An Interview with Mr. Ex

Chapter 13: When We first touched

Chapter 13: When We First Touched

(flashback - two days after Jared borrowed 50¢ from Jade)



Jade was sitting in Professor Rutherford's lecture hall, looking for Megan when someone pulled a chair next to her and sat down. It was the guy who had complimented her the day when Prof Rutherford had asked her a question.

"Hi. I have been meaning to talk with you for a while. Just hadn't gotten a chance." He said with a smile and Jade's eyes went big as she looked at him. He was not bad looking, in fact he looked very cute. So why did this cute boy have been meaning to talk with me? Jade thought with suspicion. "What? Don't look like that. I am not some creep—not that any creep has ever admitted that he was actually a creep—but I really am not. I am Nate Brooke. First year, as well and that day during Prof Rutherford's ethics class, I loved what you said."

"Hi." Jade mumbled.

"You don't actually talk much, do you? I have seen you talking only with Megan. Oh and with that devil."

"Devil?"

"Jared." Nate said without any emotion. "He is not a good guy, you know."

"Why?" Jade asked. Even though Megan had told Jade an elaborated story with all the necessary details about how Jared Wilson and his trade of kissing worked, Jade was still curious. She almost didn't believe Megan, but then that weird conversation with Jared had made her feel confused.

What did he mean when he said that I only get a fist bump for fifty cents? Was he just pulling my legs or was that actually true? Did that mean he really kissed girls for money?

These questions were pretty much on the back of her head the two days since she had had that strange meeting with Jared and yes, he still hadn't returned her fifty cents.

"You don't know about that? He is pretty notorious around here." Nate said with a smile.

"So it is really true?" Jade blinked up at him and he laughed. His eyes were appreciative as he gave her a wink.

"So you do know, you are just trying to get more information out of me, aren't you? You are pretty clever," Nate said. "Of course it is true. He is kinda like a legend around these parts of the university. He is in his third year and he has kissed almost everyone around here. According to Becca Epstein, even some of the lecturers paid him for a kiss." Nate looked intrigued, even though he was the one telling the story.

"Ridiculous!" She said, her eyes unbelieving and incredulous. "It is just gossip."

"If you don't believe me, it is easy to find it out for yourself." He said with a small shrug and Jade's eyes went as big as saucers.

Is this guy for real?!

"You want me to prove your theory by -" She mumbled, a disbelieving look in her blue eyes.

"What? Just go and pay him. If he kisses you, then I am not lying." Nate said, as if he made complete sense. Why was she always meeting only the weird ones? Did she look weird, as well? Was that why they were attracted to her?

"But what if I don't want to kiss him? What then?" Jade challenged and Nate shrugged.

"Oh come on, have you looked at him? Every girl here wants to kiss him. Some guys too. I don't blame them. He is really gorgeous." Nate said, his voice pretty straight for someone who was joking. Or wasn't he?

"Looks like you are the one who wants a kiss." She said with a straight face. His eyes snapped up at her and for a moment, they stared and then they laughed together. He grabbed his stomach and wiped his eyes away.

"I have to check it with my girlfriend, but I think she won't object," Nate said with a grin. "I like you. You are funny. Let us be friends." He said with a smile.

"No, you can't." It was Megan. She took a seat on the other side of Jade and glared at Nate.

"How is it any of your business, Ms. Uppity?"

"Because she is my friend first and I don't like you." Megan said, as if it was all the reason she had needed. Jade looked at them both, her eyes twinkling in amusement. Of course, she could just as easily cut them off and tell them that she was the only one who had any right to decide who to befriend or not, but this was much more entertaining and so she watched with silent laughter as they went on and on about Jade.

"Just because you are her friend first doesn't mean-"

"Blah, blah. Boring. We don't want to befriend a boring guy." Megan poked her tongue out.

"Not we. I don't want to be your friend. I am allergic to smug, egoistic jerks. I just want to be Jade's friend."

Half way through their agreement, professor Rutherford walked in and so they continued their fight with their eyes.

***

When the morning classes were over, Jade walked to the cafeteria with Megan. Megan was complaining about Nate and how he was such a pest, and Jade was smiling as she walked in. Megan had started to pack lunches for Jade, as well. These days, it had almost become a routine for Jade and Megan, and sort of became an unwritten rule. So Jade didn't have to wait so long in the line just to get some wilted, shriveled up leaves, and almost stale burgers for lunch. She could now eat delicious, delicious things. It was almost spoiling her, but she didn't care. She hadn't had such good food for a long, long time.

