Heartbeat

Thirty-Three

JORDAN

Monday had been intolerable. People had noticed that Emma wasn’t in school, mainly because she and I weren’t acting like love struck teenagers at lunch, and they were starting to ask questions. Where was she? Was she sick? Had something happened?

I had deflected most questions by ignoring them, but that only added fuel to the fire and soon the fire was out of control. It wasn’t until the end of the day that I realized just how much the Mill had been stoking it. Everyone was talking of a split and soon girls were throwing themselves at me. I’d been propositioned countless times as I made my way to the car and I had to physically dodge one or two as they tried to grab a hold of me. It was a miracle I found Zoe, Holly and the boys in one piece. Although just as I was about to sidle up next to Zoe on the front of my car, another girl locked onto me and breezed over.

“Hey Jordan,” Lacey Collins waved her fingers seductively at me, although it hadn’t had the desired effect. I wasn’t interested. “So, I was thinking, after the game on Friday, maybe we should hang out. I could help mend that broken heart of yours.”

“Hey, Lacey,” I sighed, knowing that Lacey had a thing for hockey players. “Thanks for the offer but I’m going to have to respectfully decline.”

“Oh, come on, Jordan,” she moved closer to put her hand on my arm, but Zoe got to Lacey first. She’d grabbed hold of the girl’s wrist and pushed her away, her eyes furious. “What the hell, Zoe? I’m just trying to console him.”

“Take you skanky butt and disappear, Lacey,” Zoe spat. I’d never seen this side of Zoe before and all I could do was stare in amazement. “He doesn’t need someone like you trying it on with him. He’s with Emma.”

“You have my number,” Lacey said, ignoring Zoe. “Call me.”

We all stood in an awkward silence, no-one knowing what to say because there wasn’t much that could be said.

“Right,” Holly finally broke the tension. “We need to finish Jordan’s Peer Class project.”

It was all the invitation we needed to get ourselves away from the school. Zoe rode with me just as she had this morning after I had dropped Jessie off at school. Zoe and I were tighter now than we had ever been and I appreciated her so much more than I had. She was trying her hardest to make Emma and I a couple again, but I couldn’t understand what she was going to get out of it. For that matter, I wasn’t sure what Holly was trying to gain either. She’d warmed up to me a little, just like she had buried the hatchet with Zoe a little, but I still didn’t understand why she was going to so much trouble to get Emma and I to reconcile.

It didn’t matter so much to me anymore because all I was really focused on was trying to win Emma back. I know that technically she had broken up with me, but it had been my fault. I had tried to push her; for weeks I was pushing her to reveal more and more about herself when maybe she just wasn’t ready to give herself over completely. I had forced her to be someone she clearly wasn’t ready to be, but hopefully now we could meet half way.

“Hey, there’s Logan’s car,” Zoe pointed out the car that was parked in a non-descript parking lot that I was more than familiar with.