Dirty Journalism

Jackie walked briskly down the hallway, massaging her temples as she went. “Why is everything so weird?” she muttered to herself.

“Are you okay?”

Jackie glanced up to see she was walking past Room 304, and Jeffrey was in the process of unlocking the door.

“Jeffrey? Why aren’t you at the party?” she asked. He shrugged, and Jackie immediately realized why he had left. Not many boys enjoy watching their best friend make out with their ex-girlfriend, especially when he’s having trouble getting over said ex-girlfriend.

“What about you?” Jeffrey asked. “You’ve been acting really strange lately.”

Jackie inwardly groaned. Great, she though, everyone has noticed how much of a freak I’ve been. “I have had a massive headache for an entire week,” she said weakly. She wasn’t lying, she was just leaving a few details out. “I think I’ve been through three bottles of Advil, we’re all out in our room now.”

Jeffrey frowned. “Have you been to the nurse? Headaches that last a week aren’t exactly usual.”

“Uh, it’s just stress,” Jackie said. She watched Jeffrey pull his key out of the lock and realized that hadn’t brought her own. “Shit!”

“What?” Jeffrey asked, startled.

“Oh, sorry, I just remembered I didn’t bring my key, since I figured I’d be going back to my room with Stella and Lexi.” She glanced nervously behind her. “I really don’t want to go back in that room.”

Jeffrey chuckled. “Don’t blame you,” he said. “We’ve got plenty of Advil in here, we take it all the time when we’re sore from athletics. You can come in and lie down until the party’s over.”

Jackie smiled gratefully. She was ready to collapse in the hallway, her head hurt so much. “Thanks, Jeffrey.”

As Jeffrey went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom to get the Advil, Jackie instinctively went to Max’s bed, knowing what was beneath it. She gently rested her head on his pillow and pictured the carved words. No, stop thinking about it, Jackie thought. Just forget.

“Got it,” Jeffrey said, coming out of the bathroom. He glanced at Jackie with a weird look on his face. “Why are you on Max’s bed?”

“Uh, it was just the closest one to the door,” Jackie said, again telling the truth, just not all of it.

“Jesus, your head must be killing you if you can barely make it in the room,” Jeffrey said, handing her a glass of water and three pills.

Jackie gulped them down and splashed some of the water on her already sweaty face. “Is it incredibly hot in here, or is it just me?” she said.

Jeffrey frowned at her. “I’ll turn the air conditioner up. You must have a fever or something.”

“Yeah,” Jackie sighed, stretching out on the bed. “It should pass.”

After adjusting the air so it was on full blast, Jeffrey grabbed his laptop and sat on his own bed. Jackie took a few deep breaths and stared at the ceiling, trying to think about anything other than the words on the wall… and Max. She did not want to think about Max.

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The newspaper party died down by eleven that night. Max gave Dina a goodnight kiss, and he followed Scooter out of the lounge, confused by the way he, Stella, and Lexi had been cold to him the whole night. And what had happened to Jackie and Jeffrey?

When they walked into Room 304, Max was startled to find Jackie asleep on his bed. Jeffrey was sitting on his own bed with his headphones on, messing around on his laptop. Scooter, being his usual spacey self, didn’t even notice the girl in the room and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

“Dude,” Max said, getting Jeffrey’s attention.

Jeffrey sighed and removed his headphones, but didn’t look at Max. “What?”

“Why is Jackie sleeping on my bed?”

Jeffrey’s eyes didn’t leave his computer screen. He said in a monotone voice, “She left the party early because of the massive headache she’s had for a week, but she left her key and I said she could lay down in here. I didn’t know she would fall asleep. I think she’s got a fever.”

As Max leaned over to look at Jackie’s sweaty face, Jeffrey’s cell phone rang. “Hello? Whoa, slow down, Stella.”

Max heard Stella’s frantic voice on the other end. “We can’t find Jackie! She left the party early but she’s not in our room, she’s not in the newspaper room–”

“Stella,” Jeffrey interrupted, “she’s in our room. She forgot her key, so I told her she could lie down in here.”

“Is her head still acting up?”

“Yeah, she took some Advil, though. Listen, she’s asleep right now, so–”

“I’ll take her,” Max said quickly.

Jeffrey looked at him oddly, but shrugged. “Uh, Max will bring her down.”

“Shit, not him. I don’t even want to see his face.”

“Stella!” Jeffrey said loudly, aware of the fact that Max could hear every word she said. “Just… have a wet cloth or something ready for her. I think she has a fever.”

“Thanks, Jeffrey. You’re awesome, unlike some people I have the misfortune of knowing.”

“Yeah, well,” Jeffrey said indifferently, “see you tomorrow.”

He hung up the phone and returned to his laptop. Max stared at him. “Is this about Dina?” he asked.

Jeffrey didn’t say a word. Instead, put his headphones back on and turned the music up loud enough that Max feared it could wake Jackie up. Sighing, Max bent over, hooked his arms underneath her, and lifted Jackie off his bed, adjusting things so her head leaned comfortably against his shoulder. He noticed she was burning up, and sweat was dripping down her face.

