I'm a Fighter and He's the Hottie

Chapter 19: Not Again

A creepy silence rang around us, it almost seemed like we were in a silent movie. Nobody moved it didn’t even seem like anyone was breathing. I wanted to say something, anything, but my body stood in place with my breath caught in my throat.

“Did you need something from me?” Tristan said with a questioning expression.

“Leave her alone.” Jake said through clenched teeth.

“Who are you talking about?” Tristan said pretending to not know what he was talking about.

Jake viciously Tristan by the collar of his shirt and brought him closer to his face. “Don’t play your damn games with me. I said leave Maddie alone.”

Instead of being afraid, Tristan’s lips curved up into a smirk, “And if I don’t?”

“You’d regret that choice.” Jake said hissing the words.

“No, it’s more like you would regret that choice,” Tristan said correcting him.

Tristan peeled Jake’s hand off of him and smoothed his collar.

“Jake,” I said in a tight voice.

He looked down at me and said, “Maddie, I don’t want to talk to you, if you’re hanging around this thing.”

I bit my lip and looked down at the grass. He doesn’t even want to talk to me, just because of Tristan; he didn’t even try to get along with him.

“Have you even told her why you’re mad?” Tristan said gaining mine and Jake’s attention.

He stared at him for a moment before responding, “Isn’t it obvious? It’s because I HATE you.”

“You know that’s only part of it.” Tristan said narrowing his eyes at him.

Jake glared at Tristan for a moment before saying, “That’s none of your business.”

Tristan let out an amused chuckle and said, “Actually it is, you see, Maddie is my girlfriend and whatever problems she has, are mine too.”

I could hear Jake’s teeth grinding together loudly, but he kept his mouth shut.

“Maybe, I’ll tell her myself, to get it over with.” Tristan said cocking his head to the side, knowing that what he said would get a reaction from Jake.

Something churned in my stomach as I watched them both arguing back and forth. My mind started reeling and I felt as if the floor was rocking from right under me. I could feel my head getting lighter and lighter from each word I heard.

“Stop it,” I said in a sad quiet tone.

Even though it wasn’t very loud, they both turned their heads towards me. Jake still had on an angry annoyed look and Tristan had a questioning expression on his face.

“Stop it, I don’t want you two to fight anymore. It’s pointless.” I said staring at them back and forth. “I don’t understand why you won’t give Tristan a chance, Jake. He’s not a bad guy! Instead, you’d rather ruin our friendship.”

“Madd-”Jake said changing his expression to a sad one.

“No,” I said sternly and louder than I intended, “It’s my turn to talk. If you want to ruin our friendship, without even telling why, then fine. I’m so sick of this right now.”

I knew immediately that after I said that I regretted it. His face looked as if he was a small puppy that had been kicked. I bit the inside of my cheek hard-making sure no tears would dare to try to come out and turned around.

When I almost got around the corner I heard Tristan say, “What th-”

I quickly looked to see what had happened. My eyes widened as I saw Tristan on his knees with a painful expression planted on his face.

“Jake, what did you do!?” I yelled running towards Tristan.

“Now, now Maddie, what did I say about calling me Jake?” he said cocking his head to the side with a smirk pressed along his mouth.

“Damn it.” I cursed aloud, knowing who it was.

“Aww, someone not happy to see me?” Andrew said pretending to be hurt.

“What happened this time? Why did you come out?” I said glaring at him.

He laughed darkly and said, “Don’t act stupid, you know exactly why.”

I did know why. I pushed him into it; I tested him to his limit and even got mad at him.

“That was a cheap shot.” Tristan said gaining both of our attention. His face was set into a grimace as he started to stand up.

Andrew let out a snort and said, “You didn’t exactly play fair last time, either. Let’s call it...payback.”

Tristan let out a small sigh before saying, “There’s a big difference. When I cheated it was because my princess was out cold. You just cheated because you wanted to.”

Andrew let an amused smile spread across his face and said, “And your point is?”

“Nothing, I guess.” Tristan said dusting off the dust on his knees.

“Now then,” Andrew paused to look around and then said, “Shall we continue what we left off, Lover boy?”

Tristan smirked and was about to say something, then he looked at me. His arrogant expression softened and he came closer to me. I hadn’t realized that I had started crying until I felt the drops slide off my chin. Tristan pulled me into a hug and said, “I’m sorry, I got carried away.”

I didn’t do anything except take in the comfort he was trying to give me. My best friend and boyfriend hate each other, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

“Ugh, damn it…” Andrew said pulling his hands up to his head.

I pushed myself off of Tristan a little to see what was going on. Andrew was crumbling to his knees with a painful moaning noise escaped his mouth.

“What’s wrong?” I said brushing the tears off my face, staring intently at Andrew.

Andrew said painfully in between groans, “He’s…trying…to get out!”

“Jake?” I said absentmindedly.

“Who the hell else!?” Andrew yelled in agony.

