Adriana's pov

Wednesday afternoon

"I don't get why I gotta be here," I grumbled, rolling my eyes.

"Quit complaining and start running!" Miss Donovan snapped, clearly annoyed with my attitude.

"I don't feel like running around the field for no reason," I sighed.

"This is PE, Adriana. Run five laps or I'll make it ten!" she scolded before blasting that darn whistle right in my ear.

"Fine! But you didn't have to deafen me!" I yelled before reluctantly heading out to run.

Yeah, today was just not my day. I was feeling extra grumpy.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the bell rang, and we could finally hit the cafeteria for lunch. You know, lunch after PE feels like a reward – you've sweated it out running those laps, and now you get to fill up on... cafeteria food, I guess? Not my top choice for a meal, but it'll do. I'd much rather have Chick-fil-A or McDonald's.

So, let's go find Kayla and Sophia for now, yeah?

I took my stuff and went to the girls room to change clothes, after that I went to the cafeteria, bought my lunch then sat with the girls, and Ashton AND jerk face, great.

"Hey guys" I greeted as I settled into the seat next to jerk face simply because it was the only spot available.

Mhm, it felt like I was walking right into a setup

"How did practice go?" Kayla inquired from my left.

"About as lousy as it gets," I grumbled.

"I'm sure it wasn't all that terrible," Sophia countered with a touch of optimism.

"Running five laps feels pretty rough to me," I shot back. "Anyway, any plans after class?" I added, extending the invitation to both Ashton and, reluctantly, jerk face, not wanting to be impolite.

"Like what?" Ashton queried.

"Mhm, not entirely sure. How about hitting the movies?" I suggested.

"Sure, why not," Kayla readily agreed.

"Sounds good," Sophia nodded in agreement.

"I'm in," Ashton confirmed.

Turning to jerk face, despite my strong urge to engage differently, I asked, "Would you care to join us?"

Suppressing my frustration, I maintained a respectful tone, waiting for a dismissive response. Instead, he surprised me. "Yeah, okay," he murmured softly.

"Well, that settles it then. 7 o'clock, everyone?" Ashton confirmed.

With nods all around, the bell rang, marking the end of our conversation, and it was time to head back to the classroom.

Time just seems to play tricks whenever I'm at school. Once I'm through those gates, it's like entering a time vortex. The hours stretch on and on, each class feeling like it's dragging its feet, almost as if they're in slow motion. It's a struggle, watching the clock tick by so slowly while I'm there. But the moment I step out of school, it's like a switch flips. Suddenly, time speeds up again, zipping by like it should. It's a weird feeling, like there's a bubble around the school that messes with time. And I'm sure that I'm not the only one who notices this bizarre time warp effect.

I'm grateful that school flew by today, but to be honest, it's not something I'm quite used to, you know?

"Finally out, Kay?" I teased, waiting for my best friend to join me outside the school gates.

"Sorry, had to chat with Ashton," she explained.

"Oh, really? What's up?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.

"We were discussing tonight—where and when to meet," she filled me in.

"Got it. So, is it all sorted?" I inquired again.

"We're still figuring it out. We'll chat in the group," she replied, noticing my confusion. "You remember the group, cutie pie?" she reminded me with a playful nudge.

"Oh, right! It just clicked. It's been ages since we used that thing," I remarked, recalling that the group had been dormant for months.

"Anyhow, catch you later," she said, bidding farewell as she headed to her car, and I mirrored the gesture, making my way to mine.

When I came back home, it was oddly....quiet, huh I thought Ashton was here?

"Ashton?" I yell my voice echoing through the quiet house.

"He's not here yet" A familiar voice says from behind me.

"What are you doing here jerk face?" I try to hide my annoyance but it's not really possible.

"Well it's a pleasure to see you too" He says sarcastically.

"I'm not in the mood of your sarcasm jerk face" I say as I head to the kitchen.

"Well if I have to be honest, I'm here to see you" He clarifies.

Wait what-

"What do you mean you're here to see me?" I repeat his words.

He starts walking towards me and me being me don't budge until he's one centimeter away from my face.

"W-what are you doing?" I ask nervously.

"I'm sorry Adriana for how I treated you" He apologizes.

Realization hits over me and I punch him in the gut making him stumble back.

"You've already apologized many times, how can I trust you this time?" I say harshly.

