FB: It's just one of those days that a girl goes through

I was stunned into silence for a moment. Seriously? They were both jealous?

“Why?”

Jason laughed a little. “Well, I think it’s pretty obvious? I mean, no girl lieks it when another girl is as close to her boyfriend as you and I are. You’re my best friend Ella. I don’t think anything’s ever going to change that. I think Kayla knows that, and it makes her jealous.”

“I can get that. But why are you jealous?”

This caused Jason to sigh. “Well, Ella. It works in both ways, ya know? I mean you can’t tell me you aren’t a little jealous of Kayla, can you?”

I pursed my lips and looked at the floor.

“Like I said, you’re my best friend. Nothing’s going to change that for me. But, I wonder if having a boyfriend is going to change it for you? I’m not used to sharing you. I’ve always had you to myself.”

When he said that, I got chills down my spine, and felt a blush rise to my face. I swallowed loudly.

“You think I’m jealous of Michelle, don’t you?”
Jason shot me a “well duh” look.

“I am. A little. I can’t lie about that. But I would get over it. I mean honestly Jason, you’ve never seen me go off on Kayla like I did Michelle, and she broke my ankle!”

“That was an accident!” He exclaimed.

Now it was time to shoot him my own “yeah, right” look.

“The point is, I’m very good at checking my jealousy. I didn’t go off on Michelle because I’m jealous of her. I went off on her because she’s Satan’s little slut.”

“You don’t think you’re being the tiniest bit hard on her?” He asked.

“Are you serious?” I asked, ready to explode again.

“Hear me out, OK?” He said, looking at me. I didn’t respond. “It’s true, Michelle HAS hit on every guy within a thirty mile radius, and had any of us taken her up on the offer, we probably could have gotten some from her. And I’m not saying she’s easy to get along with, I’ve seen the looks she’s shot you. But, it’s not easy either, breaking into a new group. And Ella, you can be intimidating. She's insecure, that's why she throws herself at guys the way she does. Ever think she just might be jealous of you?”

“Why is everyone always telling me to cut Michelle a break?” I whined.

“Because Ella, we all know you’re better than her.”

I sighed. Why was being the better person and doing the right thing ALWAYS the hardest thing to do?

After that, I was spent. We went into Jason’s house and down to his room. Jason offered to sleep on the floor, but I declined. I wanted to cuddle with him, maybe even needed it a little. I knew Kayla might not like it if her boyfriend was cuddling with another girl, and I’m not sure what Jacob would think, but I didn’t care. I knew what they didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt them.

I hate waking up the morning after a fight. It’s almost like waking up with a hangover. You open your eyes, and for a split second, everything is OK. And then you remember: everyone is mad at you, and you’re not willing to apologize. It all comes crashing down on your head.

I yawned and stretched, knocking Jason in the head as I did so. He grumbled and flipped over.

“You may not want to beat the one friend you have left.” He said, rubbing his head.

“Sorry.” I answered, flinging my legs over the side of his bed.

“Where are you going to early?” He asked, rubbing his eyes.

“I need to figure out how I’m getting home.”

“You’re not seriously leaving are you?”

“You seriously expect me to stay? Everyone hates me!”

“Don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic?” Jason said, shooting me a look and pulling on a t-shirt.

I sighed. Maybe I was being the tiniest bit dramatic. But, I didn’t doubt that everyone was angry at me. I also knew that I didn’t feel like dealing with it. I love Toni, but I didn’t want to sit there and listen to her lecture me like she was my Mother, I didn’t want to hear Jacob and Drew demand an apology for Michelle, and I most certainly didn’t want to apologize for Michelle. All I really wanted to was stamp my foot and whine “but I don’t wanna” a whole bunch.

“So you’re just gonna give up? Slink out of town?”

“Weren’t you the one just complaining that I was spending too much time with Jacob? Shouldn’t this make you happy?”

“My friend having no back-bone does not really make me happy. Do you really want to give Michelle the satisfaction of knowing she won?”

That did it for me. “Well. My stuff is at Toni’s.”

I did procrastinate on going over there. I was half afraid to see anyone, and I half just didn’t want to deal with it. I took a long shower, and then waited till Jason was out of the shower before I would eat breakfast. I took forever walking to the car. I made him stop and get some coffee, even though he and I both knew I didn’t drink coffee. Finally, we pulled up in front of Toni and Nick’s house. Drew’s car was in the driveway. I didn’t know if I hoped Michelle would be there so I could go off on her some more, or if she wasn’t so it would be relatively drama free.

“Want me to go in with you?” Jason asked.
“Of course.” I said, taking a deep breath and getting out of the car.

It was weird, knocking on the door instead of just walking in. But, I didn’t really feel like ambushing them all, so, I knocked. Drew opened the door.

“Ella.” He said, a little shocked.

“I’m just here to get my stuff.” I said, brushing past him and into the house.
Toni came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her towel.

“She’s returned. You wanna tell us where you’ve been?” She said.

“With me.” Jason answered, walking in behind me. I didn’t miss the evil look Toni shot him.

“I’m just gonna grab my stuff and then I’m gone.” I said, heading upstairs for the spare bedroom. Toni started after me, but Drew beat her to it, coming upstairs behind me.

“I don’t need any help packing.” I snapped when he entered the room.

“What the hell was that last night?” He asked, leaning against the door frame.
“That was me, tired of being ignored all night, tired of watching Michelle hang all over you guys, tired of watching all of you drool all over her.” I said, slamming some stuff into my bag.

“So it’s a jealousy thing?”

I laughed harshly. “Really? Me jealous of Michelle? No. I was annoyed, yes. I could have gotten the same attention too, if I wanted to parade around in a low cut shirt and shake my goodies in front of a bunch of guys. I’m better than that, and I thought you were too.”

“I thought you were better than shouting insults at a girl you just met because of your own insecurities.” He shot back coolly.

“I’m so out of here.” I fumed.

“That’s it, Ella. Run away because things get a little bit tough. It’s what you always do. Meanwhile you’re ruining things with a really great guy. All because it’s too much work to stick around.”

“I’ve apparently already ruined it. Besides, if that guy was SO great, it would have been him coming after me last night to see what was wrong. He chose Michelle, not me. And any great guy would know that that was the WRONG choice. And YOU’RE included in that.” I picked up my bag and realized I couldn’t carry it and walk down the stairs on crutches. I was angry, hurt, and frustrated, and I just wanted to get the hell home. In my fury, I threw the bag down, where it landed on my foot. Even through the cast, my ankle was jostled, and it HURT. I slumped down to the floor, holding my ankle and crying. Drew came over and weakly tried to pat me on the back, but you could tell he wasn’t too into it. He was still angry. I pushed him away.

“Just get the hell away from me.” I yelled, realizing I was being a baby. It was just one of those days where everything seemed to be going wrong, and the only thing to do was cry and throw a big fit. Which I realized was exactly what I did last night, which got me into this whole mess. I didn’t care though, I just wanted to be alone.

Drew did leave, quickly and quietly.

I sat for a few moments, crying and alternating between cursing myself for being such a brat, and cursing everyone else for making me act this way. I heard tentative steps approaching, and figured it was either Nick or Jason coming to help me with my bag. Drew was mad at me, but he wasn’t cruel, he would have sent someone to help.

I didn’t bother looking up when whoever it was entered the room.

“Can you just carry my bag downstairs so I can get the hell out of here?” I asked, my voice mumbled from where my face was buried in my legs.

“No can do. You and I need to talk.” Jacob said.