Love Happens (Stopped)

Ten - Pasty wannabe heartthrob

Jennifer:

There was still space on that table I'd spotted earlier, thank God. I plopped myself onto the bench, my legs straddling either side of it. I looked at the brown paper bag of food which I'd placed on the table. But I couldn't eat. My nails would have to provide solace for my grinding teeth instead. My nails were so short already. I had kinda promised myself to stop biting down on them, but I guess that oath was going down the drain. 

What the heck had just happened? Those biatches! And Jason didn't even stop them. Maybe he agreed. Then I remembered how he touched my thigh. That had to be some sort of gesture of endearment right? But when you've spent most of your life learning alone at home, its very difficult to pick up on some social cues. Now I was like a domesticated chicken that had been released out into the wild and the first people I've encountered so far - vultures. I'm not sure if that perfectly depicts what I'm trying to say but you get the idea. 

While I was lost in my thoughts, I saw a shadow form over me, almost like an eclipse since the main sources of light were at the center of the room and I sat at the very end of the cafeteria. It was a body. A tall and lean frame. I looked up, taking my fingers away from my mouth. It was Jules. 

Jules? Wtf does he want?

"Jennifer can we talk?" he said. The expression on his face was of sympathy, or pity. It was one of the two.

"About what?" I said rather harshly. He kinda flinched at my tone.

"About what happened back there. That wasn't right". I was silent. He invited himself to sit at the table with me. He straddled the bench and faced me. I wasn't comfortable with this, at all.

"Hey, hey, I was okay with blondie sitting here but I'm not entertaining jerkface!" a feminine but harsh voice yelled. Just then I noticed that there was someone else at the table the whole time. She had long curly hair, a light coffee colored complexion, full lips and brown eyes. She was beautiful. Her choker, nose ring and multiple ear piercings and rings also told me she had a bit of a wild side. I liked her already. I laughed at the fact she called him jerk face. He didn't seem amused.

"Jennifer, Nicki and Kim were totally out of line. They had no right to say what they said to you", Jules continued, completely ignoring the girl. "And as for Jason, he's a stupid bastard for not standing up for you".

"So your badmouthing your own friend now is that it?" I was getting annoyed at him. Was Jules attractive? Yes. His dirty-blond hair and lightly freckled cheeks must have turned some heads around here. The way he was looking at me with his twinkling brown eyes could have had me melting, but I had a feeling he was on some negative agenda and I would soon find out. 

"I'm not badmouthing him. I'm just telling the truth. But I'm here for you Jennifer. I can be here for you in more ways than you can imagine". 

Jules took both my hands and held them in his. They were warm. He then scooted a little closer to me such that our knees were touching. On cue, my entire face turned red. I wasn't anticipating anything or being excited. I was just shocked. The guy who pulled away the only friend I'd made in a week all of a sudden wanted to get all cozy. This has to be some BS. It's unfortunate that my facial expression probably didn't convey my skepticism because just then I say Jules eyes close and he started to lean in. His face was only inches away from mine when I abruptly stood up. Then as a reflex, I slapped him. I slapped him so hard my own hand hurt after that. His face became a big red blob.