She saw Jared at the table—he always sat in the front, just next to the door, as if he didn't want to waste time walking all the way in—with a guy he always sat with. They were laughing and Jared was shaking his head at something the other guy said and his eyes were full of mirth and Jade forgot to blink. He looked up from his friend as if he could almost sense her eyes. He gave her a piercing look and she had to look down. She walked past him quickly, afraid he might catch her again. At her table, as she was eating a chicken sandwich Megan had packed for lunch, her eyes were constantly seeking him, his face, his laughter.

She couldn't stop herself. All the stories about him intrigued her, but it was more. Somehow she couldn't believe they were not true, even though they sounded almost absurd. Looking at his lips, those beautiful lips made her doubt that maybe girls did willingly pay for a peck, a kiss from those lips. Those delicious looking lips.

"I can lend you some money, you know, you can pay me back when you become rich." Megan chuckled.

"Don't start it again." Jade waved a hand, cutting her off, but Megan was not the type who did what anyone asked her to do, and so she continued her monologue without bothering about what Jade had said.

"Jade, you are getting distracted and he will tell you not to. So maybe you should just get it done with."

"I don't want to kiss him, I was looking at him because he still hasn't returned my money." Jade mumbled as she took another bite of her food. "And this is heavenly." She waved the sandwich in front of Megan. Megan shrugged as if it was nothing.

"I will let Tilda know. She is the one who packs your lunch. Our lunch."

"You have a cook?"

"More like a chef, but who cares about the sandwich? A kiss is much more interesting."

"You have such a one-track mind." Jade complained as she stood up and walked up to the trash can. She threw the wrapper away and was turning back when she saw that Jared and he looked at her with a shake of his head as he motioned her to come over with a wiggle of his finger. She turned away from him hurriedly.

I could pretend I hadn't seen him. Yeah, I can...

She decided to do exactly that when she heard him shouting. "Hey you." She instinctively turned towards him and then chided herself for being such an i***t. She could have just ignored the call, as well. It was not like he was calling her name.

He moved his head, beckoning her to his table. "Do not run away." He said, as if he could read her mind.

She blushed as she moved closer to his table and looked at him silently. He gave her a look and scrunched his nose.

"Don't waste your time on silly fantasies, okay? This is not a romance novel, and I am not going to fall in love or change, because you are all soft and wide-eyed and beautiful. This is life, and things like that don't happen here. You don't have time to waste, you have places to go, heights to reach. Don't waste it on a guy like me, okay? Or anyone else, for that matter!"

How patronizing.

She almost wanted to salute him and say, Yes sir. She just shook her head and clenched her fist and pushed it closer to his face, her lips in a sneer. He backed up in his chair as he looked at her with a question in his eyes. "What do I do now? Why are you trying to punch me?" He asked, looking befuddled. His thick brows were knotted right where they met in the middle as he searched her face.

"Maybe because you were being a patronizing piece of shit." The guy sitting with him guffawed. "I like this girl and you do deserve that punch."

"What did I do?" He looked at Jade and completely ignored the laughing guy next to him. She wrinkled her nose as she stared at him, her eyes pointed to her fisted palm. He almost jumped in his chair.

"You-" He laughed as if he finally understood what was going on here. His amusing eyes found hers as he blinked at her. "A fist bump for your fifty cents. God, for someone who looks too timid and shy, you sure know how to embarrass a guy, don't you? You let me go on and on, making an ass out of myself... were you laughing at me on the inside?"

"No." She shook her head with a shy look on his face. He looked amused. His eyes were gleeful and he kept shaking his head as if he couldn't believe her audacity.

"For someone who doesn't talk much, you do say a lot with your eyes," he said with a surprisingly soft smile. "And sorry I forgot you fifty cents."

She shrugged. No problem.

He grabbed her hand in his big and warm palm, unlocked her fingers one by one before he pressed his lips on the back of her hand.

His lips were soft, warm, and the kiss sent a tingle through her nerve ends. looked up into her eyes, his gaze piercing and probing.

After what felt like a million hours, he let her hand go.

Her legs were jelly and the hand where he had just placed a soft kiss was trembling at her sides.

He looked up at her, his eyes hooded and dark, like storm nights. "Your fifty cents..." His voice was raspy, dark, dangerous.

She was afraid of the feelings rushing inside her.

He even warned her not to live in her daydreams or waste her time on a guy like him. She had to protect herself from this onslaught of feelings or she was sure she would fall for him. She couldn't afford to fall for a guy now. She had dreams, even if they were microscopic and those were not about a guy.

