The Boy Next Door

I'll Show You

The voice slices through our kiss and I bring my legs down to the ground. Jared pulls away and my body instantly misses his warmth. I whip my head in the direction the voice came from and instantly regret it. Jared moves in front of me to block the persons view from seeing me. He's protecting me.

"What the hell is going on here!?" Jayden screams and I can see him glaring hard at Jared. "Malia? What are you doing with this jackass?"

"Leave her alone. You've done enough today," Jared defends me.

"Shut the fuck up, Jared! I'm talking to my best friend," he yells and steps forward. My stomach tightens with anxiety, telling me that this is about to get bad.

"It's not what it looks like-"

"It looks like your taking advantage of her and that is not okay with me," Jayden interrupts Jared. I try to swallow the lump in my throat.

Jayden takes another step forward and I can see Jared clenching and unclenching his fist. My mind instantly goes to when Jared punched Emmett for bothering me. I didn't want this fight to go that far. Swallowing my fear, I move around Jared, so that I'm now in the middle of both of them.

"Guys, calm down okay?" I say loud enough for both of them to hear.

"Calm down?! You want me to calm down! Malia, I'm trying to protect you. Can't you see that?" Jayden yells.

"Yes, I can see that, but you don't have to. I can protect myself," I say, earning a glare from him." Don't fight. I don't want anyone getting hurt over me."

"Fine. Then let's go. Come on Malia!" Jayden calls as he turns to leave. My feet stay grounded where they are, but part of me wants to go with him. Part of me wants to see him apologize and say he wants me back. But the other half knows he won't, that he will just walk right back into the school and drop me off at my friends. He stops, realizing I'm not following him. He looks at me expectantly.

"Umm. I don't think so. I have something I have to do," I lie. Hurt hangs heaving in his eyes and his shoulders slump. Pain runs through my veins as I see him hurt and to know that I caused it. He turns and walks away out of my sight. A headache starts to form in my head and tears sting my eyes. I HATE hurting him, but right now I can't be by him.

"Hey... Its gonna be okay," Jared whispers in my ear. He hooks his fingers in the loops of my jeans and pulls me close to him, so that my back is against his chest. His arms curls around my stomach, pulling me into a backwards hug. I put my arms on his and take in his embrace.

*************************************
I take a deep breath and face plant into my bed. I think about all the events that took place today and I groan inwardly. I just got home from school and I have to go dress shopping. I have a choir concert tomorrow, Friday night.
I sit up in my bed and reach for my phone.

5:04

Well I guess I better go, since I have nothing else to do. I get up and grab my purse. I quickly look in the direction of Jared's room, hoping to find a smirking jerk face who's kisses make me feel and weird. To my disappointment, he's no where to be seen.

I run down stairs and try to find my mom. Lately I've been pretty much broke, so I've had to borrow from my mom. She promised that I could use some money for a dress.

"Mom?" I call.

"In the kitchen!" She yells. I walk over to the table and find her doing some paper work.

"I have to go dress shopping and I need that money," I say. She looks up at me and sighs.

"Okay," she replies and gets up to grab her purse on the couch. She digs around for a minute and I start to think she lost it, but she soon pulls out 20 dollars.

"Thanks so much, mom! Love you," I smile. I kiss her on the cheek and walk towards the door.

"Your welcome!" She calls back and goes back to her work. The mall isn't that far away from my house kinda like the school, so I can just usually walk there.

I walk down the side walk for about a block when I hear foot steps behind me. I peek over my shoulder and see the last person I want to talk to today.

I start to walk a little faster and escape the person. But my plan quickly fails when the foot steps behind me get louder and a strong hand grabs my hand.

"Let me go, Jayden," I grumble and turn around to face him. He basically has stressed written all over his face. Guilt starts to rise in my stomach. I did this.

"I just want to talk," he says in a sweet tone.

"Jayden, is everything okay?" I breath out.

"Don't worry about me. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I wasn't ready for you to jump at me and I panicked. I thought it might ruin our friendship." He pauses, looking up at me." It's hard to say," he sighs and rubs his temples with his fingers. My head is spinning with questions. What is he talking about?

"What's hard to say?" I ask.

"I'll show you," he whispers, half to himself. He takes a step forward and cups my face in his hands. I gasp and widen my eyes.

Then Jayden's lips met mine for the first time.