Chapter 83: Jack’s Confession

The corridor lay quiet and empty now, completely free of student activity following the recent end of the class break. Jack leaned back against the wall of lockers, arms folded tight across his chest, uncertainty plainly written across his face as he waited.

Alright, she always walks through right around here, ten minutes after break ends. I’ve been watching her long enough to know that by now. But am I actually ready for this? What if there are consequences? Honestly, I don’t even know what to say, or anything. His eyes darted restlessly up and down the empty hall, still doing his best to hold onto the intimidating persona he’d spent so long building.

Hmm, are my arms supposed to stay folded like this, or should I stand up straighter and shove them in my pockets? No, wait, maybe leaning sideways looks better. Oh man, am I seriously this nervous right now? Is it normal to feel like this? I’ve never actually gone through this before, and it honestly feels like some kind of weakness, he thought to himself.

Come on, you jerk, pull yourself together and stop cowering like this. You’ve been feared by plenty and respected by others, so there’s no excuse for falling apart over something like this.

Just then, the young freshman girl came strolling around the corner, moving with the same familiar, bouncy skip, bright smile fixed across her face, her large, expressive eyes and sweet features making her genuinely hard to look away from. Her hair and skirt swayed lightly with every step she took.

Jack’s heart hammered against his ribs like a mallet striking solid steel the moment she walked past, completely wrapped up in her own cheerful little world, never so much as glancing in his direction.

But barely three steps past him, a voice behind her made her slow down and stop mid stride.

"Hey, what’s up?" Jack blurted out the same familiar line he’d been rehearsing in his head every time he wanted even a sliver of her attention. This time, though, it came out sounding far more eager, maybe even a little desperate, which was exactly why she stopped.

She pivoted lightly on one heel, turning toward him with that same warm smile, waiting curiously to hear what he wanted. Jack pulled a green apple from his pocket, offering a nervous, crooked smile.

"Can you guess how many bites it’d take to finish off this little apple? Get the trick right, and you win," he said with a shaky chuckle. A brief silence hung between them before the girl finally spoke.

"Um, is there something I can help you with?" she asked, uncertainty clear in her voice.

Jack felt his heart pounding even harder, like five different people knocking on a door all at once. Was he seriously about to collapse and faint right here, over a freshman, when he’d stared down entire sophomore rivals without flinching? Absolutely not. He refused to let that happen.

He let out a heavy breath before dropping the apple back into his pocket. "Okay, so, I was just, um, I just wanted..." His stammering voice trailed off completely as the girl tilted her head curiously to one side.

Jack drew in another steadying breath before pressing on. "Look, we’ve kind of known each other for a while now, just through these brief little moments in the hallway, but there’s something I really wanted to say, honestly, instead of just keeping it bottled up all day like usual."

His eyes flicked briefly past her shoulder before returning to meet hers. "You just look almost too good to be real, and you honestly caught me completely off guard. One thing I’ve figured out is that you should never doubt something just because it feels impossible. Like this, right now, with you. And I really didn’t want to miss my chance."

The girl’s large eyes widened further, her expression shifting as he pushed forward. "So I’d really like to know your name, and your class, so we can get to know each other better. Maybe we could hang out sometime, you know? Go for a walk, watch you skip alongside me, or play some games together, whatever works. You’re honestly like some kind of perfect picture to me."

By the time he finished, she was already nervously twisting the tip of her right toe against the floor, fidgeting with strands of her hair.

A far brighter smile spread across her lips than before. "I honestly don’t even know what to say. The truth is, I kind of felt the same way, I just never knew where I stood. None of my classmates ever came up to me before, not even once."

"Anyway, I’m Sofia Vergara, from freshman class 1A. And I’d honestly love to go out with you too," she finished cheerfully, leaving Jack blinking in stunned, delighted surprise.

"Wait, really?! Um, I mean, that’s, yeah, I’m definitely happy about that. Maybe we could start..."

"After school today," Sofia cut in with her own suggestion, her voice light, sweet, pitched so pleasantly it genuinely made it easy to listen to.

Jack suddenly remembered the detention waiting for him after class, courtesy of his homeroom teacher. He scratched the back of his head out of pure reflex. "Um, I’d totally love that, but, let’s just say I might be kind of tied up today. So, how about tomorrow instead?"

"Oh, and by the way, I’m Jack Godbrik, sophomore class 2A. You can just call me Jack. I guess we’re technically in the same school, just different years," he added.

"Okay, sure, that works, it’s totally fine," Sofia said with a warm smile. They shook hands, hers small, warm, and soft against his own, before parting with a quick wave, Sofia skipping off and disappearing around the next corner.

Jack stood frozen there for a while afterward. His eyes stayed fixed on his hand, still tingling from the brief contact, and he genuinely considered never washing it again.

He’d actually done it. His deepest, most closely guarded feelings were finally out in the open, spoken directly to the person he’d wanted to tell, and it had worked out better than he could have imagined. He honestly couldn’t have been happier than in that moment.

"What a sweet, wonderful girl she is. I’m never letting this go," he muttered to himself.

Just then, Victor popped out from behind a hidden nook in the row of lockers, a proud smile stretched across his face. He flashed two enthusiastic thumbs up toward Jack, who answered with a smug little smirk.

"Nice work, seriously. You pulled it off. Sure, you nearly tripped over a few of the moves I coached you on, but you seized the moment and made it happen. All the credit’s yours to keep. I couldn’t be prouder of you."

"Way to go and ruin the mood right after, man," Jack said, dripping with sarcasm.