The Girl in the Hoodie is Mine

Ella’s POV:

Okay... what just happened?

Jason sat quietly through the entire class. Quietly. No talking, no joking, no teasing, and—most shocking of all—no touching. He wasn’t writing anything either, just staring at the professor like the poor guy held the secrets of the universe. But let’s be real—there’s no way Jason was actually listening.

What was his problem? Did he finally crack?

I wasn’t used to this version of him. Not at all. I mean, I’ve dealt with flirty Jason, annoying Jason, protective Jason—but this? Silent Jason? It threw me off in the weirdest way.

I kept waiting for him to do something, anything. Like pester me with his usual round of nosy questions: "Why were you with Dylan? What were you two doing? What did Dylan mean with that whole librarian thing?" But nope. Nothing. Not a single word. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

It was like I wasn’t even there.

And then, when the class ended? Usually, I’m the first one out the door—I don’t stick around for post-lecture small talk. But this time, Jason beat me to it. He was up and gone in a flash, mumbling something vague to Max and Dylan about catching up later. He didn’t even glance my way.

Not once.

I should’ve been thrilled, honestly. I should’ve been throwing an internal party. Jason ignoring me should’ve been the highlight of my day. No pestering, no over-the-top protectiveness, no weird looks. Just peace.

But it wasn’t.

Instead, there was this stupid pang in my chest, like something pinched my heart the second he walked out. And suddenly, I found myself wishing—wanting, even—that he’d at least looked at me. A glance. A nod. Anything. But no. He didn’t.

I shook my head, scolding myself silently. Stop it, Ella. Don’t you dare. This wasn’t what it looked like. I wasn’t... catching feelings. No way. I was just feeling off. Maybe a flu. Yeah, that was it. Definitely not feelings.

"Stupid, stupid Ella," I muttered under my breath, gathering my things. I needed to shake this off—whatever this was.

I barely registered Max and Dylan calling out for me as I walked past them, ignoring their voices completely. I couldn’t deal with them right now. I needed to get away. To figure out why Jason, of all people, had me spiraling.

Whatever this was? It needed to stop. Fast.

I had an hour before my shift at work. Just sixty minutes of freedom before I had to plaster on a fake smile and pretend like my mind wasn’t a swirling mess of Jason’s silence and Dylan’s confession.

What better way to cheer myself up than with ice cream? If anything could take the edge off this day, it was a cone of something sweet and cold. Maybe if I ate it fast enough, I could freeze my brain and numb out all the confusing feelings too.

Jason ignoring me? Dylan confessing? Yeah, I needed something stronger than sugar. Maybe a brain freeze would do the trick.

I made my way to the campus café, trying to focus on the promise of chocolate and caramel rather than the mess my life had become. But, of course, my brain had other plans.

Dylan. Dylan freaking Miller. I almost forgot about it—almost. But there it was again, playing in my head like a scene from some rom-com gone wrong. He’d confessed. No, scratch that—he’d made me read his confession. In a novel, of all things. Who even does that?

I groaned, kicking at a stray pebble on the sidewalk. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Dylan—he was sweet, charming in his own way—but his timing? Horrible. Just two months. That’s all I had left before graduation. Two months of keeping my head down, avoiding drama, and focusing on finishing my degree.

But no. Of course, the universe had other plans. Now, instead of gliding through these last few weeks, I was stuck in the middle of... whatever this was. Dylan liked me, Jason was acting weird, and I was spiraling.

"This is going to be the longest two months of my life," I muttered under my breath, pushing open the door to the café.

The bell jingled overhead, and the scent of coffee and sugar immediately hit me. I walked up to the counter, scanning the menu for my go-to order. Ice cream. Just ice cream. Something simple. Something that wouldn’t remind me of Jason, or Dylan, or the fact that my life felt like a live-action soap opera.

I ordered a double scoop—because, let’s face it, a single scoop wasn’t going to cut it today—and found a seat by the window.

As I sat there, licking my ice cream and watching students hurry by, I let out a deep sigh. Maybe I was overthinking. Maybe this was all in my head, and I just needed to let it go. But deep down, I knew it wasn’t that simple.

Because the truth was, I wasn’t just trying to forget about Dylan’s confession. I was trying to forget how much Jason’s silence had bothered me. And the harder I tried, the more impossible it seemed.

Heading to my workplace, I could already tell my boss was in a rare good mood. It was almost unsettling how chipper he looked compared to the storm cloud that had been hanging over me all day. Was it because I was twenty minutes early? Probably.

Well, he better savor it, because this was a one-time deal. No way was I making this a regular thing. Today was just... a fluke. I needed to keep myself busy, distract myself from the tangled mess of feelings clawing at my brain. And what better way to do that than diving into work?

The buzz of the café where I worked was comforting in its own way—familiar, predictable, and thankfully free of Jason, Dylan, or their endless drama. The steady hum of the espresso machine, the rhythmic clinking of cups, the chatter of customers—it was like white noise for my overworked mind.

I clocked in, tied on my apron, and headed straight to the counter, ready to bury myself in orders. Anything to keep my hands moving and my mind from spiraling back into the chaos of today. Latte for table five? Done. Muffin and cappuccino for table two? On it.

But even as I worked, my thoughts wouldn’t completely shut up. My boss, noticing my unusually quiet demeanor, raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. I guess he was just happy to have me early for once. Lucky him.

For me, though? This place, as busy as it was, still wasn’t enough to drown out everything I was trying to ignore. Jason’s silence in class. Dylan’s confession at the library. The stupid pang in my chest when Jason walked out without so much as a glance my way.

I pressed the steam wand down a little harder than necessary, watching the milk froth up in the pitcher. Get it together, Ella. This was supposed to be my escape, my little bubble of sanity. I wasn’t about to let stupid boy drama ruin it.

Taking a deep breath, I plastered on my customer-service smile and delivered the next order. For the next few hours, I’d pretend. Pretend I wasn’t still replaying the events of the day in my head. Pretend my heart wasn’t tied up in knots over two guys who, for some reason, had decided now was the perfect time to turn my life upside down.