The next period was eventless. As I made my way to lunch I heard my name being called. I turned to see Suri approaching me in the hallway. "Hey, are we eating lunch together?" she asked me.
As we walk to the lunch line, I wrap my arm around her shoulder and tell her, "We're definitely going to eat together." I see Jesse sitting at a table with his group of friends, always with the same two guys. We get our food and make our way to a table on the opposite side of the lunch room. Settling in our chairs,
"So I have a question for you," I say with a smile as she sticks a carrot stick in her mouth.
"Okay, what's that?" she asks.
"I'm thinking about switching to home school for the remainder of the year," I tell her.
"What?" she snaps, drawing a bit of attention to us. "Sorry, but you are not leaving me here alone with these freaks," Suri says calming her tone down a bit. We both glance over at a sudden noise that erupted in the lunch room, and we glance over at Jesse's table to see that the most popular girl had sat down on Jesse's lap and was making out with him in the middle of the lunch room. "Ew, that's so gross. No one wants to see that!"
"Yes, it is!" I say back as suddenly he looks past her straight at me, catching my eyes several times through her flirting with him. As every member of that group turns and glares back at me, it was then that I knew they were probably talking about me. What was his issue with me? Why me?
Shoving a fork full of salad into her mouth, she says. "This is getting a bit ridiculous, even I have to admit that." Glaring back at his group, she laughed. I watch as Tiffany wraps her arms around him for the fourth time and begins kissing him. It disgusts me to see her grind against him. I scrunched up my face deciding that I had had enough of watching it. Standing up, I took my tray to the garbage and left the room without saying anything else. I figured Suri would follow me out, and when she ran up beside me as I walked toward our lockers I let out a sigh. "I just don't get it, Suri. Why does he only torture me? I'm not even like any of the girls he typically hangs out with, I'm not one of those pretty girls." I say softly opening my locker and I begin to grab my stuff for my Calculus class.
"I'm sorry Makena, but I don't know why he does what he does." She answered. "But I have to meet Jake. See you after class." I watched as she walked away and sighed. I knew that no matter how much I tried, I would never understand why he treated me the way he did. I shook my head and shut my locker, ready to face the day.
Turning around I see him approaching. I close my locker and prepare to take a long way around to class. I was not sure that I wanted to walk by him to get to my class. But as I turned to walk the other way I noticed it was blocked by the band preparing to set up for their concert that night. Just my luck, I think to myself as I turn and head the other way past Jesse. I try to pass by him without looking, but his eyes meet mine. I quickly glance away, not wanting to make any more eye contact. I can feel my face flush as I quickly try to walk away, putting as much distance between us as I can.
"And where do you think you are heading, sweetheart?" he says as he quickly grabs my wrist pulling me against him as he then wraps his arm around my waist. I try to squirm out of his grip as his buddies crowd around us blocking what was happening from everyone walking through the hall and who might be watching. I try to scream but no sound comes out as I'm too terrified. His grip tightens as he leans in and whispers in my ear, "You're coming with me." I quickly scan the hallway for an escape, but it's hopeless. I'm trapped.
"Let me go, Jesse!" I screamed at him trying to project my voice so that I could be heard over the noises in the hallway. He covered my mouth with his gigantic hand.
His grip was tight and I felt like I couldn't breathe. After looking into my eyes he said, "You're not going anywhere." He then dragged me away against my will. "You know how it is... We were thinking of skipping school, and I would have let you go, but how about you join us?" he asked with a chuckle that stopped me from squirming. There was no way I could skip class. I knew my mother would be upset if she learned about it. In order to release myself from his grip, I stomped my foot so hard on his foot. His friends grab hold of me while he straightens up, glaring at me with fury burning in his eyes. "Why do you keep doing this? You will pay for it," he says.
A teacher called out in the hall, "Get to class." I looked up at him, pleading with him to just let me be. As he steps to one side, I take off at a dead run for my class. I promised myself I wouldn't give him another chance to hurt me.
When the final bell rang, I headed out to the bus. I was feeling excited as Suri, Jake, and I were planning to hang out tonight. We had made plans to eat dinner and study a group project that we were given. I got home and found a note on the fridge from my mom telling me that she had been called in to work and would be home after midnight. I sent her a text telling her what we were doing and headed to my room to change.
Several hours later...
We were sitting in the diner laughing and joking about things when I heard the ding from the door. I glanced over to see Tiffany and Jesse stepping into the diner. His eyes met mine as they took a seat across the small diner from where we were sitting. I was surprised to see him there.
"What the hell is he doing here, and with her?" Suri asks, staring over at them. Looking away from Jesse's eyes, I looked at her.
"I don't know, but this is really starting to freak me out," I admit to her pushing away my burger and fries. I sip on my diet coke, as I meet his gaze once more verifying that he was indeed still looking at me. Why is he always staring at me like that? I wondered to myself as I watched him get up from where he was seated and begin to walk toward us. When he reached our table, he stopped right in front of me and smiled down at me.
"What are you doing in my hangout, sweetheart?" he asked in a voice so loud that everyone looked at us. My cheeks turned red from embarrassment, but he didn't stop there. "You and your friends need to leave, find another hangout," he said grabbing my diet Coke and pouring it into a nearby garbage can.
Jake stands up and stares at Jesse. "What the hell Jesse, just leave her alone!" he says.
Jesse glances at Jake for a moment before turning his gaze back to me. "Who is this? Your bodyguard?" he asks. I stand up and place my hand on Jake's shoulder giving him a pleading look. Maybe if we ignored him and just walked away he would leave me alone. The way that Jesse's eyes narrowed onto my hand on Jake's shoulder sent me chills. He gives me his iconic smirk before glancing back at Jake. "Fine, enjoy your night... after all, it takes a real guy to have two at the same time," he smirks between Jake and me. Before turning and walking away, what happened next took me a moment for me to process but I believe that Jake shoved Jesse and then Jesse punched Jake.
I watched in horror as Jesse got Jake on the floor and positioned himself above him. Jake was at a huge disadvantage since he was the one on the ground. I released a loud scream as I watched him deliver punch after punch to Jake's face. Panic gripped me as I glanced around the cafe. Why wasn't anyone stopping them? Several people had pulled out their phones and started recording the fight. "Stop it!" I screamed, rushing forward without any regard for myself. Just as Jesse was about to deliver another punch, I grabbed his wrist pulling him off Jake. I plead with him, "Don't do it, Jesse!"
He stared at me and took several deep breaths. I could tell that he was at war with himself as he glanced down at Jake. "Please, Jesse..." I whispered. I was surprised that he listened to me. I watched him stand up and step away from Jake. I bend down next to Jake to look at the damage. "Are you alright?" I ask him as I help him up. I glance back at where Jesse and Tiffany were sitting last, but they had already left the cafe. That made me wonder if he had come for this very reason.
"Let's get him to the clinic," Suri said, and I agreed we needed to. So we took Jake to get him checked out. Two black eyes, a swollen jaw, and a swollen lip were the results of the blow. He was given an ice pack, pain reliever, and instructions on how to treat his injuries. Jake refused to press charges against him and refused to even disclose any information about Jesse to the cop who showed up. The only thing he was willing to tell them was that he had been jumped, that was all. We drove home in silence, both of us unsure of what to say. But I knew I had to do something; I had to protect Jake from Jesse and make sure he never did this again.