Jack got an 83 on his math test, thanks to my help, which was great according to him. I got a 97, but I didn't want to damper his mood by bragging.

"Thank you, Madison, thank you. I can't thank you enough," he rambled as we walked to the bus, arms linked. Finn was walking with Ellie, who was watching us bemusedly.

"It's no problem, you know I'm happy to help," I grinned.

"Seriously, I owe you. Come over friday and I'll cook you dinner," he insisted.

"You? Cooking? Yeah, no thanks," I laughed. He rolled his eyes.

"Fine, we can order pizza. Just come."

"Alright. I'll be over at 6."

"Great, it's a date." I knew it was just a figure of speech, and I knew it wasn't actually what he had meant, but with everything going on lately, I let myself have a little hope. Obviously it wasn't a real date, but Friday happened to be the deadline I had given myself for telling Jack the truth about how I felt. This opportunity has presented itself too perfectly to not be fate, and I think I was finally ready to tell him.

"Can I sit with Ellie today?" I asked, and Jack nodded. It had been a while since I'd talked to her, and I wanted to know her opinion on this whole situation.

"Looks like you're stuck with me today," Jack grinned at Finn once we got on the bus. Finn shrugged and sat with Jack, and they started a conversation almost immediately. They were back to being best friends, thank god.

"Hey," Ellie said, sliding into the seat next to me.

"Hi, long time no talk," I sighed.

"What's up?" I opened my mouth to respond, but then realized it probably wouldn't be the best idea. Finn and Jack were sitting right across from us, in earshot, and technically anyone who wanted to could easily hear our conversation.

"Can you come over today?" I asked instead.

"Probably. I'll text my mom to make sure," she shrugged. We got the green light, and Ellie came off the bus with me when it reached my stop.

"Mom, Ellie's over to do some homework. She'll leave before dinner," I called into the kitchen once we'd entered my house.

"That's fine, she's welcome to stay if she wants," my mom responded. We rushed upstairs, hurrying into my room and closing the door.

"Will you tell me what's going on now?" she inquired. I shook my head.

"First homework, then drama." She rolled her eyes but didn't protest, and we got to work. Luckily, since it was monday we barely had any, and we finished within the hour.

"Now will you tell me?" Ellie sighed, placing down her pencil and glaring at me.

"Fine," I agreed, double checking my door was close properly. "I like Jack."

"Of course you like Jack, what?"

"No, I mean I like Jack. Romantically." Admitting it to myself was one thing, but saying it to another person was completely different. It felt ten times more real.

"Finally!" she grinned. "Took you long enough!"

"I don't know what to do," I said.

"Tell him, duh."

"What if he doesn't feel the same way? I can't ruin everything we have just because I have feelings for him."

"You know he feels the same way. You see the way he looks at you, I know you do. He constantly talks about you, he hugs you, he holds your hand, plays with your hair, and he tells you he loves you almost every day. He so obviously cares about you, Mads," she insisted.

"He does that with everyone," I pointed out. "Today he literally told our math teacher he loves her after we got our test scores back."

"Take it from someone who actually dated him, he's acting like he likes you."

"I still don't know. And I care about him so much, and being around him and not being with him drives me insane. He makes me the happiest I've ever felt. I can't ruin everything," I frowned. Ellie thought for a minute, then seemed to remember something.

"Wait, ok, do you remember that one time Jack and I fought really badly? The day you found out that Finn knew I liked him?" She asked. I nodded. It was the night Jack and I had kissed. "Well," she continued, "we fought because Jack said he liked you more than me."

"What?" I said, a little taken aback.

"It's a long story, so I'll try and make it quick. Jack and I were talking, and we somehow ended up playing truth or dare. Jack asked me if I'd ever get back together with Finn, and I said yes. Then he asked me if I thought Finn was hotter than him. I said yes. So he got mad. I asked him if he'd ever considered getting with you. He said yes. I asked him if he thought you were more attractive than me. He said yes. Then we started arguing, and I said something like 'well if she's so perfect, date her and I can have Finn,' then he was like 'good. She's the one I want anyways.' And that's basically it. We'd both had a little to drink, but we were far from drunk," she concluded. I sat there, my mouth hanging open slightly in shock.

"H-he might have just been angry at you. He probably wanted to hurt your feelings or something," I reasoned.

"Don't be an idiot. He blatantly said you're the one that he wants. You know he'd never reject you, even if he didn't like you back, which isn't very likely. Would you rather be secretly in love with him for your whole life, or finally tell him and then get married and live happily ever after."

"I was planning on telling him Friday," I mumbled. Ellie smiled.

"Perfect." She glanced down at her phone, checking the time. "It's getting late, I should probably get home soon," she said.

"Alright. Thanks for the help," I nodded. She got up, collecting all her papers and her backpack, and headed towards the door. She paused right as she was about to leave.

"Madison, he really likes you. You have nothing to worry about," she said, and disappeared down the hall.

I laid down on my bed, thinking of what Ellie had just told me. Jack had considered a relationship with me before. Jack found me attractive. I bit down on my lip, trying to stop my smile from spreading. For the first time, I was feeling confident that I might actually have a real chance with him.

-

authors note: hi! i've been really busy lately, and i watched st season 3 and DIED. anyway just wanted to write this and say thanks again for all the support!