In Too Deep

4 February 2009. James Academy of Brooklyn. New York.

The James Journal publishing room was quiet. Stella Harper sighed as she sifted through letters to be answered in her Ask Stella column, all of which were pointless and stupid.

“I don’t care about your new boyfriend’s toe fungus problems,” she muttered under breath, casting aside another letter. She picked up a new one and began to read.

Dear Stella,
My roommate and I have a best friend who moved away a little over two months ago. We still keep in touch, but it’s been hard for us because we don’t want to tell her about everything that’s happening at home. There are some things that have happened that we think would upset her, but now she thinks we’re forgetting about her and keeping her in the dark. She hasn’t replied to our emails or calls for almost a month. We really, really miss her, and we feel bad about not telling her, but only we have her happiness in mind. What should we do?

Stella looked up at Lexi Loring, one of her best friends and roommates, who sat a few tables away. “Lexi,” she said, holding the letter up. “Why did you write this?”

Lexi looked at the letter sadly and shrugged. “You’re so good at fixing people’s problems in your column. I thought if you got our problem in a letter it might be easier to solve.”

Scooter, Lexi’s boyfriend, looked between the two girls. “You’re still having Jackie problems?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Lexi said, nodding. “The last time she emailed us was… when was it?”

“January 6th, right after Max apparently visited her,” Stella answered in monotone.

“We haven’t gotten another email, letter, phone call, text message, video chat, or anything from her since,” Lexi explained. “She used to be talk to us all the time. We’ve tried to talk to her, but she won’t reply.”

Jeffrey O’Connor, one of their close friends and Scooter’s roommate, overhead the conversation and walked over with his girlfriend, Dina Paterson. “What did she say in her last email?” he asked.

“I’ll pull it up now,” Stella said, already typing on her computer. The others crowded around her as she read aloud, “Dear Stella and Lexi, the jackass visited and engaged in jackass-y activities. By the way, congrats to Lexi and Scooter. Thanks for telling me. I’d congratulate Jeffrey and Dina, but apparently I’m the only one who remembers that Dina is a slutty bitch. Jackie.”

Stella turned around slowly. “Sorry,” she muttered to Dina, having forgotten she was right behind her.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dina said with a small shrug. Jeffrey smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

Scooter frowned. “So, she found out about me and Lexi from Max?”

“I guess so,” Stella replied.

“I didn’t realize you guys never told her about it. I mean, we’ve been together for a while now…” Scooter trailed off.

Stella and Lexi shared an uncomfortable look. “It’s just…” Lexi began. “We’re gossipy girls, you know? We like to talk about other people. And… sometimes we can’t stop ourselves. We were worried that if we even brought up any couples–me and Scooter or Jeffrey and Dina–we’d accidentally tell her about–”

“OH MY GOD, IT’S JACKIE!” a voice screamed.

Every head snapped to the door of the newspaper room, where Jackie Bodello stood, clad in a James Academy uniform, staring intently at the floor.

“Well, she’s not mad at me,” Scooter said quietly to his stunned group of friends. “Jackie!” he yelled excitedly across the room. “The Bodello is BACK!”

Jackie glanced up at him and caught eyes with Stella and Lexi. She instantly looked back down. Stella sighed as Dina tapped her on the arm hurriedly. “Look at Max,” she ordered, and the five of them turned their eyes to his desk.

Max Leopold was staring at Jackie. Just staring. His face held a combination of confusion and anger, and his knuckles were turning white as they clutched the edge of his desk.

“He’s been in a foul mood since we got back from winter break,” Jeffrey whispered. “And if Jackie’s been the same, something must have happened between them.”

At that moment, Alex Daley jumped up and ran to Jackie, giving her a big hug, which she barely returned. “It’s great to see you!” he said. “How was Paris? Are you back at JA for good?”

Jackie gave a small smile and nodded, still looking at the floor.

“YES!” Alex exclaimed, causing everyone to jump and stare at him. He dropped to his knees in front of Jackie. “Please, please, please, take the editor-in-chief position, back! I can’t handle it! Being executive editor was fine, but this is too much! I have chess club, yearbook club, golf team, academic team, and swim team, and I can’t do this anymore!”

Everyone stared at him, shocked. Jackie took a step away from him. “Uh…”

“I can’t work with some of these people,” Alex continued, regaining some dignity and standing back up. “As one of the executive editors, I never had to interact with the commentary section, but now I do, and I can’t stand it!”

“The… commentary section?” Jackie asked slowly.

Alex’s voice got lower, but Stella, Lexi, and the others could still hear it. “Max has been unnaturally cross since break. Dealing with him is like trying to pet a pack of rabid bulldogs.”

“Um…”

“Please take the editor position back!” Alex said desperately. “You were so good at it! The paper hasn’t been the same since you left.”

Everyone stared at Jackie expectantly. “I… uh… okay,” she answered.

There were cheers throughout the room. Although Jackie was a bitchy and critical editor, The James Journal had never been better than when she was in charge, and all the newspaper staff respected her immensely.

Well… most of them.

“Great,” Max said sarcastically and loudly. “She’s back. Praise the Lord.”

Stella and Lexi frowned as Jackie visibly stiffened at this. Stella sighed. “Something definitely happened between them.”

Scooter and Jeffrey walked up to the editor’s desk, where Alex was hurriedly collecting his things and Jackie was sitting down. “Hey!” Jeffrey said brightly.

“Hi,” Jackie responded shortly, not looking at them.

“So…” Scooter tried. “Awesome to have you back!”

“Alex has to catch me up,” Jackie said pointedly. Jeffrey and Scooter took the hint and returned to Stella, Lexi, and Dina.

“Okay, she’s bitter,” Scooter concluded.

Stella and Lexi groaned simultaneously. “Do you think she’s back in our room?” Lexi asked suddenly.

“She must be,” Stella said slowly. “We’re the only girls that have an open space.”

“She’ll have to talk to us eventually, and then we can explain,” Lexi said. “After all, if she’s back for good, she’s going to find out about… it.”

Jeffrey frowned. “Wait, what is it exactly that you’re trying to hide from her?”

“Well…”

The door burst open and a tall brunette girl entered. She had freakishly long legs and hair was that obviously straightened on a regular basis. But she had a dazzling smile.

“Sorry to interrupt!” she said, and a few people in the room chuckled. “I missed my baby!”

She grinned as she jogged over to the commentary section and threw herself into Max’s lap.

Stella grimaced at this. “We were trying to keep her away from that.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jackie stared at the tall girl on Max’s lap. “Who the hell is that?” she asked Alex.

“Catie O’Hara,” Alex explained. “She’s a sophomore. She and Max have been going out since December.”

Jackie’s jaw almost hit the floor. Since December? “Have they… broken up at all?” she asked slowly. “Say… around the beginning of January?”

“What, you mean when Max was in Europe? Nope, they’ve been going strong since the day before winter break.” Alex glanced at Jackie uneasily. “I know you and Max dated… but that was just a short fling, right?”

Jackie nodded slowly, her eyes locked on Max and Catie. “Just a fling.”

Max’s eyes caught Jackie’s, and he saw her staring at him. Jackie didn’t flinch. She just stared, openly despising the boy in front of her. He stared back. His gaze was almost pleading, as if to say, ‘Please don’t tell anyone what happened.’

Jackie looked away. And I thought things might get easier, she thought bitterly.