Being Watched

Chapter 23

I am tired yet excited to go to school today. I missed my classmates during the vacation even though I had a great time with my friends back home.

I never thought I would miss the people at my new school but I did.

I’m looking forward to starting school again and hanging out with them again.

When I arrive to class, I smile at the familiar noise and chatter in the morning.

I smile at my classmates and talk with many of them about the vacation. It seems that we all had a good vacation.

I search for Emma, Janna, and Rena but neither of them is here yet so I walk to my chair and put my bag on the floor.

I see Jeremy sitting in his chair, his head resting on one of his arms. There’s a distant look in his eyes that confuses me.

My heart skips a beat when I see him and I realize that I had missed him so much during the vacation.

“Hey,” I say, trying to get his attention.

It works. His blue eyes meet mine and he forces a smile. “Hey.”

“What’s up?” I ask, frowning slightly.

“Just tired,” he replies and I immediately know that he’s lying.

I purse my lips and think carefully of what to say next. I don’t know if I should tell him that he’s lying or just let it drop.

I look into his eyes again and bite my lip. I think I’ll let it drop for now because I don’t want to have a fight with him. Things seem to be going well so far and I don’t want them to take a turn for the worst.

The bell rings and Emma rushes into the classroom just before the teacher comes in.

“Hi!” She whispers, smiling at me.

“Hey,” I reply and we have a silent agreement to talk during break time so that we don’t get any comments from our biology teacher.

I open my copybook and check the board to see the date.

5 January 2013, I copy it on the top of my copybook and just as I’m writing the three in 2013, I freeze and my head whips in Jeremy’s direction.

His eyes are fixed on his copybook and he doesn’t look up.

I return my gaze back to my copybook and stare at the date again, my heart beating frantically in my chest.

Six years ago, on the fifth of January 2007, Jeremy’s dad passed away.

All period, I can’t stop myself from thinking about Jeremy. All I want to do is give him a hug. He looks so sad!

When the bell rings, I jump out of my seat, hoping to talk to him before the next teacher comes in but he rushes out of the classroom before I get the chance to.

I wait for him to return but after ten minutes, he’s still missing and even the teacher hasn’t come yet.

I go out of the classroom and to the supervisor’s office which is at the end of the hallway. I knock on the open door and walk in, glancing at the mess of papers around her office.

She lifts her head up and looks at me as she lowers her eyeglasses.

“Is Mr. Mark absent?” I ask her.

“Yes, he is,” she replies. “You have a free period now.”

“Okay, can I go to the bathroom?” I ask.

“Yeah,” she replies, getting back to some paperwork she was doing.

I mutter a ‘thanks’ and walk down the stairs to search for Jeremy.

I look around the hall and check the bathrooms but he’s not there. As I’m walking back up to class, I pass by a transparent glass door and see Jeremy sitting outside, on the huge stairs of the court.

Without thinking, I open the door and walk outside.

I gasp at the freezing temperature outside. I zip up my jacket, hoping it would keep me warm and walk to where he’s sitting.

I sit down next to him and his surprised gaze snaps to me.

“Why are you here?” He asks with a neutral voice.

I shrug. “I thought you might want some company.”

He doesn’t reply. He just stares at me for a second longer before shifting his gaze back to the empty court in front of us.

“So six years, huh?” I say after a few seconds and mentally slap myself for it. Did I really just say that? I’m such an idiot.

He surprises me by chuckling.

“Only you would say something like that at a time like this,” he says amusedly and I blush.

“Sorry,” I mutter, wincing.

He gives me an amused smile and I look away awkwardly, placing my cold hands over my flaming cheeks.

I shiver because of the cold weather and  tug at the sleeves of my jacket so that they are covering my hands as well.

Suddenly, I’m lifted up in the air. I let out a yelp as Jeremy sets me down in front of him.

I turn around and give him a horrified look.

He laughs and says, “You’re cold.”

Confused, I raise an eyebrow at him, wondering what he did had to do with me being cold.

He rolls his eyes at me and pulls me closer to him so that I’m seated between his legs, with my back resting against his chest. He wraps his arms around my stomach and I relax into him, feeling his fast heartbeat against my shoulder.

“I miss him,” he whispers and I squeeze one of his hands that are resting on my stomach.

“Tell me about him. How was he like?” I ask in a low voice.

“He was a basketball coach. He was great at what he did. He loved me and my mom more than anything in the world and he was one of those really wise people,” he says and I smile.

“I remember a couple of days before he died, he took my mom and I to the park and it started snowing while we were there. My mom was telling him to take us back home before we got sick but he told her to live a little and just enjoy it. We were the only people at the park, sitting there under the snow. I loved how happy those days were…” he trails off, a small smile on his lips.

“He sounds like a great man,” I say. “I wish I could’ve met him.”

“You would’ve loved him,” Jeremy replies.

“I’m sure I would’ve,” I reply then we lapse into comfortable silence.

I’m not sure for how long we stay silent but at some point Jeremy says, “I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?” I ask, tilting my head and shifting my position to look at him.

He runs his hand in his hair and bites his lips nervously.

“I-I uh,” he stammers then clears his throat. “I’ve been watching you too.”

