The Feel of Water

Twenty-Six - Succumbing to Mental Exhaustion

"So? How was it?" Becca asks as I meet her outside the main doors. When I give her a confused look in response, she says, "Allison told me that you left with Sean. She said you were going to you know."

"Oh, we didn't," I explain briefly and head inside. She hurries beside me and grabs my arm.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah everything's fine. It just wasn't the night."

I can't help but notice the attention from last week hasn't faded. People glance our way as we walk down the hall, and some send smiles, and others even say hey. Becca enjoys the attention, giving back her own sweet smiles and waves.

"Well, that's fine. Another time then," she mutters while sharing a suggestive stare with some guy opening his locker. I peer over then nudge her, bringing Becca back to reality and out of her theatrical bubble. "Yeah?"

"What was that?"

She shrugs. "I just thought he was cute."

"Okay," I say, stretched and unsure.

"What? People have been really nice to me lately. I don't know, I just feel seen these days."

"Great, so you've noticed it too."

Becca considers, "Maybe we're kinda popular now. I mean, Allison is with Nick Garrison, and of course, you're with King Sean, so it wouldn't be completely out of the blue. We've been spending a lot of time with guys from the football team like Jalen and Andre, and they're popular too. We're being roped into it by association."

Before I can throw my two cents in, Becca and I halt at the sight of a very bizarre-looking Jen Bridges. She walks across the hall in front of us, covered by a navy hoodie and drowned in sweatpants. Her hair is knotted in a bun on top of her head, and for once I can see the natural darkness under her eyes.

"What the hell," Becca murmurs, her eyes following Jen until she disappears into the girls' bathroom. "I've never seen Jen in sweatpants before. I've never seen her, well, not Jen-ified."

I hurry Becca along and nervously whisper, "I think it's because of Saturday night."

"When you talked to her at Andre's? I thought you said everything went fine."

"That's not it. I went back to Sean's house and she showed up there. She came to the door and apologized to him."

Becca's eyes widen. "What? Seriously?"

"She wants him back. Bad."

"What are you going to do?"

"I-I don't know," I say. "I figured Sean would handle it."

"And you trust him?"

I hold her gaze. "I mean, I try to. I really try, so right now I just have to believe that he will."

"Well, you are his girlfriend now, and from what we know, Sean never cheated on Jen. When they were together, there were never any rumors about him and other girls."

"So you think he's reliable?"

Becca shrugs. "In that sense. I don't think he would make things official with you if he still had thoughts about getting back with Jen."

"Yeah, you're right. I have no reason to doubt him. He's been nothing but loyal so far," I say, stopping as we reach the end of the hall, where we break off and go our separate ways to first period. "How about Alisha? You think she's doing any better?"

"I don't know. She didn't answer any of my texts over the weekend."

"I hope she showed up today."