Jealous

adjective – 1. envious of someone else's achievements or advantages. 2. resentful of someone regarded as a sexual rival. 3. fiercely protective of one's rights or possessions

Oh sweet innocent dictionary, if only you knew the truth.

I had expected science to be, as ever, dull... not just dull, boring as well, seriously, dull and boring. You know the sort of lesson where you start to think it may actually be possible to die of boredom, and where it might be fun to experiment with cannibalism, just to have something to do. The only problem is that we're not allowed to eat in the science rooms, so even if we did start practising cannibalism, we'd all get detentions for it.

I took my usual seat between Lucy and Gibby, the class victim. I think his real name was something like Max Gibson, but people didn't seem to remember that name anymore. He was officially the unluckiest boy in the school, which apparently made him a 'legend' or 'ledge' if you want to go totally chavvy with the language. It would have made anyone feel slightly wary sitting with the unluckiest boy in school as it was in a science lab full of harmful chemicals. To further reiterate my confidence in science lessons, I had the one of the most accident prone girls in the world sitting on my other side, and lets face it, I hadn't exactly ever won the lottery. And since I was likely to be attacked halfway through the class by Xandrell going into random huggy mode again, you can understand why Science wasn't exactly my favourite subject.

Our teacher entered the room, a rather chubby man who had Star Trek figurines (still in their original packages) under his desk. It was a custom with him to start the lesson talking in Klingon before starting to talk in a still more confusing language... whatever language chemistry was written in. After a few minutes of him gesturing at some random letters scribbled on the board, he finally said the only fully English sentence in the whole lesson. "Right class, get to work" which everyone took to mean "go ahead and blow the lab up".

I immediately jumped up and hurried over to where Tasha, Sophie, James and Charlie were gathering at the front of the room while Lucy left to join Ceci, Helen and Sadie, who were officially more popular than my gang. I soon found myself being followed by my usual stalker.

"What do you want now Xandrell?" I asked, not turning around.

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked sounding unusually hurt.

"I have eyes in the back of my head, didn't you know?" I said sarcastically, but when I felt his fingers graze the back of my hair, I realised my mistake. "Because it's never anyone else is it, you idiot."

"Hey!" yelped Xandrell, his usual happy tone taking on a strangely defensive tone. "Don't call me an idiot. I'm smarter than you, stupid human female!"

I froze in my tracks, letting Xandrell walk into me and probably bruising my shoulder blade, not that I was really paying attention to that. I turned very slowly to face him, my eyes narrowing at him. "What... did you... call me?"

He narrowed his eyes back at me. "I called you what you are. A stupid human female!"

My jaw dropped. "Oh my God, you are such an asshole!" I hissed furiously.

His anger was briefly replaced by confusion. "I'm a what?"

"Can't you tell from my tone it's nothing good?" I snapped turning away and beginning to walk towards my friends.

"If I'm one of those, then you're a collinger!" yelled Xandrell angrily.

I paused and looked back at him. "Care to explain?"

"Some questions are better left unanswered." he said cockily, crossing his arms.

I glowered at him for a moment, moving right up close to him. "Get out of my sight, and shut the hell up." I whispered, trying to keep my temper under control, before turning on my heel and stalking away across the lab to where my friends were stood staring at us.

"You and Xandrell just argued?" asked Charlie looking positively aghast.

"Yeah, but he'll still come over so I wouldn't get used to him not being around."

Charlie shrugged and went back to singing the lyrics to his favourite song (which had something to do with girls chests (almost growl-worthy in my opinion)) under his breath while Sophie shook her head sadly at me. "I don't see why you have such a problem with him Amy. He's jokes."

"Yeah," Tasha chimed in. "I mean, he's totally hot and is obviously in love with you."

I glared at her. "Tell me something I don't know why don't you?"

Tasha looked slightly shocked at my reaction. "I'm just saying..."

"Yeah, yeah, Xandrell's wonderful and crap. Can we grow up a bit now please?"

I blinked and stared at James. "What's with the attitude?"

