a bit. I pull out the ear piece and look away from the monitors.
"Shane, maybe we shouldn't spy on them anymore."
"What? Why? Wasn't the whole point of this to set them up?" He pulls out his ear piece, too.
"Yeah, it was, but I feel so intrusive. Look, Nate doesn't think that the fight's worth it, and Christie already likes him. If it's meant to happen, they'll do it on their own, not with us getting involved."
"But what if it doesn't work out, and Nate gets hurt?"
I breathe in a deep breath. "We can just hope that he'll learn to accept our relationship. That's the only thing we should really do."
"I still think that we should continue setting them up. If we don't, it could end disastrously."
"Shane, listen to me. How do you think Nate would feel if I push him away so much as to set him up with a girl that he's just met? It's worse than rejection. If we just stay out of their way, everything will work out better," I try to reason.
"What if he doesn't fall for her, then what? We can't just let this take its 'natural course' since that's definitely not going to happen. We have to intervene, or else it won't work out." Shane ran his hands through his hair, obviously exasperated. "Man, we're not even an hour into our relationship, and we're already fighting."
"I find that pretty funny, actually." I start giggling a bit. "Arguing with you is pretty fun."
"Great, so now it's 'fun' to argue with me." He rolls his eyes. "I'm gonna go back listening to them, okay?" He puts the ear piece back in and I grudgingly do the same thing. Great, now Nate and Christie were laughing at something.
"Jenny poured water ice on Shane's hair after he dumped the water on her shirt?! That's hilarious!" Christie exclaims.
"And get this; she was wearing one of those tight white tanks, and her pink bra was showing through it." Both of them continue laughing hysterically. "Even our Geometry teacher blushed when he saw her afterwards," Nate adds in.
"Jenny and Shane really were made for each other." Christie dreamily sighs. I finally muster enough courage to look up at the monitors, and Nate wasn't looking so well.
"Christie, why'd you have to be so stupid and say that?! You know he likes me, at least don't come on so strong!" Some of the cooks turn and stare at me, and I whisper, "Sorry."
"Yeah, I guess they are," Nate mumbles.
"Nate? What's wrong?" Christie asks. The conversation just turned awkward.
"I'm sorry, Christie, but I'm not feeling so good. Could we end this date early?" I see her frown, but she nods her head anyways. "Thanks for being so understanding." Nate asks for the check, and pays for it at the front. Outside, I could sense the awkward silence.
"Christie, where's your ride?" Nate asks.
"I walked here since I live four blocks away."
"To make up for the crappy night, I guess that I'll walk you home."
I couldn't take it anymore. The guilt of spying on him, I mean. I took out the ear piece for good and give it back to Shane. "Let's leave them alone," I say. Shane nods and puts the two ear pieces away in his pocket.
"Let's get you home now." We both walk to his car that was parked in the back of the restaurant.
"I wonder what's going on with Nate and Christie," I say as we were nearing my house. The restaurant was only a five minute drive from my house.
"The answer lies in my pocket, or the ear pieces, whatever. You're the one that still refuses to listen."
"It's not that easy to resist spying on them, but I'm not gonna do it since I have a conscience. He probably walked her home, they said their awkward goodbyes, and he got Jason to drive him home afterwards. Now, it's the awkward goodbyes part that I'm really interested in," I say. We just arrived at my house. I unbuckle my seat belt and open the car door.
"Okay, we're officially going steady, and I haven't even kissed you yet! Do you see anything wrong with that?" he asks.
"No, not really. 'Night, Shane!" I slam his door and skip up my driveway. Man, it's really fun messing with him. I reach my door, but his car was still there. I cross my arms and glare at him through the glass, and he finally drives off. I immediately get ready for bed, and within fifteen minutes, I'm trying to sleep. I get up when I hear a knocking on my window. Oh boy, it was Nate. After helping him in and closing the window and locking my door, I start questioning him.
"This is the third time that you've climbed up that trellis into my room. What the heck is up this time?" I ask. He pulls out a tiny mic.
"Explain why I found this thing under my shirt collar." Oh shit….
"I have absolutely no idea," I say. I'm getting better at lying, so hopefully it's believable.
"You don't look sick to me, either. Jenny, I think I know what's going on."
"No, you don't," I squeak out. Literally, I squeaked it. Just like a liar would.
"Yes, I do. You've already made your decision. You've already chosen Shane over me, haven't you?" My eyes get wider. "I just want to know why you did it. I'm not mad at you. Yes, I'm deeply hurt, but if you have a good explanation, I'll understand."
"Nate, Shane needs me more. It took me a long time to figure it out, but my feelings for him have always been strong. You scare me sometimes with your angry outbursts. Despite Shane's reputation, he's really a confused, innocent guy. I'm sorry, I really am."
Instead of replying, he walks over and wraps his arms around my waist and buries his head in my shoulder. And that's when he started crying.
"Why, Jenny?" he chokes out through his sobs. "Why couldn't it be me?" I start crying, too. I couldn't stand it anymore. "Why can't we be more than just friends? Why?"
"I'm so sorry. Please forgive me." I try rubbing his back a bit, to try and make him feel better, but it wasn't working.
"Would you love me if I didn't scare you? Would you love me if Shane never existed?" he asks me about ten minutes later. My shirt was completely soaked, but I didn't care. I was crying more now.
"Yes, I would love you. I would love you so much. But Shane does exist, so I can't." I sit down on my bed and pulled my knees up so that my face would be resting on them.
"I'll wait for you, Jenny. When you get sick and tired of Shane, I'll be there. I know that you'll come running back to me one day. I just know it." I quickly shake my head.
"No, you have to move on. You need to leave your feelings for me behind."
"You don't know how hard that is, though. In just four short weeks, I've fallen for you so hard. I can't destroy my feelings that easily. No matter what, I'll still be waiting for you. I know that I'll have you someday. We're still young, so we have plenty of time." He sits down next to me and wraps his arm around my shoulder. This time around, it's extremely comforting.
"I don't know what the future holds, but right now, I'm with Shane." My tears just stopped, but I still felt so horrible.
"Until I find a girl as perfect as you, I'll always be waiting. You got that?" he asks. I numbly nod my head. He kisses my forehead before opening up my window and climbing down. I get up and close it after just sitting there for five minutes.
"Christie, I hope you're better than me. But that's not hard since I'm an evil person with no heart," I say to the air. I climb back into my bed and bury my head into one of the small pillows.
False hope is what hurts the most.
I nearly cried, just to let you guys know. My throat's still tight.