my lovely readers,
finally the next chapter is online and I can promise you that you will enjoy this one very much. It will surprise you and it is going to be exciting. I hope that you can forgive me for not uploading sooner, I was so busy but I hope that I can upload the next chapter on friday. Enjoy it!

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You are the book he never reads, but he keeps you on his nightshelf always. - unknown

Jasmeet's POV:

The look on his face showed me each and every emotion he felt this moment, and I was almost scared to hear the truth out of his mouth as it could change something for me. We stared in each other's eyes, trying to understand what we sensed this instant. It was surreal, as I knew exactly why he acted in this way. However, I wanted to hear the truth from his lips and I was tired of him hiding his feelings for me. Wait, what did I think? I was falling for Enzo and yet here I was, fraternizing with the boy who always loved to make me angry and furious. Nontheless, he did not seem like this person, it was as if something about him changed and he stopped pushing me away. He stared at the floor, his breath going fast, and did not attempt to do anything.

Without realizing it, I lifted my hand towards his chin, to make him look at me, making me feel a jolt of electricity once my hand came in contact with his skin. His hair fell into forehead, concealing his eyes and his gaze. Upon my movement, he gazed up into my eyes and I was sure that I could read what he felt this moment. One of his hands took mine into his, surprising me with the gentleness behind this gesture. I clearly misjudged him, as he was different. Suddenly he let go of my hands, leaving me cold and in a sense lonely. "Jasmeet, I cannot tell you this thing! I have to go!" he  whispered  out of the sudden barely audible. It was as if he still was not able to raise his voice. He turned around to leave, but I was quicker and circled my hand around his wrist, urging him not to leave. I was glad that no one was around and did not attempt to search for us, as this would not look good to an outsider. It would appear strange as I was dating his best friend. Oh no, Enzo. I thought suddenly. I could not demand from Shawn to speak the truth, when I was the one who was acting not myself.

"Jasmeet, please!" he muttered softly, trying to convince me to just ignore this topic. His piercing eyes stared into mine and I got lost again, once more as the blue in them drew me in. Many minutes passed and we just gazed at each other, without saying something. Suddenly, he started to speak, surprising me with the urgency laced into his voice: "I cannot tell you these things given the circumstances. So please let me go. I do not wish to open these things as you are with my best friend. And concerning your wedding invitation, I would love to come. However, could Aiden come as well?" Aiden and Shawn to my sisters wedding? I thought to myself. Then I answered: "Yes you both can come. I will give you the invitation tomorrow. Is this okay?" He just nodded, without uttering a word and turned around to leave. Out of the sudden, I exclaimed, making him stop in his movements: "You said, given the circumstances. Would you be honest if it were not for your best friend and me dating?"

He whirled around, giving me a scrutinizing and piercing stare, contemplating what to say and answered me then with a low voice, barely audible: "Yes, I would act differently!" One last time he brought his hands towards my face and caressed it with his fingers, making me feeling something which I did not feel with Enzo. These words combined with his touch gave me the reply I needed. His response made me choke on my own spit, as his blunt and direct words surprised me, as I did not expect him to be so honest about this. It seemed obvious to me that he would conceal the truth of his feelings; however, his genuine reply made me really speechless. I just nodded and he took my reaction as the cue to leave. No words were needed, as everything had been said and nothing remained unspoken. I just stood there not being able to grasp the implication behind his words. Did he just openly admitted that he liked me although I was dating his best friend? I really needed Aryan and decided to call him immediately as I felt that I had to talk to my best friend. Since it was still lunch break, there was sufficient time to call him.

"Hey, Jassy. What's up?" my best friend greeted me after the second ring, sounding not quite like himself. I responded to him, breathless and still confused by the words I witnessed: "Aryan, something happened. I think Shawn just openly confessed that he likes me!" On the other side of the line, I could hear a gasp and I was sure that Aryan had his mouth wide open in shock as I knew him very well. "Jassy, really? Come by my place later on, I want to hear everything! However, tell me one thing, what do you feel, are you happy about this or not? Maybe he is just messing with you!" he said, his voice laced with sceptism and disbelief. It aslso occurred to me that he was just joking with me and was not sincere about this. However, the look in his eyes convinced me that he was speaking the truth as I saw something in his eyes, which I saw before when we had these two other moments with each other.
I answered him, sounding confident and sure: "Aryan, I thought so too, but eyes can never lie as you know. Do you agree with me? After all, it was you who told me that look can never be untruthful!" He agreed with a low yes and I continued to speak, with a low voice: "I know that he is not lying. I think that he likes me. But ...!" I was not able to complete my sentence as my best friend interrupted me: "Jassy, calm down! Relax, just go and have lunch. Afterwards you just relax and do not worry about this. I will wait at your house!" I agreed and we hang up, after bidding each other goodbye. I thought some more minutes about the encounter, I had with Shawn and I really doubted that I was sane; as so many things happened which I thought would be impossible.

