Chapter Three - The New Girlfriend

Andi

The moment I had been living in fear of happened the very next day. I got to watch Micah and his new girlfriend Sarah Powers twisting tongues with one another in front of the whole cafeteria. It was a horrible moment. Truly sickening. It was one of those moments of hopelessness, sadness, nausea and grief all combined into one huge consuming knot of angst. Even though the sun was shining and the birds were singing, everything still seemed to take on a darkened tone and I felt encased in misery.

'I should go over there and rip that tongue right out of that stupid bitches head,' Carly said menacingly.

I rolled my eyes at her. 'Carly, I'm over it okay? Besides Sarah's not doing anything wrong. She has every right to kiss Micah. He is her boyfriend now.' I could feel my eyes getting watery and Kylie leaned over and gave me a little hug.

'Don't worry Andi,' she smiled reassuringly. 'Micah Evans sucks - '

'- face with any pathetic bimbo that throws herself in his direction,' Carly finished for her.

'I was going to leave it at sucks, but thanks for the input Carly,' Kylie said sarcastically. Turning back to me she added, 'What you need is a new boy toy to play with. Someone who will take your mind off that idiot. Someone like Jesse, maybe.'

I shook my head. 'No way, Jesse's a friend. I wouldn't use him as a rebound guy.' It was true. I didn't want to use Jesse as a rebound guy and not just because it would be unfair on him, but because there was a very good chance that I'd end up falling for him and I really couldn't stand to be hurt again so soon after Micah. Plus there was the fact that Jesse didn't see me that way. While I saw Jesse in his grown up form as a 'hunk' he just saw me as 'different.'

'Hey,' Carly said giving Kylie a little pinch. 'Don't go giving her any ideas. Jesse's mine.'

'No he's not,' Kylie replied.

'Not yet,' Carly grinned. 'But soon he will be. Right Andi?' I sighed and pretended not to hear her. 'Right Andi?' she repeated.

'How should I know?' I mumbled.

'You said you'd talk to him for me,' she whined. 'You're not backing out on me are you?'

I shrugged. 'Of course I'm not. I'll get around to it sooner or later, relax.'

'Fanatastico,' she said with a big grin. 'I'm going to get another Dr Pepper, anyone want one?' Kylie and I both shook our heads and Carly got up and left.

'You're trying to set up Carly and Jesse,' she said with an arch of her eyebrow. 'Are you serious?'

'She likes him,' I said, as if that should explain everything.

'Yeah and so do you,' Kylie said matter of factly.

'No I don't,' I replied. 'Maybe I did when we were kids, but that was a long time ago. People change.'

'That's right, they do,' Kylie agreed. 'And some people - people like Jesse - change for the better. If you were crushing on Jesse when he was just a scrawny little kid there's no way you're not crushing on him now he's grown up into Mr Hot Stuff.'

'Mr Hot Stuff?' I smirked. 'Gee Kylie, should Drew be getting jealous?'

'Of course not,' she laughed. 'Drew's my one and only - just like Jesse is yours.'

'Would you please stop before I puke,' I told her. 'I really don't want to talk about this anymore. As of right now I am swearing off men.'

Suddenly there was a loud clatter behind us and we swivelled around to see Carly and Sarah facing off - Carly's formerly pristine white shirt covered in the remains of Sarah's lunch.

'You idiot!' Carly seethed. 'You did that on purpose!'

'No I didn't,' Sarah snapped. 'You bumped into me. It's not my fault you're such a ditz.' Micah stepped in between them and started to usher Sarah away.

'Come on Saz,' he said slipping an arm around her shoulders. 'Just ignore her.' Sarah ran her eyes up and down Carly and smirked. Carly turned red from rage, grabbed up a handful of napkins from a nearby table and stalked back over to us.

