Pure hatred

JASMINE

I kept screaming even as I rushed inside the house and up to my room.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” my mom asked, but I ignored her, screaming all the way upstairs.

I slammed the door behind me, my heart thudding wildly. It was beating way more than it should, and I felt like I was about to have a panic attack.

Jack is my next-door neighbor.

I don't know if I should feel nervous or happy about it. The boy I have had a crush on is now my next-door neighbor.

My eyes shifted to the dressing mirror in my room. I looked like a homeless girl right now. My hair was a mess from how I had been sleeping earlier, and the clothes I was wearing were something I was too embarrassed to even talk about.

Damn! I should have listened to my mom when she said I should wear something nice. But how was I supposed to know that the handsome son of Susan was my very own crush—Jack Harrison?

“This is a total disaster,” I whimpered, falling on the bed.

“Honey,” my mom knocked on the door.

“Leave me alone, Mom,” I said with a faint voice.

“We need to talk, Jasmine, and I won't leave until we do,” she stated.

I groaned and got up from the bed and went to open the door for her.

"What's wrong? Why did you scream all the way to your room like you just saw a ghost?"

Seeing a ghost would have been better than seeing Jack. I could still hear the thudding in my heart.

“Speak to me, hon. What happened?” she whispered, caressing my face.

Before I could open my mouth to say something, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get the door, but when I'm back, you must tell me why you reacted that way, okay?" she smiled at me, and I reluctantly nodded my head.

Collapsing on the bed again, Jack's face from earlier replayed in my mind. He looked ungodly sexy with his wet brown curly hair and his chest… I wish I had taken a better look at it instead of running away.

He was the last person I had expected to show up in front of me, which is why I freaked out.

"Jasmine, you're needed downstairs!" my mom said loudly.

What does she want now? I groaned before heading downstairs, and I met my mom talking to a woman and a girl.

I could guess the older woman was Susan, and the girl had to be Callista—the best pianist in Wilford High School. So I wondered what she was doing with Jack's mom.

“Honey, come say hi to Susan and her niece,” my mom ushered me over.

I walked down the stairs and approached them.

"Hi, Susan," I smiled at her, then turned to Callista. "Hi."

"Hi, Jasmine. I'm Callista, Jack's cousin," she smiled at me.

"I know. You're the best pianist in school. I didn't know you and Jack are cousins," I returned the smile.

"Yeah, we are," she answered with a small nod.

Amy would totally go nuts if she found out that Callista is Jack's cousin, and that she lives next door to me. Being gay, she has a crush on Callista and never fails to attend any of her contests.

Susan held my hand, and I looked at her, wondering what she was up to.

"I'm sorry, Jasmine. You must have been so freaked out when you saw Jack almost half-naked earlier."

I wasn’t freaked out because I saw him shirtless—I wanted to see more of that defined chest. I was just freaked out because I didn’t expect him to be the one to open the door.

"It's fine, Susan," I forced out a smile.

"No, it's not. Jack has always been that way. Stubborn and only cares about himself."

That was harsh coming from his mother. Does she hate Jack? Before I could make meaning out of her words, she smiled at me.

"I just made dinner. We should all eat at my place. What do you think, Becky?" she asked my mom.

"Sure, I would love that," she responded with a grin.

There's no way I would eat at the same table with Jack. I would die of hypertension before the dinner was over.

"Mom, you just made dinner. It would be uncomfortable eating in their house," I whispered, but they all heard me.

"That's not true, Jasmine. I don't mind having dinner with you and your mom," she smiled. "You're always free to come to my house whenever you want," Susan smiled, and I faked a grin.

I'd rather visit the jungle than go to her house, knowing Jack will be there.

"Don't worry about the dinner I made. I will send it over to the hospital. Let's bond with our new neighbors, honey," my mom said, her hands all over my shoulders.

"You can go with them, I need to study," I muttered, finding a way to ditch having dinner with them.

I wasn't ready to face Jack again. I'm still finding it difficult to digest the fact that he lives next door to me.

"You can always study later."

"Mom," I groaned.

"It will be nice having dinner with you, Jasmine. We go to the same school, and yet this is the first time I'll be seeing you. I would love it if you have dinner with us, and then I can show you my room," Callista smiled.

"That would be so cool. Don't you think?" my mom asked.

Bonding with Callista wouldn't be a bad idea. I would have something to say to Amy. But somehow, I wondered why no one in school knew Jack and Callista were cousins, they don't even talk to each other in school.

"Alright. I will just fix myself up," I mumbled.

I went to my room and got dressed. Knowing I would be dining at the same table with Jack, I tried to look good.

We all went to Jack's house, and we were all at the table eating, except for Jack. He wasn't dining with us, but Susan and Callista didn't seem to care about that.

I wanted to ask, but I didn't want them finding out that I have a crush on Jack.

"Where's your son, Jack?" my mom asked, and I felt so happy that she asked what had been eating me up.

"I don't know where he is," Susan answered, unbothered.

"Shouldn't he be having dinner with us?" my mom pressed, while I leaned in to hear her answer.

"Let's just have dinner, Becky. It's better without him here," she smiled at my mom and continued eating.

We all had dinner together, but Jack never showed up.

Callista showed me her room as she had said she would, and I took a picture of her room so I could show it to Amy.

I wanted to ask her about Jack as we bonded together, but I changed my mind. I felt it was too early to ask about that. Moreover, she didn't even bother to tell me why she and Jack kept being cousins a secret from the whole school.

I went home with my mom, and while I took a bath, the expression on Susan's face when she spoke about Jack lingered in my mind.

Her eyes didn't hold the love of a mom when she talked about him. It was pure hatred.

There's no way a mother would hate her son, right?

After I was done showering, I dried my hair with a clean towel and left it messy, hopping into my big PJs.

I sat on the bed, ready to text Amy everything, when I heard a groaning sound from my window.

Before I could get up from the bed to check who it was, Jack jumped into my room, and I gasped.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, eyes widened.

"Why?" he asked, scanning me from head to toe. "Are you going to scream and run away like you did earlier, Jellybean?" he murmured with a smile.