Collateral Damage

Chapter Fourteen

By the time we left the mall, the sun had already set. John didn't see the sense in rushing back home. "It'll be murder trying to get through our subdivision with all the trick-or-treaters in the road," he reasoned. "Might as well enjoy it."

The ride back home was exactly like the first ride I'd ever taken with John and Jasmine: dead silence punctured by forced, awkward attempts at conversion. Only this time, I was the one huddled in my seat, staring blankly out the window, while Jasmine tried to get me to talk.

"Are you all right, Wendy?" she kept asking, concerned. "You're awfully quiet."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, watching surrounding cars zoom past us on the freeway.

"Didn't you have fun at the aquarium?"

I nodded halfheartedly. The hoaky exhibits were more for little kids than anyone else, but it was worth the corniness just to sit inside the underwater tunnel and watch the fish, stingrays, and the one giant turtle swim above us. After lunch at Johnny Rockets and shopping with Jasmine, it should have been the perfect end to the best Saturday I had in a while...

Except for the tiny detail of seeing my ex with another girl.

Still, I was determined not to ruin everyone's good time. So I smiled and my best to enjoy the tour, although it was a tad difficult with the possibility of running into Matt hovering over me. I couldn't stop myself from looking around every five minutes, just in case he and his friends came in on their own tour.

From the driver's seat, John shot me a furtive look out of the corner of his eye. He didn't ask any questions, but he definitely knew something was up.

I didn't have the energy to tell him. I simply closed my eyes and leaned back in my seat, a headache rising in my temples. Try as I might, I couldn't stop thinking about Matt and that other girl, nor could I ignore the searing sting of jealousy that the image brought. After all the agony I put myself through for just having lunch with John, he was already off with another girl?

Don't get ahead of yourself, a voice in my head reasoned. For all you know, they're just friends.

Yeah, right, I thought cynically. Friends don't cuddle and smile at each other like that. Not unless they're friends with benefits.

Adele's "Hello" came on the radio. I cringed. Every time I heard that song, it made feel sick. It was the perfect epitaph to our relationship: the girl who called a thousand times, and the boy who just doesn't care anymore.

Only six months, and he was dating again, like I'd never existed. I shouldn't have been surprised. Boys tend to move on faster than girls.

Still, we'd been together for nearly a year—eleven if you counted our entire friendship. How could he get over that in such a short amount of time?

What did you expect? a snide voice in my head asked. For him to be wasting away, pining over you?

Well...no. But I thought he'd still be a little torn up over it.

I rested my forehead against the window glass. Okay, he had to move on. Did it have to be with a girl that was so much prettier than me? It was ridiculous to think that way, but I couldn't help it. All that shiny black hair, olive skin...not to mention those curves. There was no way I could compete with that.

The jealousy reached fever pitch as I remembered how she leaned against Matt and nuzzled against him. Even Bernadette was no match for big boobs attached to a girl that was so obviously easy. No doubt she threw herself at Matt the minute she saw him...