Chapter 16

" Can I ask you something J.R? "

He must have thought I was asking him his reply to my earlier preposition because he grew serious all of a sudden. But then he breathed out and nodded.

" Certainly. "

I placed the bowl aside and scooted over to where he was, leaning against the armrest of the seat. He looked up at me when I was close enough.

" What is the loveliest thing you have ever seen?"

The question perplexed him. He licked his lips and turned to the side again. 

My fingers were itching to touch him, to tame his strands back, to trace the tempting curve of his lips. 

" Snowfall, " he almost whispered. Then he looked down at my hand and I realised why. I was clenching and unclenching it repeatedly. 

" We don't have that back at home, and then I visited my aunt in the States and witnessed it for the first time. It seemed almost magical. "

The little things did matter. But in this case I guess it wasn't about the little things, it was about my J.R and his simple nature. He took joy in the things that have it to him. 

" Why do you ask?" 

I gave in to my urge and reached up to smoothen back his hair. Then I held his chin and looked him in his green eyes.

" It's nothing really. But I want you to know that you're my snowfall. "

" I thought it was my turn to confess to something. "

" That wasn't a confession, just a fact I wanted to get across. "

I let go of him because I was afraid of doing something he might not be okay with. But then I felt his hand on my thigh, the grip firm and sure. 

" Six months, " he told me. And I wondered whether he meant what I meant he did.

" J.R ? "

" I shall continue being your snowfall for the next six months. But then after that the snow will have to stop falling and the season must change. "

I had no clue about what to say. That was a yes. I also didn't know what he was agreeing to because it was a mystery to me as well but he had said yes. And we were going to solve this mystery together. This wasn't some negotiation to be lovers or anything like that. 

It was an agreement to get the most out of each other's company. 

" And as far as confessions go..." he reached out for my hand and placed it on his cheek, seeming to take pleasure in the action, leaning into it and breathing in. 

"...I like the feel of your skin against mine, " he admitted. And I knew it must have taken a lot of courage for him to admit that.

I also knew that I was happier than I had ever been.

                              💮🌼💮🌼💮🌼

It had been three days since J.R accepted my proposal. It had also been three days since I sat for my chemistry CAT and failed. Technically, I got an average score of fifty five percent, but compared to what I scored in my other subjects, it might as well have been an F. 

So yesterday evening after supper, as J.R and I talked in our spot close to the stream, he had volunteered to tutor me. 

Which explains why we were currently in my room, a bunch of chemistry books on the table and an oddly serious looking J.R seated across from me.

" You must ensure to transfer the values in subsequent calculations intact, otherwise you'll get strange values.." he said, the he wrote down another equation and handed me the book. 

" Try solving that one, "

I looked at it, then I began solving it, but then he tapped the pen on the table as if to indirectly get my attention, and when I turned to him , he raised his brows.

" Are you certain the equation is balanced Calen Silverstein? "

I checked the equation and realized my mistake, then I corrected it and went on. I got further than I ever had before I got stuck this time. And that was a victory for me.

He corrected me, showed me how to go about it, showed me again with a new equation, then gave me two others to work out. 

By the time we were done I had the topic down to the last fullstop. It actually seemed so simple now that I couldn't believe why I hadn't understood it in the first place.

" If Mrs Greywall was as attentive to my struggles as you are then I would be a chemical engineer by now, " I joked and he shook his head, taking my textbook and circling some practice exercises.

 " Make sure you attempt these by tomorrow evening, if you get stuck..." he looked up at me and smiled a sly smile, " ..go through the notes and figure out how to get yourself unstuck, "

" Don't make me take back my complement. "

" This is the only way to ensure that you don't forget. " 

" You take your tutoring very seriously my sweet J.R, "

He began closing the books and arranging them neatly on the side of the table.

" If you think I'm thorough then you ought to meet Salim. He would have had you reciting these textbooks like your national anthem. "

" Who's Salim?" 

He leaned back against his chair and crossed his arms.

" My private tutor from back home. "

As he told me that I realised that he never really talked much about his home. I knew he had some younger siblings and that he cherished his mother and respected his father a lot, but other than that I knew almost nothing about him. 

But then again, he knew almost nothing about me either. I tended to not talk about myself, so no one at school really knew much about my personal life...but for some reason I felt like I could confide in Jerald.

I glanced at the phone I seldom used to check the time. Phones weren't alllowed back on the academic grounds so I always left mine here. I'm one of the very few students that actually followed that rule.

" We've been here for nearly three hours, would you like to go out for a walk? "

" That sounds refreshing. "

We left my room and headed out. Strangely we had gotten used to visiting that private spot in the woods. So naturally we found ourselves heading that way. 

" What do you want to be in future?" I asked him on the way there.

He tilted his head from side to side, thinking. I had expected him to answer straight away. 

" I want to be happy, "

The odd answer intrigued me even further. But it wasn't exactly what I meant.

" That's great, but I meant professionally...what do you want to be?"

" I want to be professionally happy. "

I laughed, shaking my head, but then he stopped to pluck a flower and I noticed how serious he was being.

" It doesn't really matter what I want. My father has plans for my professional future which I have no choice but to follow. "

He squinted his eyes at the flower, then he gave it to me.

" What plans?" I asked as I took it from him. And for the first time I sensed that I was perhaps treading on unsafe ground. It was clear that he didn't feel like talking about the sensitive subject so I told him to let it be. 

" I can't lie to you, " he explained " ..and if I respond to that then I'll be forced to lie to you. "

That only got me more curious but I let it be regardless.

" I want to be a writer, " I informed him in hopes of getting rid of the awkwardness that had formed. He nodded, not looking at all surprised.

" I figured just as much. Is that why you're always scribbling on your notebook?"

I acted slightly offended, gasping and all that.

" It's not scribbling, it's highly intellectual literature boosting. Some of the work I've written in that notebook will change literature as we know it. "

He chuckled and oyut his arms up in a gesture of peace.

" Relax, I'm certain that you're right. Actually I'll make sure to buy a copy of your first book. "

We proceeded with our leisurely stroll, the ice already broken. Then he stopped next to our tree and leaned against it. 

" The school board is meeting with some of our sponsors this weekend. I'm to go with them. "

I had just received the news, and considering that I was the students representative, I had no choice in the matter. Come to think of it, I had began neglecting some of my duties since I met J.R. 

But I didn't regret it at all.

" How long will you be gone? " He sounded bothered by the news of my departure. I found it charming.

" Just a day, we'll leave early and be back at around evening. "

His gaze fell to the ground. And I moved closer to him. Not likely how gloomy he was beginning to turn.

" I think I'm getting way too used to having you around, " he confessed and locked my fingers with his.