Weightless {22}

What an insane young man. So unruly. And he knew all my whereabouts. Why was this so? Stalking? It's a good conclusion. Or he was just following me. That was still stalking, anyways. Farro. Interrupter. Cocky bastard. So many ways to describe such an annoying young man.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, looking up at him as he so very coolly approached our picnic bench.

"Just strolling around. This place isn't off limits, is it?" He replied, the smirk I've seen too many times pasted onto his lips. "You guys..aren't..on a date or anything. Right?"

"Why do you care?" I scoffed, standing closer to Jack and ready to step away.

"I don't, just asking," he answered. I rolled my eyes and began walking towards the sidewalk, out of this park and towards my house.

"Hayley, I'm sorry for yesterday," he called from behind me. I could hear his footsteps as he jogged closer to Jack and me. Soon, he was back, trying to keep pace with my quickening footsteps. "Hayley, I need to ask you something.."

I wanted to shoo him away. He was nothing more but a stupid bug bothering me, a fly, an annoyance. I needed to swat him.

"Please..stop." He shoved himself in front of us, forcing me to stop where I stood. "Get out of the way," I hissed, eyes narrowed.

"My dear lady, I'm just trying to ask you a question!" He remarked. I avoided rolling my eyes, though it was what I wanted to do at the moment. "Please.." his hand tried to reach for mine, but I pulled it away roughly. He smirked. "Maybe..maybe I could ask you some other time."

"Some other time would be good," I answered, walking around his body and ahead of him. I didn't hear him bother me, nor Jack, anymore. I sighed and slowed down, letting my breathing level itself out. "That's Josh," Jack suddenly said with a sigh, as we both continued our way back to my house. "He's never gone this far for a girl. He seems to really like you, but you already knew that."

"Whatever," I muttered. Farro was being so clingy. I couldn't deny that he liked me, but I couldn't accept it either. Farro and I..together? I don't know. Does that even make sense? I rolled my eyes as "the plan" came running back into my head. Right. I was supposed to get him to like me. Well if he did, why didn't he just ask me out already? He shouldn't be afraid, should he? He was the type of guy who didn't seem to be afraid. And I wasn't a very frightening person..well, not really. There was nothing to be scared about.

My shoes walked up the porch and towards my house door. "I'll take those," I said, turning to Jack and reaching out to grab the cereal boxes from his hands. "Wait a second." I ran as fast as I could towards the kitchen and dumped the junk on the counter, rushing back towards the door where Jack stood.

"So it's been fun, I'd like to go out another time," I told him, our eyes locked. He smiled shyly and nodded. He seemed to get anxious for a second, and his face looked like he was contemplating something in his mind. He bit his lip for a second before leaning in, and I suddenly could feel his breath on my face. His lips then traveled to my cheek, planting a soft peck against it. He pulled away and that same cute, shy smile lit his face. My own lips broke out into a smile. "See you, Hayley," he said softly, before turning his body towards the sidewalk. I was biting my lip as I watched him walk down the porch steps and out into the sidewalk. Was I insane to want to go after him?

Without thinking, I hurried after him before he could get any further and turned his body around. I wasn't going to be hesitant on this one. He seemed shocked as I turned him, but I didn't blame him. Anyone would be shocked. I was glad he didn't question my actions and seemed to know what was going on. In seconds I shot forward and my lips landed on his. His breath caught. This kiss seemed so right though. The tension in Jack slowly melted away as I felt his own lips start to respond to mine.

My hands and his hands were tangled together and placed at our sides. There was no grabbing of the hair. But I would change that shortly. As the kiss got deeper, my hand found its way into his shaggy brown hair. I couldn't help but mutter out a low moan before gently unlatching my lips from his.

"I..." My breaths were coming out as pants. "Jack.."

"It's okay," he giggled softly, looking at my face. "That was.." He paused and I could tell he was thinking, searching his mind for the word that was just right. I smiled and interrupted his thinking.

"Indescribable?" I shot out, sounding a bit cocky. Jack only chuckled and shook his head. "I don't know. But...uh..I liked it."

I looked up at him, agreeing. He and I shared a short moment of looking at each other, before his gaze broke away and he looked down at the pavement. "So I better let you loose now," I said with a flirty tone, one that made him grin foolishly.

"I'll see you next time," he told me, and it sounded an awful lot like he was promising me that. I nodded, acknowledging him, and we both went our seperate ways. As I walked back into my warm home, all I could do was plop against my couch and bite my lip, grinning like a fool. Jack was adorable. And I couldn't deny that I liked him. He was a charmer. But Farro was the one to go after in this plan. I refused to let the girls down.

