And that night was eventful. Jessica, was overwhelmed by all of it. First, she had her first kiss. Second, she had her first kiss with her crush. Third, her crush confessed to liking her. 

Hold a minute.

Did he make a mistake?

Yup. Definitely a mistake. Ain't no way someone like Liam likes her back. 

Wait...

Was he mocking me!

He must think I am a fool!

He was drunk. So it was mostly my mistake. 

But if feels so good.

Jessica smiled to herself as she hugged her pillow and blushed. This night too, she could only sleep when the sun was up. But it was the best she had slept in a while.

*******************************************

The next day

It was weekend. The cool breeze, hot sun, skies with no clouds- all that would fill one's heart with happiness, would describe the day perfectly. 

And they could also be used to describe the way Liam felt, exclude the fact that he had the worst hangover he had ever had. It was the day he and Larry had to visit his parents, but right now he did not remember that particular thing on his to-do list, rather he remembered nothing on his list. 

Instead, he had created a new one. 

The one with Jessica on it. 

But it wasn't anything romantic. He had plans to apologize to her for his drunk behavior. He knew he was wrong for what he did. Jessica was off limits for him. He looked at her as a sister and wanted to keep it that way. Even if she really liked him, it was better for him to not let her make any advancements. She would only get hurt. 

They were quite the opposites when it came to emotions. She was full of them, she felt the impact of every small thing in life; while he was more of a free bird. He didn't like the last girl he dated, he was attracted to her. And he was attracted to Jessica. He did not look forward to a long term commitment, while as per his analysis of her based on psychology, she wanted a forever and always kind of relationship. 

Last night, he was with Larry and Andrew, his friend, partying in the club. Usually he would have stayed back to visit the library or take a walk, but it was this inner-conflict he endured that made him drink till he got drunk enough to not think about any of it. The result- he ended up thinking more of Jessica. The club was getting suffocating with each passing moment and he decided to get out of there. It was late and he walked a few miles before ending up at that store. He wanted to drink more. But things turned upside down when he saw Jessica. He remembered all that happened after. He had to take responsibility, or he couldn't stop blaming himself.

"What is up with you, huh?"

Larry raised an eyebrow questioning the confused expression Liam had on his face.

"Why are you always in my dorm?"

"Answer me first."

"Look, I-"

"You confessed to like this Jessica girl last night." Larry smirked. "And thankfully I didn't drink or you would have been, even better, stuck with Jessica all night. Poor girl didn't even know what to do with you."

"I screwed things up." His tone was regretful.

"And when did that happen? As far as I know, Jessica has a thing for you too, so you didn't screw things up. You just like someone, like a normal human does!"

"You don't know the 'other things' that happened."

"Then tell me."

"I kissed her."

"Ah-Ha... and so?"

"SO!? I shouldn't have! I was drunk. She was already pretty overwhelmed by that rumor thing, and I-"

"Then go clear things up. Tell her you like her when you are sober, like right now. And ask her for a date, as simple as that."

"Things, yes. I have to clear things with her." 

Larry stayed over for a while before he left. It was after that when Liam dialed Jessica's number. 

"Hello?"

"Jessica, this is Liam."

"Umm hi?"

"Yeah. Come meet me in the cafeteria at six."

"Sur-"

Liam hanged the call.

**********************************

"And so he invited you to meet him?" Kiana asked Jessica as she did her hair in a messy bun.

"Yup."

"Come back and we will celebrate you two finally dating. See, I told you to confess. If you had done that-" Jessica eyed Kiana with a 'threatening' look. 

"Ki, I still haven't forgiven you for what you did to me."

"I know. I am sorry. I really-"

Kiana had apologized to Jessica for more than a few hundred times, and this was not an exaggeration. 

"Look, I know you wanted me to confess and probably get a boyfriend, but I'll do it at my own pace."

"You pace has become faster than ever before, my lady Jess."

And they both laughed at that.

Jessica had chosen to wear a semi- casual dress that she had brought with herself for special occasions. Standing in front of the mirror, she had inspected herself multiple times from head to toe. 

Am I looking too fat?

Am I dressing up too much?

Will he like it?

It was only after she was fully certain that she looked decent, she stepped out to reach the café. It was still five minutes to six and Jessica patiently waited for Liam to show up.

Liam showed up exactly at six. And the sight of him was the first disappointment Jessica had. The first blow to her high hopes.

He was dressed in a plain white t-shirt and trousers. It was not the look for a date.

He sat in the seat across Jessica. His face showed no signs of happiness or excitement.

"We need to talk."

"Yes, go on."

Liam took a deep breath.

"I am sorry for everything that I did last night. It was not my plan to do any of that, and if in any way you feel hurt, I can apologize in the way you want. I didn't mean anything I said or did yesterday. It was the alcohol."

Jessica's face grew stone cold. And why not, someone had poured cold water all over her, giving her shivers in the pleasantly warm weather of the city.

I didn't mean anything.

"So, umm, I-" she barely held herself from breaking down right then and there. Her voice was heavy. "I... I don't really remember, no, I mean, I don't really mind, now that you have apologized to me." Jessica faked a smile which did not hide any of her realm expressions. 

Her face showed disappointment and embarrassment. Liam could see it all. But he decided it was best to ignore all of it. Jessica left the café as a tear rolled down her face.

She could think of nothing now. Not wanting to go to back to her dorm, she decided to go to the bleachers. It was weekend so it should have been empty. And she wanted her space to comprehend what had just happened. How had her happiness flipped completely to the opposite emotion in just a few words?

As she walked on the path to her destination, she kept her ears open, listening to the conversations people were having around her. Are they talking about that? She would wonder. Although people already had forgotten about all of that, except a few girls who had a thing for Liam. But mostly no one remembered. Something good, at least.

She felt a certain satisfaction once she reached the bleachers. It was a sadistic part of her, probably, because the sight that gave her that satisfaction was of a person crying, probably.

This was a guy, quite far from her, so she couldn't make out what he was exactly doing, but I can assure you she was right in speculating.

I am not the only one with a bad weekend start, I guess.

She went a little closer to the silhouette of this person. Sitting when she was a foot away from him. 

He looked up at her.

"Jessica?"

It was Ryan. 

***************************************************************

Just to remember:

This story is ranked number 4 in #agedifference and I couldn't be happier :p