Baby Steps

break up arc pt. 1

“Tina?”

Tina Belcher started, reaching under her glasses to wipe the tears from her eyes. She’d been sure that no one would look for her here under the bleachers in the high school gymnasium, but apparently she was wrong. It felt like she was wrong about a lot of things lately… She shook that away and stared up at the source of the voice.

Zeke stared back at her, one hand in his jeans pocket and the other gripping the strap of his backpack on his shoulder. He was so damned tall now, seemingly having shot up to well over six feet in the span of one summer. He still had his curls, though only the top of his head had longer hair now. The sides had been shaved and blended to fit right into the curls. It looked a lot better than his mullet had, at least if you asked her. His dark hazel eyes blinked down at her as he waited for her to say something.

Which made her realize that she’d just been staring at him. Tina looked away, hugging her knees to her chest as she tried to make herself as small as possible. It was a habit she’d picked up over the last year, a change from how she’d used to spread herself wide when she was upset as a kid. So much had changed since she was thirteen…it was strange to think about.

And right now, upsetting as well.

“What do you want, Zeke?” she asked him, trying to sound casual but her voice quivered.

The boy said nothing. Instead, he leaned against the wall next to her and slowly slid down. He brought one leg up to rest his elbow on while the other laid out straight in front of him. He didn’t look at her, something she was grateful for. The concern in his eyes had started to make her feel weepy again, and she was so tired of crying. He leaned his head back against the wall, staring up at the top bleachers above them.

It was silent between them for a moment before he spoke. “You alright?”

“I’m fine,” she answered, a little too quickly. She barely managed to keep from groaning at that.

Zeke just frowned, looking at her from the corners of his eyes. “It’s Jordan again, isn’t it?”

Tina didn’t answer, just buried her face in her arms.

She and Jordan Cagan had been dating for a little over a year now. Her relationship with Jimmy Jr. had only lasted about three days into their freshman year of high school before he broke up with her. She’d given herself plenty of time to grieve before she started talking and flirting with other boys. Amazingly, Jimmy Jr. hadn’t come crawling back to her for that like he usually did, which was how she knew it was really over between them. January of freshman year, Tina and Jordan had been paired together for a history assignment. It had been awkward at first, with him still holding a little bit of grudge against her for the incident with the Land Ship, but after that it had been so easy to talk to him. They’d continued hanging out even after their project was due, and by March they were officially a couple.

In the beginning, it had been great. Jordan had been sweet, walking her to every class even if it made him late, holding her bag and books, giving her flowers for no reason. They had gone out on many dates, and over the summer he would hang out at the restaurant just to see her. Her family had been a little weirded out by him but they were just glad that she was finally happy with someone. And while his kissing skills still weren’t great, they were much better than they had been when they were kids. He’d been everything she’d ever wanted in a boyfriend.

But going into sophomore year, something had changed. Maybe it was just the honeymoon phase ending, but they started to fight. Jordan was extremely possessive, having gotten used to having Tina all to himself through the summer. He hated having to share her with her friends and would blow up her phone whenever she went out without him. He was also a little more handsy with her than she would like, especially in public. He was always hanging all over her, grabbing her by the hips and waist whenever someone, especially another boy, got too close to her. Tina had tried gently bringing it up with him, but he always had some excuse or other for his behavior.