I walked down over to my kitchen and grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge, chugging it down as the cool waters made their way down my throat. A knock on my door disturbs me.

I groan as the person behind the door continues knocking, louder, until I am tempted to go yell an insult and throw knife towards that door.

But I don't.

My feet scramble towards the door handle and I twist it, opening the door slightly. My eyes peek outside to see who it is.

"Josh?" I ask, my voice raising in pitch a bit as I say his name.

He nods and lets himself in, rudely, I might add. I roll my eyes, I should have expected that. "What are you doing at my house?"

"Well first.." he begins, walking towards my living room and sitting down on the couch, "I owe you a few apologies."

My eyebrow raises at this, and I look down at him sitting on the couch. He reads my expression quickly and his eyes widen. "What? Really, I'm here to apologize."

I start to wonder if Farro saw that kiss between Jack and I, but I focus more on the boy seated in my living room. "For what?"

"For putting you into the pool. My friends are beasts..and guys are..guys. You know how we are," he says, attempting to make me smile. My lips stay a pursed line. He sighs as he sees his attempts are a failure and continues. "And..for everything else, every other messed up thing I did to you."

"Uh huh," I say. I watch as he softly shakes his head, his gaze fixed on the floor. He looks so defeated as I watch him, and the more I want to just engulf him in a hug and apologize that I was being a bit harsh. But as usual, I don't. I wish I could just reach out to him though, creating brief, brash contact.

"Hayley..I'm really sorry," his eyes find mine again, his gaze intense this time, and his look so innocent..almost..puppy dog like. It's so adorable, like a kid's face in a candy shop. "I know how I can make it up to you."

"You killed my phone, embarrassed me in front of a few hundred people at the mall, and you've been a jerk to me a lot at school. Well..back then. You aren't as big of a jerk as now, but.." I paused as I realized I was babbling. "Anyways," I said, my ramble cut short, "I don't know you'll ever make it up to me."

He smirked and reached into his jean pocket, pulling out a purple..wait a second. Sidekick LX? My breath stopped, and he noticed this. His smirk just got bigger. I was angry that this gave him such confidence. "You need a new phone..so.." His arm slowly reached out, ready to hand me the phone. It was so ready to be taken by me, so ready to be held and loved. I was in dire need of a new phone, anyways. And this was free. "Josh..." I whispered lowly, biting my lip as I debated wether or not to grab that phone out of his hands.

"Take it," he urged, which made the temptation to grab it even worse. But I couldn't just grab it! To me, taking that phone was letting him off the hook for what he did. A sign of defeat. But forgiveness never hurt anyone, did it?

"This isn't some kind of prank is it?" I asked, just to be sure. I shouldn't just trust Farro right off the bat.

"Nope," he answered, being so sickeningly honest. My heart quickened as I reached out to take his little peace offering. It felt so good to hold that phone in my hands, and it was a shining and beautiful piece of technology..so new. So unused.

Words were wretching their way out of my throat. No matter how much I didn't want to say them, I had to. Two simple words. "Thank you," I said.

He smiled at me, innocent and pretty cute.

I heard the front door unlatch and the steady footsteps head toward the living room. Farro turns around to face the woman, to be more precise, my mom. "Oh, Mrs. Williams!" He says happily, looking her up and down. "You look beautiful today."

I could tell my mom was ready to giggle like a little schoolgirl, obviously charmed, but she looked at the floor as she tried to hide her smile. "Thank you, Josh, isn't it?" She asked, and Farro nodded in a very gentlemanly way. At least he was being nice to my mom, and that was helpful for me, because I didn't want her to end up interrogating me with a cloud of questions, like why Farro was here.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" My mom asked. I flashed her a what-in-the-world-are-you-doing?! look, but she didn't pay much attention to me and ignored my look.

"I'd love to Mrs. Williams," Farro smiled, glancing quickly over at me. I rolled my eyes and avoided his stare. As Farro headed over to the kitchen, I grabbed my mom by the wrist. "Thanks a lot mom," I hissed, frowning and making my frustration evident. "It's the least we could do, he's already here," my mom replied. I sighed and held on tightly to my new phone. "This is all your fault, you beautiful piece of shit," I huffed, holding the phone up.

Farro is lovable, no? Haha. My dear readers, please tell me what you think.