'Did you see what that stupid whore did to me?!' she exploded. 'And the way she looked at me like I was something she found on her shoe! Who the fuck does she think she is?!' I let out a groan. Carly was in full on angry rant mode and I was so not in the mood to sit around and listen to it. I grabbed my things and started to get to my feet.

'Where you going hun?' Kylie asked.

'I've got to go to the library, I've got heaps of work to do.'

'On the second day of the semester?' Kylie asked cynically.

I nodded. 'Yeah. Catch you guys later.' I turned to leave and came face to face with Jesse holding his lunch tray and smiling down at me.

'Hey Andi,' he smiled.

'Oh hi Jesse,' I mumbled. 'I was just leaving. See ya.' I clutched at my bag and hurried out of the cafeteria. It had been hard enough seeing Micah and Sarah all over one another. Seeing Carly flirting with Jesse as well would have been way too much.

Jesse

I watched as Andi rushed out of the cafeteria and wondered what it was that had made her so upset. She'd tried to hide it but I could tell she was sad about something.

'What's wrong with Andi?' I asked Kylie, slipping into the seat between her and Andi's blonde friend.

'Oh she's just suffering from a major case of heartbreak,' the blonde one said, wiping at her food smeared shirt with a handful of napkins. 'Poor thing.'

'She break up with a boyfriend or something?' I asked.

'He wasn't just her boyfriend,' the blonde replied. 'He was the love of her life and he gave her the E.'

'The what?' I asked again, feeling a little confused.

'The E!' the blonde girl said looking at me with her big blue eyes widened for maximum effect. 'The Elbow. He dumped her. Now she's heartbroken because he's got another girlfriend.'

'Oh that's too bad,' I replied fighting to suppress a smile. It wasn't that I was happy that Andi had been dumped. It was just that I'd never really given much thought to how I would have felt about seeing her with a boyfriend before. Now that I did think about it I didn't like it very much. If I'm honest, I was glad she wasn't seeing anyone. Selfish, yeah, but Andi... Well before I moved away I started to develop some, shall we say, possessive feelings towards Andi.

I didn't like it if another boy looked at her, or said something about her being cute or whatever. I just thought I was being protective. Even when I stopped hanging out with her those feelings stayed. I guess I liked being the only boy Andi was interested in, it made me feel special. She didn't know that I knew she had a crush on me, but of course I did. The way she used to grab my hand and squeeze it when we watched a scary movie together, the way whenever she sat next to me she'd press her knee into mine and leave it there, the way she used to practice her sweet innocent kisses on me. I knew she did those things because she had a crush on me, and like I said - it made me feel special. Because Andi was special and I was the only person she paid that kind of attention to.

'You know what she needs Jesse?' Kylie asked shooting me a smile.

'What?' I asked.

'Some cutie to take her mind off it,' she beamed.

'Ky!' the blonde exclaimed. 'Would you stop saying that? Why do you keep trying to get her to hook up with random guys? She's not some little skank! She LOVED Micah! She's not going to get over him by locking lips and bumping hips with some pretty little himbo! What Andi needs is to get back with Micah. They belong together!'

The blonde girls speech made me feel kind of queasy. Andi had been in love with someone? Was in love with someone? Someone she'd probably done a lot more than squeeze hands and touch knees with. I didn't know who this guy was, but already, I didn't like him.

'He has a new girlfriend Carly,' Kylie said sounding exasperated. 'He's moved on. Andi needs to do the same. Don't you think so Jesse?'

I nodded and shrugged my shoulders, but inside I was thinking - no she should not move on, she should stay single forever. Again, that was selfish of me, but I didn't want to see her getting close to another I would never be able tomake a move on her myself. It would be too weird. Over the years I'd been away I'd thought about Andi a lot. What she looked like growing up, who she went to for advice now that I was gone... Now I was just some kid from her past. I couldn't just ask her out, even though a big part of me would have loved to have had her squeezing my hand, touching my knee, or giving me a sweet innocent kiss again. I just couldn't.

As if reading my mind Kylie blurted out, 'Maybe you should ask her out Jesse.'

