But, as Mr. Meadows would say, encourage him it did not. Jett said nothing more of it. In fact, he told me after school ended that practice would run late and he had an essay to write. “I’ll text you later,” he’d promised, but that did little to assure me, and if I were being honest, he seemed a little…off.
I climbed into bed early that night, feeling very determined to stay focused on positive thoughts. Maybe Jett was distancing himself a little so he could surprise me by answering in some fun way. Yes, that made perfect sense. Things were good.
My phone buzzed with a text just then, and the fact that it was from Jett seemed to prove my point.
Just got back from practice. Gonna crank out this essay now. I missed hanging out today. You free tomorrow night?
The worst part about this text was the fact that I wasnotfree. Mom had made dinner plans with my grandparents before they took off on their month-long vacation to Florida. I’d already begged her to let Jett come along but she said no, insisting that I’d ignore everyone but Jett the entire time. She went on to assure me that we could include him in things like that if we were still dating when her parents got back from Florida.
I stared at my phone for ten solid minutes, wishing there was a way around this whole dinner party. Thoughts of faking sick came to mind, but guilt about not saying goodbye to my grandparents squashed that idea. So I finally relented.
I missed hanging out with you too. I’ve got to do dinner with the grandparents tomorrow night. Maybe after I get back if it’s not too late?
I had to add that part. The truth was, I’d sneak him right into my room that night if I had to. I just wanted to…to make sure I was only imagining Jett’s distant manner.
I stared at the screen, waiting for his response, hoping he’d say that sounded good. When no reply came, I hopped onto social media and scrolled through dozens of posts about couples going to Sadies. I hoped Jett would hurry and answer me so I could write one of thosehe said yesposts as well.
My phone buzzed then, and I swiped over to read his text.
Yeah, that’d be good. I forgot to tell you. Coach says we have to bring our letterman jackets for the assembly tomorrow. Would you mind bringing it?
I clenched my eyes against the sentence, willing it to not penetrate the shield I’d built, but it was already too late. He hadn’t said yes to the dance yet, he hadn’t hung out with me tonight (something he usually tried to do no matter the circumstance), and now he wanted his jacket back. These were signs, weren’t they?
My heart felt like it was growing knots. A dozen of them with sharp and prickly points.
I thought back on our time in his truck Friday night. The intimate moments we’d shared. Had they meant more to me than they had Jett? What if he’d only wanted to use me all along so he could get Tasha back? I tried very hard to reject that idea by reminding myself of the moments we shared when no one else was there.
But what if hehadonly been faking all along? It would make sense for him to panic and pull away once I asked him to the dance. Unless he wanted to use it as a way to make Tasha jealous even still. If that reallywashis incentive, he’d feel bad if he thought I was starting to fall for him. The guy had a conscience, I knew that much.
But then a very ugly thought hit my mind like a train: What if he was waiting for a better offer? Better, as in, from Tasha?
My stomach clenched at the thought.
Come on, Harper. It’s been two days for crying out loud. Give the guy a minute to reply.
But it was more than just his lack of reply that had me in knots. When you add on his distant manner and now the whole jacket thing…
This was my punishment for not helping TJ the way I was meant to. I knew it. I was being selfish by pursuing a man who’d be perfectly healthy with or without me. I should…what, sacrifice my own happiness at theoffchance I could make a difference?
I rolled my eyes at how stupid I sounded. And had I forgotten about the fact that TJ picked Tasha over me by making out with her while we were dating?
“Right,” I muttered to myself.
I felt proud for not letting guilt about TJ bring me to an even lower state. It didn’t take care of my problem with Jett, but at least it didn’t add to it. I realized then that I hadn’t replied to Jett about the jacket. I readied my thumbs, stared at the screen, and wondered if I should just be upfront with him about the dance. Why was I tiptoeing around the issue? So what if it was taboo to talk about until the answer came. The answerhadn’tcome and I only had a few days left to plan.
Okay, so what would I say to him? I tried tapping it out as an idea came to mind.So I know this is kind of awkward…“Oh my gosh, no!” I held a heavy thumb on the delete button until the stupid sentence disappeared.
The cursor was still flashing at me so I tried again.Bailey and Summer were talking about going on a big group date for Saturday. I know you haven’t answered me back yet, but…“No, that’s ridiculous.” I put my thumb into action again, tapping triple time on the delete button.
I’d just have to do it in person. I would. I’d do it first thing in the morning. With my determination set, I tapped out a new reply.
Yeah, I’ll bring your jacket. Night.
I hit send and groaned. “There. You happy?” I snapped to Jett through my phone.
A text popped up in reply.Thanks. Night, Harper. Sweet dreams.
I shook my head and plopped my phone back onto the nightstand. I had no idea what was going on between us, and his texts were only making things worse. Sweet dreams, huh? I was pretty sure I was in for anything but.
