Being Watched

Chapter 17

I try my best to keep on a blank or smiling face when I return to the living room where the rest of my friends are.

I see Gavin smirking when I walk in and I quickly panic, thinking that he might’ve somehow found out about what happened upstairs but I see him looking at something behind me.

He’s smirking at Jeremy who’s glaring at him. It’s definitely about the makeup and nail polish thing.

I can’t help but smirk a bit too. Jeremy deserved that.

I sit on the floor this time because I don’t want to sit next to Jeremy but when my friends ask I just say that I like sitting on the floor. It’s not a complete lie because I do like sitting on the floor.

 There’s a movie playing but no one is watching. They’re gossiping and laughing about someone.

“I literally face palmed when she said that,” Janna says.

“Who said what?” I ask curiously.

“Amy,” Janna says and I snort. Amy is one of those really stupid people. I think she has no brain cells. “When we were in history period last week and Ms. Kayla told her to stop talking, she said ‘sorry but I was just asking her where’ then Ms. Kayla said, ‘you don’t know where south is on the map?’ and Amy was like ‘I got lost, I thought it was to the left’.”

I laugh at that. It’s such an Amy thing to say. She’s really stupid.

“I can’t believe she said that,” Henry says, chuckling.

“The poor girl has no brain cells,” I say, trying to sound sad but we all burst out laughing.

“Wow it’s already 2:00a.m,” Janna says, yawning.

“We should probably go to sleep,” Henry says and they all agree except for Gavin who pouts and says that he wants to watch another movie.

“We’ll watch a movie on my laptop and let them sleep here,” I tell Gavin and he grins.

“Awesome,” He says. “Go to sleep kids,” he then teases his friends.

I grab the movie ‘Man on a Ledge’ and tell Gavin to follow me.

“You want to sit in my room or is the kitchen okay?” I ask as I turn on my laptop that’s on the kitchen counter.

“Kitchen’s good,” he says, shrugging. “There’s food if we get hungry.”

I chuckle at that and he takes a seat next to me as I start the movie.

Halfway through the movie, Gavin clears his throat and says, “So…”

I raise an eyebrow at him, thinking what’s wrong with him.

He moves his gaze back to the screen and starts watching again.

Weirdo, I think as I focus back on the movie again, ignoring him.

We watch for another two minutes then Gavin sighs loudly.

I press pause and turn in my seat so that I’m facing him.

“What’s up?” I say.

“You stopped a movie to have a chat?” He asks, raising an eyebrow at me.

I roll my eyes at him. “Seriously, Gavin what do you want?”

“Why would I want something?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Gavin,” I say, exasperated. “Just tell me.”

“What’s up with you and Jeremy?” He blurts out, catching me off guard.

“Excuse me?” I say, blinking at him.

“Just tell me,” he says my words from earlier. “He’s been acting weird whenever you’re around or whenever we’re talking about you. When I ask him about it, he doesn’t say anything so I’m asking you.”

I open and close my mouth a few times, not knowing what to say. What should I say? I mean I can’t just tell him ‘oh you know, nothing, I’ve just been stalking your best friend for three years and I’m in love with him but he still can’t decide whether he likes me or not. Oh and he kissed me upstairs earlier and said it was a mistake’.

Yeah, not gonna happen.

“Nothing,” I finally say and he rolls his eyes at me.

“Really, Steph? You expect me to believe that?” He says.

“No, I don’t,” I say honestly and he chuckles.

We stay silent for another couple of minutes before I feel his gaze on me. I look up at him and he gives me a soft smile.

“You can talk to me,” he says and I think that this is one of the very rare times when Gavin and I have a serious heart-to-heart conversation without any jokes or teasing.

I don’t want to talk to Gavin because I don’t want him to tell Jeremy but at the same time I need to talk to someone and he seems like the only person I can talk to right now.

“I don’t…” I trail off, still not sure whether to say something or no.

“I won’t tell him, I promise,” he says, as if reading my mind.

“Pinky promise?” I ask in a small voice and he chuckles.

“If it makes you feel better,” he says, hooking his pinky with mine.

“I like him,” I say with a sigh. He grins then his grin falters when he sees my face.

“Why so sad?” He asks, confused.

“Because he doesn’t like me back,” I reply.

