The Way You Make Me Feel [ J.J ]

24.

Elle was quiet for a second. "I'm sorry your what?"

"My- oh." I looked down, trying to look anywhere but her. "I was going to tell you."

"When? When were you going to tell me?"

"When I got my badge?"

"How long have you known?"

"Like two days. I'm not going in till after Finals to fill out the paperwork. Elle this- everything that's happening is out of my control. I'm flying by the seat of my pants right now. This- I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Any of it. And I wasn't telling anyone because I didn't want to jinx it-"

"So you couldn't tell your best friend?" Elle was tearing up. "You couldn't tell your best friend that you would be leaving and never coming back?"

"I'm not leaving forever, dummy. At first it's part time while I get my bearings and so I can finish school. They're not stealing me away yet. I'll be an hour and a half away. And I'll do my best to come up as much as I can. Elle, I've been dreaming of this job for so long and I didn't expect to get it. You have to believe me when I say that I didn't want anyone to find out anything like this. I was going to tell you guys at Christmas when I knew the paperwork would be in."

Elle tried to find the words to say. "You're sure you'll visit?"

"Yes, now can we please get back to my problem? I'm going to be exposed for fucking my teacher this whole semester and I don't know if I'll be able to get out of it."

"Yes okay, problem at hand. You're fucked. Literally."

Ain't that the truth?

---

"Hey."

I slid into JJ's apartment, finally able to take my hood and hair down. She shut the door behind me and took me as far away from the door as we could get in her apartment, pulling me into her arms. We stood there for a minute before we sat down, JJ making sure all the blinds were closed before we started talking.

"Okay, just to be safe I checked the apartment for bugs, as did Penelope. There's nothing here." she let out a breath. "We're okay here."

"Good. Well, not good but- Jayje I don't know what to do."

"Neither do I." there was a pause. "We need to start by coming up with a believable story."

"One that doesn't involve me, an underage adult, at a club. A gay club nonetheless."

"Yeah." she ran a hand through her hair. "You like to read, right?"

"I try to read a book a month."

"Maybe we met in a bookstore? Started talking over hot chocolate or something? And we clicked?"

"That could work. And after we got to know each other I gave you my number because you told me you'd send me more books that you liked."

"Yes. And we started hanging out with no idea that you were going to be my student." JJ sniffled, trying to hold back tears. "This is all so fucked up. I'm sorry I-"

"It's not your fault, love." I grabbed her hand. "Rosaline was the one who put us in this position. Not you. None of this is your fault. Okay? Listen to me. None. Of. This. Is. Your. Fault."

We sat in each other's arms for a while, and I couldn't help but wonder if this would be the last time I could happily be in her arms. I had wanted to do so much with her, but now everything was put on pause while our relationship was going to be picked apart by the last people who should be meddling in our love lives. I didn't want this to happen. I couldn't go through the pain of losing JJ again. It was unbearable the first time, and I didn't know if I could make it through a second break up.  So much was going to happen over the next week, and I didn't want to put her through any sort of pain again. I couldn't put her through any sort of pain again. That's when I had an idea.

"Baby I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"I need to do something real quick."

I pulled up my hood and went across the hall, knocking on Penelope's door frantically. I heard her heels clacking on the floor inside, probably thinking it was JJ.

"Jay- oh, Y/N?"

"I need your help and I need it now." I walked past her into her apartment, hearing her shut the door.

"Are you okay? Where's JJ?"

"She's fine, she's in her apartment. I need Rosaline's number."

"What-"

"Can you give me Rosaline's number? Yes or no, Penelope."

"I... I might have it somewhere."

"I need it, now."

"What's going on? Is JJ okay?"

"Rosaline really fucked her over, and I need to talk to her."

"That doesn't sound like a-"

"Penelope." I got serious, which made her stop in her tracks. "Give me Rosaline's number."

"I-Okay."

I got Rosaline's number from Penelope and automatically called it, waiting for her to pick up. She didn't. Figures. She probably thinks it's JJ trying to call her from a different number. I decided to send her a text, telling her to call me at the number I was texting her from as soon as possible. I doubted she was going to call me, but it was worth a shot. I needed to yell at her.

"Y/N tell me what's going on. Please."

"Rosaline told someone about me and JJ who then told the board. Dean Strauss knows."

"Oh my god..."

"Yeah. Which is why I need to talk to Rosaline so I can figure out where she is so I can rip her head off myself-"

"Okay, let's not get violent. Let's go back to JJ and figure something out, yeah?"

Penelope led me back across the hall, where we found JJ pacing back and forth in her living room. Shutting the door behind us I went over to her, waiting for her to calm down enough for me to wrap her in my arms. Penelope knew not to push, since I had filled her in on most of what was happening. There were a few things that we needed to tell her together, hopefully so she would be able to help us. We couldn't do what we needed to do without her and her brilliant computer skills, which I had just recently found out about when she taught a seminar on how to find technical issues behind resources in class.

JJ wiped at the tears falling as I took her to the couch, sitting her down. With a singular look to Penelope, she ran to the kitchen to get us some tea. She needed something to calm down, and I remembered her saying once that raspberry tea calmed her down. Penelope seemed to know that, not even needing to ask what kind to grab as she started to wait for the water to boil. I ran my hand up and down her back as she cried, knowing that all she needed was just someone to sit with her. Mostly so she wouldn't do anything rash, but also because she just needed to be in my presence.

"Pen, we're in trouble."

"I know."

"We need your help."

"I know."

"Can you help us?"

"Tell me what you need me to do."