romeo + juliet ↠ l.h

27

TW
Ms. J was running late to our After-Grad meeting.

It was already a shit show.

"I literally heard you talking about me in the hallway!" Jafari wasn't yelling, but he was getting close.

"You misunderstood what I said." Josslyn was leaned back, calmly crossing her arms with a smug look on her face.

"I know exactly what you said! Don't talk shit if you're not going to say it to my face."

"You know what?" Josslyn stood up suddenly.

Luke had his face in his hands while I just sat back and watched. It was 7:30 in the morning. Nobody wanted to hear this. Me and Mateo locked eyes, and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was.

"You're right. I'm sick of you thinking you're the shit and that you're so much better than everyone here just because you only missed two questions on your SAT! Newsflash, Jafari, no one gives a fuck!" Josslyn was now yelling, and I watched as Jafari angrily rose to his feet.

"You're just bitter because my ideas are actually good! And don't think any of us have forgotten about your insensitive halloween costume, Josslyn." He winced as he said her name.

"What was her halloween costume?" Mateo whispered to Luke, who just shrugged.

"A homeless person! Wow, poverty and suffering is so funny, isn't it Josslyn? You made our school an embarrassment!" Jafari, who was now shouting, answered.

"Wow, that's really bad..." Mateo commented, which caused Josslyn to whip around and project her anger onto him.

"Shut up! You haven't contributed anything to this group. I don't even know why you're here!"

Mateo just sat wide eyed, trying to stifle a laugh. I wondered if something else was going on. Most people don't just wake up and decide to be this mean for no reason.

"Josslyn-" I started to speak. I was going to be nice and try to calm her down, but instead she cut me off.

"Does the princess have something to say now? Do you also want to remind me how much better you are than me? As if I don't already know?" Josslyn now had tears in her eyes, and I knew something was wrong. Something else was on her mind.

She grabbed her bag and swiftly walked out the classroom, sniffling and wiping her eyes as she went. I locked eyes with Luke, who looked a little shocked, before walking out after her. I watched her turn into the girls bathroom as I tried to catch up to her.

"Josslyn!" I called out, hoping she didn't think I was mad at her. I caught up, only for her to lock herself in a stall.

"I'm fine, just leave me alone."

"What's going on?" I asked, leaning back onto the counter. School didn't start for 30 minutes, so hardly anyone was here yet.

I waited patiently for her response, only to be met with sniffles. I hated seeing people cry. I hated seeing people sad in general. Why did I have so much sympathy for a girl I didn't even like?

"I know we aren't best friends or anything, but I'm a really good listener." I offered.

With one last sniffle, she opened the door to the stall and walked out, examining her appearance in the mirror rather than making eye contact with me.

"Here." I handed her a makeup wipe from my own bag. She grabbed it and began to clean the mascara smudged around her wet eyes.

"I'm sorry for being mean to you." she offered, still refusing to meet my eyes.