Chapter-19 *Regret or liking* ✔

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

*Jessica's P.O.V*

It was totally my fault. I should have just stopped him as he leaned in. I just couldn't help it. His eyes were asking for permission and I didn't stop him. But why the hell not?

It's not like I also wanted to kiss him.

Or did I?

Ugh!

I looked into his eyes and he stared back, a small amount of guilt flooding through.

'I don't regret kissing you.'

As soon as those five words escaped from his mouth, my brain stopped working. His words echoed in my ears. He was trying to explain something, but I couldn't concentrate. There was only one thing... he wanted to kiss me. But, why?

He likes you!

No, there was no way. He hardly knew anything about me. Maybe it was some kind of infatuation? He was probably only confused and nothing else. Suddenly, he pressed my hands tightly and I realized, he just asked me something, but what was it? I couldn't let him know that I just spaced out.

"What do you want from me?" I asked softly, looking at his hand tightly wrapped against mine.

It was like he was afraid that if he let go of hand, I'll make a run for it.

"Please, don't judge me because of my image. I'm so sorry. I just didn't want to rush such things. It just happened and I couldn't control myself. It won't happen again. Please, don't avoid me after this," I remembered him pleading.

I was surprised after hearing him out. Was he afraid of losing me? I bit my lips nervously. I was hella confused about the situation. I was also afraid of saying anything. I didn't have any control over my big mouth, and I didn't want to hurt him.

"It was also my fault. I should have stopped you." I sighed and closed my eyes for few seconds. "Listen, Max. I want to make one thing clear, I came here for studies, nothing else. Don't expect anything from me. I don't believe in such things. So, please, it will be better off if you keep your distance away from me," I said looking into his eyes.

He looked at me for few seconds, then nodded. Maybe he was trying to process the things I've just said. It all was true, though. I was going back after two years. I didn't want to lead him onto the wrong idea.

"Don't worry. I'll keep that in mind," he replied and forced a smile.

I nodded.

He was definitely hurt!

I didn't know why the fuck I would still be thinking about him. The boy could practically take care of himself. As everyone said, he was a player who doesn't have a heart. So, why was I so concerned about him? I really needed to stay away from him because I could feel my stomach having those stupid butterflies.

It's so frustrating. We both knew that we were going on the wrong path, but we still couldn't do one goddamn thing. You know why? Because we started loving that path. It makes us happy. We forget everything about our family, friends or career. Nothing seemed important. I had already faced such situation once. Now, I was not gonna fool myself again.

"So, are we going inside? Or do you want to ditch again?" Max interrupted my thoughts.

Giving him a quick look, I nodded again.

"Let's go," he said twisting his car keys out of the ignition and climbing out of the car.

I replicate his movements, getting out of the car and waited for him to lock it. After, he stuffed his keys into his trouser pocket and joined me in walking towards our class. I looked at him, his fist was clenched at his sides. His eyes were dark and he seemed lost in thoughts. His face exhibited exhaustion. Ignoring my stare, he closed his eyes for a second and rubbed his temple with his right hand.

I wanted to ask him the reason, but decided against it.

Just leave him.

Don't give him any wrong ideas!

We were in the corridor when suddenly, I heard a voice calling for Max. I turned around and saw two boys were coming in our direction. There was also a girl with them and when I looked carefully, she was the same girl who introduced herself as the head girl, Tiffany.

I gulped.

Did she find out about my little trick?

No way!

They were coming in our direction. I looked at Max and he gave me an assuring nod. Max took a step forward and stood in front of me, facing them.

"Whoa, little Indian girl. Good to see you again, but why are you hiding behind Max? As far I remember, you wanted to be my friend, right?" Tiffany said lifting her eyebrows.

I took a step to the side to stand beside Max.

"I'm not hiding from anyone. Ah, I don't need to and I prefer to make friends rather than enemies," I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes.

"Wow, girl knows how to speak! Great!" a blonde guy, who was standing next to her, said.

He was wearing a black leather jacket and blue faded jeans. He looked like some kind of loafer (Indian word,which can be translated to hobo).

"I agree, dude!" the other guy chuckled.

"What do you want?" Max finally interrupted.