"All of you, even you Charlie!" stormed James angrily. "It's always Xandrell this, Xandrell that. For God's sake, it's not like he's the godforsaken Messiah or something! He's an airheaded prick who has his head too far up his own-"

CRASH

I felt a sharp pain across my face. My hand flew up to my cheek instinctively.

"Oh, Gibby!" cried several members of the class, and Gibby blushed, looking down at the remnants of his experiment.

I stared. The boy had just poured citric acid into a beaker and it had exploded... he'd basically poured a glass of juice! God but that guy was unlucky.

"Amy, is your face ok?" asked Charlie who was standing nearest to me, trying to look at my cheek. I frowned and moved my hand away. Sophie and Tasha both immediately winced while James and Charlie's eyebrows shot up. I blinked and looked down at my hand. It was covered in blood. "Bloody hell..." muttered Charlie. "Want me to go punch Gibby for you Amy?"

"If you so feel the need to." I muttered getting a tissue out of my pocket and beginning to wipe up the blood.

"No need." said James frowning over at Gibby.

I glanced over. Xandrell was already there, his fist swinging around and colliding with Gibby's nose. "You asshole!" he spat, bringing his fist back for another punch. "I'll teach you! I'll teach you!"

Oh Christ, not again.

I ran forward and grabbed his fist before it hit Gibby's face again. "Xandrell, stop it!" I yelped over the cheers and jeers of the rest of the class.

He looked up at me with that same shocked expression he had when I'd stopped him from hitting James. "But he hurt you."

"It wasn't intentional!" I cried. "It's not even that bad!"

The latter was probably a lie. I would have a scab there for at least a week or two, and right now it was pretty damn painful.

Gibby looked up at Xandrell, his nose bloody and face furious. "What the"...insert swear word of your choice here... "was that for dickhead?"

"Shut up, you asshole!"

"Xandrell!"

"Enough!" yelled the science teacher and everyone looked up, amazed he was speaking in English, in contrast to Klingon or the language of Chemistry. "Max, Amy, report to the sick bay. Xandrell, I want a word with you. Would someone please escort these two down to the medical room, in case they both pass out from their grievous wounds at the top of the stairs and need someone to carry them the rest of the way down."

A snigger ran around the room. I sighed and began to move across the room, out the door and beginning to walk down the stairs, Gibby wandering along behind me.

"For God's sake, wait for me." said James appearing beside me. "It annoys me when you do that you know Amy."

"Sorry." I said sarcastically. "I kinda have more important things on my mind." I gestured at my bloody cheek.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Whatever." he muttered before turning to Gibby. "I think you owe Amy something."

"You mean aside from a clock that goes back in time so she could've ducked?" muttered Gibby looking at me. James' hand clenched into a fist and Gibby sighed. "Alright fine. Sorry my experiment exploded and cut your face Amy." he said quietly.

"Don't worry about it." I said shrugging. "Sorry the random guy obsessed with me punched you."

Gibby sniggered making more blood spurt from his nose.

James told the woman in the medical room both mine and Gibby's names and forms and such while her assistant found an antiseptic wipe for my face and had Gibby leaning forward pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Hey, Amy." he muttered after a few moments. "I mean it, I really am sorry for what happened. I'm so freaking unlucky."

"It's fine." I told him. "Really."

"Alright Mr Gibson..." said the nurse peeling away the tissue to look at his nose. "All looks fine, so back to lessons with you. Miss Wren, I just have to go and phone your mother to make sure you're not allergic to any plasters."

"I'm not."

"Well it's best just to check."

I stared at her back as she bustled out of the room. "Health and safety gone mad." I muttered to James.

He grinned at me. "How typical it is of you to end up in this situation."

"It's because I'm special." I muttered.

James sniggered, taking the seat beside me. "Hey, Amy?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something..."

I frowned at him. "Yeah." I said curiously. He didn't usually ask to talk to me. "What's up?"

"Well..." James swallowed. "I was just wondering if... well do you have... has anyone asked you to prom yet? Because, I was wondering if... if you'd like to go with me... you know as friends."

I blinked. "Are you being serious or just being a mug?" I asked frowning.

