My Neighborhood Love Story

Chapter 18: Jealousy

Jawan's P-O-V

I trudged out of my bedroom not even wanting to face Aria at school today. She obviously hates me. I ruined it, but all I was trying to do was tell her the truth. I guess she really likes Lamar more than me. Maybe more than anything.

"Yo, you look depressed," Khalil said coming into the bathroom.

"Aria not only thinks of me as a friend, but she prefers to defend Lamar than to take my warning," I replied squirting the toothpaste on my toothbrush.

"Your warning?"

"Yeah, I sort of implied to her that Lamar is not a good person."

"Implied?"

"Okay, I told her straight up, but I did it because I didn't want to see her get hurt."

"Brother... Brother, brother, brother, brother. You can't just be her friend then tell a girl that her potential boyfriend is no good."

"Why?"

"It makes you look jealous."

"Oh... Well, what can I do now?"

"Nothing you say can make her change her mind. Just let it play out. Let her get hurt."

"I can't let her get hurt!"

"Yes you can! Either way, if you keep telling her he's no good, she'll move faster and deeper into the relationship only to get hurt. And if you say noting about it she'll continue to fall for him and get hurt in the long run."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Serene. I kept telling her that Kwame is no good, but she didn't want to belive me."

"But she hates you. Of course she doesn't care about your opinion."

He shook his head and sighed then brushed his teeth. I brushed mine as well then got ready for school. I walked to the bus stop and saw Lamar and Aria drive past me. We made eye contact and she smirked at me. My heart dropped. I had lost her.

When I finally got to school, I made my way to the music room, but was stopped by Heather.

"Jawan, can I talk to you?"

"Um, okay."

"Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Don't lie to me. I know you. I know when you're upset."

I looked away from her and saw Aria walking down the hallway arm-in-arm with Lamar. It got me angry. You know what? I got an idea. I'm going to get her jealous. I'm going to "date" Heather.

"Okay. I really like Aria, but she's messing with Lamar. I tried telling her he's a heartbreaker, but she didn't want to listen to me. I was wondering if you could, uh, help me make her jealous."

"Jealous?"

"Yeah. Pretend to be my girlfriend?"

It was a long pause, "Fine... I'll help you out."

I hugged her, "Thank you!"

"Yeah, no problem."

"By the way, I don't want you telling anyone about this. I just want to keep it between you and I, okay?"

"Alright. So... when do we start? I want the rules and regulations."

"We can start today. And I don't know, relationship stuff. Hold hands, stare into each other's eyes-"

"Kiss?"

I thought for a moment. I didn't know if that would be a smart idea, but I wanted to sell this relationship thing as if it was real.

"Yeah, kissing too."

"Specific kinds?"

"No making out, no tongue. Just a regular peck on the lips. The other two are only done when I say so, which probably won't even happen. Kisses on the cheek and forehead are permitted anytime. No need to ask permission for those."

She nodded, "Well, I guess I'll see you around then... boyfriend."

She kissed my cheek then skipped off. What did I just do?