Jamie

"John, you've totally got this." I tell him, as we get up from our seats in Guitar class and make our way out of the classroom. "Your performance at the Grill this week is gonna be awesome. I have every confidence in you."

"Thanks, Jamie." He says with a small smile. "I think I have the song down, but I'm gonna rehearse every day until Thursday anyway."

"Oh, totally. Practice makes perfect." I assure him as we make our way through the crowds of people in the hall. "You got time for a coffee?"

"Yeah, Zach's meeting me at Symposium now." He tells me.

"Okay if I join? I'm dying for a decent coffee." I ask.

"Of course." he says. "We've been talking about this beach party that's coming up this weekend, maybe you can fill is in about it a little."

"Sure." I say casually. There's not much to tell them, but I'll answer any questions they have. It's a beach. It's a party. Pretty self explanatory.

I check my phone as I walk over to Symposium with John and see that I have a new message from Noah. My heart doesn't flutter like it would have this time last week, because I have been hearing from him quite a lot lately. He's worked his way through Pride and Prejudice, and he's constantly been asking me questions about it. He's never mentioned potentially watching the movie with me again, and I haven't mentioned it either. I'm not so sure watching a romantic movie with him is a good idea anymore...

Noah, 10:55am: As you know, I've read the book now. Hands down the worst book ever. You wanna watch the movie some night this week? Then we can actually start working on the assignment.

I can't suppress a smile as I read this. I literally just saw Noah this morning in English Lit class. He moaned and bitched about how much he hated the book then. He could have asked me about watching the movie then, too. But he didn't. Was he nervous? Shy, maybe? I don't know. I shouldn't read too much into this though. But, I can't help it. I put my phone away, I'm not replying to him right now. I'll wait until I'm heading home, I don't wanna sit and message him while I'm in Symposium with Zach and John. Rude much?

John and I arrive at Symposium and see that Zach is already there. But I as good as bang my head against the door when I walk into the coffee shop, because Noah is with Zach, and he's wearing his running clothes. He's wearing shorts. He's wearing a t-shirt. He's a little sweaty. I'm about to faint. I can't peel my eyes off of his legs. Fuck. And now I'm coughing. I'm having a coughing fit. What a spaz.

"Woah, are you okay, Jamie?" Zach addresses my current state of mortification first. Noah looks on with alarm. God.

I get my coughing under control and nod my head. When I can speak, I say "I'll get the coffees, John. Sit down. I'm good." John looks concerned. I just need to stop looking at Noah's legs and I'll be fine. Cancel the ambulance, I am good.

I head over to the counter and order a couple of lattes for me and John, glad I have a moment to compose myself. I'm such a loser, seriously.

"Are you all right?" I hear Noah's voice from behind me. Christ. I take a deep breath before turning to face him.

"I'm good, I swallowed a bug outside or something." I say without thinking. Awesome.

"Right." He laughs at this. "So, Pride and Prejudice some night this week? What do ya say?"

He sounds so cute when he talks all New York like that.

"Sure, whenever you want." I'm like putty in his hands.

"Cool, well besides Thursday. You'll be busy Thursday night, right?" He says with a smile. I'm not looking at his legs.

"Right, yes! The Grill. And John will be performing for the first time. It'll be a good one." I say, remembering that I do have a life outside of making plans to watch movies with Noah.

"I know, I'm looking forward to it." Noah says. "So, how about tomorrow night then?"

"Sure, you can come to my place. Not that there's anything wrong with the dorms but I have a comfy couch." I say, hoping he doesn't think I just wanna get him on my couch. God. I do.

"Sounds good." He says, running a hand through his messy post-jog hair. God help me. "I'll talk to you later then. Bye."

And with that, he says his goodbyes to Zach and John, and he leaves. I wait for the Barista to finish making mine and John's lattes, and I get my breathing under control. Noah Adams is really causing me problems now, but fuck, I like it.

***

The rest of my day, I am totally normal. I'm not walking around with a little extra spring in my step. Im not smiling at people I walk by. I'm not being overly friendly with the random strangers I would usually avoid when they stop me to ask if I'm the chick from The Middle, before telling me I rock.

Okay, so yeah, I am in a better than normal mood. And as soon as I arrive home to find Joel and Jay tossing a ball around my backyard for Benji, they're on to me.

"What are you so happy about?" Jay eyes me suspiciously the minute I walk out to the back yard.

"Jesus, Jay, I'm no happier than I usually am." I say, petting Benji and beaming down at him.

"Bullshit. What happened?" Jay says.

"Is it Will?" Joel looks alarmed. "You kicked him in the balls at school today, didn't you?"

"Oh, please tell me you kicked Archibald in the nuts today!" Jay looks delighted, I laugh.

"No, I didn't." I tell them with a smile. "I'm just excited about the Open Mic this week, I think John's really gonna impress Aubrey. And then we have the beach party on Saturday. That's all!"

"You have a point." Jay agrees, shrugging his shoulders.

"Right, I am looking forward to the beach party." Joel agrees.

Awesome, they don't suspect a thing. They have absolutely no idea that I'm really just happy because Noah's coming over to watch a movie tomorrow night. For educational purposes, of course. But still, I can't deny that I'm excited about it.

And honestly, I really don't know why I'm not just coming clean about this. I'm usually an open book about this stuff with my friends. I did mention Noah to Erin when I talked to her the other day, but I didn't tell her the truth about him. The truth being that I like him. Even though I know his opinion on relationships and I know that there's more chance of Patrick announcing he has a girlfriend than of me ever getting together with Noah. But, whatever. I can hang with him tomorrow night. We need to watch Pride and Prejudice. It's totally platonic. It is.