Jacques knew he wasn't imagining things when he caught the small frame of a familiar platinum blonde typing furiously on her laptop. He had just finished basketball practice and passed by the football field to run a few laps. And there Naomi was, sitting on the bleachers with her long golden curls being pulled back by the headphone hanging over her ears while her fingers danced around the keyboard of her laptop.

What the hell was she still doing here? School had closed almost two hours ago. His head raised to meet traces of the sun that stirred in the sky, blazing rays over him. It was a far cry from the usual rainy days and it helped to brighten up what he assumed to be a mundane day. Jacques pinched the bridge of his nose and dragged out a groan. Naomi would kill him if he tried to talk to her, but his curious side had already taken over and he couldn't resist the need to do so.

Naomi could feel the weight of someone getting close to where she was but she was too engrossed with finishing up her article to care about it. Thin wispy eyebrows furrowed when she could detect faint muffled sounds around her and Naomi slid off her headphones all the way to her neck. Raising her gaze, she met curious dusky-dark eyes staring back at her with warmth lingering underneath.

Jacques freaking Peyton.

His brown hair looked messier than usual. It spiked atop his crown and disheveled thin layers of short tendrils that danced in the breeze. His arms glistened with sweat, taunting his glossy tanned skin.

"Mind if I sit down?" His damn sparkly teeth flashed when he spoke. Naomi almost rolled her eyes. He had turned on his 'charming personality'. Oh, joy.

"Actually I do mind. I'm..... " her words trailed off when she noticed him already settling down on one of the tiered planks. She scowled. "Why did you ask, if you were just gonna do the opposite of what I said?"

He shrugged, not looking directly at her but enjoying the feel of the breeze on his skin. "Just being polite. You should learn a thing or two about that."

Naomi snorted. Yeah, cause she needed to learn how to be nice from Mr.I'm-too-goodlooking-so-I-have-to-be-a-ball-of-sunshine, when a few weeks ago, he had acted like a dick to Callie. She knew his reasons for doing that but still, he had no right. "I'm more concerned why you're here in the first place."

His long fingers slipped into his beautiful hickory hair. Naomi bit back the need to slap his hand away from it when she noticed how his touch made his hair stick out in different angles. Jacques was still wearing his blue-and-gold basketball uniform, but a pool of dried sweat had doused the neck region of his apparel. At least, he still smelt so damn good and that surprised Naomi. "I'm here for basketball practice. I just wanted to shake off the leftover energy I had, by doing some laps round the field."

"Not here here. That's not what I meant. I'm talking about you sitting next to me." Keen grey eyes watched him. Everything about Naomi made him feel like he was being scrutinized.

Another shrug. His head turned. Dark eyes had softened into small balls of coal. "It looked like you needed the company. Was I wrong?"

Naomi froze at his response. Her eyes flickered back to her laptop. "I'm all good."

Jacques took a beat to stare at her. Her cold response wasn't a huge surprise but it was the pang of vulnerability in her eyes that got to him. His voice, low and deep. "What if I don't believe you?"

Naomi slammed her laptop shut. A fresh swell of rage flowed in her. "We're not buddies, Jacques. So quit getting on my nerves. I did you one teeny weeny favor and you don't have to pretend to tolerate me whenever you see me."

"I'm not tolerating you. I think you're cool. But I'll back off if you think I'm being a total pain in the ass."

Giving a slow tired sigh, Naomi knew she had to tamp down her irritation. It wasn't his fault that she was on a bad mood. He was just being nice and that was something Naomi wasn't used to. "You're not a pain in the ass. Sometimes." Her lips curled up at the amusement shimmering in his eyes. "But I'm just in a shitty mood. More so than usual."

"Let me guess. Callie." His voice lowered underneath his soothing tone.

"You're spot on. It must feel so good to always be right."

He shook his head, letting the laughter lines around his eyes glisten its deep shade. His fingers tangled over each other when he hunched his back deeper on the plank. "So what did she do?"

"It's not what she did. It's what she didn't do." Naomi tried to explain when his full eyebrows arched higher. "I went to see Cal at work and I got to find out that she had quit her job from a coworker. It was difficult to swallow."

"That's it? You're upset that she quit her job? Please, tell me it's more than that." He glanced at her face with a wry look. There was just something about his eyes that made it feel like a pair of alluring magnets.