Jake was fighting him? Was that even possible? Millions of questions formed in my head as I watched Andrew. After about five minutes of non-stop yelling, he finally calmed down. His face was toward the ground and he was on his knees.

“J-Jake?” I said hesitantly.

He slowly stood up and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

I watched him sadly as he said that, “It’s okay, it’s not like you can control it.”

“Do you want to know why that happened?” He said asking me.

I thought for a moment and said, “Because I’m dating Tristan?”

He shook his head sideways, disappointedly, “That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?” I asked, realizing that he wasn’t going to tell me.

“When the time is right, I will. Dump that jerk over there first.” He said gesturing his head towards Tristan.

I frowned at him, “Not until you tell me why.”

Tristan looked at me surprised, “You’ll dump me if he told you?”

I felt my cheeks flush and said, “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.” Tristan said winking at me before saying, “It’s not like you can get rid of me, princess.”

“Uh-um, I’m still here.” Jake said with annoyance tinged into his voice.

“Sorry,” I said turning my attention back to him, “Still friends then?”

He thought for a moment, “For now.”

For now? What did he mean by that? Does that mean we won’t be friends after awhile? I frowned deeply before saying, “No more ignoring me or Tristan, okay?”

He sighed helplessly, “Fine, but I’m not treating him, nicely.”

Tristan let out a snort, “Fine with me.”

Jake nodded approvingly at Tristan’s response, and I rolled my eyes. Suddenly, I felt something plop onto my back.

“Hey! There you are Maddie; I’ve been searching for you the whole time.” Faith said attaching herself to me.

I took a couple of steps to regain my balance before looking up at her and saying, “Out of all the things to do, you latch yourself onto me like a leech.”

She grinned cheekily at me and said, “I just wanted a big entrance.”

I laughed lightly and said, “Well you got one. Can you get off of me now? You’re getting heavy.”

“Fine, fine,” She said slowly climbing off of me, “And for the record, I’m not heavy.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said smoothing out my shirt.

“So, who’s this cutie over here?” Faith said glancing at Jake.

Jake gave me a confused expression. “This is Jake, he’s my best friend.” I said introducing him.

“Oh, I see. You’re pretty cute.” Faith said winking at him.

Tristan said to Faith. “Take him, sis, he needs to take his mind off of someone.”

Faith raised a brow as she looked at Jake and said, “Grade?”

“Junior,” Jake replied instantly.

Faith snapped her fingers and pursed her lips, “I don’t go for younger men, sorry. I’m not a cougar.”

I laughed softly as Faith asked Jake more questions. Then, I looked up at Tristan, who was watching me intently.

“You okay?” I asked questioningly.

“Yep, just fine.” He answered smiling at me.

“Try to be nice to him, okay? I don’t want bf and my BF fighting.” I said looking down at the floor.

Tristan tilted my head upwards and looked into my eyes, “I’ll try, just for my princess.”

I smiled as he planted a soft kiss on my forehead, “Thanks,”

“Uh-um! So not nice to go all lovey dovey, when people are present.” Faith said gaining out attention.
“Mhmm, I’m with her on this one.” Jake said raising his hand up.

Tristan and I both smiled at each other and said in sync, “Fine.”

Just as we said that, a bell went off, that signaled that lunch was over. I let out a sigh of both relief and tiredness. I still had three more periods to go still.

I waved goodbye to Faith, as she went into her Trig class, then continued on to my Algebra 2 class. Jake walked on my left side of me and Tristan walked on the other. As we walked down the halls, I felt eyes staring at us.

“Is she dating both of them?” I heard a girl whisper.

“I bet she never gets bored.” A guy said.

“She’s so lucky; she has the two of the hottest guys in the palm of her hand.” Another girl whispered to her friend.

My head pulsed in irritation; did they not know I could hear them? Since when was it such a big deal to go out with Tristan and hang out with Jake at the same time? I thought for a moment realizing why I was getting so many rumors. It hasn’t happened before, never.

Once we got inside the class, I sat in my assigned seat. A girl that sat in front of me, named Amy, turned around and asked shyly, “W-who are you dating?”

Surprised that someone actually talked to me I said, “Huh?”

She bit her lip and said, “People are saying you are dating both Jake and Tristan, is it true?”

Wow, news travels fast. “I’m not dating both of them.”

“Then who are you dating?” She asked confused.

“It’s Tristan,” I said smiling at her.

She let out a sigh of relief that confused me. I asked her, “Why did you sound so relieved?”

She looked at me nervously, “Oh um it’s nothing.”

I narrowed my eyes at her and said, “Do you like Jake?”

Her face flushed a deep red, but she nodded slowly. A tiny prick of jealousy washed over me, but I quickly tossed it aside and said, “Want me to try to fix you up with him?”

Her face lit up brightly and then said, “Really? You would do that!?”

I smiled and said, “Of course.”