The Boy Next Door

It's Not What It Looks Like

Pain swells in my chest at the sight of him. His cheeks have tear stains and his hair is all ruffled, as if he had been pulling at it.

"Jared...?"

"It's me." He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. Tingles rush through me at his touch. No this is wrong. He hurt me. He doesn't care, this is all an act.

"No, just stop," I shove his arm away. A confused, heartbroken face states back at me. "You used me. You never cared. You lied to me and hurt me. I don't ever want to see you again."

"No, no, Malia. Please tell me you don't believe what Emma showed you," he begs. "I would never do anything to hurt you."

"Jared I saw the texts myself-"

"You actually think that I would say that? I may be a jerk sometimes, but I'm not an ass. It was all Emma. She did this to get between you and me," he cuts me off.

"I think you need to leave," I say. I can't handle the sight of him right now. I heard expression sprawls all over his face. I instantly regret what I said.

"No, wait. I didn't mean it like-"

"No, no. I get it. I'll just leave you alone then," he interrupts. He stands up and walks over to my sliding glass window, leaving. Before he walks out the door, he pauses and looks back at me.

"It's nice to know you don't trust me. Goodnight, Malia." My heart literally cracked in half as the words left his mouth.

*************************************
"What?!" Lydia screams.

"I'm gonna kill him," Zamora mutters.

"Woah, girls. Calm down." I say." I know I just made him seem like an ass, but I still have strong feelings for him. I can't have you going on a murderous rant."

"You're right, but still. I feel he needs to learn a lesson," Allison puts in. I had just explained the situation to my best friends. I sort of knew they would have this reaction, but I still had to tell them.

It's the next day and we're at school. I've been avoiding Emma and Jared all day, which is pretty hard since Jared is in some of my classes. But in the classes that I've had with him so far, he hasn't even looked at me.

"Hey, are you okay?" Zamora asks suddenly, bringing me out of my thoughts. I realize there is a single tear rolling down my face.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," I lie." I'll see you guys later." I put on a fake smile and get up from the table where we're sitting at in the library.

As I walk to my locker, my mind wanders back to Jared. What if Jared was right? Why am I pushing him away? I'm probably overreacting.

I open my locker and take out my books. I need to talk to him. I'll apologize and we'll get answers out of Emma and everything will be okay. It'll all go back to being normal.

I walk down the hall to my next class, when I hear a strange noise. Muffled voices are coming the next hallway and my curiosity gets the better of me. I look around seeing that there's no one else around and start heading towards the sound.

As I get closer I start to recognize a deep male voice mixed with sarcastic female voice. I quickly with around the corner to find Emma and Jared talking. A sharp pain courses through me, like somebody is stabbing me. They both turn her head to look at me and surprise.

"Malia..," Jared says.

"Why are doing?!" I shout.

"It's not what it looks like, trust me," Jared pleads.

"Oh really. What is it then?" Tears are threatening to burst from me, but I hold them back as much as possible. A sly smile spreads across Emma's face. My forehead creases in confusion.

"Hey Jared," she says. Jared turns his head to look at Emma. She grabs his face and presses her lips to his.