Suddenly two hands covered my hands, surprising and startling me at the same time. Once I smelt the known cologne I visibly relaxed and leaned into his touch, touching his chest with my back. "Jassy, there you are!" interrupted me the voice of Enzo, only a few inches away from my ear, once I recovered from the first shock. "Where were you?" he inquired making me turn around, and I just told him, trying to conceal the impact of the moment with Shawn: "Well, Aryan needed my help, so I called him!" I was happy that I sounded convincing and not like a liar. Enzo smiled at my response and pulled me by my hand in the direction of the cafeteria and I chuckled softly, feeling the warmth of his palm in mine. I felt so happy, with him by my side, he made me happy. I really liked him very much; it still seemed surreal that he and I were so close. This moment I decided that I would let go of my objections and just see how this connection would develop itself. However, I felt as if I was falling and I could not stop doing so.

Enzo's POV:

Aiden seemed like a cool boy, I concluded after talking to him about the project as soon as the class ended. Something about him intrigued me and I wondered why this was the case. I looked around, searching for the known face, and saw that Jasmeet already left, suddenly Aiden told me noticing my examining glance: "Man, she is probably eating lunch. I noticed her emerging from the room, rather quickly!" "Thank you, this girl is my soon-to-be girlfriend! So I kind of miss her very fast!" I answered him, not caring how lame I sounded. My honest response made him chuckle and he admitted, seeming suddenly far away: "Yes being in love is really something precious and I know that one feels so happy and content!" I smiled at his words and the gentleness behind them. I bid him goodbye and embarked on a search for this particular girl. I found her standing in the garden, basking in the warmth of the sun, a sight which immediately formed a grin on my face.

I walked softly towards her and laid my hands on her eyes, making her startle, as she did not anticipate someone sneaking up on her. I laughed at this reaction, as she seemed so adorable being frightened, and told her: "There you are Jassy?" I did not give her any chance to continue to speak by saying: "Where were you?" She answered me, with a smile on her lips: "Well, Aryan needed my help, so I called him!" It still amazed me how much she cared for her best friend as she was so loving and gentle towards him. I gave her a smile and pulled her by her hands towards the cafeteria.

Suddenly I remembered something and said to her: "Jassy, I wanted to ask you something!" She halted in her movements and shot me a curious look, making me continue to verbalize my thoughts: "Would you like to go out on a date with me, a second date. There is something I want to ask you!" She squealed, startling me and she exclaimed excitedly, like a child who got her candy: "Yes, I have time. Maybe we could meet on Thursday?" I nodded and we continued to walk to the cafeteria, causing many students to look at our intertwined fingeres. Something in me did not care about other students knowing about our closeness, as I did not want to hide my relationship with her. It was clear to me that we were kind of dating. With the date on Thursday, I wanted to make it official as I did not want to sneak around and conceal my connection with this amazing girl. Jasmeet flashed me a smile and we walked to the cafeteria, very happy to be in each other's company.

The lunch was peaceful and no one stared at us, as my warning stare made sure that no one was disturbing us. We engaged in small talk and I casted occasionally glances at her, taking in her appearance. The outfit she chose today, was as usual making my beat acceralate and it was hard for me to tear my eyes off her. A laugh made me come back and I gave her an questioning look. She just replied casually: "Well, take a picture it last longer!" I chuckled at her choice of words, she grew wittier day by day, surprising me by doing so as I always knew her as the shy girl and not the girl who could joke around and make me blush and shy. Once the bell rang, we parted for our classes and decided to meet again in the rehearsal hall, as today was another one scheduled. Acting was something which I enjoyed doing very much and I already missed the poetic language in the plays of Shakespeare.

