Forty-five: Young Lady

"No, I guess you should leave, that will be better for both of us," J.J said to me as he finally raised his head and face me, glaring at me.

I smiled at him and pushed my hair that was getting into my eyes behind my ear.

I sighed and decided to apologize for what happened or should I put it as what I said to him earlier,

"I am sorry for earlier."

"I know, you ought to be." He said with a frown, as he shifted his gaze to the field.

"Yes, you are right. That was why I decided to follow you out here because I had to." I said to him and pouted, patiently waiting for what he had to say.

"Thanks for following me out here, you can go back in now." He said, as he partly closed his eyes against the breeze.

"I never knew you can be rude at times too," I said to him and removed my gaze from him too and fixed it on the field just like him.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he returned his gaze to me again.

"I thought you were perfect without any flaws, but I just realized that you have a lot of flaws," I replied to him.

"Haven't you heard the saying that nobody is perfect before?" He asked, staring right into my eyes.

"I have, a lot of times," I replied and nodded at the same time.

"You heard it right. Nobody is perfect and nobody is above mistakes. Never judge a book by its cover. Yes, you are right because I try my very best, by showing the public the best part of me, but still, you know….." He shrugged, as he wasn't able to finish what he was saying.

Did he just get short of words?

Or ran out of words, whatever.

"Yeah, I know," I said to him with a big smile on my face.

"Thanks for understanding me." He said and returned the smile.

"You know, you shouldn't have talked bad about Lizzy, she is a fan of yours," I said.

"My fan?" He asked, confused.

"Yeah…..no…..Uhm, I mean no. She is not a fan but she is like a fan. Like she kind of likes you, not romantically, but she prefers you to Raymond because she has more connection…No…" I couldn't complete my sentence too, I don't know why.

Did I become short of words too?

"Hold on, breathe in slowly and breathe out calmly, nice and slowly." He instructed, as he rubbed my back from up to down about five to eight times, I lost count as I was enjoying it.

I inhaled and exhaled slowly as if it was my first time or as if it was going to be my last, but it was neither.

"That's it girl." He paused for a reason unknown to me, maybe he was giving me time to take my time and then continued,

"Now you can continue."

"What I mean is that, no, I should be completely honest with you, she said if I was to date either of you, it should be you and not Raymond," I explained to him.

"Really?" He asked as he seemed to have become more amazed and surprised by what I just said to him.

"Yeah," I replied to him and nodded at the same time.

"Oh!" That was all he was able to say.

"So, you see why you aren't supposed to speak ill of her?" I asked as I stared at him curiously awaiting his response.

He nodded, sighed very deeply and then said,

"Yeah, I am sorry about that, but I am not surprised that you are supporting her, she is your best friend after all."

"Yes, of course, she is my best friend, but that's not why I am asking you to apologize to her," I said.

"So, why are you asking me to apologize to her?" He asked.

"Because you were wrong," I replied.

"Okay, I am so sorry." He apologized.

"I know you are sorry but I think you should apologize to her instead, she was the person you wronged, not me," I said to him,

"I have already apologized to her." He said to me,

"You didn't do it properly and I will advise that you should apologize again to her, it's not because she is my best friend but because you didn't do it properly before." I confronted him.

"Is it compulsory?" He asked.

I nodded and said,

"Yes, it is. It is very compulsory."

He sighed, nodding at the same time and said,

"Okay, I will, for you." He smiled at me and reached for my palm and squeezed it softly.

I smiled back at him and said,

"That's fair enough."

"Thanks for understanding." He said as he smiled even more as if it was going to be his last.

"You are welcome. Can we go back inside now?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure. After you." He said to me

I stood up and started to head back into the link living room, while he followed me.

We got into the living and sat beside each other, he stood up again, walked towards Lizzy and Hale and stood in front of Lizzy.

"Elizabeth?" He called her.

"Yeah." He replied and squatted in front of her and reached for her hands.

"I am sorry for earlier." He apologized, `` I have already forgiven you." She replied to him with a smile.

"Are you serious?" He asked as a big smile took over his handsome face.

"Yes." She said with a nod.

"Thank you." He said.

"You are welcome, what are friends for?" She asked as she released one of her hands from his light grip and used it to slightly push him on one of his shoulders.

"Thanks."

"Can we hug?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure." She replied as she willingly opened her arms for an embrace.

He spread out his arms too, still squatted and hugged her with a warm smile on his face.

"Thanks for fye whispered in one of her ears.

"Always." She whispered back.

They removed themselves from the hug, J.J rose, walked towards me and sat down in his former position and threw his arm over my shoulder and said,

"Thanks for making me do this." He thanked me once again.

"You are welcome," I said and turned my head to see his handsome face.

Raymond looked at me as if I was doing something wrong, he cleared his throat and then asked,

"So folks, what are we going to eat?"

"Anything," Genevieve said with a smile as everyone was staring at her happily and she quickly added,

"I will cook too."

"Really?" Lizzy asked.

"Yes," Genevieve replied.

"I will join you," Lizzy said.

"Okay, my Lady," Genevieve said with a nod.

"Let's head to the kitchen," Lizzy said as she stood up, walked towards Genevieve and stretched out her arm in front of her.

"Yes," Genevieve said as she reached for Lizzy's arm and grabbed it to stand up.

"Thank you, my Lady." She said when she got to her feet.

"Anytime," Lizzy said with a smile and a nod.

"Let's go." She added and left for the kitchen.

When they left, the boys started staring at me as if I was a ghost or something.

"What?" I asked.

"What do you mean, what?" Raymond asked.

"Why the stares?" I asked again.

"Aren't you going to join them?" Hale asked.

"Why?"

"Must I join them?" I asked, rolled my eyes and kissed my teeth.

"Yes, you must," J.J said with his arm still on my shoulders.

"Why?" I asked as I removed his arm from my shoulders.

"Because you are a lady and the gentlemen need some space," Hale said with a smirk.

"No, I am still a teenager, so that means that I am still a girl," I said and rolled my eyes.

"Are you serious?" Hale asked.

"This is your last day of being a teenager," J.J said.

"Should we call you a young lady today and a lady tomorrow?" Raymond asked and laughed softly.

"Uh?" I asked confusedly as I didn't know who to reply to what to say.T asked and used his right to run his fingers in his hair, pushing them backwards.

"So what?" I asked back, I had no idea what he was trying to say to me.

"Just leave already." He replied.

"No, I want to stay here," I said as I ran my fingers through my hair too, rolled my eyes and kissed my teeth.

"Why?" Raymond asked.

"Because I don't want to stand up, I am too lazy to do anything right now," I replied.

"If you say so, we will leave for you then," J.J said.

"That's the kindest gesture I have received in a while," I said with a smile.

"Seriously?" Hale asked as he pulled his brows together.

"Yes," I replied and nodded at the same time.

"Okay, enjoy your space," Hale said and stood up.

J.J and Raymond stood up too, stridden towards him and stood beside him with him in the middle.