I Need You Here Tonight

I spent the last couple of weeks studying with Bret so I barely had time to focus on the events of New Year. Bret was a welcome distraction though. He was sweet and kind. We were both near enough ready for the end of the month when we would take our first lot of exams.

However, Shay had focused a lot on the whole situation and had decided she hated Ella and wanted to murder her. Luckily, Ash seemed to know how to calm her down and stop her from taking the lives of others.

"I think we're ready." Bret said, shutting a book.

"Yeah, I think so too," I agreed.

Our exams were on Monday and would last for four days. We would get Friday to relax after the exams. Sue had been preparing us since November.

"What you up to tomorrow?" Bret asked.

My brain almost short circuited then I remembered that I had agreed to meet Jake tomorrow. It would be the first time since New Year. He had tried to meet up since then, but I had avoided him. I just needed time to think.

"Meeting Jake." I murmured.

Bret nodded. He had been very supportive and had listened to me talking about everything and he had even listened to Shay ranting about everything.

"He still doesn't deserve you." Bret shrugged.

"It's my fault though. I should have told him sooner. I'm such a dolt." I sighed.

I had come to realise that if I hadn't of hesitated that Jake would either know how I felt and would want to go on a date or he would gently rebuff me, but either way I'd have told him.

"Yeah, but it just seems obvious. He must be really dense to not see the way you look at him, or how you light up when he's around. I'm certain I'd notice." Bret replied.

"That's what Shay said." I managed a feeble laugh.

"Well, she 's right," He retorted, then saw my shocked face. "Obviously she's not right about wanting to murder the girlfriend, but she's right about him being an idiot."

I smiled at that and Bret stood, gathering his things. I stood too and he hugged me then left. I stayed rooted to the spot and tried really hard to not think about everything. Bottling it up seemed like an easy solution, but it was quite a painful one.

I sat on my bed and laid down. I was exhausted from all the studying.


*************

The following morning I got up and put on jeans and t-shirt along with my wooly coat. No point dressing up anymore. Jake wouldn't notice and it was pretty obvious he never did.

I left my room and walked down the hall and entered the lounge. The tv was on and a few people were in the lounge.

"Will there be a season three, do you think?" Tay was sat on the couch, eating cereal.

I glanced at the tv and smiled when I saw they were watching Gravity Falls. Alex shrugged his shoulders.

"No idea. I hope so." He smiled.

Ben was sat on the floor, toying with his phone and every so often his eyes would flick to the screen. He laughed at one point as did Alex. Tay just smiled and continued eating.

"Kota's up early today." Ben grinned.

"Yeah, I'm meeting a friend." I replied.

Tay looked sad for a moment and she rushed over, nearly knocking chocolate milk everywhere. She pulled me into a hug. She felt so warm and I couldn't help but hug her back.

I went outside at eleven thirty and started walking to the cafe. I was overly excited again and had to remember to tone it down. I rounded the corner and nearly froze when I saw Jake. Ella was with him too. I almost turned around and ran away.

Instead, I steeled myself and walked forward. I got closer and noticed they weren't speaking. What was happening?

"Hey," It was all I could manage.

Jake saw me and his face broke into a grin. I opened my arms for a hug and he shook his head. I reeled back a little and nodded in understanding.

"She's pretty upset so we shouldn't hug." He murmured.

Ella did look annoyed and I didn't want her to be angry. I smiled and stepped closer. I waved at her and smiled as best I could.

"Hey, Ella. How are you?" I asked.

"Fine, thanks." She replied.

Ah right, good to hear. I stepped back a little to give her some room. I followed Jake into the cafe and we sat down. In stead of sitting at a smaller table I chose a booth so they could sit next to eachother.

They did, but Ella still didn't seem happy. Maybe she had assumed this was a date. The waitress appeared and we ordered drinks. Ella got up and disappeared to the toilet.

"Is Ella all right?" I whispered, just in case she came running back.

"She didn't want me to come meet you today and I got angry at her. She thinks we should always hang out with her friends, but I want to see my friends too." He chuckled then.

When Ella came back I had hoped she would feel better and we could strike up a girly conversation, but she seemed uninterested. She spent a lot of time on her phone, ignoring us.

This allowed me to chat with Jake. He was his usual self and I found that I was happy again. I told him about studying.

"So you've been studying? Boring." He laughed.

"Actually it's quite complex." I bragged. "Wouldn't expect you to understand."

"How offensive. I'll have you know I'm a genius." He leaned over, shoving my arm.

Ella shot him a look and he glared at her. For a couple they didn't seem very loving. Maybe they acted differently behind closed doors. That had to be it.

Once our drinks were finished we went outside and Ella started walking up the street. Jake groaned, but didn't chase after her. He hugged me and I smiled. He let go and walked after her.

I watched when he caught up with her. They started to talk and I continued watching. I hoped they'd make -up and not argue in the street.

"Why'd you come then?" Jake was getting annoyed.

"Because I care about you. I don't know why you hang out with her." Ella snapped back.

"She's just a friend. Get over it." He turned and started walking.

I sighed and began walking to the dorms. That was probably the most awkward situation ever. Never again.

"Kota?" My head shot up and I saw Ben walking towards me.

"Hey Ben." I smiled.

"Was that your friend? Sucks that you were in the middle of that." He mumbled.

I nodded and glanced round to see that they had gone. I huffed and turned round to look at Ben.

"You should hang out with me and the guys sometime. Jenna will be there too. We're going for pizza on the Friday after exams." He offered.

"Yeah, that sounds great." I said, and started walking again.

Back at the dorm I stripped into my PJs and for a while I watched Netflix. My phone rang and I picked it up, not bothering to check who it was.

"Hey Kota." Of course it was Jake.

"Hey, you guys all right now?" I asked.

"Yeah, we talked and I think I'm just gonna tell her I'm hanging out with Ash on Sundays." He sounded nonchalant.

"You're going to lie to her?" I didn't want him doing that.

"Just a small lie. She'll be all right." He sounded sure of it.

"You sure you want to risk your relationship. It's only just started." I didn't want them to fight because of me. Maybe we should stop being friends.

"You've been my friend longer and you'll always be there for me." He replied.

I smiled at that. We chatted for a bit and I could hear the sound of knocking and he quickly said goodbye. I set my phone down and continued watching movies.

Notes

Oh dear, the start of drama. Thanks for all the reviews and I have tried writing a book before, but my computer broke. For now I shall write fanfiction and eat pizza, possibly in that order :) thanks for the reads and reviews.