A/N: Read and review please!

Jealous Julie:

In high school, you're always pressured and pushed into different directions. Each choice you make is either something you'll regret about or remember. I can recall countless moments where I had changed who I was to be like everyone else. I don't remember who told me this or where it came from, but it stuck to me and I always think about it: sometimes you have to see what you're not, in order to see who you are.

When I was 7 my mom left. The weird thing that I remembered was the fact that I knew everything would change. The moment I saw her walk intently out of my life, a door closed. Everything was different.

From age 7 and on, my dad became a heavy drinker- always loosing himself and never feeling bad about it. I went through a series of mock depression at one point. And everytime I really thought about why I was so upset, it always followed back to the night my mother left. To compensate for my losses as a child, I would cut my hair. I know it sounds weird, but I honestly don't know what I was thinking at the time. It's curly so you can't really tell if I've made any mistakes or not, so that's one of the benefits.

And it's as all these memories come flooding back, permission denied, that me English class flies by with ease as I loosen a dark brown curl from my grasp. The bell rings and school is over. I grab my stuff and jet out of the classroom and into the ever-crowded hallway that smells like dog piss.

"Bye JJ. Have a great weekend," says Elia, one of my closest friends.

"Bye," I call back to her as I zip up my bag and head to the front of the school where I will proceed to wait for my always-late boyfriend [rhyme not intended]. We've been going out for about half a month now and this is the first time he's picking me up from school.

I take a seat on the rocky steps as I look out into a field of parked and moving cars. It's a crowd of automotive chaos. A few cheerleaders plop themselves on the lower steps, most likely waiting for their boyfriends too.

Suddenly I feel a buzzing vibration in my jean pocket as I pull out my cell phone.

I smile and say, "You're gonna be late," already explaining the whereabouts of my boyfriend.

"Jules! That hurts!" he says as I hear a car honk in front of me and the group of cheerleaders load themselves into a black ford pick up.

I laugh and say, "Hey buddy, you created this reputation."

"Well," he indignantly replies, "for your information, I'm here."

I look up and see his dad's red Honda civic pull into my school. I grin as I close my phone and hoist my bag over my shoulder.

"Why Brody Andrews," I say in astonishment as I stick my head through the passenger's open window, "you're early!"

He smirks and says, "Damn straight! Now get in, we're holding up traffic."

I smile and roll my eyes as I throw my backpack into the back seat and he drives away. Brody goes to a school down the street from me. He's a year older to my 16 and a hell of a lot taller too.

Brody and I met on the bus when a man ran up to me, asking if I'd seen his Sally. I remember my eyebrows being raised and my palms starting to sweat.

"Your what?" I had asked him.

I noticed gray hair coming out of his ears as I looked into his eyes and saw how terrified he was. I was pretty sure that his Sally was not a person, but a thing.

"My Sally!" he shouted.

Several people around me began to stare.

I seriously hated taking the bus.

"No sir, I haven't seen your Sally," I replied.

"Don't lie to me!" he continued yelling, "I know you've seen my Sally, I know!"

Right then, Brody came up between the crazy man and I and said, "Oh my gosh! I knew it was you! I haven't seen you in so long, how've you been?"

At first I was confused. This man was ranting about his lost Sally and then this guy comes up to me, thinking that he knows me. But once he caught my confused look, he winked. I eased into his hold on my arm as I let him take me to the back of the bus.

Once we were seated he began laughing.

"Are you all right?" he asked me.

Still in a daze, I responded with a faint, "Yeah."

"Are you sure you haven't seen his Sally?" he mocked.

And I was out of my trance. I pursed my lips and playfully shoved him, acting like we were old friends. I realized what I did and coiled into the bus seat. He smirked, offered his hand and said, "My name's Brody."

And that's how we met.

We finally pulled into his driveway when his dad came out by the mailbox to take in the mail.

"Hello Julie," called his father, "Brody," as an afterthought.

We both waved as we lifted our backpacks over our shoulders. Brody too my hand and led me to the guestroom, also known as the study.

So we got about 10 minutes of work done before I could feel Brody brush his hand against my knee. I looked up from my U.S. History textbook and he smiled suggestively.

I gave him a small smile before saying, "Brody we can't. Your parents are downstairs and I seriously need to read about the Civil War."

He sighed and said, "All right."

