And eyes, without speaking, confess the secrets of the heart.

[St. Jerome]

*****

"Jamie Hawkins! Hold it right there! Why am I just finding out from Kyle that you and Josh went on a date?!!", Tory was a force to be reckoned with as she marched through the empty corridor, charging on to unleash her fury on me.

She was like a hurricane, aimed at destroying me, I could see why there was a hurricane called Victoria...

I opened my mouth to explain, to tell her that I did try telling her last night but her phone was dead. Maybe if she'd listened to her voicemail for once she'd see that I left about a thousand messages asking her to call me.

The bell went off before I could say anything though, and I ran to class, saved by the bell.

Maybe that was a bit cowardly but talking to an angry Tory's no ride at the park.

I walked into English with a smile on my face, earning a suspicious look from Miss Summers, and heading straight to my seat by the window.

Josh was sitting in his usual spot next to me, and I panicked a bit, smile slightly slipping off my face.

He hadn't called me last night and I rode the bus with Tory this morning. He did leave a message though, telling me he couldn't come and pick me up, he just didn't say why.

And I couldn't stop thinking, What if yesterday didn't mean much to him...

Maybe he got caught up in the moment, and now that it was over didn't want to have anything to do with me...

I could feel his eyes on me as I dropped my bag below my desk, and hid behind my hair, but I refused to look up at him, I was afraid that he'd see how confused and hurt I was, and I didn't want him to see that.

Ignoring him took all of my willpower, but some how I managed to do that.

It was well into the class when a note landed on my desk. I'd been trying to avoid Josh's gaze and Tory's questioning glance since.

I opened it hesitantly, not knowing from whom it was, and not really sure who I was least wary of.

"So... how was your date? You have to tell me every single detail about it later, I'm coming over to your house. And why are you giving each other the silent treatment? I really hope nothing went wrong, I told you you guys look cute together, it'd be a shame if you called it quits without even trying- Tory. P.S, I forgive you for not telling me this time coz now we're even."

I picked up the piece of paper and scrunched it up, not bothering to reply because I didn't exactly know what to tell her.

Minutes after that, the bell rang, and I shot out of my seat like it was on fire, beating every single student out of the class.

I got to the art class a lot earlier than I usually did, earning a look and a raised eyebrow from Miss Evans who was just setting up the last of the art materials.

I smiled at her as I made my way to my usual spot, breathing in the familiar smell of paint. I lined up my paint brushes and mixed up some paint as the rest of the class slowly trickled in.

Finally the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the class and I felt myself slowly beginning to relax.

A few minutes later, I was deep in concentration when a small voice startled me out of my thoughts, "Hey, are you okay Jamie?", Allie asked from beside me. She had a genuine look of concern on her face, and I wondered how I looked at that moment.

"Yes, I'm fine Allie, honestly.", I smiled to show her I was ok and after a minute or two she was finally convinced and went back to her work.

I was painting a field, with a red tractor and rows of corn in it, and a paddock by the side with cows and two horses grazing in it. It was the same field Josh took me to on our date at the farm, and the two horses were Sugarplum and Hurricane.

I finished painting and had just finished washing my brushes when the bell rang. So I packed up my stuff and head out of the class, I'd just set foot out when I heard, "Jamie, um, hi."

I turned round to see Dean, a boy from my art class whom I'd never talked to standing behind me. I only knew his name coz he was on the football team and was surprised he even knew mine.

"Hi Dean...", I trailed off, not knowing what to say to him.

"I liked your painting, it was really beautiful", he said, making me blush and wondering how he even saw it.

"Oh, um, thank you...". I said. He didn't say anything else, and the silence was getting too uncomfortable for me, so I turned around and started walking again.

I was about to keep walking towards the school's main doors when he said, "It's still not as beautiful as you though.", abruptly stopping me in my tracks and making me blush a deeper shade of red.

At that moment, I was both flattered and irritated if that's possible, And I didn't know why, so I fumbled around for an answer, but before I could answer him, someone else did.

"Quit flirting with my girlfriend O'Neil.", Josh's voice had a low and dangerous quality to it and at first that was all I could focus on until what he said truly clicked.

He did not just call me his girlfriend.

I narrowed my eyes at him but he was still glaring at Dean who was standing behind me.

"Sorry bro, I didn't know she was yours", Dean said, in a placating tone.

