I couldn’t think of any reason why Nash would be at my house, unless he was here again with his dad. But, considering the time, if my parents did invite over Chad again they would have told me.
I took a deep breath as I entered my house, and looked around as I closed the front door.
"Mom, dad, I’m home," I called out, though I wasn’t sure why. I never usually announced my return.
"We’re in the living room, Jolie,” I heard my mother call out, “Come in. We need to talk to you.”
I walked into the living room and scanned my surroundings. My parents were seated on one of our large couches, looking very rigid, and Nash was seated on the couch opposite them. Though he kept a blank expression, I could tell he was holding back a smirk as he looked at me.
"What’s going on?" I asked, feeling both confused and worried. My mother bit her lip before speaking.
"Nash came over to talk to us about something. He said he was worried about you."
"What?" I said, raising my eyebrows. Nash? Worried about me? Bullshit.
"I think you should get going, Nash," My father spoke, "We should speak to Jolie ourselves.”
Nash nodded in response and stood up, “I’m sorry I had to be the ones to tell you, Mr and Mrs Copeland. But, I just couldn’t help think about what would happen if anyone else found out.”
Nash turned to me, a grin appearing on his face, and walked passed me out of the living room. My parents waited to hear the front door close before speaking again.
"Sit down, Jolie,” My dad said, and I could hear anger in his voice. What the hell was going on?
I sat down opposite them and sighed, “What did he tell you?”
My parents looked at each other, and then my mother spoke, “Nash told us about you and your teacher.”
I froze. What? He told them about the bet? Oh my God, what the hell is wrong with him?! No, he couldn’t have told them about the bet, that’s ridiculous.
"I don’t understand," I mumbled, trying to seem innocent.
My dad shot me a stern expression, “You and your English teacher, Mr Edwards. Nash told us that you were— were,” He stopped for a moment, trying to get his words out, “Having an affair.”
My eyes widened, and I almost laughed.
"What?" I choked out, "Are you kidding me?"
"Don’t play dumb, Jolie,” My mother spat, “The last few weeks, all you’ve been doing is spending time after school with him. I can’t believe you would do this.”
"I haven’t done anything," I said, raising my voice, "I’ve been spending time after school with Mr Edwards to do extra schoolwork!"
"Shut up, Jolie,” My dad yelled back at me, “We know it’s true! Nash showed us the picture—”
"Wait, what picture?!" I asked, cutting him off. My dad picked up his phone, pulled something up on the screen, and handed it to me. Sure enough, there was a picture of me and Mr Edwards hugging on it. It was blurry, but you could definitely tell it was us.
I gulped as I stared down at it. He had hugged me, about a week ago, in the hallway after school. But that’s just because I had gotten an A+ on a quiz he gave us on Of Mice and Men, a book we hadn’t studied since before Christmas. He was happy, and impressed, and we were already hugging before either of us realised what was happening. We made sure nobody saw, and left after that. I was more than positive nobody had seen us.
"It’s not what you think," I said, shaking my head.
"Actually, I believe it’s exactly what we think," My mom said, standing up, "If it wasn’t Spring Break, we’d be going to that school first thing Monday morning to report that creep!"
"No," I yelled, standing up to meet her, "You can’t. It’s not his fault!"
"Leading on a teenage girl - one of his students, might I add - is completely his fault!"
"He wasn’t leading me on," I said trying to think of an excuse. My parents stared at me, waiting for an answer.
"It was me," I sighed, sitting back down, "I’ve been.. coming on to him."
"What?" My dad yelled, but after realising he did, he readjusted his voice and spoke again, “What?”
"I’ve been hitting on him," I shrugged, "I’ve had a crush on him for a while, and I thought he liked me back. But, he doesn’t. I hugged him that day, but he turned me down. He told me that he was my teacher and that was it."
"Why have you still been meeting him?" My mother asked, crossing her arms.
"I still wanted help with my schoolwork," I told her, "But, he’s made it perfectly clear that he does not like me in any way and I need to drop my feelings."
My parents looked at each other, unconvinced, “And have you? Dropped your feelings, that is?”
"Yes," I rolled my eyes, "I know nothing can happen between us! I was just being stupid, I’m sorry. But please, don’t report him. It’s not his fault."
They whispered between each other, glancing at me every now and then, before finally speaking.
"Alright, we believe you," They said, and I relaxed in my seat, "But that doesn’t mean you’re not in big trouble."
"Mom, dad, it’s Spring Break," I said, crossing my arms, "You can’t punish me! That’s not fair!"
"Life isn’t fair, honey," My mother snapped, "You’re not spending Spring Break with your friends."
I opened my mouth to protest, but my mom continued talking, “Instead, you’re going to spend it with us.”
"Doing what?" I asked, unable to stop my voice from raising.
"We’re going to be spending it at a lake house," She said, and I relaxed my shoulders some, "Chad and Nila invited us to spend Spring Break with them.”
My eyes widened, and I stared between them, “You mean, we’re spending Spring Break with—”
"The Griers, yes,” My dad nodded, finishing my sentence. I stood up and threw my hands into the air.
"No, no way! I am not spending Spring Break with Nash! Especially not after what he told you!”
"Too bad, you have no choice," My dad said bluntly. I was going to speak again, but my dad stopped me, "No more arguing, Jolie. Go to bed. We’re leaving for the lake on Monday.”
I kept looking back and forth between my parents, expecting them to turn around and tell me this was all just a big joke. When they didn’t speak, I groaned and stomped up to my bedroom.
I walked into my room and slammed the door behind me, then threw myself onto my bed.
“That evil, twisted bastard,” I hissed as I punched my pillow, “I hate him!”
When I ran out of strength to continue punching my pillow, I laid down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
"Congratulations, Nash," I mumbled aloud to myself, "You finally got my attention back."
YOU ARE READING
Queen Bee Syndrome
Fanfiction"So much for great standards, you'd never get him anyway," Nash sneered, and I frowned. "You think I can't?" "I know you can't," He said, a smile playing on his lips. "Want to bet?" Jolie Copeland had always been at the top of the social ladder in h...