He frowns. “That’s not possible. I’m sure he does. I can tell from the way he’s acting.”

I know better than to get my hopes up. He’s just acting weird because he’s creeped out.

“It’s just complicated and I really don’t want to get into details but the conclusion is that I like him but I want to move on because he doesn’t like me back.”

Gavin doesn’t say anything and just looks like he’s in deep thought.

“Let’s just watch the movie,” I finally say when I think he won’t be saying anything else.

He surprises me by giving me a hug before I can start the movie again.

“What was that for?” I ask when he pulls away.

“It looked like you needed one,” he says, shrugging.

“Which movie did you get that one from?” I tease him.

“I’m not sure,” he jokes. “Some chick flick probably.”

I laugh at that.

“Do you want to continue the movie?” I ask, grimacing. I don’t feel like watching it anymore.

“Not really,” he replies. “We should just go to sleep.”

I agree with him so I turn off my laptop and we slowly walk back to the living room.

I smile when I see all my friends sleeping on the mattresses on the floor next to each other. Emma is sleeping to the right, Janna next to her, then Henry, and finally Jeremy. Next to Jeremy there is space for two people.

I plop down on the far left, leaving the spot right next to Jeremy, for Gavin.

Gavin follows me and frowns when he sees me. Then his face lights up with a smirk and he pushes me towards Jeremy.

I gasp, almost bumping into the blond sleeping boy. I turn around and glare at Gavin. He just smirks and lies down on my other side.

I try to push him and whisper to tell him to move but he ignores me.

I finally give up and settle in between the two guys.

I can’t sleep for the next thirty minutes because my heart won’t stop beating like I just ran a marathon and my brain won’t stop thinking like I have to make the most important decision of my life right now.

I finally squeeze my eyes shut, pull the covers tighter around me, and force myself to sleep.

I don’t know how long it takes me but I eventually fall asleep.

I hear someone sneezing and my eyes immediately open. I’m pretty sure I don’t share my room with anyone!

My eyes meet a shoulder and I quickly lift them up till they meet a pair of beautiful blue eyes. That’s when I remember the movie night and the sleepover.

“Sorry,” Jeremy mutters, blushing slightly.

I chuckle and rub my eyes. “It’s okay,” I whisper to not wake up the rest of my friends who are all still asleep.

I take my cell phone from under my pillow where I left it last night. I press the home button and my phone lights up.

I read the time first. It’s nine o’clock in the morning so my parents must be on their way to church now.

Then I notice that I have a text from John. I text him back and then put my phone away because I know he won’t reply any time soon. He’ll probably be sleeping for another two hours.

I yawn and sit up. I look at my friends and chuckle quietly. Emma is sleeping normally on the far right, Janna has her hand on Henry’s face and Henry has his left leg on top of Janna’s legs. Jeremy is awake and away from Henry. Gavin is on the floor.

I put a hand over my mouth to muffle the laughter that is threatening to escape my lips. Gavin’s legs are tangled in the sheets, one of his arms is under him and the other is above his head. His hair is all messed up and his mouth is hanging open like a dead fish.

I jump slightly when I hear Jeremy chuckle.

“Does he always sleep like that?” I whisper and Jeremy nods, looking amused. He takes out his cell phone and snaps a few pictures of his sleeping best friends.

I then stand up and put on my slippers. Jeremy follows me and we go to the kitchen, closing the living room door behind us.

“You guys are staying over for lunch today,” I tell him as I drink a glass of water. “Mom already prepared a lot of pizza.”

He winces slightly. “I wanted to go back home to study.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Study? On a Sunday?”

“Yeah,” he replies. “We have a math test on Tuesday.”

“So? You’ll study on Monday,” I say.

“I have basketball practice,” he answers, sighing.

“Just skip,” I reply simply. I’m pretty sure that a math test is much more important than two hours of basketball practice. Plus, Jeremy doesn’t need that much practice. He’s a really great basketball player.

“I can’t. Coach will give me a lecture and I need to practice a lot because soon scouts will be coming to watch us and I really want a scholarship,” he explains.

“Oh,” I say, nodding. “I can give you my books to study a bit if you want but you should stay over for lunch because mom will be sad if you don’t.”

“You have all the rest,” he points out. “She won’t mind if one of them isn’t here.”

