"I really like how you smell," I murmured into Jonah's chest while he still stood rather stiffly, surprised by my sudden hug.
Slowly, I felt his arms wrap around me, followed by the vibration of his chuckle. "And what do I smell like?"
I shrugged, still unwilling to pull away. "I don't know, there's not really a way to put it. You just smell nice."
"Maybe it's just the detergent."
"No! It's not that. You don't smell like detergent," I said, pulling my head away a little, before burying my face into him once again to take a sniff. "Hm. You smell like wood and a strong mint-like scent and just a little touch of coffee. What kind of fancy perfume do you use?"
"I don't wear fancy perfume," he told me. "I don't wear perfume at all."
"How come you smell so good?"
He shrugged. "Maybe it's just my natural scent? I probably also spend too much time brewing coffee."
"Then it's a damn good natural scent," I said, finally letting go of the hug. "Do you ever smell like sweaty armpit at all?"
He gave me a weird stare. "How do I know? I never sniff my armpits."
I rolled my eyes at him. "Do your socks smell?"
"Hannah, I don't sniff my socks either."
"Well I don't have to voluntarily sniff Cole's feet to know that they stink! I just can smell it a hundred miles away."
"You're such a weirdo," he said with a light laugh.
"Weird enough to make you leave me?" I teased.
"Nope. Gotta try harder to make it happen."
"Aw, buddy." I reached out to pinch his cheeks. "Don't say that. You haven't heard me snoreâit could be the last straw for you."
"Well, you've fallen asleep on me during phone calls before and I didn't hear any snoring, you sleeping beauty."Â He rested his palm at the top of my head and lightly pulled my head closer to his shoulder, ruffling my hair as he did so. "Mmm. And you smell nice. Is it strawberries?"
I blushed. "First you call me beautiful, and then you say I smell nice. You keep this up and people might think you're into me or something."
"Or something." He let me go with a smile. "One compliment a day, how's that sound?" he offered.
I shrugged. "Might be good for my self-esteem. I'll give you one in return, just to keep us even."
"Alright. Day one, you smell like strawberries."
I nodded. "And you smell like something hot and sexy," I said with a wink.
Though, the last thing I expected from him was a snort and a cocky reply of, "I am hot and sexy."
I tsked at him, "Honey, vanity doesn't look good on you."
"I'm not being vain. It's just a fact," he attempted to say with a straight face, before breaking into a quick grin as we stopped in front my locker. "Don't go anywhere."
"Wouldn't dream of it," I replied as I opened my locker door while he went to get Daisy, who was stuffed inside his own locker.
It wasn't even one minute after he was gone when an insufferable presence, one I hadn't had the misfortune to encounter in so long, suddenly appeared next to me like a fly on the wall you just want to slap with a swatter.
"It's been too long since the last time we talked, Taylors."
His voice, taunting and mocking as usual, only made me roll my eyes. I kept my eyes focused on the books I was putting in order, my voice light as I replied, "Yup. Good for me." When I finally turned to look at him, I spotted an all-familiar smirk on his face. "So. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Oh, nothing." He pretended to inspect a stray piece of lint on his denim jacket. "I just thought I should drop by and offer my congratulations to you."
I raised an eyebrow. "What for?"
He winked at me. "Snagging the school's ice prince." I rolled my eyes and turned away from him, pretending to busy myself with my locker even though everything was perfectly in order.
"It's not an achievement," I said bitterly, which was ironic considering how I even got closer with Jonah was only because of the stupid OBA, which had led to what I had always aimed to achieve; gaining Jonah's attention. But nobody else knew that. "Why, you want a piece of him too? Well, get a line then."
His face darkened, and he took my bait. "It's none of your business."
"Why are you here, then?" I nearly snapped in annoyance as I slammed my locker shut. "I threw my dignity to the floor for you, asshole, and I've left you to deal with your own shit so you wouldn't mess up mine. How many more girls are you going to use as a cover-up for your little secret? Thank god I'm the only one who's ever caught you. I don't think anyone else would've been as forgiving as I was, letting you play with me like that."
The hands on his sides fisted, and I almost wished he would just went ahead and decked me in the face. But I knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't swing at me.
"Now I finally find someone who doesn't give a shit about the stupid rumor you spread about me, and you're not gonna take that away from me again."
I gave him a pointed look, trying to shoo him away as I let the anger I was feeling fade away, but he stood his ground. "I don't like you with him."
I laughed. "Too bad that we're in love with the same person, then, 'cause I'm the one who has him." I smirked. "What are you gonna do about that?"
He was silent for a while, until a mocking smirk appeared on his face once again. "He doesn't even know, does he?"
My smirk dropped and I glared at him while he laughed.
"He only actually wants you because he doesn't even know," he concluded. "He'll probably change his mind once he does."
I took a step forward to hiss lowly at him, "Why the hell do you hate me so much? Never have I done anything to ruin your perfectly-built reputationâon the contrary, I was the one trying to keep it intact! A thank you would've been nice."
We stared at each other for what felt like forever, until his gaze lifted to stare at something over my shoulder. I noticed the faint tinge of red that appeared on his cheeks as he took a step backwards. It took him about two seconds to get back to his cover-up self: a cocky and arrogant heartbreaker who slept around with girls for shits and giggles.
