The Hoodie & the Wet Sheets

The day Jake confessed his feelings to the new, gorgeous transfer student, everyone was sure I was gonna lose it. They thought I'd come barreling in, screaming and trying to stop it.

But by the time he was done, I still hadn’t shown up.

What Jake didn't know was, I was actually wearing his roommate’s hoodie, sitting on his roommate’s bed, asking with this totally innocent look, “Uh, I kinda got your sheets wet, how are you gonna sleep tonight?”

Myles looked away, his Adam's apple bobbing, and just tossed me a towel. “Go dry your hair. I'll change the sheets before you crash.”

1

Jake was gonna confess to that hot new girl, Tiffany.

He’d given everyone the heads-up to keep it from me. Except, of course, some busybody couldn’t keep their mouth shut and told me.

Everyone knew I was obsessed with Jake, like, dreamed about marrying the dude.

This time, Jake was head-over-heels for this girl. It was the real deal.

I was supposed to be the drama queen, crying and making a scene.

This kind of love triangle drama? People live for that.

They were all waiting for me to freak out, to come and flip the whole situation upside down.

But, nope. I didn’t show up, not even after Jake got his confession out there.

The crowd of lookie-loos was kind of bummed out. Even Jake didn't look as stoked as he should have.

He put his arm around his new girl, pulled out his phone. No calls, no messages.

Jake frowned a bit, then rallied the troops: "Alright, guys, my treat tonight. Free grub for everyone!”

The students cheered.

I finally stepped out from behind the bushes.

Some eagle-eyed dude spotted me and yelled, "Hey, it’s Anna! Anna’s here!"

“I knew she wouldn’t stay away,” someone else said.

Jake's head snapped up. For a split second, I saw his lips curve up, like, barely.

2

I totally ignored all the people waiting for some drama to go down.

I walked straight to Jake.

"Anna."

Jake pulled his new girlfriend closer. He looked at me, his voice flat. "This isn't something you can force. We’ve known each other for a long time, so I don't want to be too harsh, but, ya know, we should keep it civil.”

"I still think of you as my kid sister."

"If you ever need anything, you can still hit me up.”

He lowered his voice, like, “Don’t make a scene. Just go home.”

“Jake,” I interrupted, stepping closer.

He frowned again: “Anna, listen to me.”

I smiled a little and handed him a bracelet I had just taken off.

“I just came to give you this back.”

Seeing the bracelet, Jake's face hardened. "Anna, what are you playing at now?"

"Just take the bracelet. I won't bother you anymore."

Jake stared at me, his voice getting colder. "This thing is nothing. I don't even want it."

"If you don't want it, throw it away.”

As soon as he said that, I threw the bracelet into a nearby trash can.

“You can throw away all the other stuff I gave you too.”

And with that, I turned and walked away. Didn't look back once.

3

Jake stood there, watching until I was completely out ...