True Colors

Chapter 19 - Jealousy of Sam Heasley

Chapter 20 – Lucas Jensen

I heard a tap at my door—finally, Sam was back with my phone charger, “Come in!” I yelled.

“Hey dude,” Sam walked in, slightly keeping the door open.

“Hey, man,” I eyed him, “Well, don’t be shy…close the door.”

Sam just shook his head, “Uh, I’m not the only here to see you.”

I was suddenly, kind of, freaked out about who else was here to see me; I mean I spent all day with the band and Colorguard, excluding Jessica, yesterday just hanging out, laughing, bringing back memories—stuff like that. I honestly didn’t know what I did to hurt Jessica that night she came to see me; I was just doing what her sister told me to do and then Jessica just stormed out of the door and away from the hospital, according to Sam here.

Sam tapping the door broke my thoughts as he opened the door wider and in walks—.

“Jessica?!” I exclaimed.

I was more that shocked that anything; almost two days ago she was mad at me because of something her sister asked me to do and now she’s back—with Sam, of all people—standing in the room, all quiet and such.

She nodded at me, leaning up against the counter in the room; she let out a shaky sigh, “Hey Lucas.” She didn’t seem so comfortable—not just because there was an awkward tension in the room—she didn’t seem comfortable with herself…like something had happened to her.

Sam set the phone charger down on the side table, “I’ll let you two talk.”

“No,” Jessica spoke—she looked at the ground and then to Sam, “Please stay?”

Sam wrapped his arm around her shoulder and I could feel my face heating up with jealousy; in my opinion I thought Sam wasn’t a good fit for Jessica—don’t get me wrong, Sam’s one of my best friends, but I just can’t see them dating or anything; I knew that they always got along really well, they had like an instant click ever since the first day of band camp, our freshman year. When the first day was over they had already exchanged each other’s numbers and everything. As the weeks past I watched them laugh together, hold each other’s hands (as friends you know), give each other piggy-back rides, and a whole lot more. They were best friends—no question to it—they were there for each other through everything. I was jealous, I can admit it.

Jessica was staring at me and the tension just kept getting stronger and stronger the longer she stared.

“What?” I asked, maybe a little too harshly; Jessica seemed taken aback by four little letters—something was up and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Something tells me it had to do with something that happened when she was staying at her friend’s house…yeah I knew about it…Jessica was a very popular topic yesterday when everyone was here; people were trashing her and calling her mean things. But, I was disappointed in myself because the only person that really stood up for Jessica was, well, Sam. He cared about Jessica very much, he was her best friend, the guy she went to when she was sad or when she was hurt, he was the guy who would do anything for her. It was all obvious; most people in band knew that Sam had feelings towards Jessica, but since they were always goofing off during practice or after/before practice, Jessica was extremely oblivious to any of those feeling—I feel for him.

Jessica sat down in chair—nearest to the door—and looked down at her hands.

“What’s bothering you, Jessica?” Sam asked; he kneeled down next to her and took her left hand in his. Even from here I could see that he was tracing little circles on her hand.

“Two things actually,” Jessica spoke softly, looking back and forth between Sam and I, “but if I tell you two, you guys need to promise me that you won’t say anything to anyone. Please?”

Sam and I both nodded in agreement, waiting for Jessica to tell us what happened.

Jessica took a deep breath, “I got a text message from my dad the morning after I was here at the hospital.” I could see Sam tense up a little bit at this statement: Sam hated Jessica’s father…no I’m sorry there isn’t a word in the world that could explain Sam’s hate towards Jessica’s father. Every time her father was around he’d always going into his protective mode and keep Jessica as far away from him as he possibly could.

“What did it say?” I asked, breaking the silence.

She cleared her throat and looked me directly in the eyes, “It said, ‘I will find you…if it’s the last thing I do.’”

Jessica’s gaze shifted from mine to Sam’s, obviously Sam wasn’t too happy about the news he was hearing, “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked. Her gaze shifted again to mine as she corrected herself in her seat.

“I didn’t want to talk to anyone,” she said, “I just kept my phone off the rest of the day.”

Sam let out a sigh as Jessica kissed his forehead, “It’s going to be okay, Sam.”

“How do you know?” he replied, “Your dad could be stalking you or something and you wouldn’t even know.”

She shrugged her shoulders, “Well, we’ll just have to find out, won’t we?” she brought him into a hug and they stayed like that for a while.

I cleared my throat, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to break up the love fest between you two or anything, but what was the second thing that has you all shaken up?”

Jessica rested her hand on Sam’s shoulder and looked back and forth between the two of us, “Do you two remember that guy I always talked about? Nicholas?”

Sam and I both nodded, giving each other a quick glance.

“He kissed me…” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. I opened my mouth to say something but she just held up her palm to me, “And…he told me he still loved me.”

Sam looked away from Jessica and stood up, “What?!” he exclaimed.

“Did you kiss him back?” I asked.

I shook my head, “No, I pushed him away.”

Sam let out a sigh of relief and stood behind Jessica, “So that’s what’s got you jumping out of your skin?” he asked; putting both hands on her shoulders. She looked up and nodded at him, and looked back at me.

“I came here to apologize to you,” she lazily pointed at me, quickly, “I really shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

I nodded, “It’s okay—don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded at her and smiled; she stood up from her chair, walked over to me and gave me a quick, friendly embrace. She walked back over to Sam—who had stolen her chair—and sat down in his lap; he wrapped his arms around her, drawing her closer—I once again felt the jealousy in the face.

Why couldn’t that be me?