The furthest I ever let him go was to full throttle making out.

Just then the door flung open and his mother came through.

"Brody are these clean?" she asked, holding up a pair of his boxers. I stifled a laugh as he nervously shot his mom a look of annoyance. They were the Joe Boxer's with the smiley faces on them. Brody's cheeks were beet red as he snatched the undergarment from his mother's hold and shoved it into his drawer, muttering a, "Yeah."

"Hello Julie," his mother lively greeted.

"Hi Mrs. Andrews," I slowly said as I caught Brody's look of embarrassment.

Honestly, it wasn't that bad. I don't know what's making him all nervous.

"Bye mom," Brody briskly called as his eyes shooed her away.

"Okay, okay," she said as she backed out the door, rolling her eyes at Brody.

Once the door shut, Brody sighed as he slumped low. He covered his face with his hands and muttered something incoherent.

"Hey B, it wasn't that bad," I reasoned. And when he didn't reply, I shocked myself by adding, "It's not like I wouldn't have seen them another time,' as if it was nothing, no big deal.

Slowly, he removed his hands from his face and grinned.

"Shut up," I said as I pulled my textbook closer to my line of vision.

We were sitting side by side against the bed and I slowly noticed him moving a little closer everytime I blinked.

"Brody, come on," I said.

He sighed again, clasped my book shut and said, "It's Friday, JJ! We should be outside doing something!"

I half smiled and gave in, just like that. I could always read up on the Civil War two minutes right before class started.

He took my hand, pulling me up, and said he'd take me home to get ready. I raised an eyebrow and he just smiled. Once I got home, I pulled out dark green cargo pants, a black spaghetti strap top and my black converse shoes to pull my outfit together.

When Brody arrived, we ended up walking to a nearby park. We sat at a bench beside a large overshadowing tree and just relaxed. We were a weird couple. We liked doing things like this, just relaxing and sitting at the park. Sometimes we read and sometimes he'd let me fall asleep on his lap.

Just then, Carly Farren came walking down the path by Brody and me. she always made me angry, and she didnt even have to do anything. it was just the way she looked at you. she made you feel stupid.

and that's when i saw it. saw what made Carly tick. some would say that it was the way she dressed, wearing those mini skirts and those five thousand inched heels. or even the way she flipped her hair with ease. see now i know that if i tried that, my hand would be forever lost. it's a hub of curls up there. But anyway, what made Carly tick was the way she smiled. the way it looked as though she knew something that you definitely didn't. like she was hiding a secret somewhere behind that glossy smile.

she almost passed Brody and me when she abruptly stopped. and i cursed under my breath.

"Brody!" she exclaimed.

now i may be paranoid, but i knew—i knew that somehow she would woo my Brody and i will forever live darkly in her shadows. but i said to myself, "screw that. there is no way in hell that i will lose Brody to a girl a mere two inches taller, as thin as a tooth pick, and as seductive as a maenad. Nu-uh, forget it!"

"Yes?" he said.

"I thought i recognized you," she said nodding. "You were the one that saved me from that crazy guy on the bus."

i furrowed my eyebrows. Brody nodded and she said, "Well it was nice seeing you again." He nodded again. and once she clicked her heels away, i slide down the bench from him.

" 'Saved from that crazy guy on the bus?'" i quoted.

he sighed.

"How many other girls have you 'saved from that crazy guy on the bus'?"

"Don't do this Jules," he warned me.

i crossed my arms. "All right," i muttered. he sighed again and pulled me close.

he breathed lightly onto my neck and said, "I like you, not Carly or any other girl." my arms remained folded over each other. and my eyes looked straight ahead at that giant tree. he pulled my face to look at him and half smiled. "You're jealous," he concluded.

DING-DING-DING! we have a winner!

"No i'm not," i haughtily replied.

his smile broadened and he nodded his head. "Yes you are," he said.

i lightly pushed him with my shoulder and said, "Don't be mean, i thought you liked me."

he chuckled as he whispered into my ear, "I do."

i turned to face him, loosening my crossed arms and he swooped in to kiss me. i abruptly pulled back and said, "I'm not jealous," waving my index finger in his face.

" 'Course not," he said as he lightly kissed me again.

But he knew i was jealous and he let it go. and this made me smile as he kissed me softly.

A/N: Please review! Thank you. : )