Chapter 24: JEAN'S CRUSH LIST
Jean loved the way Alas talked to her. She thought he was being sweet and a gentleman. With his arms around her, she felt warm and wanted. She was actually and genuinely enjoying his company.
The inner goddess slash cheerleader in her was doing all the cartwheels and cheering. It had been a long time since she had a date with her at a party.
Well, it had only been a few months, to be honest, but that last date was disappointing, to say the least, she corrected. Oh my god! Did I just call Rich Jackson disappointing?
For a long time, she thought Rich Jackson, who was Fram Hill High's best dressed with those pin-up boy looks, was anything hot but unexciting.
Maybe her date with Rich Jackson was not really that disappointing. She just didn't see any spark between them. Because of this reason, she marked an X over his name in her Crush List.
She kept a Crush List wherein she wrote everything about her crushes--from their names to shoe sizes to favorite food to "Does he snore or not?" and etc. Even the number of girlfriends they already had.
This year, she had four crushes listed on it: Rich Jackson, Ryan Gosling, Chris Hemsworth, and her ultimate crush, Franklin "Frankie" Bosworth.
Yep! She had a thing for blonds with soul-melting eyes and mouth-watering abs.
Since Rich Jackson already had an X over his name, she was left with three crushes for the year.
Right now, she was not thinking about panicking over having only three crushes because the chocolate brown-haired boy whose arms were wrapped tight around her might just complete her top 4.
She always kept her list to only the top 4.
Jean looked up at Alas and could only smile. She pressed herself even closer to him. She was so close that she inhaled his scent, memorized it, and maybe prayed to dream of it tonight.
He smelled like fall leaves and sunsets. Sweet. Her inner goddess slash cheerleader was jumping up and down in utter encouragement and need to flirt.
Was it what she had been waiting for her entire life? The ultimate romance of her youth? She hoped it was.
Fortunately, people at Douglas' party recovered from Jake Wright and Ray Carter's very public confrontation. Jean thought that it nearly ruined the party. She scanned the room's vibe and knew that what happened between the two guys wasn't a biggie after all. She reminded herself that a confrontation like that was pretty normal for the school troublemakers.
Sure, it left people shaken, tensed, and hanging. "Who has the bigger dick?" anticipation was felt among spectators.
Jean thought there would be blood right there and then. To everyone's relief, nobody had to call the cops.
Shaking her head, she could only think of one reason why Jake and Ray were so revved up to beat each other to death.
It was not a small fight over weed like what poor Guy Lowell cried about.
The real reason was a terrible one. And a party like tonight's was not the right place to open it up carelessly like a can of worms.
Jean looked around the crowd again. She watched her best friend, Lily, walking out from the living room to the back patio. She wondered if the petite and usually awkward girl knew why Jake and Ray hate each other.
And if she did, how did she feel about it all?
Speaking of Lily, Jean wanted to talk to her earlier. There was something she got to tell her.
Though she loved to stay in his embrace, she told Alas that she was going out for a while and would be back in a sec. Alas nodded and continued his chat with his some of his friends from the baseball team.
On Jean's way to the back patio, she saw Frankie talking, standing in one of the darker corners. He was with a brunette cheerleader.
No! Jean's inner goddess slash cheerleader immediately told her to stop reacting every time and at everything about the guy. But she was a stubborn she-devil redhead, so she walked real fast past both Frankie and she-who-can't-be-named-whose-name-starts-with-M and pretended to trip and spill her beer on the cheerleader's cheap heels.
Ha! That felt good!
There was a shocked gasp, of course, from she-who-can't-be-named-whose-name-starts-with-M. Jean didn't stop walking or care to apologize. She did not stop to see Frankie's reaction either.
The truth was that she couldn't look at him.
She was mad. Her only thought was: Mine, mine, mine!
She just headed straight to the back patio. No time to deal with the consequence of her jealousy.
Finally, Jean spotted Lily sitting alone on the patio steps. She sat next to her friend. "Hey, Lil. What's up?"
Lily only shrugged as her reply.
"As stiff as ever, huh? I see."
As if needing comfort, she replied, "As always," then put her head on Jean's right shoulder. "I'm just cold."
Jean could only blink. Twice. "Oh. I have a sweater with me. Let me get it. Do you want to go home now?"
"I think so."
Lily closed her eyes and tried to hum the lullaby her mom used to sing to her. She put her arms around her body. "Do you think fall is the most beautiful season of the year?"
Jean answered, "Hmm... I guess. It's beautiful. I still think summer is the best though. Why do you ask?"
A shrug, "Nothing really. In my opinion, fall is beautiful. It reminds me of the big city. You should see it in the fall season, Jean. It's nostalgic. Tonight, I feel nostalgic. It's as if I can feel the coldness of the city air. The smell. The night rush. Must be the beer talking though. With my eyes closed right now, my skin feels the breeze, and, with that, my skin tingles with sensations of the place I grew up in. I miss the train. The sound of the chirping birds by the river, and the busy people and their phones. The traffic. Try it. Feel the cold air on your skin."
"Seriously?"
Lily nodded.
Jean closed her eyes and let the cold air caress her skin. At first, she felt funny. Should she be feeling something magical here? She was trying.
After a few moments of trying to feel what was there to feel, like really feel, she finally felt the tingles. She shivered and, all of a sudden, a picture of long walks in parks with falling, in slow motion, dried maple leaves and empty rusted swings entered her mind. Unbelievably too, she could almost smell the familiar scent of fall--the scent of cool air and sunset combined in one exquisite fragrance.
Strangely enough, it reminded her of Alas.
And Frankie.
She wrinkled her nose at the thought of him.
Her memories of Fram Hill in slow motion and in a swift experience of tingles dawned on her, sensitizing her. She felt something inside her.
She might sound silly, but she was surprised that something so silly felt so good.
"So?" Lily asked.
"Oh, Lily. I love you, babe." Jean hugged her so tight, all the while giggling "Remind me to do it again next time when I'm feeling all dramatic and sentimental."
"I do it when I'm alone. I believe I started this weird feel-the-wind-on-your-skin act when I came here in Fram Hill and cried for the first time because mom was away." She shrugged and straightened herself from sitting. "It's no biggie. And yeah, it's for sentimental girls. Too sentimental that they think feeling the wind on their skin makes sense."
"Yeah. Who would have thought that the Stiff was so extra?"
Lily only rolled her eyes at Jean's comment. "Right! I am so extra."
Jean thought her best friend was done talking. She was wrong. Lily started, "I believe you got something to tell me. Spill it now."
That got Jean excited. "The beer? I already did earlier. But did you mean T? I can spill some."
***
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
TheMerryTroll
TheMerryTroll Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays, everyone!
I will be changing a few details about the story but please do not worry. It's nothing that would change the entire plot.
I am looking forward to the year 2022.
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