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Jacob's p.o.v

This is my worst nightmare ever. I literally have the coolest guy in the whole school sitting across from me in the library. We've been sitting in silence for quite a while. I'm most certian now that he's not here to murder me because he wanted to know if I was okay after I almost died of embarrassment in front of him. I'm patiently waiting for the real me to wake up from this terrible long dream.

I currently have my book in front of me taking occasional glances at him when he's not looking. He's just tossing my pencils around looking tedious and I don't know what to do.

Should I speak? If I do what should I say?

I gulp cautiously with the fear that he might hear it and murder me when the librarian is not looking. The feeling of doubt crawls under my skin causing a shiver to erupt on my body while I examine him attentively trying to figure out his intentions. If he is scheming a way to deceive me in his head I have to be watchful otherwise he might trick me as Deshaun did and I won't be able to get out of this one.

I glance at his impossibly enormous hands on the table moving around with my pencils. He has very broad fingers that will easily snap my weak bones in two. I follow the traces of the stunning tattoos on his arms. The drawing is so beautifully done and extremely breathtaking. I quickly turn my attention to the book in front of me when I notice the sudden stop of his hand movements on the table.

"What book are you reading" I hear him say not too long after and I lower my book only showing my eyes with the rest of my face covered.

"M-me?" I ask to be sure if I'm really the one he's speaking to. Instead of answering he looks around as if he's searching for something.

"I take it as we're the only ones here unless you're seeing things" he says shrugging and crosses his big arms over his solid chest making a wave of nervousness run through me.

"A-are you h-here to crush m-me with your b-big arms?" I blabber out with a crack in my voice and a small smile appears on his face but not for long.

"So you think they big huh?" He asks looking at me with the smirk I know all too well. His eyebrows go up at the silence from my side and I couldn't do anything else but ramble.

"Y-yes a-and you're v-very tall, n-not that I w-was l-looking. I t-totally wasn't l-looking at you i-in the hall or s-secretly glancing a-at you just n-now. I was r-reading this a-amazing book. S-so p-please don't h-hit me. I don't w-want to die" I plead putting the book down and both of his hands go up.

"It's aight, you good. I ain't going to hit you. Why do you come all the way to the back, there's some other people in the front reading like you" he says when he sees the look on my face.

"I r-rather sit a-alone h-here" I say looking everywhere but him but I can still see how he keeps nodding his head in my peripheral vision.

"And you fine with all the dust here in the back?"

"Y-yes" I squeak out with a lump in my throat almost inaudible. The students here have no filter whatsoever and they never hesitate to speak the truth. When they dislike something or someone they make it known and that's exactly what a group did to me here in the library. My first day coming here I walked boldly to a group full of my classmates and sat down. This caused some of them to get up and walk away. The ones who didn't clearly told me how much of a wimp I was and that I should immediately find another table. Since all the tables were occupied I walked all the way to the back and sat at the one I'm currently on.

"Jericho Park, the name kinda suits you" I hear him mumble more to himself pulling me out of my thought.

"It's Jacob Park" I say rubbing my thumbs on each other under the table and a silent oh comes from him.

"Jacob Park? Yeah that one suits your quiet personality. The name's Arthur White, but I prefer Arthur" he says bringing his hand close to me and I flinch.

"It's supposed to be a fistbump" he says chuckling and I internally facepalm myself.

"Oh" I say connecting mine with his lightly and swiftly pull my hand back when I feel sparks but I ignore them.

"You funny, I like that. Sitting here with you ain't as bad as they make it sound. I'mma stay here" he states reaching for my book. The nails of my thump go to my mouth as I'm watching him turn the pages of my book. The more I stare the more what he just said confuses me.

Why does he want to stay here? Why does he think I'm funny and why does he like that?

"W-why are y-you doing t-this?" comes out of my mouth gawking at him and his head goes up.

"Doing what"

"N-nobody talks t-to me unless they w-want something so what i-is it that you w-want" I go on with the fear of what he might do.

"I don't mind hanging out with you, you kinda cool. Don't sweat it, aight?" He says with his head leaning on his palm. I blink rapidly in disbelief while we look at each other.

