gentleman-- j.m.b

diecisiete

I began walking from the bus stop to my locker in one of the halls.

I was excited to be at school as Joey's girlfriend officially again. I mean, yeah sure, yesterday was Monday, and everyone was watching me non stop.

But today is Tuesday. Joey's training sessions have been scheduled to Tuesday's.

When I arrive at my locker, I'm surprised to see Joey there.

"Hey Joey," I say, and he looks up at me from his phone.

"Hey Kate," he smiles, shoving his phone in his pocket.

The gesture makes me feel special, like he'd prefer to be with me than his own phone.

"What are you doing here so early?" I ask.

He shrugs. "I was excited to come and see you."

I blush. "Thanks, but really, yo-"

The sight of Mark Thomas staring at us from across the hall stops me mid-sentence.

He's glaring, like he wanted to kill Joey and take me. Joey notices how I immediately look away from Mark and look uncomfortable.

"You okay?" Joey asks, then sees Mark. His jaw clenches and his fists go into tight balls at his sides.

Joey and Mark look like they're having a staring contest, really angrily.

I decide to stop Joey before it's too late. I grab his wrists and un-ball his white knuckles.

"Joey," I say softly, and he turns to me. His expression softens and he loosens up a bit, but his expression still wary.

"Sorry," he whispers, only quiet enough for me to hear.

Our eyes are locked, and I'm holding his arms. I didn't want to let go in case he attacked Mark.

"Just focus on me, okay?" I tell him.

"I'm sorry, Kate. I should've told you... I have really bad anger issues sometimes," he murmurs gently.

I nod. "It's okay."

I kind of figured by the way he was acting. Especially since I can tell that he knows Mark was the one who cheated on me. Even though I never actually told him.

He just knew.

"Can we go somewhere else?" He asks.

I nod, and pull him away. We end up at the field.

We sit together on the bleachers, and I lean my head on his shoulder.

"If that boy does anything to you, you tell me. Got it?" He says, his voice tempering.

"Joey, he won't do anything," I say.

"Got it?" He repeats, and I sigh.

"Yep."

"I..." He hesitates, "I like this scenery."

I sigh again, already knowing what he keeps hesitating on.

Those three words.

I got up and walked away without speaking another word to him.

He can't be my boyfriend if he doesn't love me.

"Kate? Where are you going?" He asks. His confused voice makes me stop.

"Class," I say coldly, and as if by magic, the bell rings. I continue walking away from him, but I hear him thump against the ground as he jumps off the bleachers.

"Did I do something?" He asks, catching up to me.

Darn his fast running.

"No," I lie, and I can see from the corner of my eye he raises an eyebrow.

"You seem mad," he says innocently.

"I'm not," I lie again, and he stops me from walking by stepping in front of me.

"We are not walking another inch without you telling me what's wrong," he says.

"Joey, it doesn't matter," I say.

"I'm sick of you saying your feelings don't matter!" He almost yells, "they do! And I care about you more than I care about myself, so tell me what is wrong. I won't stop thinking about it until you tell me."

"N-nothing's wrong," I say.

"You know I can tell when you're lying. Something is wrong, you are mad, and I did or said something to make you mad. I know when you're lying," he says.

"Really?" I question, folding my arms and glaring at him.

"Yes. Really. I know it's Mark. The other guy," he says, "you lied to me then about that."

"That's because I didn't want you being kicked off the team," I say.

"Why?" He asks, then frowns. Before he speaks I know he's getting the wrong idea. "You only like me because I'm a footballer, don't you?"

My mouth drops, and I basically yell at him when I speak. "What?!"

"That's why you're so loving towards me. Because I'm a footballer. Maybe it's the same with Mark, isn't it?" He asks.

"You disgust me!" I yell, a lump in my throat forming, tears threatening to show.

How dare he.

He stares at me intently as I continue.

"Until you learn that maybe I liked you because you weren't like other boys, because you actually cared for me, we're over. I'm sorry Joey, but you have the wrong idea."

He looks shocked that I just broke up with him. As I walk away, blood boils through me.

I turn to him and say my last line before leaving, and he knew exactly what I meant when I said it.

"And I was mad, because you always hesitate."

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