Jealous Minds Think Alike

Besides the sounds of gushing wind and my heavy breathing, I heard running footsteps behind me. What kind of coward was I? To punch her then run? Was this always my method?

For some reason, I ran straight into the cafeteria. All eyes looked my way. Then - a trip. I fell flat on my face and looked behind me. My attacker was a foot, the one that belonged to Karen Fisher. Next to her was.....Stephen. She gave me a wicked grin, Stephen jumped to his feet, shocked. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but the words were stuck in his throat. As much as I wanted to just give him a sheepish grin and a "Hi.", my chasers caught up to me. Before I could scramble up to my feet, the two girls pinned both my arms down. There was a sudden sharp pain on my back. The leader; her foot was pressing hard on my spine.

Apparently, these seemed to "arouse" everyone in the cafeteria. Immediately, they circled us, screaming "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Hey everyone!" The girl gave a last hard push down on my back then removed her foot. "You see this girl here? She's a cheater and a liar. She's currently dating, John. The younger brother of Stephen Gomez. You think they're a pretty good couple, but you know what? She's a whore." She pulled me up to my feet and punched me, only to make me fall on the ground. My cheek began throbbing. "That's what you get for punching me back, bitch. An eye for an eye."

I bit my lip. How can people just stand there and watch me helpless on the ground, while listening to someone like you? I struggled on the floor, only to get pinched by the girls pinning me down. I stared at the dozens of shoes in front of me. I saw a clutter of shoes suddenly move, as if the person got shoved to the side. New shoes came into my sight. I recognized them. Jess's brown boots, Josh and Brian's vans and.....John's worn converse. No...No.....Stephen's watching and now John? Please spare the humiliation.....

"This girl here has been cheating on John with someone. She's cheating on him with - "

"I don't believe that B.S." A voice spoke up. I tiled my head up from the floor to see John step inside the circle. A grin stretched across his face.

"Are you retarded?" The girl challenged. "Seriously?"

"I might be." He shrugged. "But I do know one thing. My girlfriend, Jaycee, would never cheat on me with anyone."

"Really?" She laughed, then stomped hard.....on the back of my head. This set John off.

Instantly, he shoved her. He shoved her so hard that she fell back into the crowd and slamming hard on the cafeteria floor. A moan of pain escaped her lips. He pushed the girls pinning me down and grabbed my hand. He pulled me to my feet and pushed into the crowd. They broke free and we broke into a run. We ran into the girl's bathroom and into a stall, locking the door.

It was silent for a moment, but I broke down in front of him. John said nothing and rubbed my back instead.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, touching my cheek.

"It must've hurt more when I punched you....." I murmured.

"No. I'm a man. It didn't hurt much....."

"That's not what I meant!" He raised an eyebrow. "I-I mean, it must've hurt when you were trying to reach out to me and I punched you instead....."

"Where are you getting at?"

"I know why you and the others hate Stephen."

For a split second, his face was tensed then relaxed. "So you do, huh?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For ever......hanging out with Stephen. Crushing on him, whatever."

"Jaycee....."

"I was being ignorant." The tears kept running, but I kept talking. "I didn't know that Stephen took beautiful Mary away from you. I didn't know that being with Stephen, I would be breaking your heart. I didn't know, okay? But that's not a good excuse. I'm YOUR girlfriend, I'm supposed to be hanging out with you. I shouldn't be borrowing your brother's cardigans."

"I appreciate that." He laughed, ruffling my hair. "But it's not your fault, you didn't know."

"Do you really believe that I wouldn't cheat on you?"

"Of course I do. You are my girlfriend, I'll believe anything you say. You love me too much to be with my idiot brother!" He hugged me tightly. I hugged him back. This was a nice feeling. I didn't ever want to NOT feel this again.

"I don't ever wanna leave your side John." I squeezed him tighter.

"Are you crying harder?" He asked meekly, probably feeling my tears running down his shirt.

"That's how much I care, dumbo."