15/16
š„ JUPITER š„
š« HIGH š«
š(A high school r0m@nƧĀ£)š
Episode 15
MAX POV
I stood staring at Jack while Andrea stood in between the both of us, looking drun!kand if we hadn’t been holding her hand, she would have fallen.
She nee-ds to get back home and also to get sobered up , I thought
“Won’t you let her go?”Jack asked and I stared at him
“I c@mĀ£ to take her home,have any problem with that?”I asked
“I do! You see Beatrice has asked me to keep watch on her………”
“Just tell Beatrice that she left with me, she will un-derstand”I said
“I won’t! Why don’t you do it yourself”he said as he held Andrea hand
“I didn’t come here to have any fight Jack,I …….”
“Am surprised you still remember my name”he said
“Why won’t I?”I asked
“Is it because you were feeling guilty at stealing Rose from me back then?”he asked.
“I didn’t steal Rose from you,we both know that she chose me over you” I replied
“Liar”he growled out loud getting the attention of the other students
It’s been years since this incident happened, so why is he suddenly bringing up this issue? I thought.
“What’s going on and why are you two holding onto Andrea like that?”Beatrice asked as she c@mĀ£ to us
“This guy here insist on taking Andrea” Jack said
“She is drun!kand so I will be taking her home”I said
“But wait,I………”
“Will you all just SHUT UP!!!!!”Andrea yelled startlingly all of us.
“I want to dance and p@rty some more,so let me go “she said drun!kenly
She managed to pu-ll her hand from Jack but she was unable to do it with mine.
“Let go of me!!!”she yelled and then staggered towards me.
She didn’t move when I tried to pu-ll her away, I realised then that she must have sle-pt.
“I will take her to her house,”I said.
She had woken up a bit and she could walk on her own.
“You fool!”I muttered
“What! Did you just call me a fool” She asked as she stared up at me drowsily.
“Yes I did”I said and she pu-ll-ed away from me.
“How dare you!” She said as she point her f!nger at me
“You jĀ£rk!”She yelled at me and I couldn’t stĀ©p myself from smiling.
“Did…….did you just smile”She said as she walked towards me and before I could stĀ©p her, she drew my cheeks.
“What are you doing”I said as I pushed off her hand
“You should smile more often Max, you look handsome “She said as she gave me a grin
“First a jĀ£rk and now am handsome?”I asked
“You jĀ£rk!!!! “She yelled again
“My handsome jĀ£rk”she added as she smiled
I couldn’t stĀ©p myself from admiring her beauty.
Just then I saw a taxi and I waved for one.
“What! A taxi?”she said behind me
“Yes a taxi, get in let’s go “I said
“No,no I can’t, why didn’t you bring that big car of yours” she asked as she rest on the wall for support
“I didn’t bring it”I said
“I can’t get into a taxi, they are very expensive and I nee-d to save more money “she said as she began to walk off.
I waved the driver off and followed her. If she remembers what she said and did tonight , I am sure that she will be very embarras-sed to face me tomorrow,I thought.
“My handsome jĀ£rk, my handsome jĀ£rk, my handsome jĀ£rk”She kept saying as she staggered off.
“Where are we going to?”I asked and she stĀ©pped to stare at me
“Why are you following me?”she asked
“I said I will take you home”
“Wow! You didn’t take me home on that day at Beatrice’s first p@rty, so don’t worry, I will go home myself” she said as she began to walk off but she stumbled on something and fell.
“It’s okay, it’s okay……..i’m fine”she said as she stood up.
I went to her and bent in front of her “hop on my back, you are a walking disaster” I said
At first I thought she wouldn’t but then she hopped on my back
“Where are we going to exactly”I asked
“A bus station, we are taking the bus home”she said as she la-id her head on my back.
“Have never taken a bus before”I said
“There is a first time for everything”she said sleepily and for a while she was quiet, I thought she was asleep but a while later she sighed.
