Chapter Seventeen

"You're my favorite reason to lose sleep."

LUCY

One week had went by since I went to the hospital, and Clayton was finally opening back up to me. So much in fact, that brief hand contact from the hospital was becoming more and more of an everyday occurrence. Well, as normal as a stomach churning moment can go, at least.

"Is Clayton coming over today?" My mom asked while washing dishes.

Before I could even give her my cheery response of a yes, the doorbell rung right on queue. I hopped off the couch so fast, nearly sliding and falling on my behind because of the cursed combination of hardwood floors and fuzzy socks. My mom snickered as I tried to regain my composure.

You are cool. Cool as a cucumber. I reminded myself.

Luckily, I managed to make my way to the door without my clumsiness shining through, and I swung the door open to reveal an ever so handsome Clayton. He didn't even have to try that hard to make him admirable. He looked like such a cuddle bear with his comfy joggers and t-shirt.

"Oh my God, wait." My eyes grew big as I realized what t-shirt he had on exactly. "That's a Supernatural t-shirt!" I pointed absentmindedly, nearly poking him in the stomach. "Shit, sorry, come in, come in."

He let out a chuckle, but wore the shirt proudly. The past week we started binge-watching Supernatural and I knew he had enjoyed it, but not enough to go out and buy a shirt.

"Yeah, after practice yesterday, Mateo and I went to the mall." He maneuvered into the living room and greeted my mom briefly. "I would have invited you to come, but it was when you were in the study group session." Clayton made sure to clarify this even though he didn't have to. Nonetheless, it made me smile. "But anyways, this isn't even the best part." Clayton slid his backpack off and took out a bag. "There was this deal if I buy one shirt, I get the second free, so guess who has matching shirts now?"

My mouth flew open, gaping as he held up an identical Supernatural t-shirt. I love receiving t-shirts in general, but getting a Supernatural one? That made me ecstatic. Now having a matching shirt with Clayton? That made me beyond ecstatic.

"Aw, Clayton, you shouldn't have." I held my hand to my heart. Maybe I was being a little melodramatic, but that's alright. After all, every girl is a little melodramatic with their crush. "Thank you, this is awesome."

"It was nothing, really." A flash of a smile daunted me even further. "Consider it another way of me saying sorry for kind of leaving you in the, uh, dust last week."

That was such an understatement. After the first day Clayton didn't text or talk to me, I was worried something had happened to him. But I learned through J.K. he was perfectly fine and chilling with Zeke and Mateo that day. I wasn't too upset then, since we weren't an item and didn't have to contact each other every day. However, as the days went further, I ended up finding myself laying in bed, thinking for long periods of time on what I could have done wrong. It turned out I was never at fault.

"I told you already, it's okay." I patted his knee before adjusting myself on the couch. I already had Netflix up, ready to continue watching Supernatural. I may have watched each season over five times, but that's alright. It never gets old. Just like how Clayton's hand on mine never got old.

His fingers rubbed against the back of my hand. "It wasn't, but alright. New subject."

I nodded in agreement.

"I was thinking. . . Since Thanksgiving break is coming up and I'll be off from baseball. . . That maybe we can, like, go catch a movie at the drive in down town and then get food." The blue in eyes appeared to brighten before me. There was so much going through my head in that moment, but that's all I could seem to focus on. I was trying my best to read if he was asking me as his pal Lucy, or maybe, possibly, on a date.

The more I looked into his eyes, and the creepier that got, I snapped out of my school girl crush fantasy. Clayton had been more than nice to me the past couple months with our friendship, and this is just like every other moment we share. I needed to stop having my head in the clouds and protect myself from getting disappointed.

If only he liked me the way I liked him.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. Maybe I can see if J.K. and Abby can tag along? Then it would be one awesome friend hang out." I said with a forced smile, trying my best to sound peppy.

The smile I loved faltered. It made my breath hitch. Did I misinterpret the situation? Maybe he was asking me out on a date after all.

Clayton ran a hand through his messy curls, a small smile returning to his face. He squinted his eyes at me, the brightness dimmer than what I just remembered seeing.

"Sure, of course. Can't wait."

- - - - - - - - -

I truly did adore spending so much time with Clayton around our school and extracurricular schedules, but I was in desperate need of some girl to girl time. I felt bad telling Clayton I had made plans for the day, but he took it without frustration. He told me to have a fun time and to shoot him a text if I wanted to talk to him. He was so sweet and genuine, it just made me want to hug him and never let go.

And so it was Friday evening and J.K. and I made the trip to the seaside town of Livingston. New Jersey had always been my home, and I knew it always wasn't the most breathtaking of places, but the shore line was absolutely stunning. The Jersey shore just got a bad image from the reality television focusing on the partying side of the beaches. However, Livingston held a classic beach that could truly take one's breath away.

