Unwritten Desires

Eleanor

"Is that Jake?" Sofia's face lit up but fell immediately when I frowned at her. "Go open the door." She pressed. 

"Shush." 

"Thea?" Jake called out again sounding somewhat worried. "Are you in there?" 

"Um yes? You can come in." I said before turning to my screen and whispering to Sofia that I was going to end the call now but then Jake walked in. 

"Hi…" he greeted with a small smile and before I could end the call, Sofia screamed. 

"Hiiii Jake." 

Ugh. Sometimes she could be the sweetest person in the world and sometimes I really wished I could strangle her and get away with it. 

Jake paused a bit, taken aback before he closed the door behind him. "You're on a call with Sof?" He raised his brows, his question sounding a lot more like a statement or words of confirmation. 

"Yeah." I managed to say before another sneeze ripped through me. "Sorry." I said after blowing my nose into my napkin. 

"It's that bad huh?" He walked towards me with a look of concern on his face. 

"Um…it's fine really." I forced a smile, keenly aware of how close he was getting. 

"Your nose is red and your voice is hoarse. Your eyes are also red and puffy and you say it's fine?" He queried dropping his cross bag by my bed before sitting on the side. 

I parted my lips about replying when Sofia cut me off. "Umm, I've gotta go now." She winked at me, knowing Jake couldn't see her and I couldn't help but smile and act normal so Jake wouldn't sense anything. "I've got a lot of things to do." 

"Okay…talk to you later." I waved. 

"Yeah we'll talk later." She fluttered her brows with a smirk and I made a mental note to smack her in the forehead when next we meet. 

"Bye Sof." Jake said with a grin and the funny feeling in my tummy intensified when my screen went blank. I didn't even want to look up from my phone because I wasn't sure of what I was going to say to him. 

Then a thought struck me and my head jerked towards him. 

"Wait…I didn't hear the doorbell. So how did you get in?" I furrowed my brows. 

"When I came in your parents were still in the driveway so they told me to go in." He jerked his thumb towards the door. "So I didn't bother ringing the doorbell or anything." 

"Oh…" I blinked. 

"I…I brought your notes." He said, reaching for his cross bag. "Sof and I decided to help you with them since you can't come to school." He handed me some of my books and our fingers grazed each other slightly. 

Yikes. 

"Really?" I smiled pretending I didn't notice the longing look in his eyes. "Oh my gosh you guys are such sweethearts." 

"Also, we have an economics test on Wednesday. I'm sure you'll be better before then?" Jake said, watching me as I flipped through the notes he'd brought.

"I'll try," I mumbled, a frown forming on my lips as I processed his words. "Economics test? I thought we had that last week."

"No…that was statistics."

"Oh." I leaned back against the pillows, exhaling softly as my shoulders slumped in exhaustion.

I couldn't take any much more of this. 

I could feel Jake's eyes on me as he studied me for a moment. I could tell he was about to say something but just when I wanted to cut him off I felt the tingling sensation I'd been feeling all day creep up my spine again, and before I could brace myself, another sneeze tore through me. 

I barely even had time to cover my nose with my napkin and a groan escaped my throat as I pulled it away from my face. 

"I think I'm going to need another napkin," I muttered with a sniffle, my nose wrinkling in disgust at the thought of the amount of mucus I had sneezed out today. 

"I can get it for you." He offered, shifting slightly as he readied himself to get up. 

"It's okay, I'll get it myself." I said quickly as I pushed the covers off my legs and swung them over the edge of the bed. "Even if I tell you where it is, you wouldn't be able to find it." 

Jake lifted a brow with a small smile. "Is that what you think of me now?" 

"Maybe." I shrugged, flashing him a tired smile as I got up. 

Even I know how long it took me before I could find the pack of napkins in the bathroom. Plus I didn't want Jake looking in my bathroom, that would be hella weird. 

It wasn't until I got up that I recalled I was in my loose shorts and oversized T-shirt. Oh crap. 

Jake suddenly went quiet. 

Too quiet. 

And I pretended I didn't notice the weight of his gaze burning on my skin. I didn't need to look at him to know where he was staring at. 

I moved quickly, heading for the bathroom as I still felt his eyes trailing on me. The moment I stepped inside, I exhaled sharply, pressing a hand to my face. 

Gosh, I should've just let him get the napkins for me. 

"Why, oh why, did I get out of bed?" I muttered under my breath. 

After a few seconds of taking slow breaths, I grabbed the box of napkins from the corner and headed back out. 

Jake's eyes flickered up to mine the moment I stepped into the room and I hesitated for a second before climbing back into the bed, suddenly hyper-aware of my bare legs. 

But instead of slipping under the covers like I'd normally do, I ended up flipping down in an awkward, twisted position, half covering myself in a way that only made my discomfort more obvious. 

Jake glanced at me with one of his brows raised. "You okay?" 

"Uh huh." I said dropping the box of napkins on my bedside table. 

Why didn't I think of that before? 

Oh wait. That was because I had no idea that the guy I'd been trying to avoid was going to be in my bedroom, alone with me and staring at my legs! 

Sofia is so going to pay for this. 

"You sure?" 

"Yep." I nodded my head frantically, trying to avoid any conversation. 

"Oh…well from…" Jake's sentence was interrupted by the loud chime sound from his phone and the second his eyes dropped to his phone, I grabbed onto the opportunity like it was my lifeline. 

"Who's that?" 

Jake seemed a bit surprised that I was asking but he recovered quickly and answered, "Oh nothing. It's just Micheal." He shook his head. 

"What happened?" 

"Relax Thea." He chuckled, narrowing his eyes at me. "Since when were you concerned about me and Micheal's chats?" 

"What, so it's a bad thing to ask about you and Micheal now?" I asked, trying to gaslight him. 

"No, that's not what I meant…" 

"But it is what you meant." I crossed my arms over my chest. 

"Okay okay." His chest rumbled with a loud laughter. "Micheal was just asking if I wasn't going to come play basketball at his house like we planned." His eyes dropped to his phone, as he tapped on it. "Nothing much." 

Perfect, another opening. 

"You made plans with Micheal?" I scooted closer. "What did you tell him?" 

"The obvious answer." He spread out his arms, showing me his palms. "I'm not going. I cancelled." 

"But why? Isn't Micheal your best friend?" 

"Exactly. That's the more reason he'll understand why I cancelled." He said, his voice growing softer with every word and I wish I didn't know what he was talking about. 

He leaned closer and I immediately regretted moving towards him a few seconds ago. "I needed to be with you." He whispered softly, his hand cupping my cheek as he stared into my eyes. 

And my plan backfires. 

Great.