“You are quiet”I asked
“Why are you doing this to me?”she asked softly
“What am I doing?”I asked
“If only mother isn’t so obsessed about me attending a good school, I will not have to live my life with worries”she said
“Me going to a rich school is all mom idea, she says she wants the best for me because she never had the best”
“You know my mom graduated,she finished college and got a di-ploma but just because she didn’t go to a good school, she was never given a job, they preferred someone who went to a good school than some who is ha-rd working”
“She doesn’t want the same thing to happen to me,that is why I attend rich school”
“Mom had payed for me and I was studying in the best school and so it was left to me to make staying in the school work, the students at Excel high hated the scholars and they made their life a living hell”
“I didn’t have any option than to lie but somehow they found out my secret and began to make my life impossible”
“Did you tell your mom about this?” I asked
“No, mom has a lot on her mind, I just couldn’t burden her with mine, so instead I went to school each day and I tolerated Erica’s bullying, you said something to me on the rooftĀ©p on that day”
“You said I was a weakling but am not, I was just scared, scared for my mom and for myself, I started to lie all because I don’t want to be bullied and also to avoid trouble and cause my mom to worry”she said sadly
“But as luck would have it, I changed school only to meet you, Someone who knows my secret, ever since I saw you,I couldn’t sleep, I tried to avoid you and kept praying that you wouldn’t recognise me but you did and you keep on tormenting me with it”She said as her voice changed.
Gently I put her down and turned to stare at her, she had been crying, I thought as I wiped off her tears.
“For once in my life,I thought that I could be happy as a student,that somehow Jupiter high will bring me luck but it didn’t, you found me out and I can ha-rd ly sleep because I keep on wondering if you will tell everyone the truth or if you will make me do things that I would be called names or worse if you will also become Erica who bullied me”
“It’s all so frustrating Max, you knowing the truth frustrates me like hell”she said as she kept on crying
I felt bad after listening to her story, she isn’t doing it just because she is poor and wants to be amongst the rich.
She is doing it for her mom who wants a better life for her.
I pu-ll-ed her towards me and gave her a ti-ght hvg.
“You mean Max, you made them call me a thief, I can be everything else but not a thief, you having fun at my expense is cruel, really cruel” she said as she kept on crying.
“It’s okay Andrea”I said softly,placating her.
“Am sorry, I really am”I added and when she didn’t say anything, I stared at her only to find her asleep.
Luckily a taxi pas-sed by and I called for it. Soon we were in the car,on our way home.
“It’s all so frustrating Max, you knowing the truth frustrates me like hell”
“you having fun at my expense is cruel, really cruel”
Her words c@mĀ£ back to haunt me as we headed back home.
Was I having fun knowing her secret, I thought as I remembered watching how she tried to hide the truth, how she tried to avoid me and how she behaved when she knew that I remembered her.
I knew she was having a ha-rd time doing all of those things and yet I had watched and made fun of her.
Am cruel just as she said,I thought as I stared at her.
The car got to the estate and with the driver’s help I carried her on my back and went inside the house.
Her mother was waiting at the garden when I carried her In.
” But she told me she wouldn’t drink!”her mom said as she saw us
“She was saying the truth, the other kids brou-ght the alcohol and poured it in everyone jui-ce”I said
“Just put her here sir, I will take her to her room when she is sober”her mom said to me
“Let me take her to the room, it will be much better that way”I said and she led the way to their room.
The room itself was quite small, the second thing they had to a be-d was a duvet which they spre-ad on the floor.
“Just put her here” Her mom said pointing to a well spre-ad duvet.
I la-id her on the be-d and stared at her. She looks beautiful when she is asleep, I thought.
As if she could hear my thoughts,she opened her eyes and stared at me.
“My handsome jĀ£rk”she said softly and before I could give her a reply, she sat up and threw up on me.
“Andrea !!!!” Her mom yelled at her.
