Jealousy | Zion Kuwonu

One

My phone rang. I paused the movie, my brother groaned beside me, telling me to hurry up and finish the call so we could keep watching.

"Hello?" I put the phone on speaker.

"Yo Bella." The voice screeched with happiness.

My brother flinched before mouthing 'is that Leeza?' I nodded with a laugh.

"Yeah," I said, holding back laughter. "What's up?"

"Hailey invited Zion." She sounded like she was about to burst with excitement.

My heart dropped. "Wait what?"

"Hailey, Jaden and Aidan are supposed to come to mine tomorrow." She said. "Hailey invited Zion and he said he'd come after his show."

I paused. "Damn, that's crazy."

"He's hella cute." She giggled. "What if we hook up or something. Goddamn imagine the next time I see you me and Z are dating."

I didn't reply.

"Hello? Are you there?" She asked, confused.

"Yeah." I said quickly. "I should go. Have fun tomorrow."

I hung up. Reaching for the remote, I resumed the movie, but my brother paused it again, looking at me, slightly concerned and confused.

"You good?"

I nodded, trying to grab the remote to continue watching. He pulled it away, waiting for me to provide some sort of explanation. I shook my head and raised my eyebrows.

"What's going on."

I sighed. "Zion's going to theirs."

"Why does that bother you so much."

I shook my head again. "It doesn't bother me. I don't care."

"Yeah you do."

I breathed out slowly. Yes, it did bother me. But I couldn't explain why. The thought of Zion Kuwonu going to my best friend's house bothered me. They'd probably drink and have fun, and he'll most likely realize how beautiful she is, and they'll probably.... Ugh. I said this in my head, contemplating whether I should let it out.

"It's nothing." I said firmly.

He sat up on the bed, crossing his arms with an eyebrow raised.

"I don't know," my voice shook. "It's Zion. And Leeza. And I don't even know."

"You like him." He said it so easily, as if he knew for a fact.

"I don't." I was sure. "It's not like that. It's like... an interest, but not a crush. It's impossible to explain."

"I know what you mean."

I nodded.

"You're scared." He guessed. "Because you think something's going to happen at Leeza's, and you think he won't be interested in you anymore."

"He was never interested in me." I stated.

He shrugged. "Still. You're scared."

I nodded slowly. "Leeza's just that type of person. She doesn't mean to flirt, but that's just how she is. And even if she tries not to do anything, he'll want to. And the thought of him having interest in her "scares" me."

He shrugged again. "That's understandable. But why don't you just tell her to lay off."

"I can't do that." I laughed a little. "She'll think I'm jealous, and then she'll tell Hailey and they'll tell everyone else and they'll spin the story and make me sound desperate and jealous. And I'm not. That's not what it is."

"Does she know how you feel about him already?"

"I told her a few months ago."

He scoffed. "Yo she's teasing you."

I squinted. "What do you mean."

"She knows you kind of like him. There's no way she forgot what you told her. And now she can see him when you can't, and she's rubbing it in your face."

I thought about it, only for a moment, before denying it. There's no way she'd do that. It's just the type of person that she is; she flirts, and always ends up with the guy she wants.