Jealous Minds Think Alike

-Jaycee's Point of view-

“Then what happened?” Holly grinned, clutching my sleeve tightly.

“John never fell asleep,” I blushed as I said this. “He stayed awake all night for me.”

“Oh my god! He likes you!” She squealed.

“Ridiculous! He's supposed to “act” like my boyfriend, remember?”

“Fine, then what are your feeling to him? Neutral?” She leaned closer. “In love?”

“Stop that! He may be nice and erm....” My face flushed. “heroic....but he's too....you know....hyper at times....”

“Don't you like that?”

“It's his weakness. He's too outgoing, too laid back and had too much fun everyday! It's like being with me is all just a game to him,” I clasped my hands together. “Stephen on the other hand...” I sighed dreamily. “He's cool, brave, knows to exact time to act....”

“I doubt that you're just a big game to John.” Holly interrupted. “In fact....”

Suddenly, on cue, John leaped up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

“You're his teddy bear.”

“W-What are you doing here?” I stammered, jumping up from his sudden touch.

He shrugged. “I came to see you.”

“You two are so cute!” Holly cooed. “I'm envious.”

“What's so cute about this guy showing up whenever he feels like it?” I scowled, pushing him away.

“A lot of girls who find their boyfriends doing that, thinks it's cute!” John protested with a pout.

“Obviously you're her first boyfriend!” I shoved Holly's shoulder.

“Aren't you supposed to be working right now?”

“Why? So you can be together with me?” he grinned.

“No...” My face grew a beet red. “I don't want you to get fired.”

“Luckily for me, when we had our fight right here, Holly didn't report us.” He gave Holly a grateful smile. “You see after our fight, I've taken a couple of days off.”

“Oh.”

“Did I just hear a tone of disappointment?”

“I'm sure it's just your imagination.”

“You know what I haven't realized?”

“What is it?”

“Our school doesn't know we're dating yet.” I felt my mouth go dry.

“And we need them to know that?” I felt the lump in my throat.

“Well....” He ran a hand through his curls. “I meant that we don't hold hands at school or anything! It's like we're complete strangers. You're not embarrassed....are you?”

“Embarrassed? Sometimes.” I admitted. “But I guess I'm just a little nervous. This whole relationship thing is very new to me.”

“Well we can try, can we?”

“Yeah we can.”

John glanced at the clock quietly ticking in the corner. “I have to go Jaycee. I can't keep talking to you like this. I don't want you to get fired.” He leaned in and my heart froze.

Without thinking, I stuck my hand out. Holly gasped.

John's lips was not pressed against mine, but against the palm of my hand. His eyes opened and stared at me. His eyes were a mixture of shock, confusion, and sadness.

“I-I'm sorry.” I didn't exactly know what to say.

Apparently John thought so too. “Um....I'll see you later.” he said awkwardly. I watched him nearly trip on the way out the door.

“Why did you do that!?” Holly demanded as soon as John was out of sight.

“W-Well...I-”

“Did you see the poor guy's face after that ordeal? He looked crushed and not to mention, embarrassed.”

“I-I...”

“What if that Stephen guy did that to you? Wouldn't you feel bad?”

“Look, I'll be out for a bit.” I murmured, scrambling out the back door.

I slammed the door behind me and sank my back against the door and onto the stair steps.

What if that Stephen guy did that to you? Wouldn't you feel bad?

“Thanks for reminding me,” I grumbled, burying my face with my hands. “You don't need to tell me twice.”

Why didn't I let John kiss me goodbye? The answer was simple.

I don't love him.

I realized it the moment my heart had froze, when he went to lean in. Stephen had once told me that a kiss was only special if you loved that person. A kiss without any feeling towards the person would mean nothing.

“I'm sorry John....” Without warning, tears began to spill down my cheeks. “I-I don't know if you believe my system, but I-I can't kiss you back....”

I liked John. When he first took me to the waterfall and how he stayed up all night for me, I was flattered. I'm not going to lie. He did make my heart race and he did make my face flush. But...I wasn't so sure that I felt a crush towards him. He was forced to become my boyfriend. Maybe the kiss was part of the contract. But even so....that look in his eyes was very hard to forget.

“Maybe he hates me now.”

“Hey, are you all right? You're shaking a lot.” I looked up, suddenly feeling flustered.

“Stephen...what are you doing here?”