Jealous Minds Think Alike

-John's Point of View-

“John?” Brian's voice called from outside the door, followed by a light tap. “You okay bro?”

“I'm not really in the mood to talk.” I mumbled, my voice muffled from the pillow pressed against my face. I felt bad that I had suddenly walked into Brian's house, begging at the last minute for a place to stay. That's when I had to spill everything that happened to Brian. Everything about Jaycee, Stephen, and Jaycee and Stephen. I swallowed hard hard and took deep breaths. I wasn't on the verge of crying, except for the bit of tearing up, but I was certainly frustrated with just everything.

“John. This is my house and my guest room. The least you can do is open up.”

I reluctantly got out of bed and dragged myself to the door. I threw it open and Brian stood there, looking guilty, gripping a sheet of paper.

“What?” I said flatly. Brian just held out the paper and I raised an eyebrow, taking it into my hands. I flipped over and I saw the words, “Love Bug Contract”, written out in fancy red Italicize. “Why are you giving me this?”

“Look man, I'm sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing for?”

“It's all my fault for even making this whole contract. All it did was screw you over, not to mention completely destroy your relationship with your brother.” I stared at him and he quickly added, “Sorry.”

“You know, now that I think about it, this is your fault.” I cracked a smile for the first time in a while. Brian frowned.

“Hey! I know was being sympathetic, but it hurts for you to say that straight up!” He protested.

“I blame Brian Dales,” I chuckled and Brian rolled his eyes.

“Who made that up? It's not very nice.”

“We all agreed that one day when you weren't there.” We shared a laugh and it felt good, despite all that's happened. Brian could be a really sincere guy, if he wasn't always babbling about random nonsense all the time.

“Well anyway, you keep that contract and figure out what you wanna do with it.” Brian closed the door and left me standing dumbfounded.

In my hands, I held the very thing that started this whole mess. Back in the beginning, this was the thing that Jaycee and I were looking to tear in two. Somewhere in the middle, it gave me an excuse to take her out on a date. Somewhere past that, it allowed me to tell everyone that we were together. Eventually, it lead me to develop a liking to Jaycee. Right now, I had no feelings towards the contact. It didn't even matter anymore. So why was it so hard to rip it in half?

My hands shook and my fingers curled around the edges, making dents onto the corners My muscles ached as I gripped it harder and harder, mentally commanding myself to give it a single tear. My hands did not respond and I let the paper slip out of my hand, falling lightly onto the floor. I stared at the paper for the longest time, before laughing darkly.

“What have you done to me Jaycee?”

xxx

-Jaycee's Point of view-

“Does it still hurt?” I asked, handing Stephen a new ice pack. He removed his old one and pressed it against his bruised cheek, groaning in reply. “I'm guessing yes.”

“Never thought my kid brother could pack a punch,” He chuckled to himself in an almost a I'm-proud-of-him tone. “That little bastard.”

I gave him a sad smile and turned away, walking back into the kitchen. I collapsed onto a chair and slumped my head on the table. I closed my eyes and suddenly I could see all these memories pouring into my sight. I saw John in his stupid glasses and his messy brown hair, giving me that surrendering smile. The scene suddenly changed to where I was almost raped and how John saved me in that unorthodox way. That quickly changed to the waterfall, then to that kiss back in my basement. I opened my eyes and I found myself in tears.

I felt guilty. I felt guilty because John told me that he was in love with me and I didn't know what to say. I felt guilty because I had similar feelings, but I could never tell if they were serious because Stephen kept coming into my life. I haven't had a boyfriend, I haven't been in love, everything was so confusing to me.

“Jaycee!” Stephen called from the living room. “Come here please!”

Without even wiping away the tears, I got up and walked over to Stephen. He was hunched over the coffee table and seemed to be grinning at something. He moved his body and on the table, spelled out, “Prom?”, in Hershey Kisses. I opened my mouth, but no sounds came out.

“Yes, I do carry Kisses with me in my backpack.” Stephen laughed. He looked up at me and waited for a response. I could only choke out air.

Normally, I would find this romantic, but nothing seemed right anymore. Before I could stop them, tears started running down my cheeks.

“Jaycee?” Stephen suddenly growing speechless at my sudden crying.

“Y-yes,” I said in a hoarse voice, feeling guilty all over again. Guilty, that word was getting incredibly repetitive. “Yes, I'll go prom with you.” It was hard, breaking someone's heart. Especially someone like Stephen who was head over heels with me. How could I break the heart of someone who was one the few people to love me?

Stephen's smile grew really wide and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a genuine hug. I then started to cry harder. Stephen mistakening it for tears in joy, rubbed his hand against my back. What he didn't know was that I wanted to leave him so badly, but I didn't have the guts to. He didn't know that when I close my eyes, all I could see is John.

I felt so fucking guilty.