THE JOCK JUST WANTS THE NERD [2]

10

|| ETHAN ||

Placing a cafe latte in front of Jackson, I tapped my chin with my finger, "I thought of giving a sweet drink, sorry if you prefer a bitter taste. I should have asked," I said.

"No, you're fine, I like my coffee like this. Thank you," Jackson grinned, blowing the bit of foam that layered on top of his drink before taking a small sip.

"Why'd you want to work here by the way?" I asked. He raises his brows, his skin turned red which oddly reoccurs quite often for some reason.

"I uhh..." he pauses for a while as if he forgot his motives. "I just thought it would be nice to work with... you," his lip quivered, his eyes began avoiding my direction.

"I see, sorry about not having any available positions," I frowned.

"It's okay," Jackson slowly nodded, distracting himself with his warm beverage. Right then, the doorbell rings; more customers came in. Turning to Jackson, I excused myself, "I gotta keep going, it was nice talking to you," I gave him a smile, waving at him. He gives me a timid one in return before I head to the counter to take orders.

After an hour, Jackson still remained here. Even though his purpose was to apply for work, he hasn't left. I have about thirty minutes left before I can go home. Partaking as a waiter, I stood by patiently beside Carla who was working on a dish on the stove. I kept quiet, watching her work her magic when she spoke. "So... do you have a girlfriend Ethan?" Carla said as she gave a small quick glance at me.

Weird topic to break the silence, but I answered anyways, "not at the moment," I said.

"Oh really, does that mean you had one before?" She tilts her head.

"No actually, well... I had a crush on this one Korean friend of mine before, but we never really became an official couple since we were very young," I gently placed my palm over my cheeks as I recollect my memories of her.

She was naturally pretty and yet tough. When we were young, we would take Taekwondo classes together at the age of 10, back when I used to live in the more northern parts of America. I was pretty shy back then, and she was the only friend I had who made the first move of introducing herself. I do miss her, sometimes I would try to contact her whenever I'm bored.

"And what about that Jackson guy?" Carla said.

"What about him?" I raised a brow.

"What's your relationship status with him? Since you two were seniors back then in the same school, you've got history don't you?"

Well... there wasn't much to say back then. Jackson is a cool guy, but due to having separate friend groups, we didn't connect to each other that close; plus the fact that he acted indefinitely silent around me, it was just a bit difficult to talk to him, "we're just acquaintances, I guess?" I admitted.

"If you two are just acquaintances, you seem to make such a hot guy like him look so baffled with you. Is he single?"

That was a little bit too much to take in, "how the heck am I supposed to know that?" I said with an unamused expression.

"Ethan, it may sound ridiculous, regardless of only two days of observation: but, he comes back the day after he discovered this place as soon as you came here to work for the first time, he appears less confident and blushes when he talks to you, and he stares at you every once in a while. Don't you get certain vibes from him?" She explained.

"Vibes? What vibes?" I questioned.

"Don't you think... that he might like you?" Her words struck and confused me. I stared at her, thinking that she was sounding a little bit ludicrous. I don't believe that Jackson has feelings for me or any guy on that matter. I swear I saw him with a girl during our high-school years at some point. Peeking through the serving entry way, I watched him staring out at the glass windows with the sunlight shining on him. "I doubt that," I rolled my eyes at Carla.

She shrugs, finishing up the dish and placing it on a clean white platter, "who knows? This pasta is for table 3 by the way."

"Even if he were to like me, what would I do then?" I said to her before pushing the door open with my side, ready to serve the food. Looking around, I gave the plate to 2 women who were talking to each other and laughing sat near the walls. "Here you go," I said, placing the food in the middle of the table for them.

"Thank you," the blonde girl said. I nodded, looking at the other brunette in front of her, I asked, "is there anything I'm missing?" I wondered.

"Nope, that'll be all," the brunette smiled when the blonde one started spiraling her fork on the noodles, pulling up a cluster of pasta and motioned the other to eat it. The brunette smiles winks at the other girl before she nibbles on her food. They both giggle happily and fed each other as I looked at both of them with surprise. My eyes slowly began to drift towards Jackson who was on the opposite side. He looks at me with furrowed eyebrows and a big smile, the light behind him projecting a glowing halo.

Can Carla really be on to something? Or is she just being weirdly delusional?

Is there, in fact, a possibility that Jackson has a liking on me?