CHAPTER 31: Define Jerk

CHAPTER 31: Define Jerk

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It only took until the next morning for Ella to wake up and thoroughly regret her decision. She should have asked Rhea about him, goddamnit!

The opportunity was lost now, and she could do nothing but curse her indecisive self.

The morning was peaceful as distant winter birds chirped outside on the trees and a beam of sunlight passing through a crack of her curtain fell right across her, lighting up the infinitesimal particles floating around in that tiny space. It was only seven on the clock and Ella prolonged her stay in her warm bed just a few more minutes tucked like a burrito inside her comforter and scrolling through her phone.

She groaned when she stumbled upon a message that said she had an assignment due in the next two days; Mr Gerald definitely wanted to make up for yesterday's missed class.

They were supposed to read and deconstruct a piece of creative non-fiction and then write a two thousand words long literary criticism about all the things they observed and picked up She sighed, at least it was to be done in pairs.

Next, she looked at a message from Jay that was waiting for her, it said "Want to meet up at my place after class today and get started on the assignment?"

She thought over it and shot him a simple message saying "Sure." and then she forced herself out of bed to start her day begrudgingly while cursing her early classes.

The day neither dragged nor flew, it was a weird tug of war between the two as Ella attended class after class, made notes, tried not to think about Elliot but failed and found herself under the willow tree where she fed Archer, the tiny grey cat who came to meet her. It was probably too cold for him and Ella felt bad, she would have brought him home if her building didn't have a 'no pets' policy.

But she remembered to submit her short story before the contest deadline and felt really confident as she did it. Ella was aware that it had a very small chance at winning but she considered submitting the story a victory in itself, she was proud of herself.

Ella couldn't decide if her boring day felt really long or unusually short when she stood at Jay's doorstep and rang the bell at exactly 4:15 pm.

The door was pulled open, but she froze since she didn't expect Patrick to be welcoming her. "Hey Ella, Come on in.." He said with a smile as he opened the door wider as she stepped in.

"Hey, Patrick." She greeted him cordially.

"Jay, Ella is here." He hollered, almost impairing her ears as he closed the door and both of them went inside.

"Be right there." Jay's voice came from his room.

"Do you want sandwiches? I just made them..." Patrick said, walking into the kitchen while she followed.

Ella shook her head politely at his offer, "I had lunch-not hungry."

Patrick only shrugged, "Jay will thank you for leftovers."

Just as he said that Jay appeared in the kitchen doorway and smiled at her warmly, "Hey, should we go to my room or do you prefer the living room?"

His roommate raised an eyebrow at that very unsubtly.

"The living room is fine." Ella felt awkward thinking how he probably knew about the recent new development between Jay and her, it wasn't like Jay was trying to hide it or anything.

Suddenly Patrick was playfully being held in a headlock between Jay's puny arms, "She's here to impart knowledge upon me, get your mind out of the gutter!"

"I didn't say anything." Patrick laughed as he easily twisted out of the pathetic headlock and said "By the way you're wearing your shirt all wrong."

Everyone Instantly looked down at the t-shirt that he wore backwards, Jay coloured in embarrassment so quickly Ella didn't think it was humanly possible.

"I-I'll be r-right back." He stuttered out and then went back to his room in a hurry while his roommate chuckled loudly at his expense.

Ella looked at Patrick with curiosity, thinking how little she knew about him and how suspicious she found that. Was it him? That thought formed in her mind and she was powerless to fight it.

His grey eyes hidden behind his glasses seemed friendly yet distant. The lost opportunity with Rhea was still a fresh wound and Ella wanted to seize this one.

"Patrick, are you dating someone?" Ella asked, catching him off guard, he paused in the middle of chewing before continuing as he turned to her with slightly wide eyes.

Ella realised, how that might have sounded to him all wrong and almost panicked, "I mean- I just- I was just curious, I know how that sounded, but-"

Her words were interrupted by him as he calmly said, "It's okay...Um- but where is this coming from?" he wondered.

She shrugged to put on a show of nonchalance, but to him, she probably looked really awkward, and a lie fell out of her lips, "A girl, there was this girl asking about you and I don't really know anything about you- other than the fact that you have way too many part-time jobs to be considered healthy and you behave like Jay's spouse."

Patrick chuckled, feeling slightly uncomfortable and sighed before speaking, "I'm not dating anyone, but- I have someone in mind I wanna date, although I don't know how she feels about me."

Ella felt conflicted watching him speak of some girl with a fond smile on his face as he refused to meet her gaze. Was she envious? What was that prickle of unease she felt?

"Is she from our college?" She found herself asking.

"Patrick looked up and then after a moment nodded, "Yes, she is."

Jay appeared again, this time with his shirt on the right way. "What are we talking about?"

Before Patrick could answer, Ella spoke up, "Nothing, I was just asking Patrick what books he prefers to read."

Patrick raised an eyebrow at her- this time subtly, as he looked a bit amused "You were?"

Ella nodded stubbornly, "Yeah, so what is it?" Even Jay looked interested.

"I've hardly seen you read anything outside of college reference books," Jay said as he opened the fridge door and looked inside for a bottle of apple juice.