"Yeah well now you know.", Josh said, and seeming oblivious to my dark mood, pulled me along after him, still giving off that possessive vibe.

I breathed in and out deeply through my nose, trying to keep my anger in check till I was sitting in his car and we were peeling out of the parking lot.

"I can't remember being your girlfriend.", I said in a flat tone, barely containing the anger that tried to seep into my words.

He was at least decent enough to look guilty as he said, "I thought that was what we were, I mean, I thought we were dating, no sorry, I mean, I thought that was already implied."

"You did not ask me out.", I said in that same tone, curling my hands into fists on my thighs.

"I thought I didn't have to.", he said, obviously not realising that he had just dug a deeper grave for himself.

He did not just say that.

"You thought what?!", I screeched, no longer able to contain my anger, "Stop this car right now! I'm walking home!!"

"Come on, Jamie, please be reasonable, we're still really far from your house.", he wasn't even a bit fazed by it.

I could feel tears threatening to fall down my cheeks, and I was not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry, "Stop this car Josh, or I swear I'll open the door and get out whether you stop or not.", I ground out through clenched teeth, partly to stop the tears from falling and partly to stop myself from shouting at him.

That got him to pull over by the roadside, and turn to me with a you're-making-a-big-deal-out-of-nothing look. Before he could open his mouth and say something though, I was already out of the car and slamming the door hard, behind me.

"Jamie, you're being ridiculous."

"Just go away Josh! please, just leave me alone.", I replied, not bothering to look back at him as I shouldered my bag and started the long trek back home.

I could hear him coming out of the car and coming after me but I refused to look at him still. In the end he found out it was useless trying to get me back in the car so he went back and drove off.

After trekking for twenty minutes or so, the adrenaline began to wear off and I felt the tears falling down my cheeks. And I was tired so I pulled my phone out of my bag and called Tory.

She picked up on the third ring, sounding like her usual bubbly self, and I just started crying harder.

"Tory please can you come and pick me up?", I managed to choke out, "I'm half way between the school and my house."

"Jamie, what?! Why are you walking home? Where's Josh?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "Please just come and pick me."

I don't know what it was, maybe it was the fatigue she heard in my voice, or she just felt sorry for me, the next thing I knew she was saying, "Ok, hold on, I'll just get my car keys".

And then she hung up. I dropped my bag on the ground and stood by the roadside waiting for her to come.

She got there about ten minutes later, and I don't think I'd ever been so relieved to see someone as I was then.

I got in and threw my bag on the back seat, and kept my eyes ahead as I said, "Thanks."

"What are friends for? Now are you going to tell me what happened". She said it like a sentence not a question, so I told her everything, starting from Josh and I's date the day before.

"...And then he said he thought he didn't have to ask me out.", I finished, "That really hurt, I guess now I know he doesn't really value me. Or maybe he thought there was no way I could say no, like how could I resist him."

"No, don't say that Jamie, I know Josh likes you a lot...", she started, but I cut her off.

"Stop it. Just stop it. I thought you'd understand, but there you go, defending him.", I said, even more hurt than I was earlier.

"I'm not defending him, I'm just trying to make you see things from his point of view, and you didn't let me finish what I was saying.", She dead-panned.

I just ignored her and kept on looking ahead, you could say at that moment, I wasn't going to be reasoned with.

******

Hola people!! ^_^

So there! That's the seventh chapter :D

OMG! The seventh chapter :O 😱😱 I've written seven chapters already. Get out!!

This story is just so easy to write, once I start, everything just flows, and sometimes it feels like I'm actually listening to Jamie as she tells me about her life and then writing it all down. It's even easier to write than "Falling" and I honestly wasn't expecting that.

I got the idea for this chapter from someone really close to me though, so close in fact that we're like one person, so I guess that's why it was so easy to write.

Anyway, I'm going straight to dedications, and today's dedication is to @maryamabu15 for being such a gem.

The song of the day is One More Night by Maroon5, kind of old, I know. But it's the closest I got to matching this chapter to a song.

Apologies to whoever's reading "Falling" too, I promise I'll update it really soon, and thank you for being patient with me.

Please don't forget to VCAF if you like this chapter though.

Also, spot a mistake? Kindly point it out.

Thank you <3

XOXO- Zara