When He Walks By

Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

At school on Monday, almost everyone was looking at me. Fuck you John, I thought. The whole school had found out about this "little" cheating incident. Almost everybody had given me a sympathetic look, and they all gave John a "Yikes!" look.

The first few hours of school were average, except for a couple Jake interactions. Oh, Jake. I didn't know what to think about him. He was pretty cute, but he had beat someone up.

I went to lunch with my new Vera Bradley lunch bag, which my mom had gotten me, kind of as a consolation prize, or to say "I'm sorry he cheated, but I have other things to worry about." I sat down and started eating my grilled chicken wrap. Then she came over. She, Kara, the girl who John cheated on me with. Kara plopped down next to me.

"Bea, look, I'm so sorry. I never meant-"

"Shut up and go away." I hissed back.

"I-"

"Kara, look," I said, mocking her. "John cheated on me. With you. You suck. Apology not accepted. I have the right to be mad. You did mean to hurt me. Unintentionally, maybe, but you knew I would find out and be hurt. You knew!"

Now I was angry. It felt like I just saw them all over again. My heart shattered. I feel like I have to glue all the pieces back together once again. Ugh this sucks. And that was when I stopped thinking. I punched her in the right cheekbone, then picked up my foot and kicked her in the stomach. Holli, Marissa, and Kate just sat there, stunned. Good. I kept clawing until someone strong pulled me off. I broke down, sobbing on this mysterious person.

He carried me all the way home. "Bea, what were you thinking?" Jake asked. "You could have gotten into some serious trouble. Luckily, since Kara felt guilty about this whole thing, she agreed to tell the nurse some people had been running down the halls and elbowed her in the face."

Some serious trouble? He's gotten into that before. Why would he be scared for me if he's been in it already and he is perfectly fine? Then it hit me. That was a rumor. He had never gone to jail. He had never affirmed going to jail to anyone! I looked at Jake. He looked so worried about me. He was the first person in a long time who truly cared about me. I kept staring, and he just got cuter and cuter. And there he was, holding me close to his strong chest, which I just realized was bare. Another thing to love. Jake gave me his shirt to cry on.

I closed my eyes and leaned in. I kissed him. It wasn't weird, though. It felt better than any John kiss I had ever gone through. We didn't stop until Ava walked in.

"Well, hello! Who are you and why are you shirtless?"

Jake pulled back. "I'm Jake and I don't know why I'm shirtless. Sorry."

"No, that's fine!" Ava said greedily. "I will come back later, then."

----------------------------------------------

"Bea, about that. It was-" Jake said.

"I'm sorry, I, I just-"

"You should have let me finished. I was going to say 'It was amazing.'" I blushed as he sat us down on my bed.

Yes. I fell asleep to the rhythm of Jake's heart and the soft movement of his breathing. For once, I felt like I didn't have anything to worry about.