Anger Issues

seventy six

Austin

"Damn, it's raining hard," I told Jess, as we neared the exit of the school. "I love it," she smiled.

We jogged to her car, quickly getting in before we got too wet. "It's cold," she shivered, turning the heat on.

"It's really coming down," she mentioned, slowly pulling out of the parking lot. "It is. Are you okay to drive?" I asked. "Yeah, I can handle," she nodded.

About a minute passed, before I spoke again.

"So.. what happened with Kayla, at the principals office?" I asked. She exhaled strongly, showing how angry the topic got her.

"Her Mom was there, and the principal wanted to know what happened. I lied to cover her ass but she didn't remember a single thing, so she thought I was telling the truth," she angrily explained. 

"What did you lie about?" I asked. "I told them someone offered us drinks so she got drunk. What really happened was that she went to get another drink, I told her that it wasn't a good idea because it was really strong, and she denied it and said she could handle it," she explained.

"And then I said that after a while, when I wanted to leave, I couldn't find her or.. the friend she brought. Then the principal played the video even when Kayla begged him not to, and her Mom started bugging out. Mr. P was telling them that there would be no toleration against any homophobia but before he could even get his point across, Mrs. Rivers threw her head in and said she was drunk, she's not gay. You don't need to lecture her on her sexual orientation," she mimicked, making me let out a soft laugh.

"Babe it's not funny," she whined, glancing at me. "I know, it's not," I agreed. "So what happened after?" I asked.

"He waited for Kayla to say something, and her dumbass agreed to being drunk and having no control. She thinks I ditched her at the party and now she's afraid her parents won't accept her. It pissed me off because I deadass had to make up a story on the spot, and she still pretended like she was straight. And I get why, but she doesn't stick up for herself, and it wasn't fair," she ranted.

"Well, you have to understand her perspective, too. It's not anyone's story to tell but hers, and even if the entire school knows, she's the one who needs to tell her parents," I reasoned.

"I know.." she sighed. "I just want her to be open about it, it's not fair to her to act like someone she's not," she sympathetically spoke.

I nodded in agreement. "I know," I said. "Who was the girl, anyway?" I asked.

She sighed once more. "You can't say shit to anyone," she warned. "Cross my heart," I said. "It's the girl she's been talking to. I haven't been able to talk to her since the party," she explained.

"Damn," I said. "So they both might hate me," she added. "They don't hate you. Just give them time to figure shit out," I said.

She nodded, changing the topic as she pulled to a stop, parking the car.

"Quick food run," she said. "But a literal run, because there was no parking in front of the place," she said.

The rain was still coming down, hard. We ran our way to the store and ran our way back to the car, drenched in rain.

"Wow," I laughed, quickly shutting the door. "Isn't it amazing," Jess smiled, genuinely. "It's such a rush," she added.

I didn't love the rain, but to see her genuinely happy after a while, was something I couldn't disagree with. Nodding my head, she continued driving home.

Once she pulled up to her house, we got even more soaked in the few seconds it took to get inside.

"Oh, it's warm in here," I graciously said. "Come upstairs, I probably have one of your hoodies," she let out a soft laugh, leading me up.

If I remembered correctly, the last time I was in her room had to do with the..

"Here," she cut off my thoughts, handing me one of my hoodies. I pulled off the one I was wearing, and put on the other one.

"I honestly forgot I gave this to you. I was looking for it a few weeks ago," I said. "I'm sorry," she smiled. "It's okay," I assured her.

Once she got changed as well, we ate, then went down to her basement, followed by Nite.

Sitting on the couch, she sat beside me, facing me.

"Babe," she called, making me turn to her. Nite was laying peacefully in her lap as she caressed his fur.

"Update me on your life," she said. "I've barely talked to you this week," she pouted. "I know," I leaned in, softly pecking her lips.

"Nothing, really. My dad got the promotion, though," I said. "Was that what the dinner was for?" She asked. I nodded.

"I saved the pictures you sent me," she smiled. She reached around her, but stopped.

"I'd show you if I had my phone," she said. "But you looked so good," she softly laughed. "Thank you," I smiled, before softly kissing her.

Nite made us jump apart once he let out a loud bark. "No PDA," Jess shook her head, continuing to pet him.

"When did you get your phone taken away?" I asked, remembering that she still had it after the party.

"A few days ago," she said. That's when I remembered that she's the reason I had my grounding lowered to a month.

"Why?" I asked. "No reason," she shrugged.

I softly smiled, watching as she looked away from me. That's how I knew she was lying.

"Babe, I know you talked to my parents," I said. "When?" She looked up. "When you told them what really happened that night," I said.

She looked at me, then back down.

"Why'd you do it?" I asked. "Because it's not fair for you to get in trouble for something I did," she softly spoke.

"I would've taken the blame," I said. "It doesn't matter," she shook her head.

I gently kissed her lips once more, feeling her hand against my neck.

"Thank you," I said. She smiled, nodding her head.

"From now on," she began. "I'm making sacrifices for you, too. I promise."