The small town contained quaint shops and diners, all accented with a little charm. My dad had taken me hear when I was toddler, and ever since then I became obsessed with the donuts from a bakery there. It might have been a thirty minute drive, but it was worth it to me. Especially since I got to hang out with my best friend.

"Wait, so he asked you to go see a movie and get dinner after?"J.K. was reeling after I shared my news. I felt like the best time to share it with her was when we were sitting down, the smell of fresh crescents scenting the air, while snacking on some goodies. "Why on earth would you ask to bring us losers along?"

My brows raised. I didn't know why I was so surprised her reaction was this way. Jacklyn Kate had this way of seeing the romance in everything. So of course when it came to anything Clayton related, she would see it as my fairy tale coming true.

"You know he doesn't like me like that," I started.

She scowled at me. "A guy doesn't put as much effort as he is if he doesn't at least like you the slightest bit. Have you forgotten how bad he was before? He was the party and hook-up-with-multiple-girls type."

That always bothered me in the back of my mind. Clayton Hugh was such a great guy now, be had done some bad things. I knew about some of his drinking tendencies and that he had smoked many things before through talk at school, but I always hoped that wasn't true. Morally, I didn't plan on drinking alcohol or smoking. And to be honest, the idea of ever being with someone who thought smoking anything was acceptable bothered me.

"Yes. . . I know. But --"

"I refuse to go to this night out with y'all. So does Abby!" She bit into her donut dramatically.

I frowned. "You don't even know if Abby would like to or not."

J.K. clicked her tongue. "Nope, nope. You are going to go in this alone, and see how it goes. If he ends up paying for you, it's a date. If he ends up holding your hand or putting his arm around you during the movie, it's a date. If he tries to impress you with a fairly nice restaurant for dinner, it's a date. And lastly, if he gives you a goodnight kiss, it's a date."

Her hazel eyes bored into mine, full of intensity. I admired how passionate she was about my love life, but I didn't need to be let down. I nodded my head in hopes to changing the subject, but didn't plan on believing that any of those things would happen.

Then the perfect subject changer popped into mind. "So have you still be talking to Zeke?"

The mention of Zeke always made me feel uncomfortable. I never knew whether to like him or dislike him, and according to Clayton, that was a regular feeling when it came to the boy. And by the look on J.K.'s face, she knew that feeling as well.

She blew out a breath. "I guess. He is just a little hot and cold sometimes. Like he will try really hard to impress me, then ignore me for a few days." Her frown said it all. "I don't know if it's just his style of landing a lady, but I really don't enjoy it."

I processed this information - trying to without bias - and shook my head. If Zeke wanted to have a good relationship with Jacklyn Kate and not some off and on again type of fling, he needed to get his head out of his ass.

"I don't like him." I stated matter-of-factly.

J.K. shrugged a little, not defending him the slightest bit. "He isn't the best guy. . ."

"Then why are you still talking to him?" I leaned in, watching as J.K.'s face fell.

I had an idea as to why she was putting herself through all this trouble. After her last relationship with Finn ended with him moving to a different country, she hasn't been the same. She had grown very close to him, and I thought that they would never break up. But life takes its course and they had to part ways. I was thinking that maybe J.K. was holding on to the idea of her and Zeke because she felt like he could turn around. And maybe he could, but he needed to that as soon as possible because there was only so much games a girl can take.

"You don't know him how I do. He can be really sweet when he tries to be. I feel like he could surprise a lot of people one day." She was very serious, but her face was lightened with a tiny smile.

I didn't have anything further to say, so I just bobbed my head.

It looked to be her time to change the subject. "But yeah, back to you and Clayton." Oh, joy. "Have you thought about asking him to go to the dance with you as a friend? You guys are starting to get really close. And whether that be platonically or romantically, I have no clue honestly, I think it would be fun for y'all to go together."

We started to get up and clean our table. She nudged me with her elbow. "It wouldn't hurt to go with him as a friend, right?"

This wasn't the first time that thought crossed through my mind. Originally with the whole dance situation where I thought he was going to ask me, I threw the idea in the trash. Especially since he told me the dances weren't his style. But the more I thought about it, the more the idea seemed okay. It wouldn't harm our friendship at all.

I gave J.K. a sly smile. "That may be a good idea."

Her whole face brightened up with a grin. She even squealed a little too. "You guys would be the cutest couple there, to be honest."

I blushed at the idea.

We really would be cute.

This wasn't a good plan to me anymore. It was a great one.

Guys!!! An update after 7 months finally occurred! I'm so sorry it took so long for me to get my inspiration back, but now that I have it back, I promise there will be more frequent updates!

So, what do you guys think? Lucy is finally agreeing to ask Clayton to the dance and might be going on a date with Clayton in the near future? I'd love to hear you opinions on anything and everything. Also what do you think about J.K.'s and Zeke's relationship?

It is great finally being able to write again for you all. Thank you for your patience and I hope your New Year is going well. <3