Status: Complete!!
I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
Chapter 4
Jared's POV
As I walked back over to Marcus, Eric and a few of the girls fawning over them I almost wished Kassidy and her friend had agreed to come and sit with us. Not that I didn’t enjoy hanging out with the guys, but it seemed like after the first two weeks of school it was never just the guys; it was us and whatever girls were trying to be their next catch. It got old really fast, I mean, the first week it was almost flattering; what guy didn’t want to be followed around by gorgeous girls all day? But when you realize that all their after is the right to brag to their friends or some action, or when they use you to get to your friends, it gets old fast.
“Who’s that?” the girl hanging off of Marc’s right side asked, shooting Kassidy and Alanna a look that was less than impressed.
“Friends of mine,” I shrugged, not wanting to get into it as I sat back down in the booth beside Eric. Just as I’d feared about thirty seconds later there was a hand on my arm and I could feel the girl, I believe her name was Alisha but I wasn’t sure, pressing herself to my side as she listened to the conversation. I was used to girls flirting, but not being so forward like the girls were here.
“That’s your English partner… right?” Marcus asked, having to think hard about it even though he’d seen her earlier and we were all in the same class.
“Yeah, and we have math together too,” I added. Marcus looked to Eric and then the girl hanging off of him as he started to smirk.
“Aww, does Jared have a little crush?” he teased.
“She’s my friend, what the hell are you talking about?” I asked, starting to chuckle. I’d only ever really talked to her today, I didn’t know anything about her except her name, that she was good at math and liked the novel we were reading in English.
“You sure?” Eric asked with a playful elbow jab. He was a nice guy; he was usually a little quieter, but he was fun to hang around with, and he was a good hockey player.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I assured him, and he let it drop. The look on Marcus’s face however, said otherwise.
“Come on Jared, embarrassed about your little girlfriend?”
“Girlfriend? Where are you coming up with this shit?” I asked, getting a little annoyed. Marcus doesn’t always know when to let something go.
“You could do way better Jared,” the girl trying to hang off of my side said, which aggravated me a little. She didn’t know Kassidy, she had no right to say something like that. If my parents taught the four of us anything it was how to treat women well and respect them, along with how to play hockey.
“Excuse me?”
“I mean, look at her; she doesn’t do anything with her hair, she’s not wearing makeup, and she could definitely go to the gym,” she continued.
“Why would you even say that? That’s extremely rude,” I told her, just catching Eric’s minute nod of agreement. She sat back from me, eyebrow raised.
“So what? You’re into fat girls? Is that it?” she asked.
“That’s not what I… she’s not fat,” I began stumbling over my words, wanting to defend Kassidy but not quite sure how. If the girl I was arguing with had been Marcus or something I’d know how to handle it, but arguing with a girl was different.
“Sure, keep telling yourself that hun,”
“Well at least if you go out with her get her to go the gym with you or something, it wouldn’t hurt,” the girl hanging off of Marcus piped up, the girls giggling as if they were proud of cutting down someone they’d never met. Marcus chuckled, but it died in his throat when he saw the look I sent him.
“Easy there bud, we’re just kidding,”
“No you’re not. It’s really rude; especially when you don’t even know her, you have no right to say shit like that about her,” I told them, standing up and grabbing my backpack.
“Hey… where are you going?” Marcus, Eric and Alisha asked.
“Home, I want to go chill out before practice.”
“Aw come on man, just stay; we’ll leave pretty quick anyway, then you don’t have to walk,” Marcus insisted.
“I’m good thanks,” I told him, a little ticked off right now. How they thought it was okay to talk about people behind their backs like that I didn’t know, but I wasn’t going to sit around and be involved in it.
“Oh shit Jay, don’t be such a softy,” he taunted, but instead of just sitting down as Marcus obviously expected I walked out the doors and left. It took me a few minutes to get my bearings as I wandered back towards the school, hoping to find my way back from there. After nearly twenty minutes I managed to find my way back to the place that we were renting; I had billeted last year, at the same place my brother Marc had billeted, but I hated feeling like I was a burden to the families nice enough to take a stranger into their home. So this year I’d convinced my parents that if there was a couple of us we could rent a place or something, and so far it was working well.
