Chapter 11 - School is good and so is Jason
--ANNA--
I woke up, feeling exhausted from yesterday's marathon while Jason is sleeping beside me with his arms locked around my waist.
Trying not to wake him up, I moved slowly to look at the clock on my night stand. Seeing that it's 6:45, I called him in hurry as he is yet to go home and get ready.
He got up dizzily, but grimaced looking at the clock "Why did you wake me up so early?"
"It's almost 7, you idiot. You have to go to your home. Remember?"
"Is that your word of endearment? Idiot?" he smirked.
I blushed "That's the most you can get"
"Really? I'm sure you'll call me sweetheart or darling one day" He said, his smirk growing wider.
Oh My God. Is he flirting with me?
Pushing my thoughts away, I replied "Continue day dreaming dude"
He looked at me amusedly as he got down the bed "Can I use your wash room?"
"Of course" I replied with a smile.
Before he could go, I charged after him telling him to wait and locked myself in the bathroom.
Checking if there are any of my girly possessions in there, I heaved a sigh of relief finding nothing apart from my face wash, shower gel and hand wash.
I quickly unlocked the door only to find a confused looking Jason standing beside it.
"That was---fast" he said, looking at me in amusement.
"I had to check if I left any stupid things in there. It's not what you think" I replied, blushing.
"And what did I think?" he said with a smug look on his face.
I blushed more and pushed him into the bath room, locking the door from outside before yelling "Just go"
Once he came out, we went downstairs and he left for his house before kissing me on the forehead and giving me a quick hug.
Smiling to myself, I turned around only to find a smirking Emily "That was--- cute"
I scoffed and strode towards the stairs when I heard her again "What? No comeback?"
I groaned "What do you want Emily?"
"What was that? You and Jason getting cozy?" she asked, feigning innocence.
"We are friends, remember?" I sighed in irritation.
"Ya, I do. But he is my friend too, remember?" she said sarcastically, imitating me.
"What's your point Em?" I snapped in frustration.
"He never hugged me, kissed me or worried about me like how he did with you yesterday. So---any explanation?"
"I don't know. Ask him" I said shrugging.
"O—kay. I think time has come for Cupid Emily to set things right" she boasted.
"What do---do you mean?" I asked tensely, worried about the stupid things she might do.
"Since both of you are dumb enough to not accept your feelings, I decided to take things into my hands"
"Don't you dare Emily" I threatened.
Smiling wickedly at me, she left the room not bothering to answer my pleas.
After getting ready and having cereal and milk for breakfast, I got out of the house only to find Jason waiting outside in his car.
"What are you doing here?" I asked in confusion.
"Waiting for you idiot. What do you think I am doing?" he said in a 'duh' tone.
"Is that your word of endearment? Idiot?" I asked, smiling at him.
"Why? Do you want me to call you sweetheart or darling?" he repeated his own lines smugly.
"Yeah, whatever. Just start" I replied, not wanting to make a fool of myself anymore.
After getting into the car, I turned on the radio immediately as I am not ready to answer his questions about yesterday, yet.
"Can you change the station please" he said after few minutes.
"Why? It's a good song"
"I don't like One Direction" he stated with a grimace.
"How is that possible? It's One D for god sake. And this song is amazing" I replied.
"I should've kissed you?"
"What?" I shrieked, horrified by what he said.
"This song 'I should've kissed you', is the lamest I have ever heard" he replied and I sighed, relieved that he is talking about the song.
"It's Zayn's best and I love him" I said in a warning tone.
He rolled his eyes "Elle says the same but she likes Harry Styles instead of Zayn. So much that she once dreamt of marrying him"
"What? She told you about her dream?" I asked, amused that his sister shared her weird dream with him.
"Yes. She even cried in the morning that day and had a fight with Cheryl"
"Why?"
"In that dream, Cheryl kicked her out at the altar and married him instead" he said chuckling.
I joined him, thinking only girls can get such crazy dreams.
"So One D is your favorite too? Like Elle and Cheryl?" he asked, after the laughter subsided.
I shook my head "Taylor Swift"
"Typical" he murmured under his breath.
"Her songs are amazing and the lyrics are to die for"
He laughed at me before parking the car and I got down quickly, saying goodbye and thank you.
