Scared of Falling in Love

The Dark Side of People

I wake up to my phone ringing. It takes me a while to sit up in bed due to the head rush I always get when getting out of bed. As soon as I sit up, a pillow hits me in the face. "Giselle, your phone's ringing", says Allison, half asleep on the floor. "Gee thanks", I say doing my best to pat down my bed head. I finally look at the screen to see an unknown number on the screen.

"Hello", I say trying to hide the tiredness in my voice. I put the call on speaker. "Hello. Giselle. Are you there", asks a familiar voice. "Uh. Yeah.... Who is this?", I ask. "It's Adam. I gave you my number. You didn't put it in your contact list?", he asks, but I can't read the tone in his voice. "Oh yeah", I say trying to come up with an excuse. "Um... Well you see. I always forget to add the new numbers people give me to my contact list", I say, surprising myself. I almost never lie. Guilt starts to build up inside of me. "Wait. New? Giselle, that was 4 months ago", he says with edge in his tone. "You know what Giselle? I have been chasing after you for the past 6 months. And you haven't shown the least bit of interest in me, which is really confusing because I am so good looking and charming. In fact you know what? A guy like me shouldn't even be wasting my time going after such an ugly, fat girl like you", he says practically screaming into the phone. And just like that, the guilt is gone.

Before I can even respond, Allison has already taken the phone out of my hand and starts screaming back at Adam. "Yes hello Adam. This is Allison. Now before you continue to insult Giselle, which might I point out wouldn't be the first time, I'd like to bring you back to the real world. Okay, let me tell you straight up. Not every girl wants to go out with a guy as arrogant as you. Okay? So just stop looking at yourself as the man of every girl's dream because you're NOT", she says looking satisfied with her comeback. Adam starts to respond, but Allison quickly hangs up and hands the phone back to me. "Block the number", Allison says. "Will do", I say letting out a long sigh, trying to piece together what just happened. I've seen this side of Adam before, but it was never directed towards me.... 

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"At least Adam's not desperately chasing after you anymore. You finally got him off your back. Now you don't have to worry about him asking you to homecoming anymore", Derek says on our way to our lockers, which are conveniently next to each other. Derek and I have been friends since the sixth grade, and just as Allison is my like my sister, Derek is like a brother to me. I tell him almost everything, which explains why he knows about the whole Adam incident that took place this morning. "I guess. But I still can't get over the fact that he called me fat and ugly. I mean my insecurity problems have improved a lot over the summer, but it still hurts", I say as we finally reach our lockers. "But Giselle. Remember this is Adam's opinion we're talking about here. The guy who cares about no one else other than himself. Don't let a guy like that get to you." As Derek takes out the books he needs for first period, I struggle to get my rusty locker to open. When it finally budges a piece of paper slowly glides down to the floor. I pick it up from the floor and my blood starts to boil as I read it.

[Missed your chance at having a trophy boyfriend, sweetie. Oops! I mean FAT and UGLY girl.]

I look at the note and even though it doesn't surprise me, I fall silent. Derek curiously inspects what caused my sudden silence. He raises his eyebrows after reading the note in my hand but doesn't look at all surprised, and now we're both silent, just looking at the note. Jaden approaches us and breaks the silence. "Good morning Derek. Good morning Giselle. What're you guys looking at", he asks. I look up to see his warm smile fade. His eyes darken as a mixture of seriousness and anger appears on his face. "Who did this" he asks, with edge in his voice. "It's no big deal, Jaden. Don't even worry about it. It's fine. Really", I say trying to calm him down. I grab his clenched fist, in which his knuckles have turned white, and hold it tight. It seems to work because his heavy breathing slows down and his fist unclenches. I look at him to make sure that he is completely calm. He finally meets my eyes. His gaze goes from me to my hands, which are still holding his now relaxed hand, then back to me. His cheeks turn slightly pink and he quickly takes his hand out of mines, placing it in his pocket. "Um. Sorry for that guys. Didn't mean to look crazy or anything like that. Well.. See you guys later", he says a little fast. Before I can even respond, he's speed walking down the hall.

Derek and I exchange confused looks, shrug, and start walking over to first period. "What was that all about?", asks Derek. "Beats me", I say looking back trying to find Jaden, even though I know he's already gone.

*Author's Note: Hey guys. I tried making a pretty long, interesting chapter for you guys. Thanks again for taking the time to read my story. Love you guys.*