"Just wanted to meet your new girl or should I say, 'the New Toy', but. . . ugh! She is so ugly," Tiffany said and smirked.

"I'm not a mirror, Head Girl, and what are you? The Human Barbie?" I retorted back, making a disgusted face.

"Of course! Tall and beautiful," she answered, happily flipping her hair.

"No, full of plastic with no brain," I replied sarcastically.

"You bitch-" Tiffany hissed.

"Tiffany, don't you dare. Stay away from her." Max glared at her.

"Why? You already hooked with her or something?" She smirked.

I gasped. How could she say something like that?

"Tiffany-" Max was about to say something when someone interrupted him.

"Relax dude! Why are you getting so possessive about her? What's so special to make you break your own rules?" the black leather jacket guy said.

"Cole, you're talking nonsense." Max glared at him and turned towards me. "We're getting late for class. Let's go," he said, grabbing my hand.

"Really dude-" the other guy whose name was Cole began, but stopped as Max placed a hand over his chest and pushed him back.

"I said, 'we are getting late.' Talk to you later," Max said shooting him a death glare.

"Fine but we're not done here," Cole hissed.

"Let's go guys," Tiffany declared and started walking, holding hands with the other guy who was watching the whole scene.

"See you soon, sweetheart," Cole said and winked in my direction.

"You . . ." Max opened his mouth but Cole burst out laughing.

"Wow, this is so interesting," he said and grinned before walking outside, following Tiffany.

I was glued to my place from the shock. What just happened? From the way they looked at me, it was easy to figure out their hatred towards me, but the question was, why?

Now, I truly understood Nina's words:

Get ready to become the hot gossip of our college because you've Max's attention.’

I turned towards Max and gave him a questioning look. He just shrugged and started walking.

"Max, wait," I said and grabbed his hand.

"We're going to be late for the test," he said, showing me his watch.

"Screw the test. Tell me everything right now," I said stubbornly, tightening the grip on his hand.

"It's a very important test. You shouldn't miss it. I'll tell you everything, but after the test." He shoved his hands on his pockets.

I looked at him for few seconds and realized he was genuinely concerned about my studies. I came to NYU to fulfill my dreams and here, I was skipping such an important test because of some stupid rumors.

I sighed.

Max was right. I nodded and started walking with him. Thankfully, we make it on time, otherwise Mrs. Ryder wouldn't allow us to take the test and gave us an automatic zero.

The test went awesome and it was because of Max's notes. He was truly a genius. I was really impressed with his intelligence. Apart from good looks, he also has a brain.

Wait! Good looks?

Of course, I was also affected by his charms. As soon as the class ended, Max rushed outside but, this time, I wouldn't let him go.

"Someone is waiting for you," I informed Max, who was putting his stuff in his locker.

He turned and looked at me with a surprised expression on his face.

"Oh, really? Please tell them, I'm bit busy right now. We’ll meet later," he said and closed his locker.

"Don't act like a smart aleck, Max. You're coming with me-right now," I said, pointing a finger at him.

"Please don't take advantage of me." He lifted his hands in surrender, earning a glare from me.

"Fine, alright," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Where?" I asked confused.

"Well, if you've already decided to skip the class, then let's have a bit of fun." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "Max, I'm serious. I want to know what was happening and why Tiffany-"

Before I could say more, Max interrupted me. "I already told you don't worry about it, I will handle it. You just need to avoid them, okay? Now, let's go, you shouldn't skip classes," Max said in a serious tone.

"You are not my father, so stop telling me what to do and not to do. We're skipping and that's final," I ordered, grabbing his hand and started walking in the opposite direction.

"What? Are you gonna skip again? Wow, one day with me and you already started loving my company so much." He smirked but I ignored him and continued walking. "Jessica, wait. Where are you going?"

I ignored him again and dragged him into the same classroom where he took me yesterday.

Since when did I start ignoring my studies? I'm screwed.

I closed the door and sat on the bench.

"Now, spit everything," I said crossing my arms above my chest.

He chuckled. "You look so cute in this serious posture."

I rolled my eyes to hide my smile.

Oh, God! Here, I was trying to be serious so I could have some answers and he was trying to ignore the topic by complimenting my posture.