As I walked back over to Marcus, Eric and a few of the girls fawning over them I almost wished Kassidy and her friend had agreed to come and sit with us. Not that I didn’t enjoy hanging out with the guys, but it seemed like after the first two weeks of school it was never just the guys; it was us and whatever girls were trying to be their next catch. It got old really fast, I mean, the first week it was almost flattering; what guy didn’t want to be followed around by gorgeous girls all day? But when you realize that all their after is the right to brag to their friends or some action, or when they use you to get to your friends, it gets old fast.
“Who’s that?” the girl hanging off of Marc’s right side asked, shooting Kassidy and Alanna a look that was less than impressed.
“Friends of mine,” I shrugged, not wanting to get into it as I sat back down in the booth beside Eric. Just as I’d feared about thirty seconds later there was a hand on my arm and I could feel the girl, I believe her name was Alisha but I wasn’t sure, pressing herself to my side as she listened to the conversation. I was used to girls flirting, but not being so forward like the girls were here.
“That’s your English partner… right?” Marcus asked, having to think hard about it even though he’d seen her earlier and we were all in the same class.
“Yeah, and we have math together too,” I added. Marcus looked to Eric and then the girl hanging off of him as he started to smirk.
“Aww, does Jared have a little crush?” he teased.
“She’s my friend, what the hell are you talking about?” I asked, starting to chuckle. I’d only ever really talked to her today, I didn’t know anything about her except her name, that she was good at math and liked the novel we were reading in English.
“You sure?” Eric asked with a playful elbow jab. He was a nice guy; he was usually a little quieter, but he was fun to hang around with, and he was a good hockey player.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I assured him, and he let it drop. The look on Marcus’s face however, said otherwise.
“Come on Jared, embarrassed about your little girlfriend?”
“Girlfriend? Where are you coming up with this shit?” I asked, getting a little annoyed. Marcus doesn’t always know when to let something go.
“You could do way better Jared,” the girl trying to hang off of my side said, which aggravated me a little. She didn’t know Kassidy, she had no right to say something like that. If my parents taught the four of us anything it was how to treat women well and respect them, along with how to play hockey.
“Excuse me?”
“I mean, look at her; she doesn’t do anything with her hair, she’s not wearing makeup, and she could definitely go to the gym,” she continued.
“Why would you even say that? That’s extremely rude,” I told her, just catching Eric’s minute nod of agreement. She sat back from me, eyebrow raised.
“So what? You’re into fat girls? Is that it?” she asked.
“That’s not what I… she’s not fat,” I began stumbling over my words, wanting to defend Kassidy but not quite sure how. If the girl I was arguing with had been Marcus or something I’d know how to handle it, but arguing with a girl was different.
“Sure, keep telling yourself that hun,”
“Well at least if you go out with her get her to go the gym with you or something, it wouldn’t hurt,” the girl hanging off of Marcus piped up, the girls giggling as if they were proud of cutting down someone they’d never met. Marcus chuckled, but it died in his throat when he saw the look I sent him.
“Easy there bud, we’re just kidding,”
“No you’re not. It’s really rude; especially when you don’t even know her, you have no right to say shit like that about her,” I told them, standing up and grabbing my backpack.
“Hey… where are you going?” Marcus, Eric and Alisha asked.
“Home, I want to go chill out before practice.”
“Aw come on man, just stay; we’ll leave pretty quick anyway, then you don’t have to walk,” Marcus insisted.
“I’m good thanks,” I told him, a little ticked off right now. How they thought it was okay to talk about people behind their backs like that I didn’t know, but I wasn’t going to sit around and be involved in it.
“Oh shit Jay, don’t be such a softy,” he taunted, but instead of just sitting down as Marcus obviously expected I walked out the doors and left. It took me a few minutes to get my bearings as I wandered back towards the school, hoping to find my way back from there. After nearly twenty minutes I managed to find my way back to the place that we were renting; I had billeted last year, at the same place my brother Marc had billeted, but I hated feeling like I was a burden to the families nice enough to take a stranger into their home. So this year I’d convinced my parents that if there was a couple of us we could rent a place or something, and so far it was working well.