She stared at me drowsily and smiled, then she fell on the duvet and sle-pt off.
“Am so sorry sir, give me your coat, I will wash it for you” Her mom said as she tried to pu-ll off my coat.
“No, no nee-d, I will just throw it away”I said as I left the room.
“Andrea will certainly drive me crazy”I thought as I held my breath not wanting to smell her vomit.
ANDREA POV
I woke up having an headache, my head hurts a lot, I thought as I sat up
“So you are finally up”my mom said and I opened my eyes to stare at her
“What happened, my head keeps on ban-ging”I said
“Have this soup, it will make your hangover go away”she said
quic-kly I carried the soup and began to drink .
“You don’t remember what happened yesterday right?”she asked
“Is there something that I have to…………..”I stĀ©pped when I began to remember what I did and said yesterday.
“Oh no!”I said
“You remember right?”
I nodded gently, Beatrice had given me a jui-ce and I had drank it only for me to get drun!kand begin to do crazy things
I don’t really remember the rest but I do remember that Max c@mĀ£ for me and I had said and done crazy things with him.
“Oh God”I said feeling bad
“It’s best you get re-ady for school and make sure you apologise to Max”my mom said
“Why”I asked
“Don’t tell me you don’t remember what you did to him in our room”she asked
“Is there more?”I asked again
“You threw up on him and though he had said it was fine, I don’t think he was telling the truth, so get yourself re-ady for school and go to him to apologise” My mom said as she left the room.
I layed back on the be-d, feeling so nervous, why did I have to get drun!k.
“My handsome jĀ£rk” , the name I had taunted Max with last night ,c@mĀ£ back to taunt me.
How will I face Max now.
š„ JUPITER š„
š« HIGH š«
š(A high school r0m@nƧĀ£)š
Episode 16
ANDREA POV
I got dressed for school, though I was feeling reluctant to leave the house.
I didn’t want to see Max. I felt so embarras-sed. Why did I have to talk so much? drun!kards are meant to sleep but instead my mouth kept running.
I had even told him the real reason why I attend Jupiter high, something I never tell anyone.
I just hope that he doesn’t get the chance to see me or talk to me.
“You are still here, you will be late ?”my mom said as she stood in front of the doorway staring at me
“I will be out soon”I replied and she walked off.
Taking my books, I head out of the house being cautious at the same time.
As soon as I was out of the gate, i smiled to myself, feeling lucky that Max hadn’t seen me
“Good morning Andrea”on hearing his voice I turned only to see him all re-ady for school and he was standing in front of his car.
“Good morning”I said nervously
“Had a nice sleep?”he asked
“No…..not really”I replied still feeling nervous
“Would you like to have a ride to school in my car?”He asked
“What?”I asked, Surprised by his question
“Would you like to have a ride with me to school?”he asked again.
“No!!!, I mean I am used to using the bus, so I will just use the same thing this morning”I said
“Really? But last night you were asking for my car?”he said
“What? Last night?”I asked as I tried to remember that p@rt
“You said why didn’t I bring that bring car if mine?”he asked having a smile on his face And I knew that I must have said and done stupid things in front of him
“That was the drun!kAndrea but now……….”
“You are yourself again, the well ordered Andrea”he said softly.
“Last night was the first time I saw you free with yourself and around me”He said
“Being drun!kmade me do that, look Max am sorry, If I did anything that offend you last night, plea-se forgive me” I said
“You don’t have to…………..”
“I have to, my mom told me what I did and it’s a must that I apologise for it and so Max , plea-se accept my apology “I said
“Andrea I …………..”
“I will head to school now”without listening to what he had to say, I left him and went to take the bus.
***********************************************
“I will never get you close to alcohol again” Beatrice said as we three walked into the school.
“I had messed up badly right?”I asked
“You went crazy Andrea, even jack had a ha-rd time trying to get a hold of you”Brenda added
“Jack? “I asked
“I had told Jack to keep an eye on you”she said
“But why him?”
