Chapter 2
A Bad Boy Truth
I turned around and put on my best fake smile. We hadn't talked much since that day, and I had taken the time to do some self-reflecting. I finally got over it and agreed to pretend it had never happened. But things were never the same. Whenever he'd hug me, my heart would cry. It made me feel worse knowing that he knew how this made me feel and he still would be close to me.
"Hey Andy!" I waved as he moved closer to me. "Aren't you going to give your best friend a hug? It's been a while. " He asked. I stepped into his open arms. As usual, he was warm and smelt like cinnamon sugar. He pulled away all too soon and I was left freezing. Just then, Adam walked out the front door jingling his keys. "Time to- woah! You look nice Jessi-Cakes." he stopped in his tracks, looking at me. "Oh, and I looked ugly yesterday?" I said confidently as I blushed.
He laughed. "No, you just get more prettier every day." He finished his walk down the driveway, took my hand and kissed the top of it as I grinned. "And you hotter." I replied. He was cute, he had the same facial features as Andy, with the perfectly shaped nose, the round chin and defined cheekbones. The only difference was he was blonde and two years older. We always did this. Complimenting each other. It was entertaining and it made Andy uncomfortable, which made us both pretty smug and happy.
Adam winks, "Why thank you, you know, you should wear your hair down. Makes you look-"
"Ok. We get it! she is very pretty. Now please stop talking about my friend that way. Seriously ugh!" Andy exclaimed shivering.
"What? I was going to say-"
"No!" Andy cut him off, angrily
"Mature." Adam smirked.
"Oh." Andy said, turning away.
I laughed. "Can we go now? I'm fricking cold!" I rubbed my arms, doing the 'It's winter in Maine" dance. "Of course your cold! Your not wearing a jacket, and it's in the middle of January!" Andy said draping his letterman jacket over my arms. I hid my blush by coughing, as I inspected the patches on his jacket. A football, lacrosse, choir. "Guys, anything else? Otherwise, we're late!" Adam yells, gesturing for us to get a move on. We hop in the car and I try to initiate small talk with mostly Adam, not sure what to say to Andy, who was in the back seat.
If I'd of known the mischief Adam was about to pull, I'd of chosen the back. More clean air back there.
As we pulled up into our spot in the lot, I yanked the car door open and gasped for air. Adam's stink bomb had gone off in his back pack and the windows had refused to open. As if our annoying fake flirting hadn't given it away, Adam was considered the bad apple in his family. He liked pulling pranks, making people agitated, and sometimes hung out with some unsavory types. I breathed in clean fresh air. Hmm... smelt way better than any old stink bomb, let me tell you that.
I grabbed my backpack, waved at Andy and Adam, who were still coughing, and stalked off to my locker without a word. I put my backpack in my locker and took out my Government text books. Unlike the schools you read about in books, you are not allowed to bring your backpack to class. You know, student safety and all that. So I would have to stop at the freshman lockers after Govt. to return my books.
I maneuvered my way through the halls, peeking up at my sheet, then checking the room numbers as I made my way through the Social Studies wing. Finally spotting the correct number, I walked in. Immediately, I felt eyes on me. Looking around the room, I had full on stares, not even sneaky side eyes, full eyeball attention, Like someone had just came in and glued their eyelids to their eyebrows. I even saw a jaw drop. I looked down at my clothes. did I forget pants? Surely Adam would of said something. Did my shirt tear? Did the stink bomb leave some sort of smoke cloud, or worse, stunk THAT bad? But no, they were staring at my upper body.
I awkwardly placed my arms over my chest, feeling self conscious and a little violated. The material was rough, leathery and in some places made of tweed. This was NOT the shirt I'd picked out for today. Looking down, I realized that I was still wearing Andy's letterman jacket. Typically, this wouldn't be a huge deal, had it been any other jacket of Andy's. But there was a very significant meaning, at least in our school culture, if someone gave you their letterman jacket.
It meant you were dating.
My face turned 50 shades of red as I sat down, the panic probably very clear on my face. I didn't have enough time to go hunt down Andy and give him back his jacket. As soon as the bell ran, I had to go find him. Not only would this create a misunderstanding, it also put a target on my back I didn't want. Especially since I knew it wasn't worth it, with Andy not liking me that way and all. I felt like my veil of unobtrusive invisibility had been pulled from my head. I felt every stare, every whisper. I slowly slink the jacket off of my shoulders and turn it inside out, draping it over my chair. Hopefully that would quell the ramblings of crazy jealous teens.
