When I'm with you

Chapter 13

I wanted to talk about it with Anne but I knew she was having a hard time now. I didn't want to talk about it to anyone else.

I spent my weekend crying and sobbing and so. My parents didn't know. When they saw my red and puffy eyes, I just told them I was sick. I rarely got out of bed in the first place, so it was a solid alibi. I didn't even get enough sleep but I had to go to school. Everyone would worry if I didn't go. Without really noticing, I arrived early at school. I had the same class with Anne so I tried to fix myself the normal way I look. I was staring blankly at the board when Anne entered the room. I quickly smiled so that she wouldn't see my depressed face.

"Good morning!" I tried to sound as cheerful as I could.

"Good morning!" She greeted back. She looked like she didn't notice my negative presence, -- "Um, is there a problem? I mean, I saw you kinda down when I entered."-- Or not.

"No, it's nothing. I'm just worried about you."

I panicked a little but I tried to look calm and to keep a smile on my face. Luckily, Anne looked like she believed me. I wasn't in the mood to talk about what happened. I didn't want to relive the pain.

The morning passed quickly and in the blink of an eye it was already lunch. I wanted to make an excuse so I wouldn't need to eat lunch with them. I wasn't as cheerful as always so I had a feeling that they'd easily notice that I had a problem, especially Anne.

I felt like a zombie as I walked through the hallway. I was so out of it, I bumped into everyone I ran into, apologizing automatically without even looking at them. As I continued walking, I bumped hard into someone that almost made me fall, but fortunately he caught me.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, not looking at who he was.

"Jane, are you okay?" The guy asked. His voice sounded familiar so I spared a glance to him. Chad looked so worried as he looked at me.

"C-Chad, I'm sorry. I didn't see you."

"Of course you didn't see me. You're not watching where you're going."

Chad was right, of course. I didn't even bother to look at every person that I bumped into. This wasn't me, I usually greeted everyone while smiling at them but now I couldn't even look at them.

"What's wrong? Are you sick or something?" Chad worriedly asked.

"No, I'm fine." Then I continued walking, not even knowing where I was going. My mind wasn't functioning at the moment.

Then he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the cafeteria. Chad released me when we arrived at our usual seat.

"Jane what's wrong with you? Do you have a problem? Just tell me, I'll listen." Chad said, I knew he was just worried but I felt kinda irritated. Maybe because I wasn't really in the mood to talk about my ex-boyfriend.

"I told you it's nothing!" I scowled, but somehow I felt guilty for yelling at him.

Chad kept quiet but he still looked determined to know my problem. We  had only known each other for a few months and yet he worried about me this much.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you." I apologized, this was the worst feeling I've ever felt.

"No, it's okay. So, um, will you tell me what happened?"

At first I hesitated, but in the end I still told him about how I found out that Paul cheated on me and the whole confrontation at his house.

"Ouch," that was all he was able to say after I told him everything. "I'm sorry," he added.

Chad then proceeded to tell me all the encouraging words that he could think of, and that made me feel better. He also joked a little to cheer me up. Surprisingly, I didn't shed a tear, maybe because I was good at keeping it all in. We talked the whole time, we didn't even notice that Anne and Gab weren't here. A part of me was relieved, I didn't want them to see me so fragile. Maybe the two of them had gone somewhere and didn't want us to interfere. Oh love.

Lunchbreak was about to end when Gab stormed into the cafeteria and made his way to us. Luckily, I was already back to my normal self, thanks to Chad. I realized that Chad was really a nice person. I wondered why he didn't have a girlfriend.

Gab sat next to Chad. He looked irritated. When Chad patted his brother's back, Gab glared at him like what-the-hell-are-you-doing. Chad quickly raised his hands in surrender.

"Cool down, dude. What's wrong?" Chad asked.

Gab told us about his fight with Anne. I felt disappointed, all this time I thought they were having a good time together but I was wrong.

"I can't understand why she's acting like that towards Cindy. I mean, they could be good friends." When Gab said 'good friends' I looked at him like no-they-don't.

"Oh no no no, hold your horses Gab. You don't know what you're saying."

I couldn't stand it anymore. Gab thought that Anne was just being a brat so I told him about how the cheerleading squad turned down our request to cheer for us last year, which justified Anne for the way she was acting. Gab looked like he understood everything. He looked deep in thought.

There were ten minutes left before the bell signaling the end of lunchbreak would ring. I excused myself to go to my next class.

"Thanks Jane," Gab muttered, then he also excused himself. But before he could go I said something that made him stop.

"Aarrgh! I'm starting to think that boys are all jerks." I snapped.

"I'm a good boy!" Chad quickly defended himself while raising both hands. Then he looked at Gab but he only gave him a confused look.

"Now get off your high horse and apologize to Anne." I managed a smile and turned my back to him. "Before I consider you one too."

I hoped those two could easily fix this. They looked cute together, I envied them somehow.

After opening up to Chad, it seemed like one-fourth of the weight was lifted off from my shoulders. And now I just had to figure out how I would tell Anne.