Blindsided

Part 17

"Sorry, it's a little full. It must've splashed you when I put it down on the table." I plaster on another fake smile, nodding into a sip of the liquid. Too sweet. 

I have to stop myself from spitting it back into the cup, the sickly cloyingness overpowering. 

"So..." I break the silence, although I don't know why. It's not like I have anything to talk to him about. I barely knew his name up until two weeks ago. 

"You shouldn't listen to what Bailey says to you, you know." I grip onto the side of my disposable cup tighter, almost stunned as to what's exiting his mouth. 

Almost.

"I don't. I'm my own person, and I'm not scared of what he thinks." I drop my eyes from his too-intense stare.

"Well good. Because, I'm not sure if you know, but Bailey's a weird person. He doesn't care about people, least of all his family, and he's not someone you should be involving yourself with. So, it's good that you don't like him. He has a knack for doing that too. Getting whoever he wants, only to treat them like nothing. Because that's who he is, you know. Cold." I stare blankly at Jamie

"I don't think that's completely true. There's been times when he's helped people out. There's been multiple times where he's taken the Freshman kids under his wing, helping them out. There's been times, at competitions, where he's helped me out when I was feeling anxious. And, he really cares about his girlfriend, I've seen them together. Does he have flaws? Yeah. Just like the rest of us. But, when he cares about people, and when he cares about what he's doing, he's a good person." I don't know where all this passion is stemming from, but I feel it as my duty to defend Bailey's name. Because when it comes down to it, he's just like me. Unsure. Fighting to be something, or rather someone. Confused. Taking their deep-routed problems out on others. We're the same, in whatever context needed. Although, Jamie takes my explanation with a grain of salt, snorting like I've just told the funniest joke ever.

"And what would you know?" he sits back in his chair, resting his hands on the back of his head. There's something about the way he sits, the way he laughs, that gets my blood pumping. How dare he?

'More than you know, apparently.' Although the sound never leaves my lips. It stays in my mind, running through the crevices of my brain at lightning speed. 

"No but seriously. He's wacked. You must have noticed how he treats you, right? Like you're a toy, easy to get a rise out of. He teases you all the time, and you know you don't like it. And that whole rumour that was going around after the party, he made a joke out of it. He made you seem like a joke. That whole thing with getting you strawberries, it's just an act. Don't buy into it. And, don't you feel stupid when you went running together? How he always made you seem weak and less than him? He's a psycho, and you should stay clear of him. If you had an ounce of common sense, you'd run as far away from him as you could. He doesn't deserve someone like you. He doesn't understand you like other people could." Jamie continues to ramble, although I can only focus on one thing. The thing yelling at me, with blinking lights so bright they could blind me.

How has he picked up on all of this?

How long has he been watching over me?

How long has he been obsessing over everything I do with Bailey?

The lump in my throat is only growing larger and more out of control. My blood feels like it's running cold, my heart racing at a million miles an hour.

I need to get out of here.

I ignore Jamie's continued rambling, which hasn't stopped even as I've tuned out. I grab my phone, pretending to look surprised at the time.