“What?” I say dumbly, wondering if I heard correctly.

“I’ve been watching you for three years too,” he blurts out and my mouth hangs open in shock. My eyes widen and I cut him off.

“So you lied to me? You acted as if I were the creepiest person you ever met and you yelled at me while you were doing exactly the same thing?” I snap at him.

He looks at me guiltily and speaks again, “I’m sorry but I can explain, I—”

“No, just shut up,” I tell him, moving away from him and standing up. I start pacing as hundreds of questions and thoughts run through my mind. “All this time I’ve been crying and hurting because the guy I like yelled at me and told me to stay away from him because I’ve been doing something creepy but he was doing the same thing!”

“Stephany, I—”

“You’re a jerk,” I say, not allowing him to speak or explain himself. When I’m angry, I don’t listen and I do things I’ll regret later.

“I know but I—” he tries again but I won’t allow him to speak.

“I can’t believe you did that! I mean seriously?! Didn’t you even consider my feelings? There’s no excuse that would be good enough right now!”

“I just—”

“And your acting was so perfect. I couldn’t even tell! You deserve an award for that. I mean the whole avoiding me? And yelling at me? And running away from me? You knew I was hurt and you were heartless! You didn’t do anything but make it worse!”

“Stephany—”

“All this time…” I say, shaking me head. “You recognized me ever since I came here and you knew me so well but you didn’t even say anything about it! You made me feel like the weirdest person on earth because of something you were doing as well! I can’t believe you would do that! What is wrong with you?!”

“Just listen to me!” He snaps, now on his feet as well.

“I don’t want to listen to you!” I snap back.

His blue eyes darken as he yells, “Fine! Don’t listen, just shut u—”

“Fine!” I cut him off while he continues and says, “Up and kiss me.”

Before I can say ‘Whaaat?’ he leans down and his lips meet mine in an aggressive kiss. My eyes widen in shock and my heart beat accelerates.

Soon, my wide eyes close and my arms wrap themselves around his neck as I lift myself up to kiss him back.

“Can you listen now?” He mumbles when we pull away.

“No,” I reply and kiss him again, all my thoughts disappearing.

He doesn’t complain. He pulls me closer to him and kisses me passionately.

“I had this rehearsed and you just took away every coherent thought in my mind,” he mutters, resting his forehead against mine.

I blush and glance down at his red lips as he closes his eyes.

I bite my lower lip and just as I am about to press my lips to his, he blurts out, “I love you.”

I freeze and start to move away so that I could think properly. His arms slowly slip from my waist and he lets me go.

“Shit,” I hear him mutter under his breath. “Wait, I wasn’t supposed to say that.”

Does that mean that he doesn’t love me? I wonder and the thought alone causes my heart to break.

“Shit,” he says again. “J-just wait. Let me just say what I rehearsed in order.”

I want to laugh at how confused and nervous he seems but at the same time I want to cry because of all that is happening.

“When you told me that you were watching me for all those years, I was so shocked because I didn’t know it and I wasn’t sure why George would do that. I was confused, just like I was three years ago when he connected some wires and a small device to my T.V and told me to put channel three on in a few days. And I was also confused when I saw you in your room on my T.V so I called George and he confused me even more, telling me he can’t say anything now and I’ll find out at the right time. So I decided to act as if I wasn’t doing the same thing all those years because I wanted to call George first and know what the hell was going on but his reply was the same as always so I eventually gave up and decided to tell you the whole truth and we’ll figure it out together but I was scared because I didn’t know how you would react and, now is the right time to say it, I love you, Stephany.”

He takes a deep breath after saying everything and looks into my eyes, waiting for my answer.

I just stare at him, trying to process everything.

He’s been watching me all this time too... I blush slightly, now thinking of what he might’ve seen in my room. He probably knows my secrets more than anyone else.

“I’m sorry for what I did and I’m sorry for hurting you. I was confused and angry, especially when you said you could move on because it sounded like you really could which means that you didn’t really like me that much in the first place, and I just wanted to try and show you just how much that hurts. I shouldn’t have done that. Please forgive me,” he says, his eyes pleading.

“George is so creepy, it’s not even funny,” I finally say.

Then we both look at each other and burst out laughing.

“After all that ten-minute speech, that’s what you say?” He says, amusement flickering in his blue eyes.

I blush and look away. I am actually really nervous so I don’t know what to say. On one hand, I’m angry at him for all he did and I want him to suffer but on the other hand, I love him and I just want to be with him after all we’ve been through.

His right hand cups my cheek and he forces me to look at him.

“I love you too,” I blurt out when our eyes meet. As soon as the words escape, I know that the decision has been made and I couldn’t be any happier about it.

He grins.

“So will you be my girlfriend?” He asks, widening his blue eyes.

“I don’t know… I mean you’re a creep and I’m such a good person. Look how fast I forgave you!” I say.

I wouldn’t have forgiven him if I didn’t really know him. I know that he’s a good guy and he has good intentions so I didn’t really see the point in fighting with him.

“I know you are a good person but I mean you’re a creep as well…” he trails off, a smile on his lips.

“Hmm yeah we’ll be perfect together,” I reply.

“So that’s a yes?” He asks.

“Definitely.”

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