He rolled his eyes "That's because I hardly have time for anything else, but sometimes I do pick up a fun read- mostly sci-fi, fantasy, that kind of stuff." He told them and then stole the bottle of juice right out of Jay's hands just as he opened the cap.

Ella ignored a pouting Jay and asked "Have you heard of this book called 'Their correspondence- by George Bernard Shaw and Mrs Patrick Campbell."

"She's mostly known as Mrs Pat" Jay's voice interrupted them and her eyes swept to him instantly.

Patrick sounded amused, "Apparently Jay knows all about it."

Ella looked at him sceptically, "How do you know about that book?"

"I just heard about it as I was researching Pygmalion," Jay said as he reached for his stolen bottle again.

Patrick didn't stop him, instead, he looked at his phone and paled, "Shoot! My shift starts in ten minutes, I need to go." With a swish of his dark jacket, he briskly walked past them, picked up his car keys, then his heavy footsteps disappeared out the front door as it closed behind him.

"Bye Pat!" Jay's voice followed him out as he ran.

The house was suddenly silent as Jay and Ella looked at each other and cracked a smile. "I guess there's nothing for us to do but work." He said simply and so it was settled.

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They went over the assignment requirements and realised they were free to choose anything they wished and so Ella and Jay debated if a piece of Mark Twain's autobiography was a good choice or one of George Orwell's essay collections a better option.

Eventually, they settled on "Chapters From My Autobiography" since it was a book both of them had previously read and they believed it would save them some time and effort as they got to work.

They made a note of the narrative, the switch in point of view, the use of retrospection, outline and structure and the use of abstract thought and other literary elements. And struggled to make it seem less like a review and more like a literary criticism it was expected to be.

The sun was setting outside the window, stealing warmth from their domain as it made way for the moon and stars that lay cushioned in velvety midnight behind a blanket of moving dense clouds.

The street lights switched on while the pair of them continued to work indefatigably, determined to complete it within a single day. The harsh winter breeze was blocked by the closed windows and the crickets outside made quiet music that was ignored as always.

Ella stretched her arm sideways after typing their initials, 'E.C & J.W' followed by 'The end' and saving the draft they both had worked on. "What's the time?" She asked as she exhaled.

"9:35" Jay answered in a weary voice that relayed how he expended much more energy than he intended, "But this is finally done. We can edit it independently tomorrow." He said as he closed the books and laptops they were using for the task.

"I'm glad" Ella sighed as she leaned against a pillow over the back of the couch, thoroughly spent.

"I'm so hungry, shall I order a pizza, I'm sure there must be a few sandwiches Patrick made," Jay said rolling his neck as his hand raised to the back of his neck massaging the soreness away.

"I doubt that would be enough, let's order a pizza and wait while we eat sandwiches," Ella said and Jay chuckled.

"I like how you think." He pulled his phone out to call the nearest pizza place and then walked to the kitchen.

Ella followed reluctantly to supervise him so that he wouldn't burn the food or himself. Thankfully he was good with heating up food, Ella helped him with setting it in plates and carrying it back to the couch.

He ate while looking thoughtful, staring blankly into space.

"What are you thinking about?" Ella asked him, breaking him out of his reverie.

"I was just wondering, earlier... if you were trying to find out if it was Patrick." He asked hesitantly, making her self-conscious of the turn the conversation was taking.

"I-I was." She admitted, there was no point in hiding it.

"And is he?" He asked.

"Don't know... He didn't give me any definite answers," she told him.

"Or you weren't asking what you really should...What do you think he would be like?" He asked like he couldn't hold back his curiosity.

"Just normal, I guess..." She took a sip of water to ease her drying throat and took a moment to really think about her answer, "Someone who is nice to talk to, comfortable to be with and understands me." she confessed, "I'm constantly straddling the line of wanting to find out about him and wanting to respect his boundaries, it's exhausting. The other day I ran into his ex you know...?"

"You did?" He asked in surprise.

"Yeah...and I almost asked her about him, but I didn't." she dropped lower in her spot on the couch.

"Why not?"

"I don't know!" She exclaimed weakly, "I don't even get it, it's just I felt like he'd hate me if I found out that way."

Jay smiled his crooked smile, a dimple showed, "No one can hate you, Ell."

"You know- I really want to meet him, but at the same time- I'm scared." She admitted.

"I'm sure he is too," Jay said, hoping to reassure her.

She looked at him- really looked at him, taking in his pacific azure eyes, his warm smile, cute dimples and dependable yet mischievous presence and thought how effortless it would have been if she had feelings for him instead, but she couldn't deny how her heart beats faster every time she reads those letters.

"What if we meet and it's a disaster? What if we don't get along or like each other in person?" She asked, feeling truly vulnerable.

"I doubt it." He said, "You make everyone feel at ease- I'm sure you can get along with anyone." His reply made her smile but soon she fired another question at him.

"What if he's a jerk?"

He suddenly frowned, but his lips were still set in a smile, "Define Jerk?" He said.

"You know... some idiot who's too self-centred and hard to deal with." She explained and he laughed.

"He's probably a jerk."

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