Let Me Love You

I was so elated when the ending bell went. I gathered my few pieces of nothing and was about leaving when three girls stood in my way. From my experience back in my former school, I balled my fist and waited patiently for someone to hit me first. Nobody did. All that happened was a staring competition I was apparently partaking in.

"You're not even pretty", said one of the girls. I looked at her and no doubt, she was prettier than me. Too bad I never showed my insecurities.

"Yeah. I wonder what Jake saw in her." Another concurred.

"Who's Jake and what did he say he saw?"

They looked at me like I was an idiot but little did they know I got that look everyday of my life since I turned seven. Luckily, they're still nice enough to answer. "Well,if you must know, Jake is the hottest boy in the whole damn school."

"No. Elliot is hotter. He's cute and nerdy and dreamy."

"Ignore Cassidy, she has a fetish." One said to me pointing to the chubbiest of them three.

I wondered why I watched a couple of females squeal over a couple of males but I did. Humans are unpredictable. "What's with the hype?"

"What's your name gorrila girl?"

"I do not look like a gorilla. In fact, forgive my asking. I'm going home."

Cassidy ran to me holding me in place. "Stace is a moron please ignore her. I'm Cassidy. That's Anastasia and Mona."

I gave them half assed greetings the totally deserved. "Lisa."

"So, Lisa", Mona said holding my other hand. "What on earth did you do to get Jake to talk to you? Are you into voodoo and stuff like that?"

"Don't be an idiot", Anastasia said interrupting the sentence I hadn't yet formed. "She would've been hanging beads and vibes from her neck if she were voodoo. It's something else."

"Maybe the fact that I don't understand what the Jake hype is all about. He's as human as me." I couldn't say them because they sure didn't behave like humans to me.

Mona cleared her throat. "Let me tell you what the hype is all about. Jake Demidov, yes of Russian descent. 18 years old. Born on the 16th of February. He's an aquarius. Totally compatible for my sign. Also, he's the leader of H4."

I burst out laughing and the girls didn't know why. "H4? Is that like a secret service or something?"

"Elliot,Hanson and Brandon are in H4. Their the hottest, cutest and richest boys in the school." Cassidy said. "Jake's father has so much shares in the school it's absurd. "

"Cool. He's a rich prick then. I'm off." Before I was pulled back to the bottomless pit of gossip, I ran like my life depended on it.

...

Ryan and I ended up getting home at the exact same time. His excuse was always extra curricular activities - which I doubted he did, but I didn't have any. Gladly, Mabel's car wasn't in the garage.

"You messed up big time." Ryan said and I had to be sure I was the one being spoken to.

"Me? You're talking to me?"

"No. Abraham Lincoln was behind you." He finally got the door opened.

I followed suit,removing my shoes like the civilized person I was. Ryan walked all over Mabel's floors with muddy shoes and she didn't give a shit.

"What did I do this time?"

"Messing with Jake. You could've apologized and minded your business but you just had to talk back. You called him an idiot for god's sake."

I scoffed. "You too? Jake is only human. Stop treating him like he's more. He was the one that came after me in my defense. I'm innocent."

"Jake is unpredictable. You're in for deep trouble."

"Thanks for the advice brother dear. I'll keep it in mind." I went to my room after my fake through my teeth smiles. I changed out of my irritating uniform. They made us wear a skirt. I asked if I could get trousers but I had to meet the principal if I wanted to do that. The grey didn't even match my skin tone.

I stripped, took a nice cold shower and threw myself on my bed in nothing but my under garments. My phone dinged with a notification. I ignored it and continued staring into space. It went off again and again till I was sure the poor device was going to explode.

Pissed, I snatched it from the nightstand. People were following my Instagram account. I hadn't opened the app in months, preferring to use my phone only to read and doom scroll on YouTube. I opened the app and three followers had turned to seven hundred and two.

There was a direct message in my inbox.

The_Jakey ༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ

How very original. I had seventeen messages from that human in less than forty five minutes. I was ready to ignore the chat when one popped up.

The_Jakey༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ: Stop pretending like you haven't read my texts. Respond.

Me: Go away weirdo. I'll block your ass .

He sent me more messages but I disconnect the internet. I flopped on my back and immersed myself into a world of literature.

...

The next day, I made sure to stay clear of the three bad wolves. Of course, I received stares and some dared to ask for my number.

By lunch period, I went crazy. I stood up to head for the cafeteria like others were doing when some plastic surgery looking guy held my arm.

"And how may I help you?".

The audacity of the guy to ask if I was willing to have sex with him because they assumed that was what Jake and I were doing. I almost punched him in the mouth. Instead, I said,"I'm sorry but I'm not in the mood for a herpes injection."

I was on a witch hunt for Jake. Students had already started hearing to the cafeteria so that was where I was headed. The building was big and with a high rise ceiling so finding him proved a little difficult. I walked through the crowd of students- who were obviously staring at me - and bingo. Jakey was sitting in a corner.

"You narcissistic asshole!". I snatched the can of soda from the table with them and poured it on both his face and jacket. If I was expecting a reaction, it never came. Jake stared me down. Every body went quiet as if also anticipating his reaction. My face reddened with shame and I walked away. It was quiet even after I left.