Amiya walked close to Alyssa and laid a hand on her shoulder, "I think we should leave. You're not feeling well, are you?"
Alyssa nodded, but she did not say anything. She looked towards Tarlos with a questioning gaze. She nodded. "Yes, they'd be okay," she said silently.
Amiya gave her car key to Tarlos and left along with Alyssa.
When they were back inside her car, Alyssa finally spoke up. "Did you get exactly what the matter was? Because I certainly did not. I know it was about some girl, but apart from that..."
Amiya blinked. "Are you kidding me? It was stark clear! They were fighting over you."
Alyssa sighed. "Don't joke around about this, Amiya. I'm serious."
"So am I," she replied stoically.
"No, come on!" Alyssa started, frustrated. "How can that be? They never mentioned my name!"
Amiya's gaze almost darkened at that. "Not in front of you, though Karson did try to. But before that, trust me, they did. There was no mistaking it. I was there from the beginning. I saw it."
Alyssa laid her head down on the wheel, rubbing her cheeks with her palm. Why would they fight over her? Jason didn't like her, that was obvious. And Karson ... Alyssa bit her lips. She wasn't sure how Karson felt. Heck, she wasn't sure how either of them felt. And her own feelings? They were a mess themselves.
Alyssa shook her head. "Tell me what happened."
Amiya took a deep breath, complying. "School had just gotten over, when Jason arrived at the gates. He had probably gone there to pick John up. And then, Karson came. We were there too, and he asked me why you hadn't come to school. He had been looking genuinely worried, to say the truth.
"But before I could reply, Jason started attacking Karson with his words, like ... why he was 'pretending' to be worried, and what ulterior motives could he possibly have behind 'luring you into his evil lair' and such... Honestly, he had sounded downright paranoid, nothing like his normal self. And Karson, instead of trying to calm him down, made it worse by throwing the questions right back at him. Heck, he even called him a 'nasty old bat'. The verbal fight soon turned into a fist fight. We had a hard time separating them and by the time we did, they were already injured."
Alyssa stared at Amiya, frowning. "Okay, let's see. For some reason, or for no reason, Jason hates Karson with a passion and so he uses every opportunity to demonstrate this hatred."
He sounds suspiciously secretive to me – Jason's words reverberated in her mind.
"That's true and all," Amiya said, her voice suddenly growing meek. "But I and everyone in our friends circle have a good idea about why Jason hates Karson."
"And what is that?" Alyssa asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Um... they both like you."
Amiya's words sounded so stupid and unnatural to Alyssa's ears, that she almost laughed. "Yeah right," she said, sarcasm dripping from her tone.
"Hey, I'm serious!"
"Think about it practically, Amiya. Jason doesn't even care about me enough to respect me. Because no matter how Jaden says otherwise, he had still insulted me."
"Wait, what're you talking about?" Amiya asked, frowning.
Alyssa figured that her friends didn't know about what had happened. She had thought that Jaden would've told them, but apparently, he hadn't. She was glad he hadn't.
She told Amiya about all that had happened. When she was done, Amiya almost jumped up in her seat, her head hitting the roof od the car.
"That's it!" Amiya said, her eyes wide. "You you go – proof! Jason hates Karson, because they both like you! Jase was envious of your feelings for Karson. So, as Jaden said, he'd acted instinctively. It was like a ... what do you call it? Yes, a fight or flight reaction."
Alyssa leaned back, her brows furrowed. "Well, it makes sense, but its still kind of unnatural. I can't imagine Jason having feelings for anyone."
"Now you're just being stubborn. Anyway, you have to do something about it. You have to choose one of them, or neither, Liz, if that's the case," Amiya replied, suddenly very sombre.
"Look, as I have been saying continuously, I don't know what I feel for Karson. But I can't imagine myself with him. I don't know why... but I just can't see him that way."
"And Jason?"
Alyssa gulped, raking her fingers through her hair, suddenly very nervous. She didn't know what to say to that, but the answer seemed clear in her heart.