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Jenna Brooks's POV

  He gently pulled back the hair over my ear to kiss my neck, giving me goosebumps that caused a shudder to run down my spine. His eyes on mine, he leaned more forward until our faces almost touched. His fresh apple shampoo smell was distracting. For some reason, it made me feel warmer. His lips hovered around my face a little until it was about to touch mine…

Knock-knock-knock! Jenna, are you in there?

Shit! That was Jeanette's voice. I pushed Conrad off of me and he landed on his back. I sprinted off the bed and made sure Conrad was already on his feet before opening the door.

"What took you so long?" Jeanette asked me as soon as I opened the door. 

I had never been this nervous.

Reaching out her hand, she placed her palm on my hot cheek. "Why're your cheeks so flushed?" she whispered.

"Nothing, Jean. Let's go." 

I held her hand and walked out of the room and down the stairs to meet Auntie Laurel. 

"I need to go groceries shopping for tomorrow, who wants to tag along?" Auntie Laurel asked.

Jeanette immediately clarified that she had homework to finish but we all knew she just needed an excuse to watch more make up tutorial videos online. Jamie honorably volunteered, such a good kid. I also agreed. We all piled up in the car and soon we were on our way.

On our way, I couldn't stop thinking about what had almost happened between Conrad and I. If Jeanette hadn't knocked he would have actually kissed me, like for real! He had been giving me mixed signals since I came here. Sometimes cold, sometimes friendly, sometimes just being him. Was he teasing me? I wasn't sure what he wanted but I knew what I needed. If he tried to kiss me, it means he's into me, right? 

When we finally arrived at the mall, Auntie Laurel asked Jamie and I to pick out whatever we wanted while she went grocery shopping. 

"I think this necklace will look great on you," Jamie said softly as he turned to me, holding up a crystal blue necklace.

Although, blue wasn't my color because I was more of a purple person, I still had to agree with him because of the way he said it and the way he looked at me when he said it.

Everything about Jamie screamed SOFT LIFE!!! His curly brown hair, his freckles, and when he laughed, his eyes crinkled. He's so ethereal and gentle. I've never seen him argue with anyone, he's so reserved, the way he talks. He just lives his life being all pretty and nerdy. So down to earth and cheerful. High school's all about tough stuffs and distractions and yet, he's just so cool and chill. Just to be real, Jamie doesn't need soft life, soft life needs him. Looking at him alone gives me this calm feeling. If I wasn't a year older than him, I would…

"I love it, blue is totally my color," I replied and his eyes crinkled up again. Such a cute kid.

The ride back home was hell. Bumper-to-bumper traffic, and Sarafin Turner's "Bold" was the biggest song on the radio right now, so it blared from the speakers every third song. As I looked out the window, a poem read by the announcer came on.

'I've never had clouds follow me each day, years of sun that never went away. 

I lie here awake but I'm not one to pray, everything's changed but now I'm okay.

I'm rattled this time, can someone lift my chin, keep my head above water before I'm too deep in.

I've never had problems, where do I begin, but it's not a problem because I'm just being human.'

I had always liked poetry and this particular one actually got to me because I felt I could relate to it in a weird kind of way.

"Poetry is light, poetry is love. That's a poem written by an anonymous poet on instagram. Pstar7…."

The rest of the announcer's words didn't really sink in, I lost her at 'Pstar7'. I brought out my phone and clicked on the instagram app. I opened it and immediately searched for Pstar7. I didn't have to type the name in full before it brought out the account. Hesitatively, I clicked on the profile.

Wow, 700k followers? How? Is he a cult member?

Without thinking, I went through the post I came across, each one more insightful than the last. By the time we got home, I had already gone through half the posts on his profile.

************************************

  After dinner, I went back to my room and continued with going through Pstar7's posts. We can all agree I had already fallen for him by now. I'm in loveeeee with him. Not the serious kind of love though, just a normal idol-and-fan kind. By midnight, I had already read every post on his page and now, I laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling and wanting more.

Then I decided to test the waters. I sat up and slided into his DM.

"Hi, Pstar7. I'm a great fan of your work." I stared at the text before finally sending it. 

Then I dropped my phone and laid on the bed. Don't get your hopes too high, Jenna!

Instead of waiting for a miracle, I decided to go get some water downstairs. I stepped out of the room and made my way to the kitchen. As I opened the fridge, I brought out a bottle of water and poured some into a glass.

After gulping down, I made my way back up. As I walked up the stairs, I noticed Conrad stepping out of his room and I immediately grew nervous when I noticed he was approaching me.

"Hey, Jenna." He said casually.

"Hi…Conrad." I replied.

He hadn't said anything to me since what happened in his room earlier today. Why was he talking to me now? Does he perhaps want us to continue from when we stopped the last time?

Stop your shrud thinking, Jenna!

"Look, Jenna." he started, as he brought his hand to lift up my chin and our gaze locked. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier today. I shouldn't have done that to you. I feel like I owe you an apology."

I felt my heart sink to my stomach. What was he apologizing for? For almost kissing me? Why? Why was he apologizing? The way he said 'I shouldn't have done that to you' made it sound like I was underaged and he was an old man. I'm eighteen for crying out loud and he's just eleven months older than me—I figured approximating it to a year wasn't going to help my situation in any way.

"Conrad, I…"

"I think we should keep the distance for a while. You're like a sister to me." He added then walked back to his room, leaving me standing all alone.

What just happened? I literally just got sister-zoned and to top it off, he said he didn't want me around him anymore. He did it again, once again, he hurt me, like my feelings didn't matter. He took my one chance of happiness and crushed it. Crushed it into little, tiny, bit-sized pieces. I really shouldn't have expected better of him. I really shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. I guess I'm a loser for that, too.

Shoulders slumped, I made my way into my room and as I locked the door behind me, my phone screen lit up. It was a notification. I leaned in and grabbed it to check who was texting me so late at night. As my eyes fell on my screen, my jaws dropped and my eyebrows shot up to the ceiling.

Holy shit!!! Pstar7 just freaking replied my DM?!!!'