“Actually, she would, because it’s you,” I reply and when he gives me a confused look, I explain. “She adores you!”

“She does?” He asks, surprised.

“Yup,” I reply, nodding. She can’t stop talking about how amazing she thinks Jeremy is.

“Fine, then,” he finally says. “I’ll stay.”

“Great,” I reply, smiling slightly.

It’s amazing how we can have such a normal conversation after all that has been happening. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing. These conversations will make me like him even more but not talking to him at all will hurt me. I guess it’s a lose-lose situation for me.

“What do you want to study at University?” He asks suddenly, catching me off guard.

“I-I don’t know,” I stammer. My dad always says that he imagines me as a really successful lawyer and my mom says that I’ll make a great engineer. But I actually like being a veterinarian.

I always avoid these talks with my parents because I don’t want to see disappointed looks on their faces when I tell them that I want to be neither a lawyer nor an engineer.

“Not even a clue?” He inquires.

I hesitate. “Well, my dad wants me to be a lawyer and my mom wants me to be an engineer,” I finally say, shrugging.

“I didn’t ask what your parents want, I asked what you want,” he says, his blue eyes staring intently into mine.

I bite my lower lip and avert my gaze from his blue eyes.

“I want—I want to be a veterinarian,” I reply timidly.

I don’t think he will think it’s lame because he likes animals. He donates money for sick animals.

“That’s nice,” he says. “You should do that. Don’t let your parents decide your future for you.”

“I just don’t want to disappoint them,” I reply.

“You won’t,” he says firmly. “When you do what you love you’ll be good at it and you’ll make them proud.”

“I hope so,” I murmur.

“Can we study till the rest wake up?” He asks after a few moments of silence, giving me a puppy look that I can’t say no to.

“Yeah,” I reply. “Let me just get my books from my room.”

I walk up the stairs and take my math book and purple math copybook from my bag. I also grab two pencils from my desk and then go back to the kitchen.

I sit on the chair next to Jeremy’s and open my copybook to the first chapter. We have a test in two chapters this time.

“I didn’t understand the first chapter,” I whine as I try to understand the notes I have on my copybook.

“I didn’t understand the second chapter,” he says.

“How about this,” I suggest. “I’ll explain the second chapter to you and you explain the first to me?”

“Okay,” he says then starts explaining the first chapter. I don’t get it at first but after he repeats it three times, I finally understand.

For the next hour we study the first chapter. My parents walk in as soon as I open the second chapter.

“Hey,” My mom says, smiling at us.

“Hello,” Jeremy says, smiling politely.

“Hi mom,” I reply then dad walks in and greets us as well. He then walks up to me and gives me a kiss on my forehead.

“Studying so early on a Sunday?” He asks, looking down at the books on the table.

“It was the only way for Jeremy to stay for lunch. He needs to study today because he has practice tomorrow after school,” I explain and they nod.

“Okay then we won’t bother you,” Mom says. “But try not to take longer than another hour because I need to prepare lunch.”

“Okay,” I say and they leave the kitchen.

I then proceed to explain the second chapter to Jeremy. Unlike me, he understands from the first time I explain it so this chapter takes only thirty minutes.

“Thanks,” Jeremy says as I close my books once we’re done.

I just smile at him.

“Do you want to get dressed?” I ask him before I go up to my room.

“Yeah,” he replies. “I’ll get my clothes and change in the bathroom.”

“Okay,” I reply, nodding. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

I go upstairs while he quietly goes into the living room to get his clothes.

I take a quick shower then put on light blue jeans and a black sweatshirt. Once I’m done, I go to my parents’ room and tell them that we have finished studying if they want to go to the kitchen.

My mom and I walk downstairs. Mom goes to the kitchen while I meet Jeremy in the hallway.

“Should we wake them up?” I ask before we enter the living room. It’s 11:00a.m and they’re still sleeping.

“Yeah,” he replies, shrugging.

Suddenly, an idea pops into my mind and I grin mischievously.

“Wait right here, just a minute,” I say then rush to my room. I open the drawer and take out the orange whistle.

When Jeremy sees the whistle in my hand he smirks.

We slowly walk into the living room and I stand in the middle on the room, right above the heads of my friends.

I take a deep breath and blow the whistle.

