A Love Like War

Alex didn't stop hanging out with us at lunch. I ignored him. I got used to the fact that he was going to be in my life more and I sucked up my bitterness and dealt with it. Not gonna lie, I went home and cried every day for about two weeks. It was just the dickish comments he made, the way he was the center of attention in the group.

Okay, maybe it was a bit of jealously that I wasn't the cool new British kid anymore. Maybe I was jealous that Matt had ditched me to write a new song with Alex. And shit, maybe I was even jealous that Alex wouldn't stop talking about his new girlfriend, Lisa. I couldn't comprehend in the slightest why the last part bothered me, but it did.

I started hanging out with Cory more at school. I also got close to her best friend, Cassie. Cassie was really nice, and she and I got along really well. I told her about Alex and it wasn't long before she, Cory, and I all began hating Alex together. When I did hang out with Jack and Alex and everyone at lunch, I went straight to Cory and Cassie after school and complained to them for a while.

Over time, I grew further and further away from Kara and Rian. Matt and I didn't hang out as often as I wanted to see him, and it was starting to really anger me how Alex's presence was ruining all of my friendships. So one day, in the last week of Freshman year, I decided I would no longer allow Alex to get the best of me.

During lunch, I marched straight over to the group's usual table and sat down. Right next to Alex. I didn't acknowledge his existence, I simply said hello to everyone else in the group and joined right into the conversation. They didn't act differently toward me at all, which put me in a good mood.

After that, I started hanging out with that group as much as I hung out with Cory and Cassie.

I realize this story's getting a bit repetitive, but I promise it'll pick up soon enough. I'll skip ahead two years--sophomore and junior year were somewhat stagnent in comparison to the years prior.

Two weeks. Two weeks until Junior Prom and Matt still hadn't asked me yet. We'd been dating for three and a half years and he hadn't asked me to Junior Prom, and it was two weeks away.

I was sitting in Jack's bedroom on one of two large bean-bag chairs in the middle of his floor, the other was occupied by Jack's skinny body. He'd been trying to teach me to play Modern Warfare 3 for the past two and a half hours, but with my constant rambling and complaining about Matt, it was far past impossible.

"Kristin, if it upsets you this much, then just tell him. Matt probably isn't even realizing you want him to ask you. He's pretty stupid."

I chuckled lightly. My eyes scanned over Jack. He still hadn't quite grown into his lanky body and big nose. His hair was now long and in his face, with blonde highlights striping the dark background. He wore the same tight jeans he had for the past several years and a Foo Fighters tee. One of the only noticeable differences was the small amount of stubble on his chin.

My appearance, however, had changed drastically since Freshman year. I'd chopped my long brown locks off and now had a short, layered, bob that didn't quite reach my shoulders. I currently had it pulled back into a sort of pony tail, if you can really call it that considering half of the hair had fallen out of the rubber band. My style had evolved again, now more girly than before. I was wearing a pale yellow strapless sundress and white lacy flats. I looked extremely out of place in Jack's overly-punk fashioned bedroom.

"I guess...I don't know." I sighed to myself. Suddenly, my phone rang and I was surprised to see Matt's name light up the screen.

"Hey baby," I said almost nervously into the speaker.

"Hey..." Matt's voice was tentative on the other end of the line.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Can you meet me at the park?" he requested, sounding distracted.

"Uh... sure," I replied, a nauseous feeling boiling in the pit of my stomach. "Why?"

"Just meet me there, okay?" he said.

"Kay," I replied, and clicked the end button.

I looked up at Jack, whose face held a look that was all too concerned for this to be anything good.

"What'd he say?" he asked.

"He wants me to meet him at the park."

"Oh... well come back when you're done, kay?"

"Mmkay," I said to Jack, then grabbed my phone and walked out of Jack's house and made my way to the small park down the street.