Help a girl out.

Chapter Eight.

Jessie's POV.

Today was my first day of classes. I somehow can’t believe that I’m in college now. I’m mentally beat, even though it was the first day and most of the classes were just introductions. I wasn’t really expecting it to be so different from high school, but I was wrong about that. I need to stay focused, something tells me it won’t take much to get behind. I was pleasantly surprised to see Julian was in the same English class as me. He sat in the row in front of me, and kept turning around and smiling at me. After class was over, he asked if he would see me at the diner later. I told him probably since I’m on the evening shift. 

I just got off the phone with my dad telling him about my first day, and now I have time for a quick shower before my shift starts. I won’t have time for as many shifts as I’ve taken now that classes have begun, but I like working there and getting to hang out with Lily when we share a shift. Her mom is totally cool too. If I didn’t know it was her mother I wouldn’t have thought it. Lily is just like her mother.

Freshly showered and changed for my shift, I walk in the back door of the diner, putting my stuff in my little locker in the employee office. Right as I’m about to go get to work, Lily comes to stand in front of me with the biggest smile on her face.. “Hey girl..” She looks me up and down, and gives me something like an approving nod.. “..so there’s someone asking for you in booth 4.” She says almost pushing me through the swing doors leading to the restaurant. “Wh..what?” Is all i get to croak out, kind of confused, looking behind me to see that Lily is already behind the counter smiling and nodding her head towards the booth, sending me a wink before going back to fill up some guests' empty coffee cups. Walking towards the booth, I’m surprised to see that Julian is sitting there alone. “Hi.” I say, feeling kind of shy now that I’m standing here in front of him. “Hey Jess.. Is it okay I call you Jess? I’ve heard Lily call you that.” He gives me a smile. “Yeah, that’s fine.. So you’re here alone tonight?” I ask, not really knowing what to say. “Yeah, I actually wanted to ask you something..” He says.. “..can you sit for a few minutes?” Okay! Now I’m really nervous. I look over to where Lily is still behind the counter talking to another guest. Right now it’s not that busy and I have a little time before the dinner rush starts, so I sit down. Julian is a good looking guy, with blond hair, really deep green eyes and tall, not as tall as Liam and Marc though.. His body is lean, but it looks fit even with clothes on. I overheard some girls from our English class swoon over him earlier today. I smile at the thought. “So, Jess.. I was wondering.. Um.. Do you have a boyfriend?” He asks, and I have to hold in a snort. I hear the bell above the door ring, knowing someone just walked in, but I’m too distracted by Julian's question to look that way. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend.” I answer looking down at the table, my nervousness at an all-time high! It’s quiet for a moment, I look back at Julian, seeing him with a big smile. “That’s great! You wanna hang out with me on Friday?” Now Julian almost seems kind of nervous. “Um.. Sure.. I mean um.. Yes, I would like to go out with you on Friday.. I mean.. Um.. hang out..” I stubble my way through the words, twisting my fingers in my lap and if I chew anymore on my bottom lip it’s gonna bleed. Julian chuckles. “Just to make things clear, I’m asking you out on a date…”

Liam’s POV.

Football practice today was brutal. I’m totally beat and can't be bothered to try and cook anything for dinner. Marc went home to spend the evening with his dad after practice. So I've decided to pick up something to eat from the diner.

I walk in the diner, heading straight for the booth we normally sit in. Maybe I’ll just eat here. I look around and my eyes catch sight of Jess. She’s sitting in a booth a couple of booths away from me. She looks kind of uncomfortable, and I’m about to get up and go over to find out why she looks like that, when I hear the guy sitting in front of her chuckle. I can only see the back of his head, but I’ve heard that laugh before. Then Jess starts to laugh, and I look more closely. Wait! Are they flirting? I can’t hear what they are saying, it’s all just muffled, but I can see the smile on her face, and her cheeks are more pink than usual. She’s definitely flirting. Who the hell is the guy? A part of me wants to go over there and warn him right from the start. If he’s any kind of bad news, then he will have to answer to Marc, and also me! I might not be her brother or anything, but f*ck me, if anyone ever hurts her while I’m around! I watch as she pulls her phone out of her pocket and hands it over to him. She still looks kind of nervous, but I also see some excitement in her features. She takes her phone back and puts it away, and with a last smile in the guy's direction, she gets up and walks in my direction. She sees me, smiles and walks over. “Hi, how was practice?” She asks. “Good, thanks. So who’s the guy?” I ask, raising my eyebrows. With a tilted smirk on my lips, I nod in the direction she came from.. Her cheeks are more red than pink now. “Oh, um.. He’s just a guy from my English class.” I can see her shifting her weight between one leg to the other. “He asked you out, didn’t he?” “How did you know?” I chuckle at her surprise. “I recognize the ‘I just got asked out’ look on your face.. And also you are a good looking girl, so why wouldn’t he?” She looks shocked for a moment, but then her facial expression relaxes. “You’re right, he did ask me out.. we are going out on Friday.” She looks down at the table before quickly continuing “So, what can I get for you?” I guess she doesn’t want to talk to me about her date then, I’m good with that, I don’t really want to hear about it either. Though truthfully, a part of me wants to know everything. If I don’t know anything, then I can’t protect her. But I let her change the subject. “I’ll have the club sandwich and some fries.. Oh and to go please”. I’d rather eat at home now. I can’t lie, the prospect of her going on a date with some random guy bothers me more than I'd like to admit..