Episode 4

EPISODE FOUR

The remaining examination days went by fast, although I’m happy because I know I’ll pass the exams, I’m still a bit worried about the whole kiss thing and because of that I ended up subtly avoiding Arden, We still smile and waved at each other and we do talk, just briefly.

One afternoon, I was at the cafeteria eating when Jamie suddenly appeared and sat on the chair in front of me

“Something is definitely wrong with you?” she said “what is it?”

I stopped eating and looked at Jamie. It’s times like this that I’m truly grateful Jamie is my best friend, she knows me like the back of her hand!

I sighed and started telling her the study date Arden and I had and she kept on listening, then I finally came to the kiss part which is where the whole cafeteria heard Jamie shout “YOU DID WHAT?!?”

“Can you say that again and make it louder this time, I THINK THEY DIDN’T HEAR YOU IN CHINA!!!”

“Ok , sorry, It’s just…wow” she said, clearly surprised “I didn’t expect this”

I looked at her “is it really that unexpected?”

“YES” emphasizing the word “it’s just that before you told me that you’re NOT interested in her and that you DON’T like her and then you tell me you kissed her while she’s asleep, so yeah it’s that unexpected”

I groaned and put my face in my palms, “what should I do?”

“I suggest you tell what happened and what you feel about her” Jamie said straightforwardly “wait a sec, what do you feel about her exactly?”

I looked at Jamie, I’ve never really thought about my feelings before

“I think...I know I kissed her because I like-like her…a lot” I said

Jamie smiled “Well then, you better start telling her that before it’s too late” she said “oh and talk to her more ok?”

“Huh?”

“While I was looking for you, Arden approached me and asked if you’re alright because you seemed distant” then she stood and patted my back “best of luck Nicky!”

“Thanks”

And Jamie left. I sighed and decided to go home

When I arrived, I dropped everything on the floor and laid on the sofa

“You better start telling her that before it’s too late”

I took a deep breath, grabbed my cell phone and dialed Arden’s number

“Hey!” Arden immediately greeted “how are you?”

“I’m great, just a bit tired” I said “and hey sorry for being distant with you these past few days, I just had a lot of things going on”

“Its fine, I’m just glad you’re alright”

“Yeah...sorry for worrying you anyway, um, do you have any plans tomorrow?”

“I have some but it’s not that important, why?”

“Do you want to have lunch with me and maybe hang-out for a bit?”

“I’d love to”

“Great, I’ll, uh, meet you at your classroom”

“Ok then, hey, I need to go, see you tomorrow, bye Nicky”

“Bye”

And she hung up

Ok, tomorrow I’m definitely going to tell her

The next day

I was making my way to Arden’s room while making a speech in my head on how to tell her the kiss thing and my feelings, I felt a bit nervous and anxious

I reached her room and saw her, waiting by the door, when she saw me, she instantly smiled and waved, I did the same then I approached her, we then went to the restaurant and grabbed a table while waiting for our food we started chatting about random things, I figured this is the perfect time to tell her, I was about to mention it when…

“Oh by the way, I haven’t told you this yet but Lance asked me out again” She said

“Really?” I said “did you accept?”

“No, it wouldn’t be right to lead him on” she said “and besides I already like someone else”

I stared at her “you do?” and hesitantly asked “Who is he?”

Arden smiled “remember the book store we went to?”

I nodded

“He’s the owner”

“Oh…”

I watched the smile grow on Arden’s face when he started talking about him, she really likes him, maybe even more…

“I tried talking to him but he’s so aloof, he just nods, he even ignores me sometimes…”

I remained quiet as Arden continued talking

“I’m actually going to that book store after lunch, can you come with me?”

I slightly smiled “sure…”

Our food came and we started eating, the chatting continued but on my part it’s not that lively anymore...

As planned, we went to that bookstore after we ate

We entered the bookstore and started wandering around

I took subtle glances at her and it kinda hurts seeing her taking subtle glances at him

This continued on for like 15 minutes then she took a book and approached him while I watch from a far

It looks like she wants to ask him something but he just ignores her, after a while Arden stopped talking and went to me, she had this pouty-disappointed expression

“Can I ask you something?” I said

Arden nodded

“Do you even know his name?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to find out but every time I try to talk to him, he just ignores me”

I looked at her and sighed then I took the book from Arden’s hand and approached the guy

“Excuse me” I said but he ignored me, I talked a second time and again he ignored me, so I pulled out his earphones, took his book and set it aside. He just looked at me

“How much does this book cost?” I said

He pointed to his left. I looked and saw a price list

Second hand Books:

Blue Price Tag: $30

Red Price Tag: $50

Gray Price Tag: $75

Yellow Price Tag: $100

I looked back at him, he had the earphones on his ears again and he continued reading

I scoffed and tossed aside the book then I looked at the title of the book he was reading, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and an idea popped into my head, I looked around for that exact same book, when I saw it, I quickly grabbed it and went back to him then I pulled away his earphones again, he put down his book and looked at me

“Excuse me, can you help me find a book that was written by Nicholas Sparks, I can’t seem to find any” I said

He stood up and looked at the boxes on the back of behind his table, when I saw that he’s preoccupied, I took his book and checked if his name is written on it, when I found his name, I took out his book mark and put in the other book then I switched the two books, when he came back, he gave me the book and I quickly paid and thank him, then I approached Arden, grabbed her hand and quickly pulled her towards the exit

Outside the store

I continued walking away, pulling Arden in the process

“Nicky wait!” Arden said then pulled away her hand “why are you hurrying?”

I looked at her and handed her the book

“What’s this?” she asked then she opened the book and saw the name Chris Parker

“This is the book he was reading” I said then pointed at the name

Her eyes grew big and a smile quickly formed on her face then she instantly gave me a hug

“Oh my gosh Nicky!” she said excitedly “thank you so much!”

I just remained quiet, quickly feeling the sting in my chest...