"Y-you're not g-going to prank m-me?" I ask him with my gaze falling on the floor.

"Naah, you good"

Good? I am not good, I'm terrified

"Is t-this a trick? B-because Draya s-said that y-you hate m-me and t-that's why you n-never s-sit w-with them, so w-why are you h-here" I ask and try to suppress tears when I feel the stings in my eyes. I bow my head to avoid him at all cost.

I hear ruffling coming from his side and he hits the table with his hand to catch my attention.

"Jacob" but I don't answer.

He hits it lightly once more making me sink into my sweater.

"Park"

Nothing

"Look at me" he says in a different tone and my head unwillingly goes up shocking me.

"I ain't mean to scare you" he says when he sees my surprised gaze and I shake my head. His voice strangely didn't scare me. The fact that I just couldn't deny his command shocked me.

"This ain't a trick aight? I don't tolerate niggas that beat on others. It ain't fair how they treating you thinking that it's cool either so I'mma help you out cause you obviously scared of them. If I say you good then you good" he assures me shrugging like it's the most normal thing he's ever said.

In my mind he just asked me to be his friend and I'm freaking out.

Nobody ever told me that they would help me out at school before. I'm never noticed and all of a sudden this new person comes allong and says that. I search for a lie on his face but all I see is his serious expression.

"A-are y-you m-" I was about to ask when I was cut off.

"Park?" I hear out of nowhere and we both turn our heads towards where the voice came from seeing the librarian standing there in full confusion.

"What are you two still doing back here. The bell rang 35 minutes ago for another class, you skipped a class. You both need to leave immediately, I'm closing the library" she says coming closer and my eyes widen.

"T-t-thirty f-f-f-five!?" I ask with my fingers trembling now.

I skipped class!?

"Yes and you two need to leave. When did you start skipping classes too Park? Pack your things" she says making the state I'm in worse than it was before. I quickly reach for my pencil but it keeps slipping off my hands because of my trembling fingers while her and Arthur watch.

Arthur looks at my helpless state and reaches for my bag. He takes the pencils from my hand and puts them somewhere in my bag. He closes it and wears one strap on his shoulder with his bag on the right. I just sit there with my body glued to the chair in panic and the librarian looks at me with a face full of concern.

"Come on, let's go" Arthur says pulling me from my chair and I get up. His enormous hand goes to mine and we quickly walk out into the empty hallways. He lets go of my hand and shakes my shoulder slightly.

"You good?" he asks and I shake my head absentmindedly.

"C-class, I s-skipped c-class" I utter in a trembling voice. This has never happened before.

"This is your first time skipping class?" he asks in surprise and I nod rapidly.

"We late as fuck. We gone get detention if we go now" he says and I squeak.

"D-d-detention?" I almost yell and he chuckless.

"Naah You ain't going to class like this plus you look like you're gonna faint any minute. Detention is about to give you a heart attack. Let's just get out of here. we only got two classes left anyways" he says and my eyes almost come out of their socket.

"S-skip m-more? Miss Alyssa i-is going t-to kill me" I stop him abruptly.

"Don't worry about it, I'mma take you home and explain everything to your mom. Come on let's go find something to eat cause I'm starving" he tells me pulling me by my hand once again and I let him. We walk out of the school and I can't help but turn my head to look at the school full of pity. We head to the parking lot with him assuring me that everything is going to be all right while I keep exhaling to suppress a panic attack.

"M-my c-car" I say when we pass my car.

"That's your ride?" He asks and I nod.

"Mine's over there but I can drive yours since I'mma take you home" he tells me and I take the key out of my bag that he's carrying and hand it over to him.

I hope I'm not making a mistake going with him. Nothing bad will happen if we're in my car right?

"Come sit in the car before you faint on me" he says jokingly opening the door and I get in. My eyes follow him after he closes my door and walk to the other side. He throws the bags to the backseat when he finally sits down.

"S-seatbelt" I remind him and he looks at my face squinting his eyes.

"W-what" I ask cautiously.

"You feeling better now?" He asks and I nod playing with my fingers but he doesn't turn his face.