Emma jumps and falls off the mattress, Janna involuntary punches Henry in the face, Henry sits up quickly, making Janna’s punch even worse, and Gavin just grumbles under his breath and starts snoring.

Jeremy and I burst out laughing while Emma glares at us. Janna is too bust apologizing to Henry who is holding his cheek and pouting.

When we stop laughing, Janna, Emma, and Henry are already up, checking their phone and watches.

“What’s up with Gavin?” I ask, raising my eyebrow at him.

“He can be a heavy sleeper, especially if he’s tired,” Jeremy replies.

I walk closer to Gavin and bend down so that the whistle is right next to his ear and then blow again.

His hand immediately shoots up and he slaps my head.

“Ow!” I yell, slapping his head.

His eyes fly open and we stare at each other for two seconds before bursting into fits of laughter.

“Your face!” We both say at the same time then laugh again.

When our laughter dies out, Gavin sits up and stretches. I chuckle at his bed hair and he grins.

We all chat for a bit then Henry, Gavin, Emma, and Janna change into their clothes. We don’t bother with breakfast because it’s already noon and we will be having lunch soon.

At around 12:30p.m, mom calls us, saying that lunch is ready. We joke around during lunch time and I could tell that my parents love my friends.

After lunch, we watch a movie and hang out for a bit before they start going back to their homes, leaving only Gavin and Jeremy in my living room at 6:00p.m.

“Are you going to church tonight?” Jeremy asks.

“Tonight?” I echo.

“We didn’t go to the morning ceremony so we’ll go to the one at night,” he says.

I hesitate. I’m not really in the mood...

Jeremy raises his eyebrows at me and I sigh.

“Fine,” I reply.

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Gavin says, standing up.

Jeremy rolls his eyes at him. “It won’t harm you to go to church some time.”

“I’m allergic to priests,” Gavin jokes and Jeremy gives him a sarcastic smile.

“Very funny,” he says.

Gavin chuckles then gives me a hug. “Thank you for everything. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I smile at him. “See you.”

When he leaves, I realize that it’s just me and Jeremy now. Logically, he won’t go back to his house because we should go to church in around an hour and my house is closer to the church.

There’s an awkward silence that I wasn’t expecting.

Jeremy clears his throat awkwardly.

“Don’t make this awkward, Jeremy,” I tell him.

He looks surprised then says, “You’re the one making it awkward, Stephy.”

“I am not!” I say defensively, ignoring the way my heart skips a beat at the nickname.

“You were the one who pointed out that it was awkward,” he says, giving me a pointed look.

“Okay you win this one,” I reply and he grins victoriously.

 He looks at me for a bit and I see uncertainty written all over his face. Finally, he decides not to say anything.

A few minutes of silence pass before he asks, “Do you have some video games?”

“Yeah,” I reply and that’s how we start playing video games for the next thirty minutes.

We then walk to church and make it right on time. Andy is not there so I’m guessing he went this morning.

This time, I concentrate on some parts and don’t find it as boring as I thought it would be.

An hour later, Jeremy and I are walking back home in silence. It’s not very awkward this time though.

When we get to my house, he gives me a hug. I’m sure he can feel my heart beat accelerating and that thought makes me blush.

Is his heart beating fast too? I try to focus to find out if it’s my heart or his but before I can decide, he pulls away.

“Thank you for the sleepover and the math,” he says, making me smile. “See you tomorrow.”

“Bye,” I say, waving at him as he starts walking to his house.

Watching him walk away with my heart beating faster than it ever did made me realize that I was never going to get over him.

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Hello! (:

Woow long upload! xD Well, longer than usual :P Haha

I was planning on posting this chapter earlier than Sunday night but I just finished writing it. I had a marathon today so I didn't have much time to write. We walked/ran ten kilometes under the rain with the wind that literally made us fly at some point. And now I'm sitting at home, wearing two sweatshirts, covered with a blanket and drinking a cup of tea. Haha I'm definitely getting sick :P
Winter, I did not miss you.

Anyway, listen to the song on the side. Suggestion by mintyqaz  -->

Hmm, no birthdays this week... If it's anyone's birthday and he/she didn't tell me then, happy birthday! :)

Next Upload: Next weekend (I hate uploading only once a week but I seriously have no choice :( I don't have time to write because of school :/)

Aim for this Chapter: 200 votes.

Have a wonderful day/night! <3