The new girl - Elmax

Chapter 39 : Anger

The party was around their table at the cafeteria. Max had been unpleasant the entire morning, and they didn't know why.

- "Max, what's wrong?" Mike finally asked.

- "Nothing, everything is fine," the redhead sharply answered.

- "You don't seem ok," Will stated.

- "I am okay!"

- "Okay, okay," the young boy pouted.

They all looked at each other, hoping someone knew what was wrong, but they were all lost.

- "Did something happen with Neil?" Lucas frowned.

- "No! I'm just in a bad day, that's all," Max explained, making a movement with her hand to end the conversation.

Max was too pissed to eat and preferred leaving the table. Beverly had an idea of the reason of her anger and followed her in the halls.

- "Hey!" Beverly called, running to her. "What's wrong?"

- "Nothing!" Max answered, opening her locker.

- "You're not angry for nothing. Did something happen with Jane?"

- "(slams her locker) Exactly! She is the worst human I've never met in my entire life!"

- "What!? What happened!?"

- "Nothing happened! Of course nothing happened because there never was anything between us!"

- "She cancelled for tomorrow?" Bev frowned, not sure to understand.

- "Yes she did! But that's not the problem, she can cancel if she thinks she is not ready, it's fine, I can understand that, the problem is that she doesn't want to do it later, she just wants to stop! After making me believe that I was different and that I could...try something with her she just threw me away like a fucking garbage!" Max angrily explained.

- "Wh—Tell me you're joking!?"

- "Do I look like I'm joking!?"

- "No...of course not...But why did she do that!?"

- "I don't know, and I don't care! She can go fuck herself!"

Max didn't want to talk about it and left Beverly in the hall. But Bev was determined to not let this story ending like that, she had class with Jane after lunch, and the girl was always the first one in the room, so she didn't wait a second and joined her. She was effectively there, near the window as usual. She was alone, it was perfect. The redhead sat next to her, but Jane ignored her.

- "So that's it!? You don't need us anymore so we become just ghosts of your past!?" Beverly sharply began.

- "You are going to lecture me too!?" Jane answered with the same tone.

- "Yes! What the fuck is wrong with you!?"

- "Oh please! I've already had Joyce and my sister! Can you just, please, leave me alone!?"

- "Leave you alone!? Jane you're always alone! And Max is my fucking best friend, okay!? You had no rights to play with her like you did!"

- "But I wasn't playing!"

- "Oh really!? She is furious because thanks to you she discovered a part of her she didn't know, she began to have feelings for you, and when she thought that maybe it could be reciprocal you decided to stop!? And you're telling me you weren't playing!? What was the fucking goal !? What happened to you!?"

Jane didn't answer. She didn't know what she meant by « what happened to you!? » so she frowned in her direction, hoping her to develop.

- "The first time we met you, you were a shy and quiet little Jane who was making jokes and smiling to us, now you are becoming an angry, depressed, and unpleasant stupid Jane who avoids her friends and even yells at them, I want to understand what happened. What have they done to you?" Beverly asked with a softer tone and some tears in her eyes.

- "I, I don't wanna talk about it..." Jane answered with tears too and her chin shaking like if she was going to cry, looking at her desk.

- "But, something happened, right?"

Jane lightly shrugged. She didn't know if it was one thing or the accumulation of everything. All she knew was that she had a problem and didn't know how to solve it.

- "You should talk to someone about this," Beverly said.

- "About what?" Jane sniffed.

- "About...how you feel, you don't want to talk to us, but there is something that is blocking you...Do you still see the school psychologist?"

- "Yes, why?"

- "Do you talk about it with him?"

Jane bit her bottom lip on the left and shook her head to say no.

- "Why?"

- "Because, everytime I tried they just wanted to understand what was the origin of...(shows herself) my homosexuality. They never helped me, so why now!?"

- "Oh..."

Beverly was still mad at her, but she was feeling sorry too. It was like if she had been alone all her life and never had the help she needed.

- "I thought you were supposed to hide?" Bev told with less anger.

- "Yeah, but for how long?" Jane scoffed. "With Loren we were supposed to hide too, but one day I made the mistake to kiss her in public which exposed us. Everyone learnt it so we tried to not hide anymore, and she had been killed."

Beverly felt like hit by her words. Especially by the way she said it, it was cold. She found nothing to answer. She placed her head on Jane's shoulder and rubbed her back.

- "Don't touch me like that!" Jane grumbled.

- "There is no one, relax!"

- "I don't care!"

- "Okay, (straightens) I'm sorry," Beverly said. "You should talk to her."

- "What?" Jane frowned.

- "Max, you should talk to her, you are missing something, there is...this electricity between you and her, you can't deny it!"

- "Uh...electricity?"

- "Yeah, you know, attraction, something more...physical."

- "You can feel that!?"

- "You both irradiate physical attraction, a blind person could see it!"

- "Oh...just this?"

- "What do you mean?"

- "There is...just physical attraction?" Jane asked.

- "Um, I hope not! I wasn't meaning it that way, not like you just want to have sex with each other and that's all but more in the way...you want to hold her hand and she wants to hug you and probably kiss you too, and you both blush when you see each other, kinda cute," Bev explained. "I don't know if it's clear."

- "It was."

- "So? You're going to talk to her?"

- "No."

- "But why!?"

- "Because! Just leave me alone with that!"

Beverly clenched her jaw and faced the blackboard in front of her, crossing her arms.

- "Fine, finish alone if it's what you want, but don't hurt my friend again, don't give her hope if there is nothing behind. You are a piece of shit!" Beverly angrily stated.

Jane didn't answer. Beverly's words hurt her more than she thought, but she was still scared to involve Max in a shit she didn't ask for. She was hating herself too much now, and she was worried for a sister to find a new job.