Two Ways to Love [ON HOLD]

Chapter Three

                                                           Chapter Three

I would never have imagined that Adam would bring his shoe-punching, overly-jealous girlfriend into the same car as myself. I mean, the girl practically assaulted me in a not-so-distant past. Shouldn’t I at least be entitled to some alone-time with drunken Jill in the backseat of Cody’s car?

     Yeah, you would think so. But thanks to Adam’s inability to stand up for himself when it came to the opposite sex, that was not currently the case. But I told myself that I wasn’t going to act like a baby about. Unfortunately, Jessica didn’t seem to share my train of thoughts of the matter.

     “Oh my God, Leeann!” Jessica exclaimed, leaning as far away from me as possible, her exposed shoulder pressing into the car’s window. “Do you really need all this space just to sit in a stupid car?”

     I glared at her. Like I wanted to brush up against her repeatedly. Hell to the no. But it was kind of hard straightening up when Jill insisted on rocking back and forth, slamming into the car door, slamming into me, all the while waving her hands around like a crazed lunatic and doing a horrible job with recreating the vocal abilities of Adele.

     Instead of snapping back at Jessica, I grabbed hold of Jill’s arm and yanked her to a stop.

     “Jill! Seriously now! Sit still.”

     She stopped, hard-blinking eyes meeting mine, and a goofy smile on her lips. She snaked her hands around my bicep, hugging herself to my body and resting her head on my shoulder.

     “You are so nice, Lee,” she said dreamily, straining her neck to look up at me. “You’re like my best friend ever!”

     I smiled. “No, I’m not. But thanks.”

     Her eyes closed, and her mouth fell open slightly. She mumbled something I didn’t catch, and fell asleep.

     “Finally,” Jessica breathed. “I was this close to jumping out of the car to keep from catching whatever disease you’ve got.”

     I turned my glare back to her.

     “You still could,” I snapped. “No one’s stopping you.”

     “Like I’d give you that satisfaction.”

     I decided to change the subject. “Why did you even come?”

     Jessica stared at me, like the question was utterly stupid. She scoffed and drew her fingers through her short hair.

     “My boyfriend was leaving,” she said. “What? You thought I’d just stay behind all alone?”

     “Oh, come on,” I said with a laugh. “You knew everyone there. You’d hardly be alone.”

     To my surprise, Jessica smirked.

     “Well …” she said, dragging the word out, “Compared to a certain other … My boyfriend doesn’t mind spending time with me. So excuse me if I’m imposing on your little pity-party, Leeann, but I shouldn’t have to put my love life on hold just because yours in the gutter.”

     “That’s not tr–“

     “Seriously, Leeann!” she interrupted, face angry now. “I’ve let you hang out with Adam for two days now, without complaining. Don’t you think I’ve wanted to spend time with him? He is my boyfriend, after all. But no, I’ve let you have him all to yourself because you were hurting, or whatever. Can’t I at least get to eat a stupid burger with him tonight? The world doesn’t revolve around you, you know.”