Jenna Brooks’s POV I slowly stared up at him and even through my tear filled eyes, I could see that it was Liam. He had a cool headband on and he was in his football jersey. What was he doing here? Wasn’t he supposed to be at his football match?He led me out of the classroom, our steps were measured until we finally got to the rooftop. The welcoming breeze was soothing as Liam handed me a bottle of water. I took a seat on a bench and gulped down. He dropped down to sit beside me and pulled me in for a hug. I snuggled into his chest and cried. “I don’t deserve to be anyone’s friend.”“That’s not true, Jenna. I know you didn’t do it. You’re a great friend and anyone would be lucky to have you.” I nodded against his chest. When I couldn’t cry anymore, I sat up, wiping my cheeks. I looked at Liam, who was watching me. I tried to smile. When I did, he took hold of my hand and brought it to his chest.“I’m sorry Olivia was so mean to you. She’s also dealing with a lot,” Liam sa
Jenna Brooks’s POVA week later…A lot had changed in the past week and I sometimes wondered how it all went down. After Conrad and I kissed, a lot of kisses and make outs had followed. We made out in the school auditorium, behind the bleachers, in my room, in his room, on the rooftop and in drama club room—mostly drama club room after we were done with rehearsals. This one week had been the best one week of my life. I still pinched myself every now and then to be sure I wasn’t dreaming.And there was Oliva who hadn’t come to school since the incident. The whole school wasn’t talking about it anymore so I expected her to get her shit together and face the rest of senior year head on. I had asked Jeanette to ask Summer about Olivia but Jeanette had said Olivia already quit working for her. We still hadn’t found out who told everyone about Olivia’s background.And there was Liam, who was sitting across the room in the student’s council room. He was elected as student council pre
Jenna Brooks’s POV As closing bell rang, Conrad and I made our way to the drama club room. Everyone else was already there except Liam. During rehearsals, Conrad and I barely spoke unless need be. He had told me, “I don’t want the others to think we’re being unserious with the play,” and I had totally agreed with it. We weren’t supposed to mix duties with pleasure.As I sat across from the room, I noticed Conrad was talking to Anika and I tried to look away and not be bothered but I couldn’t help it. Thinking about it, we hadn’t really labeled our relationship. What were we? He just told me he liked me, I told him I liked him too and then we made out continuously.Most times when we were together, we hardly talked about anything. He would always cut me off in the middle of a sentence by either kissing me or squeezing my hands. But it was too early to label our relationship, right?I watched Conrad walk out of the drama club room, clearly angry. I thought of going after hi
Jenna Brooks’s POV “Let’s talk later, Jenna. I think I left the oven on. Bye.” The call ended abruptly and I couldn’t help but be worried. Why would mum not want me home for winter break? As I set my phone down, there was a knock on the door. I took a deep breath and opened the door. It was Conrad, he smiled and then walked in as I closed the door behind me.“Hey…” I greeted dryly. I couldn’t deny the fact that I was still worried about the whole Anika thing because I wasn’t sure where I stood. Nobody knew what was going on between Conrad and I and our relationship didn’t have a name either. Deep down, I had always wanted to ask him about where I stood and who I was to him but I had always feared what answer I would get.I sat on my reading table while he took a seat on my bed.“You’re mad at me?” Conrad started, giving me the puppy eyes. I almost fell for it but I stood my ground.“What? No.” I lied.“It’s about what happened at school earlier today, right?” he added as he
Jenna Broook’s POVAs Jeanette and Summer settled in, there was a noticeable tension in the air. Apart from Jeanette and me, no one else knew who Summer was."So, Jean, this is the first time I'm meeting your friend," Auntie Laurel started, as everyone's eyes stayed fixed on Summer, except for Conrad, who didn't seem to care."Yeah, Summer and I have been friends for a while now," Jeanette replied."Alright," there was a pause. "Let family game night begin!"We started with charades. Auntie Laurel and Jamie dominated the round, scoring ten points. Jeanette and Summer struggled, only managing to score five points. Conrad and I did poorly because I was terrible at playing charades, so we only scored two points."It's fine, Jenna. We'll do better next time," Conrad reassured me after the scores were announced.The next round was about French culture. I was excited when Conrad told me he had taken a French course before. We were confident we would win this round."We're going to win t
Jenna Brooks’s POVAs the night wore on, Conrad, Jamie and I decided to talk to Auntie Laurel on Jeanette’s behalf. She couldn’t possibly stay isolated in her room for so long. As we gathered nervously outside Auntie Laurel’s bedroom, we all exchanged uncertain glances.Conrad took a deep breath and rapped gently on the door. "Mom, it's us," he called out.Auntie Laurel’s voice, muffled and stern, floated from the other side. "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?"Undeterred, Jamie stepped forward. "Mom, we need to talk about Jeanette. Locking her away won't solve anything. We need to address this issue maturely."Taking this as my cue, I shifted from foot to foot anxiously. "Please, Auntie Laurel, Jeanette deserves to be happy. We can't force her to break up with someone she truly loves."The door creaked open slowly, revealing Auntie Laurel, her face etched with frustration. Her piercing eyes surveyed us, "You think you can come here and lecture me about parenting? I have my r
Jenna Brooks’s POV “If high school love is like a candle in the rain, I, Liam, will hold an umbrella for you.” Liam said, as he took a dramatic pose and held an imaginary umbrella over my head.I shrugged with an eyeroll, and he understood immediately that I wasn’t in the mood. We were both in the student’s council room and were making copies of more flyers to spread the word about the school play. It was in four days.“You don’t seem yourself, is everything okay?” he said as he sat down back, stacking the flyers.“Do you think the flyers are enough?” I asked.“You’re changing the subject”“What subject?” “I just asked you if everything is fine.”“And I just asked you if the flyers are going to be enough.”Liam moved his chair really close to mine and took my hands in his. What’s with people trying to comfort someone by holding their hands?“You can tell me anything.” he said, his voice almost a whisper.I took in a deep breath and contemplated on what to do. I couldn’t possib
Jenna Brooks’s POV As I walked back into the students council room, Liam was already done with stacking the flyers.“They’re ready to be handed out,” he announced.I barely looked at him or made eye contact because he was good at reading me. He would easily see right through my nothing-is-wrong facade.“That’s good. We should hand…them out now.” My voice cracked. I walked to the printer by the edge of the room so I could stay far enough from him so he wouldn’t notice my eyelids.“Is something wrong?” he asked, more quicker than I had expected.“Nothing,” I managed to say as I felt the tears building up again.I glanced at him over my shoulder and our eyes met, briefly. I immediately lowered my gaze to the floor.“Something’s wrong, Jenna.” he slowly walked up to my side and stood in front of me, leaning forward to hold my hands but I didn’t allow him to.“Nothing’s wrong,” I replied staring down at my feet. The tears didn’t spill from my eyes. I was surprised, but it was just