Jaden only talked to me during lunch time. Jenny was in the center of the gym, doing warm ups and stretching with the rest of the cheer squad before they started a quick lunch practice. She'd told me before that the practices were usually at lunch and they only practiced after class during the week before a game.

He came while I was picking the cheese off my sandwich to chew on, despite the fact that I wasn't a big fan of cheese to begin with. He sat behind me but close enough that I could sense his presence. "Hey," he said to me. I turned to look at him and brushed the wisps of hair that decided to blow into my face with my free hand.

"Hi," I said, squinting slightly to look up at him. He chuckled and shook his head at me like I'd done something amusing.

"I haven't talked to you since the party and you still greet me like I'm your best friend," he chuckled, tilting his head, "What did I do to make you think so highly of me?"

I shrugged. He slid into the spot right next to me and took the other part of my sandwich from the wrap on my lap. He bit into it, his eyes moving to the girls who were doing flips for a moment before he looked back at me. I'd bypassed him so many times that day and everytime we made eye contact, he'd look away, engrossing himself in some book or whoever he was talking to. He talked to a lot of people but he was alone most of the time. In the morning, before class, I'd seen him with some of Uriah's friends, laughing at some joke someone had told. But not really laughing.

"Thinking of joining the team?" He asked.

"I can't dance to save my life," I answered in a low tone, "Why were you avoiding me?"

He sighed, taking another bite of the food before he slumped back, leaning against the bleacher behind us. "I saw you talking to Christina today," he admitted, "I'm guessing she warned you about me?"

I had so many questions I wanted to ask about the whole situation but the first one that slipped out was, "You stayed away from me because of Christina?"

He was silent for a moment, contemplating on what he was going to say. He bit into the sandwich and so did I. He only spoke again when we had finished our sandwiches. Then he let out a deep breath. "Have you ever heard of l'appel du vide?" He asked. I shook my head and he turned to face me fully. "The call of the void. It's this urge you get to do something...well something stupid. Like jump off a high place even though you'd die."

"That's why you were ignoring me?" I asked, still confused.

"No," he chuckled, "I was afraid of approaching you because....I thought you'd actually listen to her and I didn't want to know what it would feel like to be ignored by you. So I kept my distance Well, I tried to."

He could probably tell that I was still confused by the look on my face because he took one of my hands in his and just like at the party, I let him, enjoying how cold his hands were. "Despite knowing that being around me could end your social life you still want to be around me," he said, "You're being stup-"

"I don't care about my social life," I said, hurt that he'd assume I did. But I knew how I looked. I knew that the  Maddie from New York cared about her social life. I also knew that a part of me hoped Christina wasn't around to see us together. He seemed to notice this too. He smiled sadly.

I held his hand in mine, tightly, not wanting to let go. A part of me cared about my social life, yeah, but another part of me, a bigger part of me, cared about how I felt now, with my hand in his. Elated.

"I don't care about my social life," I told him, looking up at him, "I told you that I wanted you to be my friend and I meant it."

"L'appel du vide," he repeated with a low chuckle. We were silent for sometime. All I could hear was the squeak of the girls' cheer shoes and all the heavy breathing in the room and the noise from outside it. But all I could focus on was that moment.

I inhaled a deep breath. "I don't care," I said again, "About my social life."

"After class," he told me, "Meet me by the library. You asked me to show you around. We start today."

I nodded again. He smiled at me once more before he slowly let go of my hand and walked away, skipping steps in a carefree manner. I watched him walk away, a small smile on my face before I turned back to look at the practice. To my dismay, Jenny was walking towards me, a huge smirk on her face.

"He finally came to talk to you," she chuckled, "You can relax now."

I brushed my hair out of my face. I knew I was probably flushed by now but I found that I didn't care. We were talking again. And I was going to spend that afternoon with him. Just him.

"He asked me to meet him after class," I told her. "He's showing me around."

She nodded slowly, proudly. "You've given him the balls he's needed for a while," she laughed. "Let's just hope he doesn't chicken out. But....what about me meeting your mom after school?"

I cursed inwardly. I'd totally forgotten about my mom. Jenny burst out laughing at my expression change and nudged my hand with her elbow. "Don't worry Goldilocks," she told me. "Just ask her if I can come over for dinner. You don't have to cancel your date."

I blushed. "It's not a date. Shut up."

She rolled her eyes at me, "Is so."

I turned away from her, pulling my phone out of my pocket. She made kissy noises at my back and I started to wonder how the first friend I'd managed to make here was such a bully. I dialled my mother's number and brought the phone to my ear. As usual, she picked up on the second ring.

"Hey baby," she said. I could hear a car rushing by behind her. She was probably heading back to work from her lunch break. I heard a door slam and knew she was in her car when the background noise became quieter. "What can I do for you? You're enjoying your first day?" She asked.

"Yeah, I am," I told her, "The people here are really nice."

Jenny mouthed the word Christina and giggled when I swatted her away. I tried not to laugh as I turned my attention back to my mother. "I made a friend who wanted to show me around a few places today so I won't be able to bring Jenny over to meet you," I braced myself for a sigh of disappointment or something but instead, she let out a small squeal. An actual squeal. What?

"Is he cute?" She asked.

I groaned, "Mom!"

I could hear her laugh on the other end and I thought about those many nights when dad wouldn't be home and she'd come into my room to talk to me about boys and stuff. I missed those nights but a part of me couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever shown signs that she was with someone else during them.

"Can Jenny come over for dinner?" I asked, shaking that thought out of my head.

"Yes yes, of course," she said, her laughter dying down. "Maybe she can tell me more about this boy of yours."

I grinned slightly and let out a deep playful sigh. "I'll tell you about him myself," I told her. We both said our goodbyes and 'I love yous' before I hung up. I stared at the screen for a moment. It was the first time in a few weeks that talking to my mother hadn't felt awkward and I realised that I missed it.

I missed not being mad at her.

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Musawa