The Mailbox Girl

32. Disappointed

This was the last day of school before the week-end which I was utterly thankful for. If I managed to avoid Shane the whole day, I'd only have to bear one hour with him at the Mailbox Club. Speaking of which... The reunion today was doomed to be as tensed as humanly possible. With Shane and I not standing Clementine, Clementine not standing Shane, Prishka (if she came back) not standing me and all the general embarrassment the kiss had caused between Shane and I, it'd end up being awful.

I'd try and ask Sofia to come to lighten the mood.

Everything went according to plan, I didn't have to face Shane for the whole entire day. I'd take a different path if I recognized his figure in some corridor, I'd avoid the places he liked to hang out at and ate lunch my head as low as possible.

Sofia was by my side when he entered the Mailbox room before Clementine and Prishka. As my gaze lingered a little longer than conventionally acceptable on his face, I noticed he had the same dark circles as I. He met my eyes as he sat down across the table from us.

"What's with the sexual tension?" Sofia blurted out, making me regret instantly her coming.

I looked anywhere but at Shane while shaking my head, in denial. There was no sexual tension. Not at all. For there to be any, I should want to throw myself at him and do the things the girls who wrote him letters described. But I didn't. I just reminisced his kiss. And I maybe fantasized about getting another one.

But no sexual tension.

"We kissed." Shane simply answered while taking some letters out from the pile on the table.

There was no more me wanting to kiss him again by now.

As Sofia gasped, I snapped at him:

"Why do you have to say that?"

"Isn't she your friend?"

"So what?"

"You've told her already anyway, haven't you?"

"No, I haven't!" I hissed while crossing my arms over my chest. "And it was supposed to stay between us."

He frowned.

"When did we agree on that? Because I might have told Alejandro." The horrified look on my face seemed to make him doubt. But instead of apologizing on the spot, he pursued as if he was confessing: "And also Vanessa. And a few more friends."

I felt my heart fall in my chest. So the whole school was deemed to know about the kiss? I couldn't wait for all the rumors some of his exes such as Zoe would spread around about me. She had already done it when there was no reason to do so, this gave her the perfect opportunity to step up her game.

"Why do you have to be so dumb?" I fumed as he laid back carelessly on his chair. "Don't you think I'd rather hide such a thing secret?"

"You know, I don't hide anything from my friends."

"Okay so you don't hide anything from your friends, from your girlfriends... Do I have to simply accept the fact that you're going to tell everything to everyone? You should have asked me first if I agreed on talking about it."

"She's right about that." Sofia approved and I mouthed a "thank you" at her. It was great to have her support.

How could this man make me so happy one day and so angry the other? How did he even manage to provoke so many contradictory emotions in me?

He didn't have time to apologize, not that I think he would have though, as Clementine walked in the room. She stopped at Sofia's sight.

"Do we have a new recruit?"

What a short sentence coming from her.

"She's just a friend who came to hang out."

My answer didn't seem to please Clementine. She threw her bag on the table and stomped her feet.

"That's a new rule? People have to work their asses off to be accepted inside the Club but your friends can come as they please? It is belittling the importance of the Mailbox!"

"The Mailbox doesn't have rules." I sternly answered.

"Well we can't keep it that way. I am dismayed by the amount of rights you and Shane have. Every other club in this school have rules its members abide by. Any democracy sits on a pedestal of laws and the Mailbox Club is as much a democracy as the most important countries in this world. We can't keep ruining the integrity of this ambitious idea by treating as a mere place to have fun and hang out.I'll be talking to Mr Fieldman..."

I buried my face into my hands. I had enough. Enough of Shane not considering my feelings and treating me as if I were just another girl on his list of twenty girlfriends. Enough of Clementine thinking she had any right to change my club to something so serious. Enough of not being able to choose what I wanted to do.

Clementine kept on talking but I didn't listen anymore. I just kept hiding my face in my hands, hoping she'd understand I didn't care about any of the things she proposed.

"Are you even listening to me?" She snarled a little bit louder.

I didn't move. I really much intended on staying like this and ignoring her until she went away. It was ridiculous, it was immature but I didn't have the courage to put her in her place one more time today.

How long could her blabber last anyway?

Ten minutes, that was the answer. She kept on complaining for another ten whole minutes, sometimes calling out Shane, sometimes calling out Sofia whom she didn't even know. I felt a tad sorry for Sofia – not for Shane, I was still pissed at him for telling all of his friends we had kissed – who got carried in this as I was on full-on ostrich mode right now.

I hoped she wouldn't be too mad at me for letting her at Clementine's mercy.

Shane's text came back to me at this moment: this girl could very well could be some kind of Middle Ages torture machine.

Calm finally came back on the Mailbox as Clementine finally left. After a few seconds of holy silence, I eventually raised my head.

"I'm sorry." I said to Sofia whose face was transformed by shock. "I can't stand her anymore."

"I understand you don't, girl. I've never met such a bitch." Sofia sighed while giving me a side hug. "You honestly deserve a medal for bearing with her every day. Bearing with him too." She added after eyeing Shane.

He shrugged in response.

Yeah, I very well deserved a fucking medal.

***

A/N: Hi everyone! Hope you liked this chapter :D Feel free to vote and comment if that's the case. I always love to hear what your thoughts on my writing are!

I have a big announcement to do! There are only two chapters left until the end of this novel!!!

Prepare yourself for the ending of Jenn's adventure ^__^