Chapter 9: Look, Mom. I'm Going to War With a Cat.

       School was starting to become very tiresome for me. It was taking a lot out of me just to concentrate because my mind was wandering too much. I had way too much I was constantly thinking about.

       I was really hoping this would all pass soon. The last thing I needed was to develop feelings for Sawyer. I really didn't want to ruin our friendship. I was happy the way things were. It didn't have to change.

       I didn't want it to change.

       Lulu was starting to catch on to it. I mean, she already did. She just hasn't really been pushy about it until recently when it was starting to get really obvious for her that I couldn't keep constantly denying it.

       "You know, there's nothing wrong with liking him," Lulu said as she was putting her notebooks into her locker despite having homework. She said she wasn't in the mood to do her homework tonight so she wasn't going to bother taking it home.

       If only I was that brave. I definitely couldn't risk not doing my homework after all the class time I spent not paying attention.

       "There is something wrong with it," I said.

       Lulu sighed. "Jamie, it's never wrong to like someone."

       "I can think of a lot of reasons why it's long to like someone," I said. "If someone is a serial killer or a puppy killer or a carnivore or..."

       "Seriously?" Lulu interrupted. "All of those having nothing to do with Sawyer. He's one of the sweetest people ever. You can literally go up to a random person in town and ask what they think about Sawyer Birch and they'll say that he's the sweetest person ever."

       "I know he is," I said. "But just because he's sweet, it doesn't mean I should like him. Or that I want to like him. I really don't."

       "Can you at least tell me why so I can stop bugging you about it?" Lulu asked. "Because I think you two will be a really nice couple."

       I hesitated, not knowing if I should go into depth about why I didn't want to like Sawyer. Of course there was more to it than just me not wanting to ruin our friendship. Maybe if it was just the friendship issue, I would have risked it. 

       That was only a small factor, though. A very small one compared to the other reasons.

       When I didn't answer, Lulu closed her locker and looked at me. "It's that serious?" she asked.

       "A bit, yeah," I said. "Just... trust me on this. It's probably best for me to just stay friends with him right now. Or forever."

       "You said probably," Lulu said. "There's some doubt there."

       I sighed heavily. "Of course there are doubts, Lulu. It's not just an easy and set decision I can make, especially with all the factors weighing in."

       "I know you probably don't want to talk about it but can you give me some sort of hint?" Lulu asked. 

       I hesitated again, trying to debate if I should give her a hint or not. I didn't mind her knowing. She was my friend after all. It was just hard to actually talk about.

       Then again, Lulu only asked for some sort of hint. I could do that. Make it as simplified and vague as I could without getting into detail.

       "Well..." I said slowly. "Let's just say that I went through something close to  what Sawyer did."

       Lulu furrowed her eyebrows, trying to figure out exactly what I meant. When she did, her look softened. "You mean a nasty break up." She didn't even have to ask the question. She knew that was what I was talking about.

       "Yeah," I said quietly before clearing my throat. "I don't like talking about it but I will tell you that it pretty much shattered my trust in relationships. And it's hard when I know not every single person I eventually date is going to be my ex but I can't help it."

       "I don't blame you," Lulu said. "Trust is an important thing. Once someone shatters it, it's hard to get it back, even for other people."

       "Exactly," I said.

       "I'm sorry for being pushy about it," Lulu said.

       "No, don't be sorry," I said. "You weren't even too pushy. Just a tiny bit. I honestly expected you to be a bit more pushy once you noticed how obvious my little crush was so you did a pretty good job holding back."

       "Really?" Lulu asked. "I thought I was being really pushy. Wow, Beau will be really proud of me when I tell him. He's constantly telling me not to be so pushy. And loud. And argumentative. And annoying. He's really mean to me."

       I snorted. "I think he's the complete opposite."

       "Yeah, you're right," Lulu said. "He's so nice and sweet. The best friend anyone can ever have. I'm lucky he's my best friend and nobody else's."

       That wasn't the point I was trying to make but that worked to. Funny how Lulu was very observant of everything except for anything that involved herself.

       I was just going to sit back and see how long it took for Lulu to realize Beau liked her. It was probably going to take a long time because I doubt Beau would actually tell her. I didn't blame him.

       "Speaking of Beau, I should probably go find him," Lulu said. "It's Friday and it's our weekly ice cream sundae movie night."

       "Excuse me, how come I'm not invited."

       "Not everything is about you, Jamie. Don't intrude on my and Beau's thing."

       "I'm kidding, Lulu. I have stuff to do back home anyway."

       "I don't think it's nice to call Sawyer stuff."

       I chuckled. "You actually get my sense of humour. Rarely anybody does so thank you."

       "You're quite welcome, Krukowski. Now I really should go find Beau. We have to go to the store first to buy a lot of food. I'll see you Monday."

       "See you."

       The two of us went off in our separate directions with Lulu going to find Beau and me leaving the school to head home. I wanted to get home as soon as possible because I was planning on working with Paint, seeing if I could get him to trust other humans.

       Unfortunately, Kitty decided to walk over to me, not looking the happiest. "We need to talk," she said.

       "No, we really don't," I said.

       "Yes, we do," Kitty said. "I don't know what games you're playing with Sawyer but you need to stop. I've been trying to get him back but it's kind of hard with you in the way."

       "He's not going to take you back," I said. "Not because of me because trust me, Sawyer and I are just friends. You're the reason he's not going to take you back."

       Kitty crossed her arms over her chest. "That's not true. I made a simple mistake."

       "Simple?" I asked. "You completely diminished his identity when it shouldn't have mattered. That's something you should never do to someone you so-call care about. If I were you, I would just give up."

       "Sorry, I don't believe in giving up," Kitty said. "You, on the other hand, are going to hand to back off, though. Before things get ugly because trust me, they will. I always get what I want and I don't care what I have to do to get my way."

       "Not the healthiest mindset you should have," I said. "But keep thinking that if it will make you feel better. Just know that I'm not going to 'back off' or whatever you want me to do."

       "Fine," Kitty said. "Your choice. Just don't blame me for things that happen."

       I rolled my eyes and walked off. She was really something else. There was no way I was going to listen to her telling me to back off. How exactly could I back off when one, I didn't want to date Sawyer and two, I lived with him?

       Kitty really needed a reality check about her attitude.

       And I might have to be the one to give it to her.

       I just have to find a way that didn't involved Sawyer.

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lmao i wanted to write more but zelda: breath of the wild is too addicting and i keep playing it all day until close to 11pm so it's now 3am. tomorrow (or really today) i'm going to try writing at an earlier time.

it's probably not going to happen lol sorry

but anyway, next chapter jamie starts getting closer to someone <3 but i'm talking friendship-wise and i'm not talking about sawyer. there's someone else in this story, who was already mentioned, that's going to play a vital role so we need to see them more.