“Thank goodness!” Lexi exclaimed when she opened the door to find Max holding Jackie. “We were worried she had passed out somewhere.”

“She did, on my bed,” Max joked.

Lexi seemed to realize all of a sudden who she was speaking to and her face instantly closed. She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Bring her to her bed,” she ordered.

Max walked into the room and gently set Jackie on top of her covers. Lexi appeared beside him holding a damp wash cloth. Without even asking, Max took it from her hands and began to brush it softly against Jackie’s face and neck. As he moved lower, he found himself sweeping over the slight cleavage her dress revealed, and he instantly pulled back, blushing.

Lexi snatched the wash cloth from him. “Thanks for bringing her,” she said, not looking at him. “Bye.”

Max took the hint. As he made his way out of the room, Stella walked out of the bathroom, not even glancing at him. On his way back to his own room, Max realized that Jackie would probably side with her best friends, and she would ignore him too. Not that it matters, he thought sadly as he got into bed, because she was barely talking to me before tonight anyway.

He took a deep breath and caught a whiff of something. It was fruity—pears, maybe? Whatever it was, it smelled like Jackie, and Max fell asleep with the scent being his only comfort.

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The bell rang, signaling the end of the second-to-last class of the day. Jackie hurriedly slipped her calculus book into her bag. “I’ll see you guys later,” she said to Stella and Lexi, and she began to walk to chemistry.

The chemistry classroom was one of the only classrooms on the other end of the building, so Jackie found herself walking through an empty hallway. As she turned a corner, she jumped back in surprise to find Max leaning against the wall. He was the only other senior she knew in her chemistry class.

“Hey,” Max said. Jackie didn’t say anything, so he continued. “Are you feeling better?”

Jackie nodded, staring at the floor. “Yeah, tell Jeffrey thanks for the Advil.”

Max shrugged. “I can’t. He won’t talk to me. Neither will Scooter, Stella, or Lexi. And I don’t know about you.”

Jackie looked up at him. “I’m talking to you now, aren’t I? Giving someone the cold shoulder is just immature.”

“So… you’re not mad at me?” Max asked hopefully.

“Don’t be so happy, I’m still mad at you. Just not for the reason everyone else is,” Jackie said, mumbling the last part. She gasped to herself, realizing she hadn’t really meant to say that to his face.

Max looked at her oddly, so Jackie tried to change the subject. “You’re free to kiss whomever the hell you want,” she said. “If she so happens to be your friend’s ex-girlfriend, everyone needs to deal with it. They broke up, you hooked up, it’s all fair. They shouldn’t be shunning you. They need to get over it.”

She tried to walk around Max, but he stopped her. “That doesn’t explain why you’re mad at me,” he said, confused.

Jackie shook her head. “It doesn’t matter,” she muttered, not looking in his eyes.

“Yeah, it kind of does,” Max said forcefully. “Jackie, I don’t want you to be mad at me! Everyone else already is. What the hell did I do to make you mad? Does it have to do with those words carved under my bed? Because you’ve been weird since you saw that, and there’s nothing to be mad at me about because some freaks carved their undying love for each other in a wall–”

Jackie pushed him. She hated him for saying that. “Shut up!”

Max gaped at her. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Me?” Jackie yelled, tears forming in her eyes. She didn’t want to talk about the wall, so she changed the subject. “What about you? Do you even know Dina? Like seriously know who she is, what she likes, what she hates? Have you actually spoken to her as a person or has every interaction between you two been just a bunch of flirting? Did you spend a week hanging out with her, playing basketball, tennis, guitar hero…”

Jackie trailed off, realizing what she had said. She had just about admitted that she was jealous… to Max’s face. She hadn’t even been able to admit it to herself until that moment.

Max stared at her, an unreadable look on his face. Jackie couldn’t handle the silence, the awkwardness, or the feeling of Max’s eyes boring into her own. “I’m going to be late,” she muttered and pushed past him. She didn’t get far, as Max had caught her wrist.

“Let go!” she said, trying to tug her hand away, but Max held it firmly. “Let go, right now.”

Max refused, so Jackie turned around and raised her other hand, preparing to slap him. She really would have done it, if Max hadn’t grabbed that hand too, and held it just as firmly as the other. Jackie stopped trying to get away and stared at him, feeling the tears stream down her cheeks.

Max slowly moved, pushing Jackie backwards, eyes never leaving her own. As soon as Jackie’s back hit the wall, he lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers, dropping her arms and moving his hands to her hips. Jackie didn’t argue. She dropped her bag and brought her arms around Max’s neck, gripping his hair and kissing him back.

“I’m sorry,” Max said between kisses, “that… it took… so long.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Jackie whispered.

The bell rang, signaling the start of last period. Max and Jackie didn’t even take notice, and continued their impromptu, alcohol-free make out session in the middle of the hallway. Until…

“What is going on here?”

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In the next chapter of Dirty Journalism…

“I know you’re a ladies’ man, but this is just crazy!”
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“But, you did, you know… kiss him.”
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“Blaming me won’t fix this!”
“Nothing will fix this!”