Before I could go any further, he caught up with me and yelled "Why are you leaving me?"
"Huh? You want to come with me?" I asked doubtfully.
He looked at me as if I am mad and I replied instantly "Fine then"
"Answer my question first" he glared.
"I thought you wouldn't want me to be seen with you" I replied honestly.
"What? Why?"
"Because it might disrupt your reputation if anyone sees the super hot Jason Samuels hanging out with the nerdy girl"
"I don't care what others think. And did you just call me 'hot' again?" he asked smugly.
I rolled my eyes "Like you don't know"
"Where are your spectacles Anns? I didn't see them since yesterday" he said seriously all of a sudden.
"Huh? Yeah. Um—they broke when—when I was working"
"You didn't get new ones?" he asked looking like he didn't believe what I said.
"I will; this weekend. Not that it's a problem because I have a minus 0.5 sight"
"Fine, let's go then" he huffed and pulled me along with him, ignoring people's weird looks.
****
After submitting my assignment to Ms. Taylor along with Josh, I went to lunch and found only Cheryl, Elle and Megan sitting there.
The others must have been busy with their assignments that they had to skip lunch. Poor guys.
"You are late" Elle stated.
"I had to submit my history assignment" I mumbled.
"I thought Friday is the last day. Why did you submit early?" she questioned.
"I was scared that I might lose it" I replied honestly.
She smiled in understanding and continued munching her food.
The reason why I submitted in spite of Ms. Taylor's protests is because I am scared that it might disappear magically.
I know people will laugh at me if I confess about my nightmares of Lord Voldemort trying to kill me every time I read the Harry Potter series without a break. Yesterday's nightmare was completely different though.
Not in the mood to eat when my friends are out in the library working, I walked to my locker and dumped my books in it.
I went to the food counter and bought few items, placing them in my bag after wrapping neatly.
Since food items are not allowed in the library, I have to be careful while giving them.
Seeing Jason and Em sitting in a corner in the library behind a book shelf, I sprinted up to them and mumbled quietly "Hi"
"Hey. What are you doing here? Heard you submitted the assign" Jason said with a grin.
"How did you----"
"Josh was boasting to his friends in the boys' locker room" he replied, smiling.
"I got food for you" I whispered.
"Really?" Emily chirped enthusiastically with a big smile.
"Yup. Now be quiet" I said slowly.
Giving them each a large chicken burger, I took my own having a big bite.
"Now that's not good" we heard someone behind us and turned around to find Gabe giving murderous glares to the three of us.
"Sit down Gabe" I said, pulling his hand to make him sit on the chair beside me.
He pouted "Share your food with me. I'm hungry too"
Jason scoffed "No. We won't"
"I thought you loved me" he whined, looking at me.
"Yes, I do. That's why I brought one for you too" I replied, pulling another one from my bag and gave it to him.
He grinned instantly and sat down beside me taking a bite from his burger in one hand while draping his other arm on my shoulder "You know I would have hit on you if I was straight"
"You know I would've broken my no dating policy for you if you hit on me" I flirted back.
"Aw.. I love this girl" Gabe replied, winking at Jason.
"Where's Blake? I thought he would sit with you, so brought one for him too" I said, pulling four cokes out of my bag.
"Wow" Emily chirped, looking dreamily at the coke tins "How did you manage to fit all of them in your bag?"
"Did undetectable extension charm to my bag" I said, remembering Hermione's small bag from Deathly Hallows.
"Really?" she shrieked in excitement and we burst into laughter at her stupidity.
"Dumped all my books in the locker" I said, winking at her.
"Feisty huh? I love this side of you" Emily grinned.
"Now get back to whatever you were doing" I said to Jason and Em who turned back to their system and started typing while munching food with the other hand.
Gabe and I are talking about random things when Blake came to our table "You are here? And what are you---"
Gabe shushed him before he could shout and alert the library staff as I pulled the last burger and coke from my bag and gave it to him.
"Thanks. I know you have a thing for me" Blake said smirking.
"You wish" I scowled.
Five minutes before the lunch bell, I rushed back to the lockers with Gabe and Jason who helped me dump the empty cans and wrappers while I got the next set of books out of my locker.
"Thanks Anns" Jason said kissing my right cheek and grinned at my embarrassment.
