Chapter One (continued)

More Than What Meets the Eye

"Do you have class right now?" The voice said back to Jo.

"Not until third period. Do you?"

"I am actually free today from classes, but tomorrow is non-stop. I'm just going to practice Linsink around the field now. There's never an excuse to not work on getting better."

"Oh, but you're so good already!" Jo blushed.

At this point, Donovan had finished writing out her idea. She stood up and her eyes met that of the voice. "Adam!" She tried to play it cool around him, though she ended up failing miserably. The excitement in her voice sprung forth, uncontrollably.

"Hi, Donny!" He smiled at her, causing her stomach to do somersaults. She mentally scolded herself to behave more like Jo – cool and collected.

Adam turned back towards Jo. "Would you like to come watch me on the field?"

Jo shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I have this paper to finish, but I guess that I can come for a while." Donovan squinted her eyes out of confusion. Jo didn't have any homework left to do. She always finished her homework at the dorm, and used her free periods at school for either extra studying or relaxation in between classes.

"Uh, see you later, Donny!" Adam waved and walked away to the field, his arm linked with Jo's. Donovan gave him a small smile and wave in return, but in the back of her mind, she was wondering what in the world had just happened. Why had Jo been given an invite and not her? She didn't have class until fourth period!

Maybe Adam just wanted to discuss with Jo the proper way to ask Donovan out. Perhaps he had a huge, elaborate plan to ask Donovan out that required Jo's assistance. Donovan's heart fluttered. Adam was just too romantic for her heart to take. She inhaled a deep breath and exhaled all of her nerves. Donovan paraded towards school, heading up to her secret passageway.

*****

Tapping her feathered quill down on the surface of her cherry wood desk, Donovan just could not seem to concentrate on her homework. Impatience fired through her. The clock had just struck upon its seventeenth hour, making Donovan's brain itch for something to happen. She hadn't seen Jo since she disappeared to the field with Adam. Maybe the plan was just taking a while.

Donovan had heard rumors that Jo had not shown up to any of her classes today, which worried her. People kept coming up to Donovan during the day to find out where Jo was, but she hadn't the slightest idea. After all, it wasn't like Jo to just skip classes. Donovan tried to charm a stuffed owl to fly after her and find her, but the owl had still not returned yet. She sent it five hours ago.

I wonder if Emma is around, Donovan thought to herself, now lying on her bed. She shared her dorm with Jo, as she had ever since their first year, and they've always remained best friends. In fact, they never had a quarrel of any kind. The two always seemed to remain quite close. The only thing that they never seemed to be on the same terms with is Emma. Donovan had befriended Emma during their first year, but Jo never approved of her. There was something about Emma that she just didn't seem to like.

Donovan dragged herself out of bed and began walking towards her door room, when it flew open. In stormed Jo with a bright smile on her face. She looked over at Donovan and with a look of surprise, she asked. "Oh, are you going somewhere? I thought we could go grab dinner!"

Donovan's heart leaped. Dinner! That's where Adam was planning on asking her out. "I was going to see Emma, just to check in, but dinner sounds great!"

"You sure you don't have plans with her?" Jo asked, trying to remain pleasant around the subject of Emma, though she failed miserably.

Donovan nodded. "I was just going to take a chance and walk over there. There weren't any plans made."

Jo nodded and they left the dorm, heading to the grand room for the meal. The whole school basically eats at the grand room for their meals at the same time. Ever though there are thousands among thousands of students at Delawell and it is impossible for everyone to know everyone, they all share in a sense of community when they all sit down for meals together.

On the pathway down to the school, Donovan casually tossed a few strands of hair behind her shoulder and glanced over at her friend. "So, where were you today? People were saying that you weren't in class."

Jo seemed to freeze in her tracks and her cheeks turned a bright shade of red. "I wasn't... Feeling well."

