"I want you to stay away from her," Mark said bluntly.
Tom just stared at him. "Why?"
"'Cause she's my sister," Mark said. "And I know what's good for her."
"She likes me, and I like her," Tom laughed. "What's wrong with that?"
"You ain't worth her time," Mark said, anger flashing in his dark eyes.
"Oh really?" Tom asked, unconvinced. "What's your problem, Mark? You've never had a problem with me before."
"Well, I have a problem with you now," Mark growled.
Tom snorted. "Yeah, 'cause I like your sister, is that it? Relax, it's not like she's your real sister or anything, and from what I hear, you never like her boyfriends anyway."
"Yeah, 'cause she has a tendency to pick some real losers such as yourself," Mark retorted.
"You like her, don't you?" Tom smirked. "That's why you're being such a prick about my liking her."
"No," Mark said, his ears going red. "I used to like her, yeah, but not anymore. Haven't for a long time. She's my sister now, and I care about what happens to her. And I don't want some impulsive and freakish bastard such as yourself getting your hands on her and treating her like any of your other trophy girlfriends who dumped you as soon as they could."
"Hey," Tom said, defending himself. "That is not true! They didn't all dump me, and plus, Jos is—"
"Jocelyn," Mark corrected.
"Jos," Tom continued, pretending not to hear Mark, "is different. She's a good girl."
"No shit," Mark said. "I know she is, which is why I don't want you fucking her up!"
"I won't," Tom insisted.
Mark was about to reply when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stick up. He turned around to see Jocelyn looking at him, her eyebrows raised.
Probably waiting to have her time with Tom, he thought resentfully. He glared back at her, looked around for a moment, then turned back to Tom.
"You think Rachel hasn't told me what you're like?" Mark asked. "If she was only with you for three goddamn days and thinks you're a complete idiot and an asshole, then there is something seriously wrong with you."
"What did she—"
"And," Mark said, cutting him off, "Jos has got enough on her mind without you fucking with her head."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Tom asked curiously.
"Am I late?" a voice called out a few feet away.
They both turned to see Michael Bui standing at the edge of the park. He was soon surrounded by people and almost completely hidden from view.
Mark looked over at Jocelyn, who was looking over at Michael.
"Oh…" came Tom's voice. "Is that—"
"Don't say anything," Mark warned dangerously. "You have no business knowing about any of this. Don't move. I'll be right back and we'll finish this conversation." He got up and began walking towards Jocelyn's table.
Tom nodded. "Seems pretty one-sided to me," he muttered.
Mark turned around and glared at Tom. "I heard that," he said, then turned back and walked up to Jocelyn, who was now looking for CDs.