"Don't act smart, Max. You can't avoid the question," I said giving him a serious look.

He sighed. "You won't let it this go, will you? Right?"

"No, because it's related to me. So, I have every right to know, and I also want to know about the pictures stunt. Tell me everything, Max," I demanded.

He looked at me nervously, grabbed a chair near me and sat down.

"I know you have every right but as I said earlier, I can handle it. You don't need to worry. Why are you making it such a big deal? You came here for studies, so just concentrate on it," he said looking bit worried.

He was definitely hiding something and maybe I would have ignored it before, but now, I really want to know what's up.

"You don't need to remind me of that. This is something related to me, damn, just tell me quickly. I don't want to skip the next class," I said a bit frustrated.

He closed his eyes shut for few seconds, then sighed. "You already know Tiffany, and other two were Cole and Nathan."

I nodded. "Okay."

"Well, Cole took our pictures and published them."

"What? But, why?" I was shocked to know Cole was behind this.

"He has some hidden agenda behind this. He wants something from me. It's nothing to do with you, that's why I didn't tell you earlier," he said, avoiding my gaze.

He was definitely hiding something.

"What does he want from you? And he mentioned something about breaking your own rules. What's that?"

He nervously scratched his neck. "I don't know what he wants, and I had some rules in my life, which are broken now, so it doesn't matter anymore."

"What rules?" I asked curiously.

I knew I was going to regret this later. I should have left the topic here, but this damn curiosity got the best of me.

"You really want to know?" He lifted his eyebrow and moved his chair closer to me.

I nodded, swallowing hard.

"It was something with dating girls, I don't usually do that stuff," he said slowly. "But I broke them already, so I think we should leave them, right?" he asked me and smirked.

We weren't dating and there was nothing between Max and me . . .

Ugh, my life was such a mess!

I remembered every moment we've spent together. Did he break his rules for me? I was speechless from the shock.

What should I do now?

Should I ask him about this?

Go for it, Jazz!

"So, according to Cole, you broke these rules." I glanced at his eyes and searched for answers.

Then with a whisper, I asked, "Was it for me?"

"What you think?" he said softly, closing the gap between us.

We were only a few inches away, which increased my heartbeat. Sweat started forming in my head and I felt my cheeks burning. My head was spinning now.

Before I could say anything, he tilted his head to the right and gave me his rare heart taking, genuine smile. My heart stopped beating for a few seconds and I forgot to take a breath. His smile just took my heart away. I looked at his perfectly curved lips and felt the sudden urge to touch them. I snapped back to reality when he suddenly stood up from his chair and started walking towards the door. I looked at him in confusion as his hand rested on the door handle, turning to face me again.

"I can understand your hesitation as we're from different worlds, Jessica. I know you don't believe in such things, but do me a favor. Stop running. Things can happen if you really want them to. See you later."

I blinked hard and looked at him dumbfounded. He waited for few seconds, shot a disappointed nod, and walked away.

I stared at the door and realized, he was gone. Absentmindedly, I grabbed my bag and started walking.

He was wrong. I wasn't running. Infact, I was living in reality. I didn't want to give him any kind of false hope.

I knew, It was unfair. I was bounding myself with the sort of things to become an ideal daughter. But, I couldn't let down my parents. I was here to fulfill my dreams, and the last thing I want was distraction.

Mahi told me that I should 'live a little,' but right now, I had everything I needed. I was smart enough to make decisions about my life. I didn't want any kind of emotional mess in my life.

However, with Max, I felt like I could be who exactly I was. I had never skipped classes, but with Max, I did, and I didn't have any regrets about it. Even, I enjoyed it. I realized the fact that there was still a little kid alive inside me who wanted to experience everything. I could do those things with him, which I normally wouldn't.

But the thing is, I didn't know him and he didn't know me. How could I allow him into my life? How would I be so sure that he wouldn't break my heart?

No one could answer me, so better I stay away from him!

There was no way I was going to accept my crush.

This is forbidden for me.

God, please help me!

******

How was the chapter?

Do you think Jessica is doing right by ignoring her feelings?

Vote and Comment!

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net