“Why did you have to change?” she asked, her soft voice cracking as she continued to cry. I felt horrible, even worse after what she said next, “I loved you.” It was just a whisper but I still heard it and it shook me hard. She left me alone with these words repeating themselves over and over, getting louder and louder like a broken record. She passed me again with her dad, he said bye to me but I didn’t answer, I had mentally checked out. I turned and watched her as she wiped at her tears with a napkin. I knew, I was a terrible person but it seemed to be just getting worse.
“What did you do?” dad asked, sounding more than angry. I didn’t answer still in shock, she loved me. She had said it a few times before but she always made it sound casual or jokingly, like it was nothing more than friendship, I never knew she actually loved me. “James!” dad warned.
“I asked her if she was sure she should eat all of this,” I explained, pointing at my ice cream covered shirt and now jeans. Mom gasped horror-struck along with June, dad merely gulped.
“How could you?” mom asked, a tear running down her cheek, she quickly wiped it but we all saw. Great, now you’re even hurting your own mother, the woman who gave birth to you and makes you grilled cheese whenever you want.
“I’m terrible person,” I answered, feeling all hollow inside. I took a spoonful of ice cream, ignoring the murderous glares dad kept giving me and the icy sting the cold ice cream was having on my sensitive teeth. I loved ice cream but right now, I didn’t even taste it. We drove home in an awkward silence. The minute I walked into my room dad followed me in.
“James you’ve been acting up lately, getting arrested, staying out late, your language and you’ve been so mean to Mickey. If you hurt your mom anymore, I promise you, you will regret it and you’ll spend the summer in Atlanta with your aunt Chloe. Now you will apologize to Mickey the next time you see her. Is that clear?” dad asked in an authoritative voice. His voice was angry and harsh and piercing like his light hazel brown eyes. I nodded understanding.
“Yes,” I answered pissed. Oh, how could I be so stupid.
Michaela
I woke up the next morning still feeling the shock of my own words. I couldn’t believe I had told James I had loved him. I was so stupid. I walked to school feeling nervous the whole time that James would see me but when I went to class and James wasn’t there, I got less nervous and when the bell rang and he still didn’t show up, my anxiety completely vanished. Where was he? I wondered. Did he not come because of me? Did I scare him? Is he okay? I started to get paranoid of his safety, maybe something happened.
“Mike, since James is absent you can work with me.” Mrs. Becker smiled and pulled out a chair next to her desk. I got up with my folder and pencil and walked to the chair that was meant for me. Some of my classmates gave me sympathetic looks, while others snickered. But I didn’t care, I’d rather work with Mrs. Becker than any of them. I smiled and sat down next to her. She took my folder and looked at my work, skipping James’s.
“How’s it going with James?” she asked. I grimaced.
“Not great, it could be a lot better but we’re trying,” I told her truthfully. Mrs. Becker was a big believer in honesty and if you were truthful, she’d like you better for it.
“Well, that’s good at least. Now, let’s go over what you’ve done so far,” she said and then looked over my papers, we stopped on the last entry. “This one is not very detailed or specific, let’s work on it.” She smiled. I could feel my face pale.
“Um, it’s very private,” I squeaked. That seemed to make her even more curious. I had the sinking feeling that Mrs. Becker had only given us this project because she loved gossip and was interested in our lives and wanted to learn all of our dirty secrets.
“Well, only James and I will see it,” she said, not giving up.
“That’s kind of the problem.” I blushed.
“Oh,” she said understandingly. “Well then, tell me and I won’t take off marks.” My, my, Mrs. Becker really did love gossip and personal information! I really didn’t want to lose marks.
“Okay, well like I said I was jealous of her for just one thing. It was last year when Megan was going out with James. Every time I saw them together, I felt like I was being punched in the gut but eventually he broke up with her and then there were other girls like Megan he’d go out with and I always felt the same. I was jealous they all got the chance to be with James when I didn’t, even after what happened between us, I still get jealous. I know it doesn’t even make sense because I hate him,” I whispered. I saw the pity in her eyes as she nodded.
“You two have quite the history,” she said a moment later.
“You have no clue.” I sighed, she laughed at that.
“Hate?” she asked reading the next word and moving on.
“James,” I said simply.
“Why?” she asked genuinely intrigued.
“There are many reasons, he broke my heart, he ruined everything we’d ever had, he lied to me and broke so many promises and he chose to be popular over being friends with me. I was his best friend since we were seven but mainly because he hates me for no reason,” I
