Monday. Back to school. I'm not looking forward to this.
Jenna and I agreed to meet in the parking lot. We'll walk in holding hands. It's safer to be together, and I want everyone to see.
I'm waiting in the parking lot now. I can't help but be terrified. Not for myself, but for Jenna. I don't care what people will do to me, but I want her safe. I've been told that that's my fatal flaw.
What's going to happen? Is she going to get ridiculed? Am I going to beat up? Are my friends and Mike going to be dragged into this? God, please let this go well.
Jenna's dad pulls in, dropping her off. I smile and wave. He smiles and waves back. Jenna walks over and gives me a small hug.
"Told your dad about us?" I ask, as if everything's normal.
She nods as he drives away. "He wants you to come over for dinner so the family can be formally introduced."
"Sounds fun."
"Ehhhhhh."
I quickly kiss her. "Oh shush."
We walk to the front doors together. Jenna looks at me.
"Ready?" she asks.
I nod.
She slips her hand into mine and we walk in together.
We're not that early today, so there's more people here. We receive a few stares, and there's some whispering. But so far, nothing bad.
Then we get to science.
We walk in together. Jenna sits next to me in the back. Everyone is staring at us. Ronnie looks like he's about to explode. I want to sink down into my seat and under the table, but I don't. Jenna squeezes my hand. We get our notebooks out and work like nothing's happening.
Class starts and we're safe for now. Jenna's lazily taking notes, but like usual, I'm not paying attention. I'm writing lyrics.
"Now don't be crazy
Yes now of course you can stay here.
Been in a touring band for going on ten years.
"Big deal," she said, "I guess you're official."
I only said it 'cause I know what it's like to feel burned out
It gets you down,
We've all been there sometimes
But tonight I'll make you feel beautiful once again"
I think back to the tree house with Jenna. Everything we talked about that night is floating through my head and onto the paper.
Then those three words she said to me yesterday... "You'll be okay".
"Darling you'll be okay.."
The line is practically singing itself in my head. I scribble it down.
"And she said,
'If you were me, you'd do the same
'Cause I can't take anymore
I'll draw the shades and close the door
Everything's not alright and I would rather...'"
Jenna could sing that part. She'd be perfect for it.
I'm really excited now. I can't stop smiling.
Jenna glances over at me. I push the notebook over. She takes it and reads what I have. She smiles too.
"It's beautiful," she whispers.
Class ends and we slip out. Surprisingly, no one bothers us. It's relieving, but also terrifying. Why hasn't anything happened yet?
The rest of the day is like this. No one bothers us. It's.. Unsettling.
Jenna sits with the guys and I at lunch. She fits right in. Even Oli warms up to her. Jaime and Tony still can't believe we're even dating.
And that's that. School ends without incident. But just as I think we're safe, that unsettling feeling that's been sitting in my stomach finally comes into play when I see Ronnie's car pull up to Jenna and I as I'm walking her home.
The car stops. Ronnie gets out. I can tell Jenna wants to run; I do too. But we're frozen with fear.
"What the fuck?" Ronnie pushes me, causing me to stumble backwards.
"Leave him alone!" Jenna yells.
Ronnie turns to her. "You left me for him?!" He gets closer to her. I'm about to punch him in the face if he takes another step closer.
"He's nice!" Jenna keeps yelling. "He cares about me and doesn't hurt me!"
"He's a freak!" Ronnie shouts back. "You know what he does to himself!"
Not gonna lie, that hits a little close to home.
They're yelling at each other, and I'm just standing here frozen. I feel so weak.
Ronnie turns to me. "That's it Fuentes."
He grabs my shirt collar, picking me up so I'm barely on my toes. I'm trying to get out of his hold. Jenna's desperately pulling on him and kicking him, but nothing's working.
"This time I'm not going easy," Ronnie raises his fist to punch me. I close my eyes, waiting for the blow. But it never comes.
I feel myself be dropped. I fall to the sidewalk. Jenna's stopped screaming. He better not have moved to her instead.
I open my eyes and pick my self up. I look at the scene in front of me and see Oli on top of Ronnie, beating the ever loving fuck out of him.
Jenna runs over to me, tightly hugging me. I pull her close, stroking her hair and muttering soothing words.
"Stay away from them," Oli spits. He gets up and Kellin runs over to us. He must've seen everything, because he doesn't ask any questions. Oli takes Kellin's hand. "I don't care if the school knows about us. They can fucking come at me. But you're not going to touch anyone of us anymore. Got it?"
Ronnie pushes himself up and scowls. He gets in his car and drives away without a word.
"Thank you," I say to Oli. "Aren't you worried you'll get arrested again?"
He shakes his head. "This time it was defense. And I have witnesses," he smirks.
"Well played," Kellin hugs him.
Jenna thanks him too, and we all walk back to my house. We play a less intense board game and lighten the mood. I think maybe we will be okay.
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YOU ARE READING
Stay Away From My Friends (Jenna McDougall and Vic Fuentes)
RomanceHigh school can be hard. It's especially hard when the girl you like is dating your worst enemy. But it's even harder when everyone has secrets. **some trigger warnings**