Stay

She's Going Through Stuff

Veronica wasn't wrong about J.D having the same Stats class as me. I walked in and saw him in the back row, all the way to the right. I held my textbook to my chest as I scanned the room for an empty seat. Of course the only one was two rows in front of J.D, but I took it anyway. It wasn't that big of a deal.
I sat down and pulled my journal out of my bag. Opening to a random page, I found myself in a very swirly mood. Everywhere my pencil went was in some sort of loop, but before I knew it, I was drawing faces.
That's the other thing I discovered I could do over the summer: draw faces. Bodies turned out like hell, but I could picture a person in my head and draw every little detail of their face. I typically came up with my own character and added things as I went. The one thing I didn't find myself doing that morning was statistics.
Before I knew it, class was over. People began getting up from their seats and heading towards the door. I stayed out for a moment, finishing up what I was writing.
"Hey Rach," a familiar voice asked, and I looked up.
It was J.D. I almost didn't recognize him at first, in glasses and without his coat, but the hair gave him away.
"Yeah?" I asked, closing my journal.
"You know where I can, uh, find Veronica today?" he asked casually.
"Yeah," I responded. "She said she's gonna be in the science building 'till noon."
J.D nodded and went on his merry way, as I put my stuff in my backpack and followed. I only had a half hour between Stats and Abnormal Psychology, so I decided to head to the library and hang around. I was sure Mimi would be happy to see me.
I pushed the heavy, wooden library doors open and walked to the front desk. Mimi was typing something on her computer, so I stood there and waited. I swayed in my spot and she looked up at me.
"Oh! Rachel!" she smiled. "I didn't see you there." She turned away from her computer and faced me. "How was your summer?" she asked.
"Fine," I replied, fishing through the bowl of shaped erasers she left on the counter.
"How's that Jason, boy?" she asked and I chuckled.
"We aren't together, Mimi," I told her, and then I stopped. "Wait, how did you know about that? I never said anything to you about him."
Mimi's eyes widened slightly, and she shrugged. "Oh," she started. "Oh Veronica told me about you two."
"Alright," I replied suspiciously. "Anyway, you get anything new over the summer I might like?"
"I've been keeping an eye on some stuff for you," Mimi replied. "I should have it all together by this weekend."
"Thaaaank you," I sang with a wide smile. "I'm gonna hang around a bit until my next class."
"Alrighty, little bird," she replied, and I went off to my usual reading corner.

***VERONICA'S POV***

There was always an empty classroom in the science building that you could sit in and work. The library was nice too, but sometimes the tables weren't big enough for you to spread out all your stuff. Being part of the nursing program, I spent a lot of time in the science building and most of the professors were familiar with me.
As I looked over my notes from last year and kept an eye on the time, there was a tap on the door.
"You busy?" They asked, and I shook my head.
"Just looking over notes," I replied. "What's up?"
I looked away from my papers to see J.D in the doorway. He and I had grown close over the summer, so I wasn't incredibly surprised to see him.
"Nothing really," he replied, leaning against the table and looking at me papers. "I, uh, dumped Jen earlier today."
"Why'd you do that?!" I asked, confused.
J.D shrugged and tapped his fingers on the table. "Wasn't my type," he admitted.
"Oh, so you felt too close to her?" I asked sarcastically, recognizing his bullshit.
"Maybe I just don't want a relationship, eh?" he said. "Ever think of that?"
"Yeah," I answered honestly. "I didn't think you were the relationship type even back when we had a thing in high school. But then-"
"Don't," J.D snapped and I took a deep breath.
"J.D, no," I objected. "You're gonna have to come to terms with all this at some point so you might as well start."
"There's nothing to come to terms with!" J.D argued, pacing near my table.
I sighed and grabbed his wrist. "She's going through stuff," I told him reluctantly. "She's been going through a lot of stuff since May that you don't know about. Pretend you don't care about her all you want, but she needs you."
"She can grow a pair and come talk to me, then," J.D mumbled.
"Jason," I begged. "I know she left you with no explanation. She hasn't told me anything either. But I know how you feel about her-"
"I don't feel anything for the brat!" J.D snapped at me.
"Oh, I forgot you're the J.D who doesn't feel anything again," I said angrily. "You think you don't need her either? You think you're the big, tough guy you like to pretend you are? Go ahead and be that way, then. But don't come to me when you start to see the same things I'm seeing in Rachel. Don't come to me when you get worried about her because you care."
"I couldn't care less if I were dead," he spat.
And, just like that, J.D was off again. I put my notes back in their folders, sat back in my hair, and let out a heavy sigh.