"Look I know that it's hard for you to trust me again, but I now understand how I have been acting, it wasn't a stupid mistake, I'm sorry for blurting it out without considering your feelings, I'm a dumb, clueless, stupid, brainless guy as you said" He walks towards me again cupping my cheeks "I can't stand seeing you this broken Adriana please forgive me" He pleads his voice breaking at the end.

Should I believe him?

"I-" He interrupts me "You don't have to say anything for now Adriana, but just please consider my words and believe me, I know I haven't been the most honest person to you and I really regret it, but for now I have to go, I'll see you tonight" He kisses my forehead and my body shivers at his touch and when he leaves I miss his warmth.

Could he possibly be saying the truth, I didn't find any lie but honesty in his eyes.

And for the entire afternoon he's all I think about, I need to be careful tho, I can't let myself get hurt again by the same person.

I go upstairs and call Kayla to tell her everything, she's as shocked as I am, and I could tell by her piercing screams.

Few hours passed by and it's already 6:50, I'm done getting ready for the movies. I'm wearing a pretty comfortable outfit. A comfortable but stylish ensemble, it's very cute, I love it.

I take my purse and put in my essentials, phone, keys, and a gloss, before heading downstairs. "Everyone's here?" I ask peeking my head in the living room.

"Yeah, we were just waiting for you" Kayla says looking at me with amusement in her eyes, she's clearly giving me the 'We are definitely talking about it tonight" look.

We speak with our eyes for a few minutes before getting interrupted by Ashton "Well let's go" He claps his hand as he leaves the room followed by Kayla and Sophia, leaving me alone with jerk face.

I look at him only to see him staring at me "Hum let's go" I tell him not waiting for his answer before storming out of the living room and out of the house.

Kayla and I are definitely talking tonight.

I jump in the car, Ashton is the driver, and KAYLA IS IN THE FREAKING PASSENGER SEAT, so that means that jerk face is sitting next to me, she is plotting against me, I shouldn't have told her anything! WE ARE DEFINITELY TALKING TONIGHT.

Not only that, but the drive to the closet movie theater is basically a 30 MINUTES DRIVE. Why and HOW do I get myself in these situations?!

Let's just hope for this car ride to end quickly, Kayla is definitely hearing about this tonight.

Weirdly, the drive was not as bad as I expected it to be, sure it was awkward but whatever. Once we're parked in the movie's parking lot, I jump out of the car and start walking towards the movie theater.

"We need to talk Adriana" Jerk face's voice next to my ear sends shivers down my spine.

I look at him and can only nod, I don't trust my voice.

We all enter the movie theater, this time the girls and I go sit while the boys are buying the snacks. We wait a bit until we can finally see the boys coming in the room, looking around, and when they spot us they go sit next to us. Sophia is sitting next to a stranger, Kayla next to her, and I'm on Kayla's right, which means two seats are left, one for Ash and one for jerk face.

"Here you go, this one is for you" Ashton says handing me my bucket of popcorn "This one for you, and for you" He says before plopping down next to me, YESSSS.

~In the middle of the movie~

"Ashton, I really need to go to the bathroom, keep my bucket safe and don't you dare put your dirty hands in there" I warn him, before slipping away from the seat to go to the bathroom.

Tell me that I'm not the only one who feels awkward to stand up in the middle of a movie in front of everyone.

I make my way out of the movie theater and go to the bathroom, I do what I gotta do and when I step outside the bathroom I bump into a very hard wall- never mind, a very hard chest.

"I'm sorry" I say rubbing my forehead and when I look up I see jerk face.

Heat creeps up my neck "Hum what are you doing here?"

"I came to wait for you Adriana, we need to talk" Since when was he so straight forward?

"Ookay?" I answer slowly.

He takes my hand and leads me outside, we walk towards the car and sit on the hood of Ashton's car "So what did you want to talk about?" I clear my throat at this awkward silence.

"I'm so terribly sorry Adriana, I shouldn't have said what I said, I didn't mean to hurt you, everything you said about me was right, I lash out on everyone when things don't go my way, you are the most amazing person I have ever met, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, if you're willing to give me a chance, not that I deserve one but if you do, I will change, you always show me the best version of myself, I need you in my life Adriana, you're the only woman other than my mother that I have loved, I have always been in love with you, ever since we met" He finishes.

And his words crash upon me, he has liked me when we were young? Then why did he do everything he did to me?! Why did he hurt me so much?!

