Three's Company

1.23 | Broken Books & Broken Promises

Broken Books & Broken Promises

crush: [kruhsh]; noun; to overwhelm with confusion, chagrin, or humiliation, as by argumentation or a slighting action or remark; squelch.

    She broke that promise on February 24th.

"Is she going to accept the answer you gave her? It seemed a bit short."

    "She'll be fine. We'll see what happens by February 16th."

    "February 16th."

    February 16th.

February 16th was eight days ago.

    It was now February 24th.

    The day that Jessica Anastos would break her original promise.

    Felix arrived at school with little else on his mind but talking to his girlfriend about how he felt. He wasn't sure if he had the right to say anything about it, seeing as Jessica had never been anything but kind to him throughout the course of their relationship, but he felt the need to do something for his own happiness. Of course, there was no time during the school day for him to say anything, so he would have to wait for after school. But his mind was set on saying something to Jessica Anastos about coming clean--he felt that he deserved an honest answer from her as to why they hadn't yet.

    The walk from the History hallway, where Felix and Caleb Halpon took the AP class while Jessica, Sasha Corrian, Ethan Meek and Nova Desai took the regular level, was always a bit odd for the secret couple. Jessica, naturally, opted to walk with her friends from the class, Caleb joining the rest of the gang and departing from the company of the general "nerds" in the AP class. Felix walked with the friends he had in the History class, but they, instead of heading to the 12th Grade English class that everyone else did, went off to the Science hallway to attend AP Biochemistry, three hallways and one staircase away from the English classroom.

    There were a few odd factors that influenced the events of that Friday afternoon.

    Nova always walked with Jessica's crowd, especially in light of recent events concerning Ethan Meek. But, on February 24th, Nova had decided to start her weekend early and go on a spa retreat with her pal from California. She wasn't in attendance at school.

    Jessica had informed Felix that Brad Noft had called for a third time the night before, prompting another angry phone call with Sasha and accusations of hiding something from her. There was little Jessica could do but helplessly deny her best friend's claims.

    Felix had had an argument with Ethan Meek in Psychology earlier that morning, and without Nova there as a buffer, the argument had become highly negative, prompting personal insults about popularity and intellectual capacity from both ends. The two were still at odds with each other, their tension palpable from the few feet that separated them in the hallway as they walked to English.

    Felix's friends, per usual, headed off to the Science wing and Felix was forced to walk by himself, following behind the crowd of people surrounding his girlfriend, who was towards the back of the throng of people and walking a bit slower, checking her phone as she went.

    The group, and Jessica, began to walk down the stairs and Felix followed close behind. There was nothing separating the two vastly different people except for a few steps.

    Felix's phone buzzed and he reached into his pocket to grab it, thankful for something that would make him look busy as he walked. Before he even set eyes on the phone, Felix felt himself take a wrong step and slip on the staircase, plummeting down the few stairs that were free of people and tumbling straight into Jessica Anastos.