Someone Like You (Jess Bowen & Stephen Gomez Fan Fic)

Chapter 5

I’m still left with the question of whether or not to tell Stephen. I know Stephen doesn’t fuck people for the fun of it. As far as I know he’s a virgin. Kelsie just probably doesn’t get enough from him, if you know what I mean. Maybe Stephen knows about Kelsie and Garrett. It’s possible. I’m not sure if he would go out with her if he did know. I would care. I would want him to tell me. I really would, but I know he won’t believe me or he’ll get mad at me for something I didn’t do. 

Damn it! What am I supposed to do? No one tells you these things and I don’t know who to ask. Brian can’t keep a secret to save his life, John is his brother ands way too much time with him for it not to come out, Josh and Justin are too unserious to care. I don’t think Stephen is a good subject to talk about with either. Vic, Logan, and Tyler, well, I barely see them. What should I do?

Jess, I tell myself, you MUST tell him. He’s your BEST friend. You NEED to be a good friend. Just TELL him! 

I walk into lunch, the only time I see Stephen. Our school doesn’t do lunch by grade, thank the Lord. Unfortunately, Stephen’s not there. I sit down and wait. I finish my whole lunch and Stephen still isn’t there. 

“Where’s Stephen?” I ask, cutting John off mid-sentence.

“Well, excuse you,” John joked.

“I don’t know where he is. He wasn’t in Humanities either,” Josh informs me. Brian and I are juniors and John is a sophomore. Josh and Stephen are both seniors.

“I wonder where he is,” I say.

“Maybe he got sick and went home,” Josh suggested.

“He was fine this morning and he has a stomach or steel,” I argued. John smiled at the last part.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Brian says supportively. 

“Well, I gotta pee. I’ll be back,” Josh announces. He stands up.

“You’re so classy,” I say sarcastically.

“I know,” he jokes back. He walks away, throws away his trash, and walks out of the cafeteria.

A few minutes later, Josh reappears. He’s out of breath. 

“Stephen…bathroom…crying.” That’s all I can make out of Josh’s words.

I stand up quickly. “Why is he crying?” I ask concerned. There’s only one reason I can think of to why he is crying. He saw Kelsie and Garrett. He saw.

“I can’t get it out of him,” Josh answers. His breathing is back to normal.

“I’ll go,” John offers. He stands up.

“I think Jess should go,” Brian says.

“He’s in the fucking bathroom. Does Jess have a dick now?” John asks coldly.

“No, but…” Brian stammers. 

“Is anyone in there?” I ask Josh. I have an idea.

“Not that I can see,” Josh informs me.

“Ok, Josh, you stand outside. I’ll go in,” I tell him. “Make sure no one else comes in.”

“Good idea, Jeff,” Josh says, using my nickname.

“Let’s go!” I tell Josh. We run down the hallway to the boy’s bathroom. Josh goes in and makes sure Stephen is the only one in there. He comes out and nods. I look around to make sure there are no teachers around and walk in.

I look around. Everything is painted blue. The tile, the stalls, the walls. Talk about sexist. I can hear little noises coming from the first stall. I bend down to see if tit’s his sneakers and sure enough, I can see his shoes and his jean-clad legs hugged tight against his body. I sit down on the cold, hard tile floor and slide under the gap between the floor and the bottom of the door.

“Hey,” I say, mirroring his sitting position.

He wipes the back of his hand across his eyes, then his nose. It then seems to hit him that we’re in the bathroom.

“What are you doing in here?” he asks meekly. He points to the toilet paper dispenser. I roll some out and had it to him.

“I’m here to see what’s wrong with you,” I tell him.

“It’s nothing. I’m being stupid and overdramatic,” he says. I can tell he doesn’t want me to be worried, but I already am.

“What happened, Taco Steve?” I ask. I use his nickname in hope that he’ll smile. He does and his smile makes me want to smile, too.

“It’s just Kelsie. I saw her kissing Garrett Nickelsen,” he sighs. I hate seeing him like this. “I just… I really liked her and I thought… I don’t know. I guess I thought she might be the one. I know I’m only, like, 18, but I guess I just thought we loved each other. I just couldn’t imagine her cheating on me and now it happened. I love. I know it sounds stupid, but I do,” he tells me. 

“It’s not stupid. I can’t believe she was making out with Garrett this morning, either. And in the middle of the hallway like that,” I responded.

“How’d you know it was in the hallway?” he asks suspiciously.

“Um…” I stumble to find the right words. Fuck! “I saw them,” I finally say.

“You saw them and you didn’t tell me?” he asks angrily.

“I was going to at lunch,” I say defensively.

“You couldn’t have found me and told me?” he asks, obviously annoyed. 

“Stephen, it’s not that easy. Let’s be honest. If I did tell you, would you have believed me?” I ask.

“Yes. Of course I would. You’re my best friend,” he says in defense. He stands up.

“Yeah sure,” I say sarcastically. I stand up, too.

“I would have told you,” he tells me.

I know. I just… I just didn’t know how,” I say timidly. 

“You were my best friend. You should have found a way,” he shouts angrily. Were? Does that mean we are no longer friends? Damn it, Jess. You couldn’t have just told the guy? I internally yell at myself.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. I back up into the wall of the small stall.

“Sure you are. You’re a real bitch, Jess. You know that?” he screams. He unlocks the stall door and runs out. I run out after him and into the hallway.

“Stephen…” I call out after him.

“Young lady, what are you doing in the boy’s bathroom?” a teacher down the hall questions.