James grinned. "It's not as anything, you know, serious. We're more friends than anything like that. I couldn't think of you as anything else."

I felt a smile creeping onto my face. "Yeah..." I said quietly. "Yeah, I'd love to go with you as friends..."

"... but she can't, can you Amy?"

We both looked up at Xandrell who was stood in the door to the medical room, arms folded.

"What do you mean I can't?" I snapped at Xandrell.

"Well, last I checked, you were going to prom with me." said Xandrell smirking at James and me in an arrogant, self-satisfied way.

James stiffened and looked around at me, eyebrows raised. "You're not... are you?"

"No!" I said quickly. "Xandrell, you haven't even asked me!"

"Wanna go prom with me?" asked Xandrell, but before I could answer he cut across me. "You do? Great!"

My mouth dropped open while James got to his feet and headed for the door. "I guess I'd better get back to science." he said looking determinedly at the floor as he walked out of the door. "Meet you two up there."

I glared at Xandrell, my eyes narrowing. "What the hell was that for?"

Xandrell folded his arms again and glared straight back at me. "One, to get him out of your hair, and two to get you to go to prom with me."

"You're a jerk!" I yelled at him just as the nurse entered the room.

She looked cautiously between me and Xandrell before quickly sticking a plaster over the cut on my face and ushering us back to our lesson. I strode ahead of Xandrell, keeping an angry silence between us. I rushed ahead of him when we reached the lab. Everyone had been returned to their normal seats I practically ran to the back of the room to take my seat between Lucy and Gibby.

"Hi." Lucy greeted me cheerfully.

"Hey." I greeted in a monotone, opening my book and copying Lucy's diagrams. "Did I miss anything interesting?"

"Uh, cleaning up Gibby's mess, experiment..." Lucy trailed off, but I could tell she was smiling. It was like the instinct of a friend. "... and I got asked to Prom by somebody!"

I froze and looked up at her. Lucy had confided in me a few weeks earlier how scared she had been that she wouldn't have a date for Prom and therefore was wary about going. I could tell now that she was absolutely thrilled. "That's brilliant!" I said grinning before returning to the diagrams. "Who asked you?"

"James!"

There was a loud snapping sound as my pencil lead broke. However, Lucy seemed not to notice, burbling something about 'isn't it great?' and 'know he's just a friend but still'. I stared at the front of the room where James sat near Tasha and Sophie. It felt like the floor was moving under me, and the room was swirling around in my head. I felt seasick. I felt a lump in my throat which swelled still more as James suddenly turned around and shot a quick smile in Lucy's direction.

"... James..." I squeaked.

"Yeah, I mean I know he's like a friend and stuff, but still, I thought no-one would ask me." said Lucy happily. "It's not a problem is it Amy? Me going with him?"

I felt the burn of the green-eyed-monster, wanting to tell her that she couldn't go with James, for the simple fact that it made me feel like this. However, I looked up into her face, positively glowing with happiness, and I knew I couldn't do that to one of my best friends. "Of course it's ok." I told her smiling. "I hope the two of you have a good time on Prom night. Have you got your dress yet? Me, Sophie and Tasha are going shopping on Saturday. Wanna come?"

"Ooh, yes please." giggled Lucy beaming as I'd never seen her beam. I supposed there was like this little secret part of Lucy, same as there was in me, which was still girly and liked to dress up, and when walking past a shop window and seeing a handbag you really, really like and getting all excited and then seeing the price and then burbling on about it at a time when it's totally irrelevant.

It shouldn't have bothered me, Lucy and James going to Prom together. They were two of my best friends. I should've been happy, but for some reason it really bothered me. I felt selfish feeling the way I did, I mean I had Xandrell... oh joy of joys...

I could've kidded myself that I could get by and be strong about all of this, but at the end of the lesson, when James would've usually waited for me, he turned away when Lucy arrived and completely blanked me. I pushed past him and ran off down to the girls bathrooms, locked myself in one of the horrible little cubicles, and when Sophie and Tasha found me half an hour later, I was still crying my eyes out.