At the bottom of her every shoe is a path that she wishes to tread, yet never has, never dared. And those treads, those paths were waiting for her. She couldn't leave them for a guy.

"This is not a fist bump," she whispered as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I returned it with interest because of the delay in repaying my debt." He said with a breezy smile, and she almost melted into a puddle. Do not melt.

She shook her head. "Okay."

"So you won't look at me anymore, right? Look at me with those big blue eyes?"

"I won't."

"Good," he said with a smile. "If you look..."

"I don't have to pay you for looking, right?" She said and then bit her tongue. She didn't know why she just said that. She blinked up at him, her eyes nervous.

This banter is stranger for me, she thought as she threw him a bewildered look. She was never really comfortable with strangers, she had always run as far as she could from strangers, but here she was, talking with him as if she had known him for years. She was comfortable with him and it was a strange feeling, but she was almost sorry he was such an arrogant jerk. She could never befriend someone so arrogant. Not that she wanted to befriend him or talk with him.

His head is so bigger I wonder how he fit inside the door! She thought inside her head as she looked at him with a small frown.

"Oh... you- you are feisty," he said with a glint in his eyes and scanned her face as if he was looking for something. "No. You don't have to pay for looking. You can look all you want, after all, I know I am impossible to resist, but don't expect me to look back." He warned. "I won't. Okay? You look naïve and I don't want to hurt you, okay? I am not going to lead you on."

"You have a God Complex and your head, how can it sit on your small neck?!" She said, her voice still so small, but somehow she was feeling braver with every word that was coming out of his mouth.

Of course, she was shy, timid, innocent, gullible... but he shouldn't treat her like an idi0t. And it angered her, the way he looked at her as if he was sorry for her. She didn't need pity or sympathy from anyone. She was so tired to be at the receiving end of those pitiful glances.

Jared's eyes widened in surprise and he almost looked like he was satisfied to hear the answer from her.

"Haha, God, this girl is amazing. Will you marry me, please? You are the one I have been looking for," the boy who was sitting next to Jared said. He had been watching their conversation for a while now, looking riveted. As if it was some reality TV or something.

"I am Tom," He said. "And you are?" He asked her with a smile. She looked at him for a moment wondering how she had forgotten this guy who was sitting right there next to Jared, the jerk.

"Jade." She murmured. Jared looked at her, his eyes soft and attentive and Jade felt a twinge in her heart and she looked away from him. His eyes were making her feel all kind of stupid things and she wasn't ready to feel those things.

"I like your name, it is a nice name and I agree with you. He does have God complex. I have known this guy since he was pooping in his diapers and sometimes even I can not believe how absolutely arrogant this guy is..." Tom said to her with a sneer. Jared kept looking at her, as he punched Tom in his shoulder.

"Thanks. I am late for my next class, I should go." Jade said. She would rather run, but she knew he would run behind her and catch her if she did. Why risk it?

"I can walk you to your class." Jared stood up from his chaie and picked up his backpack from the chair.

"No thanks, I can- Megan is waiting."

"Megan?"

"The gorgeous red head who sits with me?" Jade explained wondering how Jared hadn't seen Megan. Everyone saw Megan. Megan had such a magnetic pull and Jade faded in the background, always.

"Yeah, her... you copper brown hair is gorgeous too." He said with a shrug as if it was just an honest truth, as if he wasn't complementing her, but he was. Jade's heart widened as she looked at him. No one had ever called gorgeous, never would, at least not when compared with Megan. Megan was the sparkly one, Megan was the one who captured eyes.

But here he was, looking at her with eyes that made Jade's pulse race and stomach twist.

"Shall we go?"

"I- I really need to-" Jade started.

"Can't Megan find the class on her own?"

"So can she!" Tom looked at Jared with incredulous eyes. Jared mumbled something under his breath that Jade could not hear.

"You are-" Tom whispered something and Jared glared at his friend.

"Shut up." He gritted the words out. Jade watched this ongoing drama with interest. Tom said something and Jared hissed something back in return.

I could sneak away, she thought. As they kept arguing with each other, she slowly backed away and then she was almost running out of the door.

Thank God, I am finally free from that mad man! He is such a psycho, but also unusually kind, too.

Oh, don't forget heart wrenchingly sexy. The voice said with a smack of its lips. And that kiss... swoon.

"Oh, just one little kiss." She mumbled to herself, feeling a little bit crazy.

Yes, just a little kiss that almost made you faint. You don't have the heart to take a full kiss from him or maybe anyone. You are doomed, girlie, doomed!



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