𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬 || 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞

jealousy, jealousy

༄ "𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐙𝐈𝐄, 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐄𝐋."

Holy shit.

This man was straight out of a rom com.

Michael—the boy with blue eyes and floppy blond hair—was staring at me. What the hell am I supposed to do?

"Lizzie?" Rebecca called.

"Sorry, um.." I couldn't stop staring at him, and then I noticed the little smirk he had on his face. Cheeky. "I'm Lizzie— Elizabeth— Liz?"

Rebecca sighed. "She's a little nervous. Social anxiety."

I glared at her.

To my surprise, Michael laughed it off. "It's no trouble, really, nice to meet you." He ran a hand through his hair—which looked very soft—and then took a step closer to me.

"I just transferred here, i'm a junior." My age. Was this working out perfectly or was I shifting? Stop it. I hadn't attempted to do that since Lottie caught me and thought I was dead.

Can you really blame me for wanting to get out of this world for a few peaceful hours?

"So is Lizzie," Rebecca said, glaring at me with her eyes. Safe to say I still wasn't good with first impressions.

"That's perfect." Michael smiled, and I noticed he had one dimple in his right cheek. He was perfect.

I couldn't help but blush, for no reason at all other than him being here. "Well, let's—"

"What's going on here?" Jameson's voice crept up behind me, and I winced. I had completely forgotten I was talking to him.

Michael furrowed his eyebrows. "Who is this?"

Rebecca stepped in front of Michael, observing Jamesons disdain for the blond boy and Michael's confusion.

I had a feeling this was about to blow up in my face.

"Um, Jameson," I turned to face the brunette boy, "meet Michael." I gestured over to Michael. "Michael, meet Jameson."

Michael held his hand out for Jameson to take. "Hey man, I'm.." when Jameson didn't shake his hand, he grimaced. "Nice to meet you."

"I was just talking about how Michael is new at Heights Country Day. Right Michael?" Rebecca smiled at him, and he nodded.

"Yeah, moved from New York."

"Why?" Jameson asked.

Michael shrugged. "Work, I think? I don't know, it's hard to keep track of the parents these days."

"Tell me about it." Perfect conversation starter. "I feel like me and Bex never see our parents anymore, right?" I looked at Rebecca, who gave me a quick nod.

"Our parents are pretty busy," she clarified for Michael, who looked a little confused. "They visit every so often."

"Ah," Michael said with a nod.

Silence.

"Well, I'd love to get to know you better," Michael said to me, after a few painful seconds of awkwardness. Although, that may have made it worse.

Jamesons jaw clenched. "I really don't think she—"

"Yes," Rebecca said, cutting Jameson off. "I'm sure she would love your number. Right Lizzie?" She looked at me, eyes wide, almost pleading with her facial expressions for me to say yes.

"Uh, I mean, sure." Oh God. Help me.

I could see Avery out of the corner of my eye, her mouth hung and eyes wide. I would have to fill her in later.

Michael exchanged numbers with me, and I couldn't help the burn that crept up on my face while we did so. He was sweet, pretty, beautiful, gorgeous—

Too many adjectives.

"Well, I best be going, but I hope this isn't the last time we see each other." He gave me a small wink. "Hm?"

I blushed, again. "I would hope not."

"Well then, i'll see ya Liz." He waved at me while walking away.

"Oh. My. God." Rebecca squealed. "He's perfect! Aren't you proud of me?"

"How did you find him?" I gawked.

"I have some connections at school," Rebecca sad bashfully. "It's no biggie." And my sister was back. Shy, but the verizon of her I loved regardless.

"He doesn't seem all that to me," Jameson mumbled from behind us.

"Can you not?" Rebecca glared at Jameson. "This is an opportunity for Lizzie to branch out."

Branch out.

Something about this was starting to feel like a social project, like I needed to be fixed, but I suppressed the thoughts and put on a smile.

"She's right." I smiled at Jameson. "I need to branch out more."

Jameson rolled his eyes. "Mhm, sure."

God, couldn't he just be happy for somebody else but himself? Just this once."

Rebecca's gaze fluctuated between me and Jameson. "Right, well, i'm going to go. See you at home?" The tension was obvious to everyone.

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'll see you then." Rebecca gave Jameson one last look before making her way through the crowd of people.

Now I could really talk to him.

"Talk. Outside. Now."
—
༄

"What the hell was that about?" I exploded as soon as we hit the steps of the foundation.

Jameson laughed, but it wasn't a real one. He was clearly frustrated. I knew Jamesons real laugh. It was beautiful.

Stop.

"Well, are you going to say anything?" I threw my hands up in anger. He doesn't get to be mad at me with no explanation, especially when i've done nothing wrong.

He finally met my gaze, those green eyes nearly hypnotizing me. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Oh.

That was unexpected.

"I..." what do I say to that? "I don't know what you want me to say."

"No, you know what?" Jameson walked further down the steps. "Go have fun with Michael. He can be your new boy toy. I'm done."

And with that, Jameson walked away and didn't look back.
—
༄

It was quiet when I got home.

Andrew and Lottie asleep, Rebecca staying over at Hawthorne House tonight with Xander.

It was just me.

I guess that worked.

Still, Jamesons words ran through my mind. I couldn't escape them. He can be your new boy toy.

I'm done.

Ever since that day in the wine cellar, he's been so different. I don't know if it's something I did, but I'd hope not.

But I think it is.

Just as I got into bed, my phone rang. It was Avery.

Placing the phone to my ear, I said, "Hey, Av, what's up?" There were a few muffled voices and noises on the other side of the phone before Avery spoke.

"So, how would you feel about a little road trip to true north?"

Oh, hell.
—
༄

a/n:

me bc i've been so inactive lately 😜😜
just me living for the hope of it all 😁 (the angst)