"I g-guess" I say and he wears the seatbelt.

~~

We were driving for a while around the neighbourhood with soft music playing in the background. I swing my head when a familiar song that I like comes on tapping my thighs lightly looking out of the window. The sudden realisation hits me that I didn't give Arthur my address but I'm not panicking at all.

I swing my head to the song that's playing on the radio until I suddenly get the urge to look at Arthur. I slowly let my eyes wander from his hand on the steering wheel to his face and just to my luck, our eyes meet. I'm not sure what to do so I give him a small smile and exhale in satisfaction when his gaze turns back to the road.

"So where we going" he asks catching me of guard.

"H-home?" I say a bit unsure.

"Yeah but that's after we eat something. You ain't hungry?" He asks turning towards me when we stop at a redlight.

"I am a l-little" I say crumbling under his steady stare.

"So what do you wanna eat?" he asks full of patience waiting for me to answer his question. If only he knew that I don't have any idea what I want.

"A-anything is fine" I tell him and he frowns.

"You got a place you like to go? McDonald's? Popeyes? IHOP? Red lobster? Anywhere?" He asks me and I bite my bottom lip shaking my head. The only time I went to McDonald's was when Deshaun drove me out of town and left me there and I didnt even go inside.

"Okay what about food that you like. You got any favorite dishes?" He asks now pulling off as the light turns green and I think about it.

"Uhhmmm.Pancakes........waffle.......strawberries........ice-cream.........avocado" I say clapping my hands excitedly at the last one.

"I'mma take you to IHOP for some pancakes then" he tells me speeding up.

"Is your favorite pancakes too?" I ask happily and he chuckles with his lips going slightly up after.

"I like pancakes but I love everything that got meat in them" he looks at me quickly and fixes his gaze back on the road.

~~

Arthur parks the car in front of a gray building with blue all over it and IHOP written at the front of the restaurant in bold letters

"You coming?" I hear Arthur say after opening my door. I was so busy looking around that I didn't notice him get out. I nod my head and follow him. We walk in towards a booth in the corner of the restaurant and sit down on the opposite side from each other. I look around at the place in admiration.

"You like it?" Arthur asks making my eyes fall on his and I blush when I see how close we are. His features are so clear under the dim light and I try my hardest not to keep staring so I nod answering his question with my head down.

"Hello, welcome to IHOP. What would you like to get?" an approaching waitress says with a friendly expression handing over the menus.

"Let me get uh some crispy chicken strip with fries, monster mozza sticks, mega cheeseburger and some fried steak" Arthur orders proudly while I gawk at him wondering if he will be able to eat all of what he just ordered.

"Okay and for you sir?" the waitress asks turning towards me making me squirm. I don't know how to order.

"P-pancakes" I quickly say hiding my face behind the menu and Arthur lowers it.

"You want strawberry pancakes?" he asks and I nod without even thinking about it. I just want this to be over.

"Aight give him the strawberry and cream pancakes, add a belgian waffle combo in there and an Ice Cream sundea for when he's done" he says full of confidence that I can't do anything but get jeaulous of how great he is at this. The waitress walks away after writing everything down and we proceed the talk about how what I think about the restaurant and the food.

"Y-you eat a lot of f-food" I say in the middle of the conversation and he hums.

"That wasn't a lot tho" he states with a shrug making a 'whaaat' come out of my mouth in disbelief.

"Yes it is" I swiftly nod my head and he shakes his. I nod mine again and he shakes is once more. I say yes and he disagrees with me over and over getting a laugh out of me. We were so into the nod/shaking head game that we didn't see the waitress putting the food on the table looking at us like we're insane. The expression on her face makes me giggle uncontrollably while Arthur just stares with a smile plastered on his face.

I almost drool when I look at the strawberry and cream pancakes on the table in front of me. It looks so delicious and I wish Miss Alyssa could see it too. I look at all the food on the table with my mouth hanging open. That will be a lot of chewing. I dig in on my pancakes after eating all the strawberries.

"sooo delicious" I hum out with my eyes closed and stop when I feel eyes on me. I open my eyes seeing Arthur struggling with his monster burger.

