Fragile

I was really dreading this day: Monday. Not only is it one of the most tiring and boring days of the week, it also is the day I’ll have to see Mr. Haner again after I went out on a date with one of his best friends. Plus I’ll have to break up with Jay. We may have been dating for a while, but it just wasn’t working for me. Mary had even told me once I first started dating that if I ever looked at another guy, and I end up having strong feelings for him, then I need to dump my current boyfriend for my dream guy. Well, she had said it a little differently, but that’s not the point. Jay just wasn’t the right guy for me.

I approached the school building slowly, hoping that I can put off meeting up with Jay this early in the morning and having to break the news to him. I’m not going to tell him that I dated a guy behind his back, a guy who just so happened to be seven years older than me. If I ever told him that, he’d be crushed. The fact that I was crushing on the guy who I dated's friend doesn't help me either.

As soon as I reached my locker without sight of Jay, I let out a sigh of relief. If I didn’t see Jay before school, then there would be a slim chance that I would run into him before first block. I pushed my backpack into my locker and grabbed my English binder and a book we’ve been reading for the past two weeks: The Monkey’s Paw. It was a weird story, but I’m a sucker for suspenseful and crazy stories. That’s why I read a lot of Edgar Allen Poe poetry and watch lots of horror movies.

Just as I closed my locker door, I saw Jay leaning against the locker next to mine, a smile on his face. Usually I would have probably let out a small shriek or something, but I wasn’t really in the mood to do something considered ‘cute’ to my boyfriend. I shifted my weight on my feet and let a small frown crawl its way towards my thin lips.

“Hey, baby,” Jay said, grabbing my by the waist and pulling me close to him, placing a kiss on my cheek. God, I can’t do this to him! He’d never forgive me for it. What am I going to do?

“Hey, Jay. I need to talk to you about something,” I stated, pulling away from him. He frowned at my action; hurt twinkled in his green eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, shoving his hands into his front pockets.

I looked around us for a second, meeting the gazes of a few of our fellow classmates. “Let’s talk somewhere more private,” I mumbled, grabbing his wrist and pulling him down the hall and towards the gym. No one usually hung out around here in the mornings, so we should be able to have a little bit of privacy. The only problem is that a few students who participate in an after school sport sometimes pass through here on their way to class.

“What’s up? Is there something wrong?” he questioned me as soon as I stopped pulling on him. When I looked up to meet his gaze, I saw confusion and nervousness, like he didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t have a clue what was going to happen, and it was killing him inside.

“I’ve been thinking, and I think that it’s time you and I broke up,” I murmured under my breath, hoping he wouldn’t hear what I said, and we could move on with our old lives.

“You want to break up?” he asked, leaning in a little closer to me and making me feel a little bit uncomfortable. I didn’t want him trying to kiss me, and me taking him back out of pity.

I pushed gently on his chest, saying, “Yeah. It’s just not the same anymore. I think we should move on and see other people.”

“Nothing’s changed Leah! Did you find some other guy or something?” he interrogated too loud for comfort. No doubt that someone could probably hear him from down the hall.

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Just tell me the truth!”

I crossed my arms over my chest, making sure my books were held firmly in my grip, telling him, “Fine, you what the truth? I don't love you. I never have. You were just a boyfriend to help fill my time. Sure, we had some good times, but we aren’t meant for each other! And I like someone else who isn’t you.”

With that, I turned on my heel and walked away from Jay. I glanced behind me one last time, and I saw Jay looking down at the ground, an angry expression on his face. He pounded his fist against a wall next to him before he began walking in the direction of the school’s front door. I guess he was going to skip school or just English since he probably didn’t want to be around me right now. I really just hope that he’s okay, and that we can eventually move on and be friends.

When I walked into English, I found that I was one of the first people in class. Mr. Haner stood by his desk, rifling through a bunch of papers. I couldn’t help the feeling of butterflies in my stomach at the sight of him. He was just so perfect. I wonder if my plan to make him jealous actually worked. Who am I kidding? I should have gotten Zack on board with my idea, so he would have played along better. Maybe I still have a shot with Zack. He seemed really interested in me; Johnny was pretty much the same with Mary. I was surprised that Johnny and Mary didn’t start making out at dinner in front of Zack and I.

I sat down in my usual spot, turning in Mary’s direction. She was reading her book; probably because she didn’t read the story we were assigned to read over the weekend. As soon as she spotted me in her peripheral vision, she turned to look at me, a smile plastered on her face. I swear, she hadn’t stopped smiling since her date with Johnny.

“Hey, girly!” she squealed, bringing me into a tight embrace.

“Hey,” I told her, pulling away from her.

“Johnny texted me this morning,” she told me, her smile widening at the mention of Johnny. First she was obsessed over Mr. Haner, and now she’s moved onto obsessing over Johnny. She had even called me this morning at like five to tell me how much she really liked him.

“Really? What’d he say?” I asked, opening my binder to a fresh page of notebook paper. I placed my book on top of my binder, making sure it was straight.

“He said, and I quote,” she began, grabbing her cellphone and pressing a few buttons. “’Had a great time on our date. We should do it again sometime. Call or text me anytime if you want to hang out again, or I'll text.’”

“Wow. So he’s like really into you,” I stated instead of making it into a question. Anyone who saw those two together would realize they were head over heels for each other.

“God, I hope so. He’s just so cute and funny. Has Zack texted you yet?”

“No. He said that he would probably text me after school today because he doesn’t want me to get me in trouble or something.”

“Aw. He’s so sweet. But what about Mr. Haner?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I thought the only reason you went on a date with Zack was to make him jealous. What happened to that plan?”

“I’m still going according to the plan, but I think that I should get Zack on board with it. It would make things so much easier, and I would feel less guilty.”

Mary opened her mouth to say something, but the bell for class to started to ring. I always hated that bell. It was always so loud and long. I swear, the principal just rings it to piss off the students. Mr. Haner walked in front of the classroom, a smile on his lips. God, he looked so sexy when he smiled. Hell, he looked sexy whenever he did anything.

“I hope you guys read the Monkey’s Paw over the weekend,” Mr. Haner stated while grabbing a stack of papers that lay on top of his desk. “Because today, we are having a pop quiz about the story.”

Everyone let out a loud groan, as Mr. Haner started passing out the papers. Once he stopped at my desk, he gave me a smirk before moving onto the next person. My heart instantly skipped a beat at seeing him paying special attention to me.