By the time Remington picks me up, I'm ready to collapse. Too many girls flocked me, all claiming that we were best friends in elementary school. I remembered some of them, and even then, we were never friends. Well, except for Jaclyn.
"Nick?" Remington asks from the driver's seat. "Are you alright?" Remington is my family's driver, but he's worked for us for so long that he's more like an uncle to me. We can usually carry on a conversation for hours. Today though, I'm too tired to give a full response, so I just grunt, "Fine." Remington drums his fingers against the steering wheel, occasionally whistling to a tune on the radio, but for the most part we're silent for the rest of the drive back home.
As we near the entrance to my family's estate, Remington slows the car to a stop. "I have to pick up your sister from her violin lesson. Are you okay getting out here? I’d hate to inconvenience you, but I don’t want your sister to have to wait too long."
"Of course," I say, getting out of the car. "Thanks." I shut the door and begin the trek to my front door. It’s a cool night; some would say it’s too cold to be outside without a coat, but I think it’s the perfect weather. Not freezing, not scalding hot, but right in the middle. I take my time going up the driveway, recounting the night’s events. The guys seemed to think I’m cool, which honestly, I don’t really care about. My life used to be about being popular and likable, but now I’m just trying to be a normal highschooler with a normal reputation.
But God, Jaclyn… She’s got me messed up in the head. I wasn’t expecting to quite literally run into her today, and I made a completely bad impression on her. Now she probably thinks I’m a self-entitled jerk who thinks he’s “all that.” I shouldn’t care at all. But then why does it feel like my heart is being squeezed ever so slightly at the sight of her and Max? That crush—those feelings—ended six years ago when I moved. Besides, it was a stupid elementary school crush. Still, she could have at least told me that she was dating one of my friends, especially Max. I’ve known him for ages, and the fact that he didn’t tell me kind of stings.
I reach the stone steps leading up to the door and sit on them, not ready just yet to go inside. After I fish out my phone from my pocket, I decide to check my social media. Turns out it was a bad idea. Over twenty new follow requests on Instagram crowd my inbox. I scroll down the list, searching for names I recognize. Nothing. I don’t recognize anyone. Hah. I should have known better. I should have known she wouldn’t reach out. What was I thinking?
I'm about to close out of Instagram when a notification flashes at the top of my screen.
It reads, jaclynnt_934 has requested to follow you.
Probably too quickly, I accept her follow request and a second later, a message pops up.
Jaclyn: hey