Page 4 of Four Simple Rules
Friends.
That’s something I don’t have a lot of. It was Olivia and me. The one girl I could count on and loved with my whole heart. Until these people forced her to leave a few months ago, I’m now alone. My fingers tighten on the steering wheel as anger races through my veins, fueled by her departure and my lonely morning.
After what they did, I don’t know how I could have let Jesse slither into my window or my pants. He was part of the pack that ran her out of here. The man who laughed at her pain. God, what a terrible friend I am.
She'd hate me forever if she ever found out what Jesse meant to me.
Grabbing my purse and locking my car, I walk through the crowds of kids and enter the school. My gaze darts around from group to group until it finally lands on him. Jesse.
Tall, blond, and striking hazel eyes that zone in on everyone around him. Except me, the ghost. The girl he won't acknowledge in public. I sigh, letting my gaze wander one last time, taking him in before I decimate everything we have.
Through his T-shirt, his muscles explode, stretching it to the max. He was made for the baseball field. More importantly, he was made for the pitcher's mound. He's the star of the show. The man everyone comes to see and cheer on.
An ache forms in my chest when my eyes lock on his arm secured around Nat’s shoulders. The mean girl. One of the girls who made Oliva’s life hell. She’s a desperate baseball bunny, following Jesse, Rhett, and the other baseball players around, begging for scraps of affection with her other two friends, Melody and Posey, who stand beside them. I guess today, though. She’s getting it from Jesse. I swallow a lump in my throat when he laughs with his friends—the popular crowd who rules this school.
Jealousy shoots through me at the sight of them together. Nat's bright red fingernails paw at his chest, laughing when he says something. Just last night, I was his one and only, and now… Now his arm is around her.
They’re all assholes. The jocks who bully everyone else. So fricking insecure. And I think Jesse is the most self-doubting of them all. He’s embarrassed by me. There's no protection there. Sure, his friends snickered at me on my first school day and made fun of my clothes. So what? I've lived through worse. He was protecting himself from their scrutiny. For whatever reason, he cares what they think about him. Is he craving popularity or importance? I’ll never know. After what I’m about to do, he’ll disown me forever. It’s a steep price for my mental health, but something has to give.
After psyching myself up, I make my move. With determination and nothing to lose, I make my way to him. His rules blast in my head, urging me to turn away like I have since Freshman year. But I ignore them. Screw the rules. Screw him. I’ve been given a key to free myself of these rules, but I’ve never considered using it until now.
“You can graduate early, Miss Reynolds,” Mr. Campbell, my guidance counselor at school, says, leaning back in his chair with a grin. “According to your records, you’ve got enough credits to walk in December.”
“Really?” I ask, nibbling my lip.
But my thoughts quickly rush to him, to my best friend, Olivia. They both need me here. Jesse wouldn’t have anyone to rely on if I walked away. And Olivia? No one sees her the way I see her—the beautiful girl inside and out. Those vultures in the halls love to pick her apart like she’s dead meat. She’s more than that. More than the names they call her.
“Yes,” Mr. Campbell sings out. “We could have your diploma in your hands by the end of the semester! Then you could take that offer your aunt sent you after you got accepted into ISU,” he says with a knowing grin.
A month before, I got my dream scholarship. A full ride to ISU! Far from here. Far from my original plans to move on to the four-year college a few towns over. Where Jesse plans to go, it’s where I was going to go with him. So, we can start over in the dorms, only there he would recognize me as a human being instead of hiding me away.
“I’ll think about it,” I mutter with a tight smile, waving goodbye and heading to my classes.
Something has always held me back from fully agreeing to attend college with Jesse. A nagging sensation in the back of my mind pulling me back from the brink of what felt like a mistake. Why would I want to attend college with someone who stares at me right now with panic sparkling in his eyes as I stand before him in Brighton High? The one thing I’m supposed to avoid, but I can’t any longer.
This is the true test.
I love Jesse with all my heart. But I won’t be brushed aside anymore so he can live his life while I’m invisible. If he doesn’t speak to me at school, then, as much as it tears me in two, we're done. Friendship over. No matter how many years we've had together.
It's time to take control of my life. Starting here and now.
“Jesse,” I say through the sparks of panic trying to rush up my throat. Internal bells ring inside my head. “Could I talk to you for a second?” I tilt my head, gauging the situation with my heart in my throat.
Everything slows down. The kids in the hall disappear except for the five standing in front of me, staring as if I'm a lost, stinky dog.
The sound of my chaotic heart slams in my ears when Jesse blinks several times, formulating a plan to shoo me away. I see it brewing in the back of his eyes and the panic stiffening every inch of him.
This is our moment of truth.
Our ruination.
Posey’s face twists into a sneer from beside Nat as her eyes eat me alive, taking in my simple outfit. Jean shorts and my brother’s Led Zeppelin t-shirt he had never grown into. My long blonde hair is pulled into its usual ponytail, barely styled. No make-up, and my huge glasses perch on my nose. But this is me. I won’t change for anyone, especially them. I don’t want to fit in. I just want my best friend.
Posey, Natalie, and Melody are styled to the max. High heels. Name-brand clothes. And makeup galore. They’re pretty girls. The most beautiful things we have at school. I guess that’s why they’re so popular here. And why their eyes tear into me, ripping me apart. They don't have to open their mouths to insult me. Their gazes do it for them.
“Are you lost, loser?” Posey snarks, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. “Oh, I bet you are. Where's Ollie the Oinker these days?” She snickers from behind her hand. “I bet she’s at the farm, isn’t she? Why didn't you follow her, four eyes?"
“Jesse,” I say, ignoring her insult toward my best friend. That's what bullies want—a reaction. I refuse to play their games.
