Unordinary: New Student

36: Jealous?

John's POV

I caught sight of Stephanie in the hallway just after classes ended, and I ran over to her. "Hey, Stephanie!" I grinned at her. "How was your weekend?"

"Great, no thanks to you." The blue-haired girl frowned slightly.

"What? Why?" I gasped, confused.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "You ditched me to go hang out with Arlo. I'm hurt."

My eyes widened. "Ah, I'm sorry about that. I was just excited to make a new friend." I smiled. "You understand, right?"

"Yeah." Her eyes glowed warmly at me. "So do you want to go hang out at your house?" 

"Sure-" I paused, remembering Arlo's errand. "Wait, no, sorry. I can't. I'm going with Arlo to do an errand with him."

"An errand?" Stephanie narrowed her eyes. "Did he tell you what it is?"

"Nope," I shrugged slightly, my feet itching to make my way to the front gate, where Arlo must be waiting for me. "But I'm sure it's just like grocery shopping or something." I waved goodbye to her. "Well, I gotta go now. Catch you later!"

She grabbed my arm, stopping me from dashing off. "Wait, John." Her blue eyes held a shred of uncertainty. "I don't think you should go."

"Huh?" I scratched my head. "Why not? Nothing dangerous. Just an errand."

Stephanie shook her head. "I don't trust Arlo. And you shouldn't either."

"What?"

"I mean, does he really seem like a guy who would step down from his mighty throne to hang out with a cripple? He usually harasses other people who are weaker than him and piss him off. He's up to something. And it's nothing good."

"Excuse me?" I stared at her disbelievingly. "You don't have the right to judge him. You don't know him like I do. He's actually nothing like that. He's caring inside, and he's my new friend. I trust him." I said with confidence and mounting anger.

"But John, you shouldn't. He's not who you think he is. Arlo is dangerous!" She almost yelled the last part out.

I yanked my arm out from her grasp. "He's not anything like that. You know what? I think you're just jealous that I want to spend time with him instead of you." I huffed, glaring at Stephanie.

Her eyes widened with hurt. "Hey, no! I'm just worried about you! What if he hurts you?"

"Well, he won't." I retorted, turning and heading toward the gate. "I never thought you were the kind of person who gets jealous over such petty things. I guess I was wrong." My voice dripped with malice, and I could feel Stephanie flinch. As I walked away, I didn't look back, yet I regretted what I had said already. 

Anyway, I didn't really know why she was so paranoid. Arlo was perfectly safe. My new friend. The one who helped me when I got beat up. And Stephanie wasn't there to help me.

Arlo was waiting for me at the gate, leaning against the wall as he checked his phone. "Hey, I'm here." I said, a grin already on my face.

"Finally. Ready to go?" The blonde's eyes twinkled as I nodded enthusiastically. He even smiled at me a little, which made me even happier.

I really didn't know what Stephanie was talking about. Well, if she couldn't handle her jealous around my new friend, maybe she and I shouldn't be friends anymore.