Thankfully, just as I felt the walls closing in, my favorite girl in the whole world walks in, Mar Mar. She slid into the seat beside me, eyes first surveying the spectators, then falling to me. More specifically, the inside out jacket behind me. She leans over excitedly. "Oh my gosh! Not to alarm you but you do know you walked in with Andy's jacket, right?" I nod. She was the only person I'd told about what happened between me and Andy. Adam sensed the tension but had no idea what it was about, and he thankfully never asked about it. "I realize you whispered, but.. Mar.. shh!" I place a finger up to my lips. Her grin grew, "I knew it. I knew he liked you. He was just scared or whatever. You two were meant to be. Congrats!" she clapped her hands as quietly as she could.
"sorry to burst your bubble, Mar." I sigh. her full lips fell from a smile to a confused frown, accentuating her cheekbones. "I don't understand." I rub my face, the stress of the people still staring at me was already unnerving me. "Andy let me borrow his jacket because I didn't have one. I totally forgot, and didn't even really realize it was THIS jacket until people stared at me all bug eyed." We both frown. "That's suck-ish." She replied.
"I know." I sighed, for like the billionth time today. Then the bell rang, cutting our conversation short. I was slightly thankful for the distraction as everyone took their seats.
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I walked briskly out of class with Mar Mar trailing behind me. I went to my locker and grabbed the rest of my stuff for the day. I shut my locker and headed for Andy's. I wanted to get in and out as fast as possible. I didn't even plan on saying anything to him.
As usual, there was a group of girls and his buddies surrounding him. They were all the kind of people who wouldn't give me the time of day. I quietly pushed through and handed him his jacket, turning around to walk away. I was already upset and just wanted to go and forget about it. The stares, the assumptions, and the reminder that Andy, in fact, didn't like me that way. I was trying my best to let go of my feelings for him. Quietly and by myself, but obviously it would take me time. It was humiliating for me to have his letterman jacket anywhere near me, and I should of been more vigilant.
"Wait!" I quickly turned around to see him breaking away from his group, jacket in hand. Trotting over to me, he holds out the jacket. "Here, you can take it. Probably will get cold when you're in gym. Heard Mr. Sampson's class is going outside today."
"Thanks, but I'll manage." I said, ignoring the outstretched hand he'd offered. He gave me a puzzled look. He had no idea how mortified I had felt, and still did feel. His friends and posse moved a little closer, trying to hear what we were talking about.
"What do you mean? Isn't that what you wanted?" He asked. It took me a second, but suddenly I understood what he really meant. I lower my voice, "Andy, lets not do this here. Take the freaking jacket and let me walk away."
"I'm not keeping you here, Jess. It was just a question."
I nod, "Okay, fine." I back off of him, standing tall and forcing power and respect into my words "It was, Andy. It was what I wanted. But not only did you wait too long, but you pull this little stunt, putting a target on my back and made things more confusing for me." I knew I could of been more quiet, but the more I thought about what he'd put me through recently, the louder my voice seemed to get. I let out months of heartache and frustration filter through the words I spoke.
"And you know what? I don't want it. I don't want you. Not anymore. So keep your jacket, don't bother offering me rides anymore, and stay away from me. I don't need you, for anything."
I watched as his and everyone else's jaws hit the floor, including Mar. I'd never had a public outburst like that before. It felt gross, I felt gross. Like I'd done something backhanded. It dint matter that I'd said what I wanted to, I still had a pit in my stomach. Ignoring this, I walked off, Mar Mar tailing behind me.
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Hey there! 9/1/21... Please don't freak out for getting a chapter update! Nothing major has changed.. just more details, better dialogue, and grammatical changes. Jess does come out as a stronger character in this chapter's rewrite. I found re- reading through, she came off as dramatic and whiney without the deeper insights to her experience and emotions. So hopefully you can understand her better! Please, let me know what you think!
Comments are warmly welcomed!
01/09/23 Thank you for your patience, I'm glad to announce that the series is on it's way back to wattpad
-with lots of love,
Dani