“He was the only one available and he didn’t keep an eye on you for long because Max showed up “Beatrice said
“You should have seen the way the two of them were over you last night, Max didn’t want to let you go and Jack too but you pu-ll-ed yourself free only to fall into Max arms and so he took you home”Beatrice said
” You should have stĀ©pped him from taking me”I said softly
“Now that I think of it, I doubt that there is nothing going on between you and Max”Brenda said
“Nothing is going on between Max and I?”
“And so, tell us how he knew where you live, we don’t know it, how did Max know it”Brenda asked again
“We…….well it ………….”
“My God! What is he trying to tell me” Beatrice called out as she stared at her phone.
“What now?”Brenda asked
“It’s Jack, he said……he said he is coming to our school” she said
“Our school? I thought his school is in the states”I asked
“Well I don’t know, he just said……watch out”Beatrice said as we all moved out of the way for the motorbike to drive past us.
“No way!”Beatrice said as we all stared at the driver of the motor bike.
Jack stood by the bike, Dressed in our uniform and he was giving us all a smile.
“No way!”I also said the same thing Beatrice said
While hers was with good intentions, mine was with bad one.
“Why this school?”I muttered to myself.
Beatrice ran towards him to give him a hvg and Brenda pu-ll-ed me towards them
I would have like to escape but Brenda hold on me was too strong
“Guess what guys! Jack will be studying in our school from now on” Beatrice announced as we got to them.
“Why?”I found myself asking
He gave me a look and smiled before answering.
“Cause I like this school and because my favourite cousin is here” he said, giving Beatrice a pe-ck on the cheeks.
“Oh Cousin , school will be fun with you and Max wouldn’t be the only handsome stud in school, now he has a rival, you can tell with the way the other students are ogling at him”Beatrice said
“It’s so nice to have you here Jack, I just hope you will be able to control your cousin a bit, she tends to do crazy things sometimes”Brenda added
I was still in shock to say anything, First I had to cope with attending the same school with Max, now I have to do the same with him, life is just so cruel, I thought
“Aren’t you going to say a thing?”He asked suddenly
“That’s right Andrea, you’ve ha-rd ly said a thing “Beatrice said
“Aren’t you happy to have him here, you know you can use him as a shield against that Max”Beatrice added
“I don’t think that will ever happen, I can certainly protect myself and I am happy to see him here” I said
“Well enough alre-ady, let’s go to clas-s”Beatrice said happily
“But I still have to talk to the teacher, You see I haven’t been given a clas-s yet” Jack said.
“Don’t worry I……or better yet Andrea will take you to the teachers office”Beatrice said
“But I………”
“Brenda and I have something to finish up, so hurry and go with him, or he might just get swamped up by these hungry looking girls, ”Beatrice said as she pu-ll-ed Brenda off with her.
I sighed sadly and looked at Jack only to find he looking at me
“You definitely aren’t happy to have me here”he said
“What do you think? That I will be excited with your arrival! Why did you even choose this school, there are a lot of…………”
“Because I want to be close to you” he said suddenly and I stĀ©pped what I was saying
“What?”I asked and he laughed.
“Remember I told you that I will get to know what your secret is, well am here just to do that” he said
I couldn’t get to answer him because the girls began to scream .
I turned only to see Max getting out of his car.
As if he knew that I was watching him, he looked up and stared at me.
quic-kly I looked away “let’s head to the teachers office “I said to jack
“Why? Are you suddenly being this way because of him”Jack asked
I didn’t answer him and when I turned to stare at Max again, it was to see him coming towards us.
By now most of the students were staring at us.
“Can we just go”I pleaded with Jack
“No, I want today hi to my soon to be clas-smate” he said
Max got to us and I could feel his gaze on me.