Naomi felt a wave of exhaustion run through her when she began to talk. Months of pent-up frustration poured out faster than she could siphon. "It's not because she quit her job. I'm hurt that she didn't tell me. She doesn't tell me anything. I hardly know stuff about her life. If she ever gets into trouble, I'd never know. That's how bad it is."

"If it's that much of problem, then why don't you tell her in person?"

Streaks of light kindled the lighter hues of her stormy grey eyes when she frowned. "It's a lot more complicated than that. When Cal moved here a year ago, I already knew about her mom's death so I respected her privacy and didn't ask any questions that could upset her. But now, a lot of time has passed and it seems like Cal hasn't fully opened up with me yet." With a twirl of her hair, she continued to say. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not good with emotional moments. So that makes it harder to deal with."

"But that's not entirely true." A ghost of a smile appeared on his attractive face. "We're having a heart-to-heart moment here."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "That's because you're pretty much a stranger to me. Honestly, Cal is the only person in this school that I can tolerate but she's also very tightlipped about her problems. So it makes me feel left out."

He blinked, his forehead crinkling in deep thoughts for a split second. Then his words came out softly. "Then think of ways that you can help her without actually asking her any question directly. It's an old peacemaking tactic. It should work for you."

She cracked a smile. "I'll think about that."

"While you're thinking about that, I was wondering if you'd like to be my date for the Fall formal. It's my way of saying thank you for helping me get back into the play. I didn't get the lead role back, but Callie created a small role for me. It was nice of her to do, despite everything and I owe that to you." He didn't even know why he said any of the things that came out of his mouth. It was just an instinctive need to see her again and Jacques let that happen.

Her small nose scrunched up in a way that let her eyes to squint. "I don't do dates. I always fly solo. But I can save you a dance. Just one. Not a slow motion dance. That'll just be weird. Is that cool with you?"

His eyes flashed with content. "Yeah. I'm actually down for it."

★★★

Callie snuck a glimpse at her phone. Viola's text message made her groan. Her low gutteral sound caught Larkin's attention. Striking green eyes whipped with interest. "Is everything okay?"

Callie had joined Larkin at the library to catch a moment to read some books. While she preferred reading novels from her phone, there was just an appeal to carrying a big leathery book and reading through it. But Viola just had to remind her the one thing she wanted to forget. "Not really. My friend's asking about what I'll wear for the fall formal. It's not my scene but I'm willing to make an exception."

"Yeah, I remember how that's like. It's usually pretty cool. It's funny how our school doesn't do homecoming but prefers formals. Strange." With his fingers looped around the ceramic mug in his hand, he took a slow sip of the coffee and spoke quietly.

"Well I don't even have anything to wear and I want to skip the whole thing. It's so unnecessary."

"True, but it's part of high school. The experience. The memory. It's always fun to remember. Trust me." Then he shrugged. "But if you're debating on what to wear, I actually have something for you. It was my mom's and she—"

Callie's eyes widened. There's nothing she hated more than to feel like a charity case. And taking something from his deceased mom felt wrong. "I'd rather not. It'll be unfair to make you give me stuff."

"I'm not complaining. My mom never got the chance to wear the dress. She was supposed to go to an event a week after she died, so she missed that chance. And don't worry, my mom is probably around your size. There's no one else in the world that I'd give it to, except for you."

Still, Callie wasn't sure she'd like to do that. "I can't take free things from you. Unless I could do something for you in return, then it'll seem fair."

Taking a second to think, he lingered his gaze on her face and gave a small nod. "Fine, let's make it fair. Get me a suit for my party. I don't mind if it's rented, I'll take it. Is that better?"

"It's so much better." Callie burbled her words. The excitement lingered in her eyes when she smiled. "So where's the dress?"

"It's in my room." Their gazes linked instantly. It was easy to drown into the whirling emotions that were concealed in his eyes. It punctured a gash of warmth pooling through its intensity and drew her closer to his passionate gaze.

Callie darted her eyes away, fighting hard to diffuse the static moment between them. A lingering shiver curled down Callie's neck and cascaded goosebumps down her bare arms. "Okay, let's go."

★★★
It's a beautiful day and I wanted to share that with my amazing readers.
Keep shining y'all.
Xoxo
Jasmine