F***in' Arizona

Jealousy Is His Name (Chapter 30)

What is his deal??

Why is he acting like this?

Why was he acting like a "green eyed monster"?

"Maya I'm so mad!"

"Girl, what happened? I thought the trip had been going great so far?"

I needed to call Maya and vent. I know that Ari apologized for his sudden outburst, but I still don't know where it came from, and by the sounds of it, it didn't seem like he did either.

I understand that he didn't want to risk his family seeing me flirt with Jackson, but the family was nowhere near where we were, and we didn't know any of the people out there. There wouldn't have even been a way for someone to snitch to the family about me. Not only that, but if someone was out here snitching on folks to a family about the one of the son's girlfriends, they needed to get a life.

"It WAS going great at first until just now. Ari totally got pissy with me and yelled and cursed at me in front of all these people!"

"What??? What is going on over there?! That's so out of character for him. Why would he start cussing and yelling at you?"

"Man, I don't know! I had been talking to this super cute guy I met on the shore after I jumped out of the canoe and—"

"Wait, holdup, pause. You jumped out of a canoe? Like while it was still on the water?"

"There was a spider in the area I was sitting in."

"Understandable. Continue."

"So anyway, when I swam back to the shore, this really cute guy named Jackson helped me up and was talking and flirting with me—"

"Ooo! Get it girl!"

"Yes! Exactly what I was thinking! So, I'm in the middle of talking to this cutie when Ari comes back from the canoes, and he gets all defensive. He told Jackson that he was my boyfriend."

"Was the family somewhere nearby or within earshot?"

"NO! They were in a completely different area and nowhere near."

"So why was he trying to keep you from talking to this guy? I'm confused. Did he wanna try and holla at Jackson for himself?"

"Girl, who knows! I had to correct him and told Jackson that he was my friend who was a boy."

"Ahahaha, girl, you are a mess!"

"What?? It's true! So, after I corrected him, Jackson asked me out to dinner tonight. After he walked off, I asked Ari what his deal was."

"And??? What did he say??"

"Well, that's when he started getting pissy with me, yelling and cussing at me about me talking to other guys when we're supposed to be in a relationship."

"He means a fake relationship, right."

"That's what I said! I was like, dude we're in a "fake relationship", why are you trying to cockblock me?! And girl, do you know what he said?"

"What girl?"

"He said, "I don't know". Can you believe that!"

"Wait, Ari claimed he didn't know why he was getting so upset about you flirting with another guy even though he knew his family wasn't around?"

"Yes! Complete bullshit! I mean, yeah it's not like I'm gonna start a full-on relationship with Jackson, but—"

I didn't even notice that Maya had gone silent and wasn't making approving or disapproving sounds while I told my story anymore, so I droned on.