Teen Idols And Happy Meals

Tea and Rollercoasters

“He is nothing like you,” I snarled.

Rosalyn sighed as if with empathy. I doubted she was capable of that emotion. “We are though. Don’t you see; he and I are from the same world. You could never understand him like I do; you’re not one of us. You’re . . . ordinary. And Jacen and I – we’re extraordinary.”

“Jacen cares about me,” I said, my voice steeling over as my fists clenched at my side. “More than he ever cared about you.”

She gave another laugh that made my blood boil. “Oh, silly girl, he doesn’t care about you,” she said, her tone mockingly sympathetic and her lips set in a taunting pout. “You’re nothing to him. Don’t you see? He’s gotten all wrapped up in this Romeo and Juliet crap. It’s the secret he’s in love with, not you. I’m sure you’ve realized by now how much he loves his secrets.”

Tears burned behind my eyes, unshed. It wasn’t sadness that produced those tears though; it was anger, all-consuming anger. Standing here, listening to her atrocious lies, it was infuriating.

I inched closer to her, staring into those dead, thickly lashed eyes. “Not as much as he hates you,” I hissed.

She looked a little taken back. “Jacen doesn’t hate me.”

“Ooh yes he does,” I said ruthlessly, shaking my head, “And you wanna know how I know? Because he never talks about you. When Jacen really hates someone, he pretends they’re not real. And right now, to him, you don’t exist.”

Her lips curled in a snarl. “You’re the one who doesn’t exist. Jacen could never be with you for real. He’s just playing make believe with you, getting a thrill out of this secret romance bullshit. Once the secret’s out, he’ll realize you’re nothing special. He’ll come back to our world, come back to me; like he’s supposed to.”

I straightened up and stared her down unwaveringly. There was venom in my eyes as well as my voice. “Well in case you haven’t noticed, Jacen rarely does what he’s ‘supposed’ to.” She didn’t seem to have a response to that, so I seized the opportunity. “Now if you don’t mind, I have somewhere to be.”

With that, I shoved past her, causing her to teeter on her sharply pointed heels. I didn’t pause, just clicked the unlock button on the keys that had been clutched tightly in my palm. Angrily, I threw open the drivers’ door, nearly hitting the Chevy parked next to me.

“You’re going to regret this!” Rosalyn called.

I didn’t spare her a glance as responded. “Don’t be so sure.” I climbed into the car, slamming the door behind me and locking it. I started the car as I adjusted my mirrors more aggressively then need be. Glancing behind me to make sure she wasn’t standing behind the car so I wouldn’t smash into her (she wasn’t worth the spots on my criminal record) I backed out of my spot. As the car turned around I could see her standing off to the side, arms crossed over her chest as she regarded me menacingly.

I flipped her off as I stomped on the gas. I peeled out of the parking lot, leaving her and her lies behind as I drove away. I turned the radio on and forced myself to concentrate on the road instead of my fury. It was never a good idea to drive angry, but I was more likely to hurt someone if I continued to breathe the same air as Rosalyn Winters.

I hated her. I really did. I didn’t hate many people, didn’t have many enemies. Generally speaking, most people liked me and those who didn’t kept it to themselves. But this girl . . . She was downright vexatious. She’d gone out of her way to harass me; she wanted to hurt me. Well now, I wanted to hurt her back. I hated her. I hated Rosalyn.