Jeremy slouched in his seat near the back of the classroom, arms crossed and gaze locked on the board, though he wasn't actually reading the words.
Mr. Jack was in full chaos-mode up front, rambling about turtles and life philosophies like he was hosting a TED Talk nobody asked for. The class was eating it up. Typical.
But Jeremy's mind was somewhere else.
He could feel her. Not in a creepy way, just... he knew Jenny was in the room. He'd caught the top of her head when he walked in, that messy bun, the familiar blue hoodie she always wore when she didn't want to be noticed.
Too bad he noticed her anyway.
He dragged a hand through his hair and leaned back, pretending to stretch, just so he could angle his body slightly, casually, enough to get a glimpse in her direction.
She didn't look back.
Good.
No—bad.
He wasn't sure.
Jenny was scribbling something in her notebook, probably taking actual notes. Or maybe just doodling stick figures stabbing hearts, who knew. He wouldn't blame her.
He'd been a jerk.
He'd replayed the scenario between he and Jenny it too many times already, and it was getting too creepy already.
The letter, one thing didn't sit well with him,
WHY WASN'T HE HAPPY WHEN HE FINALLY FOUND OUT IT WAS TRULY FROM ASHLEY?
He shifted in his seat and tapped his pen against his desk. Mr. Jack was now dramatically reenacting what he claimed was "a turtle's journey across a sidewalk of doubt." Jeremy didn't laugh. He barely heard it.
All he could think about was the way Jenny wouldn't meet his eyes.
Instead, he just sat there, chewing on the end of his pen, trying not to look back at her.
She didn't even glance his way once.
And somehow, that felt worse than her being mad.
It felt like being forgotten.
"Pff, as if I care! Cut it out, Jeremy," he muttered under his breath, battling the storm in his head.
"What was that?" Kyle asked, glancing sideways from his seat next to him.
"Nothing! Did I say something?" Jeremy blurted, looking more puzzled than Kyle, though he knew darn well he'd just been talking to himself.
"Oh, thought I heard you say something," Kyle replied, eyes drifting right back to Mr. Jack like nothing happened.
Jenny kept her eyes locked on her notebook, even though the page was stuffed with ink and her pen had been frozen for minutes.
She felt something.
That all-too-familiar prickle crawled up her neck, an unmistakable sense of someone staring.
She didn't need to check. It was Jeremy. Sitting a few seats back, close enough to make her stomach flip.
No way she was turning around.
Not after what happened earlier. Not after the way he looked right through her like she was just another face in the crowd.
It shouldn't have hurt, he wasn't hers to expect anything from, but it did.
Mr. Jack was doing his usual thing up front, turning the class into a one-man improv show.
Normally, Jenny would've loved it. His energy was infectious, his stories ridiculous.
But today, even the turtle metaphor couldn't shake her out of the pit in her chest.
So, she started doodling on another page, mindless loops, lines, anything to stay distracted.
Maya leaned over just a tad and whispered, "You good?"
Jenny nodded, eyes down. "Fine."
Maya wasn't buying it. Of course not. Jenny didn't even try to sound convincing this time.
"Uh-huh," Maya hummed with that classic I'm-not-fooled look, shooting a glance downward as a silent cue.
Her eyes zeroed in on Jenny's notebook like a laser.
"We both know that once you start playing Picasso on your notebook, something's messing with your head.
You're still stuck on what happened, aren't you?" Maya whispered.
"It's nothing... I swear I'm not thinking about that!" Jenny insisted, a little too fast.
Then a little breeze flipped a page on Jenny's notebook and Maya caught something.
It was a note.
---________