“Kristina, I know this looks bad, but believe me, it’s not as bad as it seems.” These are the first words out of my mouth, as I notice the anger and tension slide on to Kristina’s face. I was hoping that she’d be open to an explanation, which I would so willingly give her, in order to not face whatever wrath she had coming. But it seemed, that no one could get any words in, not even Jackson. In her mind, seeing her boyfriend shirtless with his best female friend hovering over him wasn’t bad. It was catastrophic.
And in a time span of exactly twenty-six seconds, Kristina’s face is red, and she’s on a rampage, storming through my kitchen like a maniac. And believe me, the last place you want an angry Kristina is in a kitchen, especially near my mother’s cutlery set.
“You’re right, Addelyn! It’s not bad. It’s worse!” She seethes through her teeth, slamming her hand down on the counter. “I came here to help you! To train you! And I find you sneaking in your house to tend to MY boyfriend! Yeah, that’s right. MY boyfriend.”
“Kristina, it’s not—” Jackson is cut off again, as Kristina slams her other hand on counter, causing a couple of her French nails to fly off her fingers and into the pan of seasoned taco meat on the stove.
Well, there goes dinner.
“I don’t want to hear it, Jackson! I don’t want to hear any of it.” Her fist start clenching, like she’s squeezing a stress ball, but when she realizes she’s only grasping air, she grabs one of the nearby taco shells and starts crunching it up with her hand. Maybe I should be worried with the death look she’s sending me, but I’m too occupied with staring at the mess she’s making on the floors. Now, not only will I be hungry this evening, but I’ll have a giant mess to clean up as well. Wow, this plan is going great.
She picks up her fourth taco shell and starts crunching it up. “I expected more from you, Addelyn. I thought you were my friend. But all along you were just befriending me so that you can get with Jackson behind my back.”
I guess that’s partially true. “No! It was an accident, Kristina. Please believe me.”
“Oh, so now you’re begging. You think just because you say the magic word, I’ll decide to believe anything you say? Wrong! The evidence is right in front of my face! Do you take me for stupid?”
Well, yeah.
When I don’t respond, she walks up to the both of us, and Jackson and I start to walk backwards into the living room. She follows, grabbing one of the pillows with her oily fingers, and squeezing it. “And Jackson, I thought you would’ve known better after what my ex did to me. But your no better than him! You’re just another sleazebag!”
She throws the pillow in Jackson’s face, and feathers burst from it. She must’ve clawed a hole in the pillow with her incessant squeezing, ruining my mother’s designer throw pillow. But I’m not going to complain. Pillows are better than knives.
Jackson, finally mustering up the courage to face his girlfriend, grabs her by the wrists, stopping her from continuing on her rant. “I love you, Kristina. And I would never do something like that to you. Addelyn was just going to wash my shirt, okay? She wasn’t ogling me or touching me or anything like that. She was just washing my shirt, because it was stained with taco.”
Her face softens, but she doesn’t look fully convinced. Jackson continues. “I mean, come on, it’s Addelyn.”
Both of them chuckle a little bit at this, and I frown. What is that supposed to mean? Is it completely irrational to believe that I could tempt Jackson away from his girlfriend? I take a peek at myself in the mirror in the living room, just noticing my appearance. My clothes look a little dingy, probably from all those workouts in the grass. My hair looks like it could be a habitat for a ferret. A layer of sweat covers my face, and my geeky glasses have a layer of fog lining the bottom. Yeah, in this attire, I wouldn’t be attracting anything.
YOU ARE READING
Strictly Business
Teen Fiction"It's so simple," I say. "All we have to do is pretend we're in love with each other. You know, hold hands, share Eskimo kisses and all that crap. And at the same time, we'll destroy Jackson and Kristina's relationship. Make them think that thei...
