Jax's role as the "mutual friend" was to help Estella get the guy. Falling in love with her was never part of the plan.
Estella Gillon lives a simple life that consists of band, friends, her father and her never-ending crush on Brice Abrams. Ja...
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Today was our presentation in my psych class. I was curious on what Brice did his on and when I made it to class, I waited for his arrival. When I saw his signature jean jacket, I grinned as he made his way my way. What shouldn't have been to my shock, he walked past me and sat a couple seats away from me. I shouldn't have been surprised. When I glanced back at him, he ignored my stare.
When Mr. Cline stood forward, he spoke a little before starting the presentations. People went, presenting on different mental illnesses like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. I presented mine on PTSD, and when Brice stepped forward, I was looking forward to it. When he showed the title slide of his PowerPoint, I smiled.
Schizoaffective disorder.
"Schizoaffective disorder," he started. "What exactly is that? Many people know about mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder, and contrarily to popular belief, most people who experience psychosis are not bad people. Schizoaffective disorder is an illness that consists of having a mood disorder and psychotic symptoms at the same time or different times." He stopped to look at the audience. "My mom has schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type."
I smiled as I watched him present, talking about the history, the symptoms, the prognosis and treatment and little details most people were ignorant about. Brice educated the class on his mother's experience with the illness, such as her treatment, hardships and hospitalizations and outpatient programs. I was proud of him for being so honest and vulnerable about something so personal.
When he finished, as he walked back to his seat, our eyes briefly locked. When the class was over, I ran to catch up to him.
"Brice!" I yelled, and he stopped to face me as I stood in front of him. "That was really brave of you."
"I did it for me," he said, "not because you told me to."
"It doesn't matter why you did it," I told him. "I'm just glad you did. Your mom will be proud of you. I'm proud of you."
"What do you want, Estella?" he said with his expression softening. "You don't want to be with me, which came out of nowhere. You blind-sided me."
"I didn't mean to."
"How can we move from dating one day to you wanting to be with Velasco instead and not wanting anything to do with me?"
"I didn't say I didn't want anything to do with you," I made sure to clarify. "Things just change."
"That quickly?" he asked. "It's like you were waiting for an excuse to be with Velasco. I gave you that excuse by breaking up with you."
"I'm sorry, Brice," I said. "I never meant to hurt you, and I still want to be in your life, even if we aren't dating."
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around you changing your mind so fast."