"Are you being serious?" I ask him unsure "Yes Adriana" He answers.

"Then why?! Why did you- How could-" I can't even find the right words.

"What do you mean Adriana, please talk to me" He pleads taking my hand in his.

Should I tell him what happened when we were young?

"Fine" I start hoping I won't regret it later "When we were young, the moment I met you I fell in love with you jerk face, I thought it was temporary, like a stupid crush, but it was hard to not think of you when you were and are constantly at my house, you and I started to get closer and closer everyday, and my feelings for you grew even more, one day, you came over at our house and I saw how frustrated you were, I thought that something happened between you and Ashton, so I went to talk to you, but- but what you said hurt me deeply, you said that you don't give a sh*t about me, and that you don't want to talk to me, you were never my friend, you only wanted me in bed, and after this day you were cold and distant towards me, you would constantly bully me at school and at home too! I had no rest from you, and this is where I started boxing, it's the only thing who helped me become the strong woman I am today, and I promised myself to never fall in love again, you are also probably wondering why I call you jerk face, well, one night before everything happened, I was crying on the porch, I don't really remember why, but you were there to help me and comfort me, when I said your name, you told me that you loved it when I say your name, so I didn't want to call you by your name anymore, because I didn't want you to like anything from me, because you didn't deserve me after everything you did, so I didn't want to give you the satisfaction of hearing your name coming out of my mouth, I knew that I wasn't the problem, but I was really sure of the opposite, so yeah that's all" I finish and at this point tears were falling down my cheeks, I have never felt that vulnerable around him, ever.

Jace's pov

When she finished talking tears were already falling down her cheeks, my heart broke, I remember everything, all of the wrongs I did to her, she liked me too, and I screwed everything up, I am such an idiot, I never wanted to hurt her, but in the end, I hurt her much more than I expected, and it wasn't even because of her that I was mad.

"I don't know what to say Adriana, I'm so so so sorry, I know that apologizing won't change what I did, I am a stupid idiot who hurted the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, I liked you so much in the past Adriana, and I still do, but hearing everything now, I realize that I don't deserve you, I never did, I don't deserve hearing my name coming out of your mouth, I don't deserve seeing you everyday, I don't even deserve having conversations with you, even though at times I do things that hurt. I try so hard to hope that you always see how much you being in my life means to me. I am sorry yet again for causing you pain. That is the last thing I ever wanted to do. Even when I am trying to look out for you and do the right thing, I mess up; I am sorry for that too. I hope that you can forgive me for everything, I want to change, for you" I finish.

Adriana's pov

I felt so relieved after saying everything, I didn't think that jerk face would apologize about everything he did, I thought he'd say something like, don't make a big deal out of it, or just laugh at my face, but on the contrary, he was sweet and understanding and he apologized.

"I want to forgive you, but it will take me some time of course, I hope that this time you will actually be someone else, I don't want to be hurt again" My voice cracks at the end of my sentence.

Hurt washes over his face, he takes my hand and squeezes "I won't hurt you again Adriana" He tells me with an honest tone.

I observe our intertwined hands before shifting my gaze back to him. His intense stare makes me feel like a precious piece of art, causing butterflies to flutter in my stomach. Gradually, he leans in, a deliberate move to ensure I won't retreat. I reciprocate, closing the distance until our lips are almost touching. He whispers, "Can I kiss you, Adriana?" Unable to trust my voice, I merely nod. In an instant, his lips meet mine, and I can't suppress a moan, yearning for the sensation. I entwine my hands around his neck, pulling him closer, eliciting a satisfied groan from him. He reciprocates by pulling me onto his lap, and I gasp as I feel the heat beneath me. Rolling my hips against him, I provoke another groan. "Stop, Adriana," he warns, but I ignore it, continuing until he pulls away. His eyes are dark with desire. "Don't start something you can't finish," he admonishes, and I blush as he effortlessly lifts me off his lap as if I weigh nothing.

"Let's go back to the movie room" I tell him.

"I'll meet you in your house" He glances down at his jeans and I do so too "I have to deal with this"

I blush "Sorry"

"Don't be sorry love, I'll see you later" He pecks my forehead before leaving.

Wow, that's the only thing my brain can think of right now.

I'm so happy right now, and I only want to be with jerk face, I miss him already, am I falling in love with him again? But this time I feel like I won't regret it.