"Damn that good?" he asks looking at my pancakes and I nod. I take some pancakes and point the fork at him.

"Have s-some" I tell him softly and he opens up. He nods in agreement after he bites it making me smile. I know it's good.

We sat there eating and sharing some of our food with one another. Arthur gave me some of his mozza sticks and I gave him some of my Ice-cream sundea which was very delicious. He paid for everything when we were done even though I insisted to go get some money in my bag making me feel guilty. After that we walked out and went back in the car.

~

Right now we're in the car driving to my house and I'm sitting in the passenger seat with money in my hands and a pout on my lips. I tried to pay him back but he didn't want to take the money even though I protested.

"I'mma let you pay next time, aight?" He says patting my shoulder and the pout disappears when I hear next time.

"N-next time?" I ask to make sure I did not hear that wrong.

"Yeah just hit me up when you wanna eat pancakes" he says making the widest smile appear on my face.

"Really!?"

"Yeah, but you can't pay me back"

"Okay" I quickly say hiding the money under my thighs.

"There, it's gone" I tell him and he looks at my hands. He smirks when he doesn't see the money I've been holding the whole ride. The rest of the car ride was spend in a comfortable silence and me trying my best not to overreact with my happiness.

When we finally arrive at the front of my house Arthur calls a cab to come get him so we wait patiently in the car talking about whatever comes to mind.

"Give me your number" he says some time later handing me his phone and I do as he says.

"Thank you for t-taking me to IHOP. It was my first time ever and I enjoyed it" I tell him sighing happily.

"Your first time ever?"

"Hmm hmm, I'm in the house most of the times" I say sadly.

"You got any siblings?"

"Nope" I say popping the p.

"Do you have any?"

"Nope" he says popping te p as well.

"You got some nice hair on you" he says touching a strand and I say a silent thanks.

"You too" I say looking at the bumps on his hair.

"My waves are always fresh" he says rubbing his hands on them slightly like it will mess up if he touches it.

"You can touch them tho, but you gotta rub it to the front not to mess them up" he tells me and I do it like he did while telling how how bumpy they feel. He has very smooth hair.

"Aight let me go talk to your mom before she thinks that you just skipping school" he says taking our bags from the backseat. He's been refering to miss Alyssa as my mom ever since I told him about her.

He rings the bell three times in a row when we get to the door. It doesn't take long before miss Alyssa opens the door with mild astonishment when she sees Arthur. Her face forms a smile when she sees me standing there as well.

"Well hello there" she booms louder than normal and my face scrunched up.

"Hello miss Alyssa, I'm Arthur. Jake's friend" he replies to her and they shake hands.

Jake?

"I brought him home and I wanted to tell you that we accidentally skipped classes today. We were busy in the library and lost track of time" Arthur says in such a polite tone that it's hard not to believe him.

"Lost track of time? Doing what?"

"R-reading and t-talking" I quickly interrupt Arthur. She doesn't need to know that I spend the majority of the time just gawking at Arthur.

"Oh, okay that's fine. Thank you for bringing him home" she says pleasantly. Just then we hear the honk of the taxi Arthur called.

"Have a nice day miss Alyssa, it was nice meeting you.I'll call you aight?" He says when he turns to me and I take my bag from him swinging around.

"I'll a-answer" I say gritting my teeth when I hear myself and it seems like miss Alyssa heard it too because she kept making weird shapes with her hands behind Arthur.

Just when he was about to give me a fist bump I go for a hug instead making me freeze with my hands around his waist. A feeling of ease washes over me when he hugs back and my hands go around his neck while his find their way to my waist.

"You're going back t-to school for your car?" I ask softly into the hug.

"Yeah"

"Be careful" I say and he pulls away with a goodbye. I stand on the doorway watching him walk towards the cab. When he finally gets in and closes the door the cab drives off.

"So that's the cool new guy huh" miss Alyssa asks startling me.

"Y-yeah, how did you know?" I ask tilting my head to the side.

"It was obvious" she says with a shrug walking inside and I follow her.

****

Happy Valentine's day babies. This chapter is dedicated to all my amazing readers. I hope you had a beautiful day.

Thoughts