I turned around and found Jonah standing just about five footsteps away, his face neutral but his eyes questioning, drifting from me to Daniel and back to me again. He walked forward slowly, with Daisy in his arms.
"Everything alright?" he asked me. I let him lean down and peck me on the cheek, unintentionally getting a slight glare from Daniel. I noticed that his hands were fisted again, and I took two steps away.
"Yeah. You go ahead, I'll meet you in the car."
Jonah paused, his eyes once again looking at Daniel and me, back and forth. "Sure." This time, he kissed me on the lips before walking away, and I slightly smiled at the possibility of Jonah being jealous.
"Sure, make a big show of it," the blonde guy scoffed once Jonah was gone. "Doesn't work on me."
"Stop thinking that the world revolves around you," I said exasperatedly. "I don't even know why I should be sorry for this, but I'm actually sorry that you like him. I never even know that. I'm not doing this for revenge or whatever the hell you think I'm doing. I like him, and he actually likes me back. It has nothing to do with you so please, go away. I've had a nice life since you decided to avoid me like a plague instead of apologizing for the rumors despite my genuine efforts to protect your reputation. I haven't even thought about you in so long."
I had no idea why I kept trying to be nice to him. He'd made my life complete hell and here I stood, still trying to help him.
"It doesn't have to be like this, Daniel. I'm not here to ruin your life. I've kept your secret out of the goodness of my pathetic heart, despite everything you've done to me." I kept my eyes locked on his cold ones, wondering to myself why I even bothered. "Maybe you can find actual happiness if you say your truth," I said, a bit softer this time.
At this point, I didn't even expect him to listen to me. To understand. To believe me. Not when the glare in his eyes never wavered, even as I walked away from him.
[]
"We never talked about that guy," Jonah said as a greeting when he slipped into the chair in front of me with a warm cup of some herbal tea for me.
"What guy?" I asked before taking a sip of my drink.
He rolled his eyes. "That guy in the hallway."
I shook my head. "He's nothing. Don't mind him."
He only responded with a pointed stare. "He was making you upset,"
My chest warmed at his concerned stare, and I gave him a smile. "I'm serious. He's just nothing. I'm not bothered by him anymore."
"Anymore?" His forehead was knitted. "He used to bother you, then?"
I shrugged, inwardly slapping myself for the little slip-up. "It doesn't matter."
"It does to me."
"Jonah." I sighed and reached over the table to grab his hand. "It's so cute that you careâit really is, don't give me that lookâbut it's honestly fine."
"Does he like you or something?" he muttered, his face showing a mix of anxiety, fear, and irritation. Oh, and if I was lucky, there was also jealousy shining in his eyes.
I laughed at the irony. "No, it's not like that. You've got nothing to worry about."
He squeezed my hand. "Promise?"
I nodded. "Promise. I'm not gonna run away with him or anything. Ew."
He finally let out a laugh, looking a lot relieved. "It's just that I know he's some popular jock and if he likes you then I'm gonna be screwed because you're gorgeous andâ"
"One compliment a day, Jonah," I said in amusement. "Anyway, you're a thousand times better than that loser will ever be."
He smiled before frowning in curiosity. "Really, though, what did he do to you?"
My lips were pulled down into a small frown as well. "It's nothing."
"It doesn't seem like nothing to me."
"It's just something in the past that didn't matter anymore," I said, finally waving it off. "Alright, I'll just finish this tea and then you'll drive me home."
"Speaking of," he said as I was gulping down the tea. "Your dad just asked me if it's alright for him to drive you to school tomorrow." I paused and put down the cup I was holding.
"Oh."
"I said yes, so I won't be picking you up tomorrow." Jonah leaned forward when I tried to look away. "Hey, is anything wrong with you and your parents? I noticed that you've been staying out of dinner lately."
I shrugged. "We just had an argument a few days ago."
"A few days ago?" I nodded. "And you're giving them the cold shoulder."
I shrugged at his statement.
"What was this argument about?" he asked softly, and I finally sighed, lifting my gaze to his. "Is it bad?"
"Not really. It's cool, we'll get over it in a few days anyway," I said offhandedly, finishing my drink and standing up. "Come on, let's go."
He stood up as well, taking my hand in his while his other hand grabbed the handle of Daisy's stroller. "You know you can tell me anything, right, Hannah?"
"Sorry," I said quietly. "It'sâ"
"ânothing I need to worry about, yeah," he finished my sentence, rolling his eyes as he did so. "You still can't stop me from worrying, though."
He was looking at me in concern, so deeply that a part of me was starting to melt into a puddle. I leaned up and gave him a kiss on his lips. "I promise, I will tell you. I just have to sort out this shit myself first."
He sighed and pulled me back in for another kiss, and then another, and then another. As usual, Daisy started crying when things were just about to get fun, and Jonah groaned before hurrying us out of the diner. "One more week, just one more week," he muttered over and over again to himself as he tried to make her stop crying.
"One more week," I sang through Daisy's cries, "and there'll only be the two of us."
Jonah looked up from the doll and gave me a smirk. "Can't wait."