CHERRY. [JESS MARIANO]

Friends

"Well now, over here we have this tiny little basket," Taylor announced in his best game show host voice while one of the volunteers held up my basket.

"Hey! A lot of effort went into that!" I exclaimed as he just ignored me.

Taylor rolled his eyes. "We'll start the bidding at 2 dollars."

"Taylor!"

"5 dollars," a voice said from behind the crowd.

Everyone turned around hoping to catch a glimpse of who had spoken. I already had my guess from the voice.

Jess stood there with his hands in the pockets of his yellow coloured peacoat. He caught my eye and raised his hand up in a slight wave. He had made a joke about bidding on my basket but I didn't actually think he would do it. Yet, I was slightly happy that he did.

On my left, Rory raised her eyebrows suggestively at Jess bidding on my basket. I stick my tongue out at her, trying to hide the blush on my face.

However, my mother on my right was eyeing Jess warily. Which made absolutely no sense to me since I thought she was actually quite fond of him.

Hearing no protest or counter bid, I was ready to make my way to the front to collect my basket.

"Ten dollars."

Shit. I stop in my tracks and turn to face none other than Tristan Dugray, who I thought had been shipped off to military school. Guess I thought wrong.

Jess, now agitated and looking at Tristan with a glare, ups his bid. "Twenty Dollars!"

"Twenty five." Tristan counters.

"Thirty."

"Forty."

As I made my way over to Tristan, to get him to stop bidding I heard Taylor speak. "Hello? Have neither of you seen how tiny this thing is?"

Both Jess and Tristan ignore him as they continue to bid on my basket. "Fifty!" Jess says, daring Tristan to bid. Bad idea on his part.

"Fifty five." He says. When he noticed me approaching him he sends me a lazy smile. "Hey, Cassie."

"Don't you 'Hey, Cassie' me." I tell him angrily. "Stop bidding."

Tristan rolls his eyes at me. I hear Jess in the background up the bid to sixty dollars. "Why should I stop?"

"I could so punch you right now." I reply hotly. "Jess, was bidding first." I try to reason with him.

"Yes, that's how a bid starts," he tells me slowly, making his point. "It continues when another person ups that bid."

"Sixty going once, sixty going twice," I hear Taylor say from the podium. Even if Tristan wasn't going to back down, I at least wasted some time.

"Seventy!" Tristan calls out, shaking his head at me. I knew Tristan wasn't worried about spending money, he came from a rich family after all. But Jess on the other hand, didn't make much working at Luke's.

"Eighty." Jess bids. I could feel his eyes on us as he spoke.

Tristan looked at Jess with a glare. "Okay, I'm bored now," he tells me quietly. "A hundred dollars!"

Everything went silent. I looked at Jess to see him looking at me questioningly. As if asking me whether he should continue to waste his money. I give him a slight shake of the head telling him not to. I could see him clench his jaw from across the square. His eyes burning with fury. So, he was mad and I had no idea why.