Soon it was time for rehearsal and I was excited to find out which scene was on the timetable today. When I arrived at the theatre, I saw Aiden, who leaned casually against the wall, flashing me a smile when he spotted me. "Hey, Aiden. What are you doing here?" I asked him surprised, grinning at him. He responded to my questions, shrugging with his shoulders: "Well, Mrs. Stevenson asked me come by as she knows that in my old school, I was also a part of the drama club. Maybe I will also get a role. This would be so much fun. I miss playing and acting!" His words astounded me, as I did not anticipate him to be involved in this type of activities. Then I realized that I knew nothing about him, I just met him today, so I could not know a thing about him. I just gave him a nod and led him into the auditioning hall, where some students already had taken a seat, waiting for the teacher to come and announce the plan for today.

One second later, she emerged from a back door, with a smile on her lips and she greeted us all: "Hello, students. First of all, I would like to welcome Aiden, he will watch us and maybe he will join us, he was a part of his old drama team and they told me that he is a real asset, so I hope that you will welcome him with open arms!" Everyone nodded at her words and she continued to speak: "Enzo and Jasmeet, today we will focus on the scenes of the two of you. I hope that you took my words seriously and managed to establish some sort of trust. We will begin with the ball scene, where Romeo spots Juliet for the first time!"

Jasmeet and I walked towards the stage, ready to transform into our roles, leaving our true selves behind. The other students followed us, and soon everyone started to dance, as soon as music started to play everyone stood in their position, prepared to start the scene. Dancing started and my eyes wandered around the ball room, searching for my former lover, when I saw her, dark hairs flowing down her back and a face with beauty I never witnessed before. I was positive that I never beheld this intensity of beauty before, and I was speechless. Suddenly she lifted her eyes, staring into my eyes and I could feel butterflies erupt in my stomache. I continued to dance with my partners, but did not let my eyes wander away from this girl, who returned my gaze. I felt breathless and I knew that my feelings were intensified because we were soon to be dating. Out of the sudden, she stood in front of me and we started to dance with each other, touching only our hands, nonetheless making me feel the spark between us.

I recited then my line, never leaving the eyes of the girl, with whom I dance. They flew like honey out of my mouth, resulting in a gasp from all my fellow students. Jasmeet also proceeded to speak her text, with so much emotion in her voice and I felt like something broke in me in this instant. I suddenly realized that I was truly and irrevocably in love with this girl, there was no turning back now. Our lines were completed and we just continued to stare at each other, making our classmates chuckle and the girls seemed to aww in admiration. "Enzo and Jasmeet, I am proud of you. Your performance was amazing and I can say that we are on a good way! Keep it up! Aiden, come now. Please read us the lines of Mercutio!" Mrs Stevenson told us, content laced in her voice. Aiden stood up and walked towards the stage, without his text, surprising all of us. It seemed as if he knew the lines by heart, reciting them with much vigour and passion.

If love be rough with you, be rough with love;
Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.
Give me a case to put my visage in:
A visor for a visor! what care I
What curious eye doth quote deformities?
Here are the beetle brows shall blush for me.

Once these words left his mouth, everyone including me stared at him not being able to say or do anything. Aiden just shrugged it off, clearly unsure to do with the unwanted attention, and wanted to leave the stage, however Mrs Stevenson prevented him from doing so by telling him: "Aiden, as we do not have yet fixed the student for Mercutio, I would like to invite you to join our production!" A huge smile made its way on his lips and he answered, his voice full with gratitude: "Thank you so much. Yes I would love to join the play!"

Mrs Stevenson beamed at his words and told everyone to start practising their lines. My part with Jasmeet was done and I thought that I could leave as nothing was to do. "Enzo, wait. I would like you to rehearse with Aiden here and I would like you to help him by practicing with him. He missed much and has to catch up soon!" Mrs Stevenson exclaimed when she saw that I was proceeding to leave the room. I nodded in agreement and walked to Aiden, who studied the screenplay, which the teacher had given to him. While I walked to him, I could not help but notice something about this boy. It was as if I saw this boy for the first time. Like yesterday he wore a simple jeans with a plain shirt, finished with sneakers. His wavy hair made him look handsome and I gave myself a mental slap, for even thinking these thoughts. "Well, let us start!" I told him, trying to push this state of mind. He replied me with his calm and confident voice: "Aye, Romeo. So where were we?"

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so what do you think? Let me know! I am so excited to hear all about your thoughts. What do you think about Shawn's confession and what do you think about Enzo and Jasmeet? Do you like them together. I am so excited to hear all your thoughts. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I want to thank you for everything as I would not have come so far without you.
Love
Sarah He.