"I checked at the nurse's and you weren't there. Plus, you weren't in our dorm. If you weren't feeling well, where else would you have gone, Jo?" Donovan eyed her friend curiously.

Jo shrugged. "Look, it doesn't matter."

Donovan shook her head in protest. "No, you are not just going to get out of this one. There is absolutely no way! Now, where were you, Jo? I'm seriously worried about you."

"You aren't my mother. I owe you no explanation!" Jo shouted at her friend, feeling ashamed for doing so, but not for long. She felt like she had the right to defend herself.

Donovan laughed. "Fine, then I'll just send an owl to your mother, and she can find out why you skipped class today. I'm sure that would be a wonderful dinner topic! Come on, Jo, why can't you just tell me?"

Jo let out an annoyed laugh. "Fine. Fine! If you want to play that card, then I will tell you. I was just trying to protect you, but if you want to feel the wrath, then that's on you. Just know that I did try to shield you from doing so."

Donovan squinted her eyes. "Jo, just spit it out."

"I went to the field with Adam this morning, as you know, and we ended up staying there for the rest of the day. I watched him play Linsink and I saw all of his muscles flex. We had a picnic and just talked," Jo stated, firmly.

"So now you approve of him and our future romance?" Donovan's eyes glistened with the fantasies of Adam and her that she spent way too much time thinking about. She may even go as far to admit that storming up those fantasies were a bit of an addiction.

Jo shuffled her feet around and looked away from her friend. "Donny, let's just go eat."

Donovan stopped in her tracks. "Wait, there is more to the story?"

"Of course there is more to the story, Don, but that's not to discuss now. Let's just go eat, okay?"

"What happened?"

Jo groaned at this and turned to face Donovan with tears swelling up in her eyes. "Adam asked me out."

Donovan felt as though a bullet had just been driven through her heart. She looked up at Jo with heavy eyes, shaking her head. "I thought that he and I had something special."

"Donny, it's okay," Jo said, going in for a hug. "It's just time that you learn the difference between reality and fantasy. You spend so much time fantasizing about him that it's sort of ridiculous. You two do talk sometimes, but nothing has ever happened between you two to make your relationship canon. Nothing about it has ever been legit. It's kind of like you thought you were actually dating a fictional character. That's how extraneous it was."

Donovan looked at her friend in horror. "There are some actual, fictional characters that I am dating, for your information. Adam was not one of them. He was legit and lovely. We were going to have such a happy future together, Jo."

Jo bit down on her bottom lip. "Look, you just need to move on."

It took a few minutes and many deep breaths before Donovan felt like she had some sort of a clear mind. She looked at her friend through her blurry eyes and nodded. "You're right. He is a player and was destined to break my heart. I should have just listened to you in the first place."

"It's fine..." Jo said, her words drifting off uncomfortably.

"Well, I'm just glad that it's done. Now we can both move on and ignore him. Wait, will you help me plan some revenge on him? He deserves something for what he put my heart through, you know? Something truly evil." Donovan smacked her lips together, forming a firm line that signaled that she meant business.

Jo cleared her throat. "Well, I – "

Donovan cut her off. "Oh, thanks! I knew you'd be there for me."

" – have something to tell you." Jo finished her sentence, waiting for her friend to give her some attention.

Donovan shrugged her shoulders. "What's up?"

"Adam asked me out." Jo repeated.

"So you said." Donovan's eyebrows knitted together in a confused expression.

"But I never told you what I said."

"Oh?"

Jo bit the inside of her cheek before turning to face her friend. "I said 'Yes'."

*******

Author's Note:

Hey friends!  So here is the second part of my first chapter!  If you enjoyed, make sure to give this a vote, leave a comment, etc.  

Also, I am working on creating daily(?) writing tip videos on YouTube, so make sure that you subscribe!  

I am currently at 3430 words and am off to a good start!  Yay, haha (:  

My goal is 30,000 words, though I would like to exceed 50K...

See you later!  Lots of love,

Ali xoxo