“You c@mĀ£ early but you haven’t gone to clas-s yet?”he asked
“I will do that soon”I said not looking at him
“Very rude! Won’t you even say hello!”Jack said to Max
“I only say hello to those that are worth it, common Andrea let’s go to clas-s”He said holding my hand.
“Sorry Max but this time you won’t be taking her away, she is to take me to the teacher office, so kindly let her go” Jack said as he pu-ll-ed me from Max.
“Why don’t you let me call one of those girls, they will be willing to take you to the teachers office” Max said
“Or I think it will be best that you go with one of them, they will be so willing to go with you to clas-s” Jack said.
I could s-en-se the hostility between these two guys and not wanting a fight amongst them I said quic-kly
“I will take Jack to the teachers office and then I will head to clas-s”I said to Max
“See”Jack said having a smile on his face and then he took my hand and pu-ll-ed me off
I didn’t dare look back because I knew that Max was watching us.
Why is he suddenly acting like a friend, he always avoids me at home and also at school? What caused this sudden change, I thought .
“My my my, Max is always full of surprise”Jack said
“Why do you say that?”I asked
“Have always wondered why he is always around you, now I know”He said
“What conclusion did you come to?” I asked
“It’s either of two things”he said as he turned to stare at me.
“It’s either he likes you or he knows the secret you are trying to hide”He said
Knowing that he was so close to the truth, I pu-ll-ed my hand from his .
“That’s ru-bbish,I don’t have any secret to hide and Max can’t possibly like me”I said
“Why can’t he? You are beautiful and I couldn’t help but to notice that guys were staring at you”
“StĀ©p it! You aren’t here to interrogate me, the teachers office is down this hall, you can get there yourself right?”I said and began to walk off
“Judging from your behaviour, you still haven’t remembered what happened between us last night”He said and that made me stĀ©p
“What happened?”I asked
“Try remembering,” he said to me and walked off.
MAX POV
For the first time in a while, I found that I couldn’t concentrate.
What’s wrong with me, I thought as I closed my book in anger.
The teacher hadn’t arrived yet and so was Andrea.
How can she keep lur-k-ing around Jack after what he did at the p@rty?
She should have known by now that Jack is after something and I hope that it’s not after her.
Why would I hope for such a thing? What is wrong with me, quic-kly I bent to retrieve a fallen pen when I heard Beatrice calling Andrea.
quic-kly I sat up and watched her walk in without Jack.
Did she get rid of him that soon, I thought feeling somehow relieved.
“Come here, tell me what you think of my cousin”Beatrice said
“What I think as in how?”I heard Andrea asking them
“Tell us didn’t you find him attrac-tive” Brenda added
“No I don’t” her reply made me happy.
“But why, Jack is a hunk and compared to someone,he is easy going” Beatrice said and I know that the someone she was referring to was me.
“I know and just as you all think of him as a friend, I also think of him the same way” Andrea replied
“No way!” Beatrice and Brenda said at the same time and they would have continued if the teacher hadn’t walked in
“Seems like this is my lucky year, Ap@rt from having the tĀ©p student along with the beautiful transfer student another will be joining our clas-s today” Mr Daniel said
“Who sir” A student asked anxiously
“It’s none other than Jack,”Mr Daniel said and Jack walked in.
“Hello guys, Am jack and I am new here. I am easy going and friendly. Treat me with care,” he said as everyone cl@pped.
“Why don’t you sit next to Geoffrey at the back”Mr Daniel said
“I would like to sit beside the beautiful transfer student”he said as he went over to the empty seat beside Andrea and sat down there.
“Okay then with that settled, let the clas-s begin” Mr Daniel said.
All throu-gh the clas-s,I wasn’t paying attention because I was staring at Andrea and Jack.
The jĀ£rk purposely sat beside Andrea to get me annoyed.
As if he knew that I was looking at him, He looked my way and then gave me a smile before staring at his book.
Jack will certainly be a threat in our lives, I thought to myself.
.
To Be Continue