Hazel
Maybe you’re busy. Or driving.
Hazel
Just wanted to see if you wanted to meet up at our spot again.
Hazel
But if you’re busy, don’t worry. I kinda miss my fake boyfriend though…
Jack stares at the messages on his phone for ten minutes before he texts Brady.
Jack
Brady, I don’t know if I should talk to her.
Jack
She keeps texting me.
Brady
Are you ghosting her?
Jack
No! But, I don’t know how to tell her that we shouldn’t talk to each other.
Brady
I thought you liked her.
Brady
You were JUST asking me how to ask her out and stuff.
Jack
But with Mike harassing us, I don’t know if I should.
Jack
I mean, Mike is right.
Jack
I’m not. She’s too good for a guy like me.
Jack
You even said it yourself. She’s out of my league.
Brady
Who is she right for then? She doesn’t like Mike.
Jack
That doesn’t mean she deserves a guy like me.
Jack
Like you said, she doesn’t take me seriously enough to actually go out with me.
Jack
I think this whole fake boyfriend thing has made things so much worse.
Brady
Look, I’m not Hazel, but from everything I’ve heard from you…
Brady
It seems she really likes you.
Brady
I think you need to just chill.
Brady
You’re making yourself a target for Mike.
Brady
And you’re making Hazel a target by shoving it in Mike’s face.
Brady
You guys keep holding hands in front of everyone and she’s always blabbing about her new boyfriend.
Brady
You’re all she talks about.
Brady
I feel this is just going to end badly for everybody.
Brady
You probably need to talk to her, but I get it if you need to think about what you need to say.
Brady
We have an entire school year to go. You don’t want to be on Mike’s shit list.
Jack
I don’t know what to do.
Jack
I know we need to talk. I just don’t know what to say.
Brady
I think she likes you, but if you don’t think it will work out, then you have to let her go.
Brady
You have to break off the fake dating thing.
Brady
You need to do it before Mike makes the whole thing worse.
Brady
If he was picking on Hazel before, it will be worse if he finds out this whole thing was fake.
Jack
He’d make it worse, yeah.
Jack
But do you think there’s a chance Mike will just chill out eventually?
Brady
I’ve never known Mike to just chill.
Jack
He has to eventually. That’s the only choice.
Jack
I’m not breaking up with her. If I do, she’ll be all alone.
Brady
She’ll find a boyfriend. She’s pretty.
Brady
She won’t have a problem there.
Brady
Then it’ll become his problem, not yours.
Jack
I can’t do that to her.
Jack
And I don’t want to.
Brady
Come on, man. Don’t do this to yourself.
Brady
But…if you can’t break it off, then there’s only one other alternative.
Brady
Don’t fake it. Either make it look like you two broke up or cut the fake part.
Jack takes time to think about what he wants…
But he can’t get himself to talk about breaking it off with Hazel.
Later that night, Jack works up the courage to text her.
Jack
I know it’s late, but I got your messages. I was pretty busy today.
Jack
Anyway, I wanted to say hello.
Hazel
It’s okay. And hello.
Hazel
I did a few pages in my junk journal earlier.
Hazel
But I don’t know…it was hard not hearing from you today.
Hazel
I’ve gotten used to talking to you.
Hazel
I know it’s probably silly.
Jack
Because honestly, missed talking to you, too.
Jack
I’m sorry couldn’t make it to our spot today.
Hazel
That’s okay. It’s not like we can go every day.
Jack
Yeah, but going to our spot every day wouldn’t be so bad…
Hazel
No 🙂 Actually, it would be kinda nice…
Hazel
It’s like the only place in the world…
Hazel
Where we can just talk.
Hazel
And not being judged by other people at school, you know?
Jack
Can I pick you up before school tomorrow?
Hazel
Sure…I’d like that.
Jack
Maybe a little earlier than normal?
Jack
Can I make up for the time we didn’t have together today?
Hazel
You don’t need to make up for anything 🙂
Hazel
But how about an hour before our usual time?
Jack
Sounds good to me. I’ll be there.
Hazel
I’ll be up and waiting.
Hazel
Will you be able to fall asleep soon?
Jack
Probably. I feel better now that I’ve talked to you.
Jack
But I should let you go if we’re both getting up so early in the morning.
Hazel
I hope you sleep well.