"Me too Anna. Thank you. I would've died of hunger if you haven't got me food" Gabe said dramatically, before placing a kiss on my left cheek.
I blushed instantly which made them laugh as we walked together to our next class.
****
"Are you alright?" I asked Emily who is still on her chair even after the class ended, clutching her forehead.
"Head ache. I think migraine" she said with a pained look on her face.
"Let's go to doctor then" I seized her hand, trying to get her up.
"It's OK. I have medicine at home. All I need is a good sleep"
"Let's get you home then"
"I can't" She croaked.
"What do you mean you can't?" I muttered.
"I am yet to finish my assignment. Tomorrow is the submission day, remember?" she grunted in annoyance.
"It's OK. We will request Ms. Taylor to extend your submission date" I replied soothingly.
She groaned "No. She is strict and will not listen to my pleas"
"May be Jason can do it for you. It must be close to completion"
"Are you kidding? We have a lot to do and that a**hole cannot do it alone"
"So, there's is no way then?" I mumbled quietly.
"No--- I think there is" she replied with a hopeful look "He can do it if you help him"
"What?" I shrieked in surprise.
"Please Anna. Just do this favor for both of your friends. Please. You are my last hope"
Seeing her plead me like that made me agree to her request "Fine"
"Thank you so much Anna" she tried to smile amidst the pain look on her face.
"It's OK. So what now?"
"You have to go to Jason's home. He'll be waiting for me in the parking lot"
"Fine" I huffed impatiently "Let's go. We'll drop you at home"
"I have my car. I'll go"
"You can't Em. You are in so much pain"
She sighed "I am used to it Anna. Don't worry about me. You leave now"
"Fine. But message me once you reach home. Okay?"
"Yes mom" she replied in a teasing tone.
Leaving her alone in the room, I strode to the parking lot and found Jason beside his car.
He looked surprised seeing me and I said "Em is not well. She asked my help for your assignment"
"Where is she?"
"In the class room"
"You left her alone?"
"I am such a bad friend. Aren't I?" I said, realizing that I left my sick friend alone instead of bringing her along with me.
He chuckled "You are far from bad Anns"
Once we got in the car, I called Tom to inform that I won't be coming today.
I explained my situation and he agreed straight away, advising me to take care of myself.
We reached Jason's house in ten minutes.
It is so big that it looked like a mansion but Jason said it is a five bedroom bungalow.
His room is triple the size of my room with walls painted black and white and looked every bit like a guy's room.
He switched on the computer while I basked in the magnificence of the room.
"So, which country are you working?" I asked curiously.
"India"
"OK. We have a lot to do then"
"Is it?" he replied, looking at me suspiciously.
"Yes. I heard Indian history is complicated and diversified"
"Nerd" he teased.
"Jason!" I hissed in annoyance.
"Ok Ok. We are writing only the important things in the past century. Don't worry"
Downloading the document from his mail, he sat beside me and started in a serious tone "What happened that night Anns? I wanted to ask about it since yesterday morning"
"Jason. I don't---"
He interjected with a serious look "Don't tell its nothing. I want to know the truth"
Knowing that he won't take 'No' for an answer, I began slowly "I was very tired that day and left the store, half an hour early with Tom's permission. When I was walking alone between the houses, someone pulled me into an empty alleyway and shut my mouth while groping all over my body. I panicked as no one could hear my muffled yells but luckily I blocked him with all my force and kneed him in the crotch"
Pausing for few seconds to wipe the tears off my face, I continued "I was so scared Jason. I thought I was going to be raped and it would have almost happened if he wasn't immensely drunk or if I wasn't lucky. I ran like a maniac until I reached home but was terrified that he might follow me"
He pulled me into a hug before whispering "But you were on time, like every day"
"I didn't want to break down in front of Lily or Em. So, I stayed outside the house until I felt alright and it's the usual time I come home so they won't doubt anything"
"Do you know who it is?"
"No. It was dark and I couldn't see his face but as I said, he was heavily drunk" I said pulling out of his arms and tried to act casual, not meeting his eyes.
He went downstairs and brought a plate of cookies with a glass of water.
After eating a few cookies and sipping water, I continued reading the document obvious of the awkwardness in the room.
Wanting to lighten up things, I cleared my throat "What have you written Jason?"
"Why? Isn't it good?"
