Mariana's best friend | Jesus foster

Eight

"Hey, Evelyn! Hold up." I slowed down on my steps, turning around to face Emma after I heard her call after me.

"Oh, hey Emma." I gave her a slight smile. She had a hint of vexation and sadness in her eyes as she met mine.

"Are-" She sighed, turning her head to look to the side before looking back at me. "Are you, like, trying to take Jesus away from me? I don't wanna make assumptions, but it fucking seems like it." She gave me a slight glare as she looked me up and down as if she was judging me.

I stared at her shocked and sighed. "Emma, I'm not trying to take Jesus away from you," I said softly.

She laughed. "Drop the fucking act. I know you are. You like him. I can see it. You're always flirting with him and giving him innocent smiles and it irks me." She groaned.

"I don't like Jesus that way. He's my friend. I have no intentions of ever trying to get with him." I frown. I looked over to Mariana who raised her eyebrow at me. The disco music played softly behind us, only Callie and AJ are on the dance floor.

"Yeah, sure, okay." She rolled her eyes. "You better fucking stay away from him or I swear you bitch, I will beat your ass." This time, I rolled my eyes.

"He's my friend, Emma. I don't like him that way, and I won't stay away. You can't just control who I'm friends with. I promise you, I'm not trying to take him away." I knew I didn't like Emma from the start, but this definitely confirmed it. I walked away before she could say anything else, already ruining my good mood and I have only been here at the party for an hour. I sighed, walking up to Lena and Brandon.

"Happy birthday, Lena." I gave her my best fake smile, which I have mastered by now. She gave me a hug, thanking me. "I really hope you enjoy this day," I said, letting out a soft laugh.

"I will." She said in her soft voice that seemed to calm everything down. I looked over at Brandon to see him quickly look away and down onto the floor.

"So, thank you for inviting all of my exes." Jenna's irritated voice caught all our attention, making us turn to face her. "I thought I was the one who got you in the divorce." She took a gulp from a wine glass.

Lena just smiled, shaking her head. "Hey," Jenna turned to Brandon. "How'd it go today? The SATs?" We all turned to Brandon, who was rubbing the back of his neck with a forced chuckle.

"SATs?" Lena questioned, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah, I saw him when I was picking up Garrett?" Jenna takes another sip from her drink. I slowly cross my arms as I look over to Brandon, noticing how he avoided eye contact with me.

He took the damn test for the kid.

"Uh, yeah," Brandon shrugged. "I think it went pretty well."

"You took the SATs today?" Lena asked with confusion, staring at Brandon with her eyebrows scrunched up. I mean, he did have an amazing score already.

"Uh, yeah, um... you know, I just wanted to take it again and see if I could improve my scores." Brandon talked rapidly, shrugging his shoulders as he looked between Lena and Jenna.

"God, I practically had to bride Garrett to get him to take it even once." Jenna scoffed with a smile. "All rightie." Jenna downed the rest of her drink. "Mmm! I am going to go get a refill. Uh, anyone?" She asked, holding up her empty cup.

We all shook our heads and watched as she danced her way to get herself a refill. I rubbed my arms and turned to Brandon. "Uh, Brandon, can I talk to you for a second?" I asked.