'No!' Both the blonde girl and I shouted in unison. I turned to look at her and she gave me a shaky smile.

'I mean I'm sure you like her,' the blonde girl said quietly. 'Andi's great - smart, pretty, nice to everyone. Even total psycho freaks like that weird Felix kid. She deserves the best. And for her the best is Micah. She's been head over heals in love with him for two years.'

I nodded at her, the queasiness coming back - this time mixed with a little sadness. I felt bad for Andi. Head over heals in love with someone who dumped her for some other girl? That sucked. She deserved better than that.

'She's desperate to get him back. And I for one hope that she does,' the blonde concluded.

My heart sunk. 'You're right,' I told her. 'She deserves to be happy. Andi shouldn't have to settle for some distraction guy if there's someone she really loves.'

'But he doesn't love her!' Kylie yelled. 'No! That's not what she needs! Micah Evans equals BAD, BAD, BAD! Micah Evans equals PLAYER! Micah Evans equals PAIN AND MISERY! ANDI SHOULD NOT GET BACK WITH MICAH!'

'Well don't tiptoe around the subject,' Carly said sarcastically. 'If you have an opinion why don't you just come right out and say it instead of giving us these cryptic little clues?'

Just then the bell rang and lunch was over. Well, I had certainly learnt a lot about Andi in the last few minutes. Things I hadn't known before. She was in love with some jerk of a guy called Micah, heartbroken, and desperate to get him back. A depressed feeling rolled through me and I did my best to push it away.

I don't get hung up on girls. Never have, never will. But Andi wasn't just some girl... Again, I pushed the thought away. I got to my feet and noticed Kylie and the blonde doing the same. I felt the blonde bump into me as we began to walk away from the table. I looked down at her and she let out a cute little giggle.

'Sorry,' she smiled. 'I'm a klutz.'

'That's okay,' I replied, forcing out a smile. I wasn't going to wallow over Andi. That would be pathetic. Loving someone who's in love with someone else? Bad move. For what felt like the millionth time I pushed the last thought away. I didn't love Andi - well okay maybe deep down, in my capacity as a friend, I harbored a little bit of love for her - but just as a friend. That's all Andi I and I ever were and ever would be. Friends. I just had to keep reminding myself of that and find someway to counteract this stupid jealous feeling I had.

The blonde bumped me again, and for the second time I looked down at her. 'Okay that time I did it on purpose,' she smiled. 'You seem so out of it.'

'Just thinking,' I replied.

'I like a man with an active mind,' she giggled. Again, I forced a smile. I could see now where Andi had gotten this new flirty streak of hers. My mind wandered back to yesterday when she'd said I'd turned into a hunk and the memory of the sweet little smile she'd had on her face as she'd said it had me blushing again. I suddenly realized that the blonde girl walking beside me thought I was blushing because of what she had just said.

'You're blushing!' she grinned. 'That's so cute!'

'Nah, it's just a little hot in here,' I replied.

'Very hot,' she grinned. This girl was really hell bent on flirting with me. I guessed it wouldn't hurt to flirt back a little - at least it would take my mind off Andi.

'What's your name?' I asked.

'Carly,' she said flashing me a dazzling smile. 'I thought you knew.'

'I guess I forgot,' I replied with an apologetic shrug.

'That's okay,' she giggled. 'I'll find a way for you to make it up to me.' I felt her moving closer to me so that her bare arm was brushing mine. And then I caught sight of Andi. She was talking to a girl at the side of the hallway. Our eyes locked briefly as I walked past and we both managed a small smile. I carried on walking and Carly carried on talking. But I didn't hear a word she was saying because all I could think about was Andi.

A/N: Massive thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! Glad you like this story! Okay, so this chapter was kind of short and rather angsty… But oh well! I kind of rushed this because after today I'm not sure if I'll be able to update for a while. I'll continue with this story as soon as I can… :)