***
Sunday went by in a flash, I spent the whole day with Mari. But as quick as the weekend came, it was gone. Monday showed up and I dreaded it. Mari and I went to school, it felt good holding her hand again. We parked our car in the school parking lot and headed to the front door, holding hands. Everyone already knew us as the lesbian couple but no one knew she was back yet. A lot of people stared. A lot of whispers started. We walked by this one group of girls who where whispering to each other. I caught a bit of what they were saying.
“Isn’t that the girl dating Danny?”
“I heard they broke up”
“So he’s single?”
“Yeah”
“Fuck yeah!”
Anger shot through me. Fuck it. I had my Mari back. We were walking to Mari’s locker when I felt someone pull me back.
“Hey!” I said. I turned around and saw Ben.
“What?” I asked.
“I need to talk to you.” he said. “Alone” he looked at Mari.
“I’ll see you later babe” Mari said, she gave me a quick hug left. As soon as she was out of earshot, Ben began.
“What are you doing?” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re dating Danny.”
“No I’m not”
“Then what the fuck do you call everything that has happened between you two?” he said, he sounded angry.
“I don’t know, but not dating. He never asked and I never said no” I said. Why the hell did he care? Why was he sticking his nose where it didn’t belong.
“He’s been moping all through Sunday, he didn’t even come home Saturday. He disappeared half of Sunday. We found him in a ally. Drunk.” he said,
“And what does any of this have to do with me?”
“Everything! can’t you see! This is exactly what he was terrified of. Falling in love with someone, opening up to them and them just leaving” he yelled,
That was it. I turned around and started walking to my locker.
“You can’t run forever” he shouted after me.
I kept walking. The rest of my day I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I avoided Mari all day and hid during lunch. Finally, what I was dreading came. Eighthperiod. Gym. Danny and Ben in my class. I took a deep breath and started walking towards the girls locker room. Jess was standing there. At my locker. I slowed down my pace and stared at her. She looked up.
“Hey” she said
“Hi” I said
“I just wanted to say, you did the right thing”
“huh” I didn’t understand.
“For leaving Danny. Now he’s all mine” she said.
“What?” I was really confused.
“He’s mine.” she said. She took a step forward, grabbing me by the collar, “Mine”
I pushed her away.
“Freak” I said. I stormed into one of the stalls and changed there. I ran out of the locker room and into the gym. My phone vibrated and I grabbed it. I was reading a text from my friend when I bumped into someone.
“Unf!” I said. I fell to the ground.
“Sor-”
Me and Danny were face to face.
“um.. Sorry” he reached out his hand and I took it.
“Thanks…” I said.
“Listen, I need to talk to you.” Danny said.
“We have class.”
“Who gives a fuck?” he said, he took my hand and we walked down the hall.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked.
“To show you the truth.” he said. He dragged me into the theater room. As soon as we walked in, a distant moaning filled my ears. Danny put his finger to his lips. We creeped around and went backstage. To my horror, Nathanial and Mari were fucking. I felt a knot in my throat. My eyes filled with tears. I tried to hold it in but I couldn’t. Danny took me outside. Once we were away from them, so they couldn’t hear us, I started bawling. Danny held me in his arms.
“I’m so stupid! Here I thought she loved me again. I thought we had a second chance! But no!” I said
“I’m sorry babe” He said. It felt nice to hear him say that again.
“Does Silv know?” I asked.
“Yeah, thanks why she’s with Ben.” He said
“I’m a fucking idiot!” I yelled. I started bawling. Danny held me in his arms, letting my cry against his chest. He sat us down, my in his lap. He let me cry, soothing me by humming a song. It worked. Eventually, I was just leaning on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and the soft hum in his chest. Finally, I calmed down.
“Wanna ditch?” Danny asked.
“Yeah.”
We went back to change and snuck out the back door. We headed over to Danny’s car and I gladly hopped in.
“Hows my puppy?” I asked
“He misses you. A lot.” Danny turned to look at me.
“Well, I miss him too” I said.
“He can’t stop thinking about you.” Danny said
“Are we still talking about the dog?” I asked
“No”
We turned and looked at each other. I bit my lip.
“I feel horrible.”
“Don’t” Danny whispered
Danny put his hand on my chin, turning my head towards his. His lips met with mine. The familiar scent if calogne and cigarrets filled my nose. I took a nice long breath. We kissed until we ran out of breath. Danny gave me a warm smile. But his smile quickly faded. I gave him a confused look, and he whispered.
“Marissa’s here” he said.
I turned and looked out my window, she was walking toward us. She looked upset. I opened the door and stepped outside.
“Hey babe” she said. How could she act so cool? Like nothing happened. Like she was a innocent victim, “What are ya doing?” She looked over at Danny.
“I think the real question is, what were YOU doing.” I snapped,
“I was in class.” she said. “I ditched to go see you, but the teacher said you never showed. I can see why” she said hinting at Danny.
“Right. Me” I said.
“What are you getting at Jade? If you have something to say, just say it.” She said.
“Have fun with Nathanial. Were through.” I said.
“What?” her eyes widened, “No, no no no no… Jade no you can’t do this…”
“I can, I am, I will and I WANT to.” I turned to leave
“But… between me ad Nathan, there nothing! I love you and only you!”
I turned, angry at this point.
“I’m not falling for your bullshit anymore! Fool me once, alright. Twice? Fuck off. I’m done. You did the same thing last time. It’s obvious. You don’t love me. Love is loyalty. And your anything but!” I said.
Quickly, I rushed into Danny’s car and slammed the door.
“Go.” I said, “Anywhere”
He put his car into drive and we left.