"It is good. But you have started directly about British India from the 1900s"
"Yeah. That's what we are supposed to do. The last century"
"The British colonization started much earlier, in the 1600s but you never mentioned anything about it and directly went to India's independence in 1947"
"So, what are we supposed to do? Write everything since the stone age?" he scowled.
"Idiot, you have to at least state their first civilization before describing their modern cultures. Similarly you have to state the invasions of Portuguese and Dutch before going directly to India's independence from The British"
"How do you know" he asked in surprise and I replied "Google, idiot"
"Whatever" he rolled his eyes and I slapped the back of his head.
"Hey!!" he protested with a warning look.
"Let's get to work" I said in a serious tone.
Together, we worked on the document, downloading few papers from the internet and debated what to add and what not to.
Few hours later, Jason got up and started playing XBOX leaving me alone to work.
"Jason. Are you going to come anytime soon?" I said, glaring at him.
"You are not listening to me" he whined.
"So I have to do your assignment all alone without any help?"
"Fine. I am coming" he said, muttering a string of curses under his breath.
Half an hour later, someone from downstairs called us for dinner and we left the room, saving our work.
A couple, probably Jason's parents are present at the dining table when we went down.
"Hi Mom. Hey Dad" Jason greeted before pulling out a chair for me to sit.
"And who is this lovely young lady?" His dad asked, smiling at me.
"I am Anna. Jason's friend and class mate" I replied, gaping at him to find any similarities between him and Jason but surprisingly found none. Jason looked more like his mother.
"Nice to meet you Anna"
"Nice to meet you too sir"
"Mark. Call me Mark"
Before I could answer, Jason spoke "What are you doing here? It's so early"
"I don't have any more appointments and your father is free too. So we thought of having a family dinner" His mom replied and he only nodded.
"Where's Elle?" she asked and Jason shrugged.
"How's school Anna? Is Jason being a trouble maker?" His mom asked with a sly smile on her face.
I grinned "School is good and so is Jason"
After having dinner in silence, we returned to his room saying good night to his parents who are still in the dining as Mark's on a call.
"I like your parents" I said, beaming at him but his face is blank with no expression whatsoever.
"Work then?" I said, pulling him along with me to the computer.
After typing for few hours, Jason complained that his fingers are paining and that he is feeling sleepy.
I told him to get coffee but he said he hated it.
Taking the keyboard from his hands, I did the typing while simultaneously checking content from different papers and websites from his laptop.
After a few minutes, I found Jason dozed off in the chair he is sitting. I told him to sleep on the bed and he did without speaking a word.
He must be very tired working the past few days and I feel guilty for making him type a lot of things instead of doing copy-paste exactly from the papers.
After working for more than 3 hours, it is finally complete which is when I realized we can't make a hard copy as there's no printer in here.
Not knowing what to do, I saved the document in my mail and went downstairs, hoping to find an office since Jason's dad is a business man.
Seeing light peering through a room gave me hope and I sprinted towards it. I knocked the room and waited for a reply.
"Come in" I heard Mark's voice from the other side of the door.
Opening the door slightly, I stepped in "Sorry to disturb you at this hour but I want to use the printer, if it's OK with you"
"Yes, you can. But only after answering my question" he said with a smirk.
I nodded and he asked "Are you dating my son?"
"No, I am not. He has a girlfriend. If you don't know, her name is Cheryl" I said coolly.
"Yes, I know her" he said with a grimace.
"Can I use the printer?" I asked again.
"Of course you can. But what are you doing till now?" he asked in a concerned tone.
I walked towards the system which is placed in the middle of the room before switching it on "I am working on your son's assignment while he is sleeping like a pig on his bed"
He laughed at my statement and I added "You are still working Mark? It's late"
"I am attending international calls and have one last call to do after fifteen minutes"
"Can I look at your document?" Mark asked, when I am about to give Ctrl+P command.
He made small additions in the first page before typing print command.
After retrieving the printed copies and filing them in a folder, I left the room saying good night to him.
I returned to the room and found Jason sleeping in the same position. Sliding the folder between the books in his bag, I looked at the clock which showed three in the morning.
Quietly, I slid under his comforter and wrapped an arm around his waist, yawning lightly.
---
Thank you so much for reading. Press the star button if you liked the chap.
- Janaki
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