Achieving Unbroken

-Chapter 3-

Achieving Unbroken
Chapter Three

—

"Remeber those walls I built? Well baby, they're tumbling down.
And they didn't even put up a fight, they didn't even make a sound."
Halo | Beyoncé

—

Lilla

The cheeseburger he's raising to his mouth pauses midair. He has a confused and questioning look on his face, and I can tell he wants to say something but he doesn't know how.

"Not for real," I quickly say. "And not right now. I know you can't flip a switch and be social and fun. We use the end of this year and summer to hang out, get to know each other and get everyone comfortable with you being back. Maybe you can even get back on the football team. The other part of my offer is someone to talk to. I won't breathe down your neck, but just talk and I'll listen. And when senior year starts, we'll act like we're dating, and you've got an automatic in."

He's quiet. He is looking at me, trying to decipher and comprehend everything I just said, and the look on his face doesn't tell me whether he loves or hates the idea. Finally, he opens his mouth.

"So, dating, because...?"

"If we're just friends, that doesn't do much. I have a lot of friends but they don't all come in the 'inner circle'---as stupid as that sounds---just because we are friends. If you and I are dating, however, you're forced in because then it's a package deal."

No response, once again, and while I know that this is something that needs comprehending I am also one of the most impatient people on the face of the Earth. Staring at him in such deep thought, I wish that I could be inside his head and witness the things he must be thinking, not only about my proposal but about me in general.

"OK," he says, and I snap out of the trace I was in while staring at him. I must have a questioning look on my face because he repeats his answer. "OK. If you believe that your idea has hope, that you could help me move past this and help me get my friends back then I'm in."

I can't help but smile.

"I do." He pushes the side of the tray that has his fries towards me, with a deep breath and a smirk.

"When do we start?"

—

[Friday, May 12th, 2018]

"So how'd your little chat go with Jughead Jones?" Pip asks while we tie our shoes in the locker room. Our class mates and some of our ex-friends give us looks hearing her nickname for Jason, and I quickly try to cover up.

"We're just talking about Riverdale, I binged it a few weeks ago," I say, waving it off. The girls turn around, some of the quickly falling into a debate on who's more 'daddy': Cole Sprouse or KJ Apa.

Cole, definitely. But I love KJ more.

"Don't think you can avoid this. What happened?" I shrug.

"He agreed."

"He what?" She squeaks, deserving the next round of stares she receives. I shush her, something I seem to do a lot.