Page 109 of Unexpected Prejudice

While Jessie seemed to enjoy the film, I didn’t, and not because of the usual things that made me hate the cinema. All I could think about was our fight before coming here.

We never fought.

We never fought until we entered Beverly Bay High and were exposed to a new reality that made me realize how insecure I truly was. I’d been stupid to think a threesome with a guy like Jordan would do us any good. Now, I was left to deal with the consequences. It would have been easier if Jessie had stopped hanging around the guy, but he didn’t, which drove me insane. Like today, for example. I had no idea why he’d invited him to Miles’s place.

After returning to his routine, Miles invited some friends to his house for a lunch he cooked himself.

Everything had been fine until Jordan showed up, and with him, so did my bitterness and weaknesses. Honestly, it reached the point where I couldn’t stand to look at Jordan. Just thinking about him again increased my anxiety. My hands were fisted so tightly that my fingernails dug deep into my skin. My body was burning with rage, and all I wanted to do was scream. I wanted to scream until I had no voice left. To let out all my pain, fears, and anger at this stupid movie and my pathetic life.

“Where you going?” Jessie whispered as I stood in the dark theater.

“Smoke,” I said quietly before walking down the aisle, trying not to bump into people’s legs or kick empty popcorn tubs on my way out.

I had developed a new game: smoking whenever I felt like screaming. So far, this was my fourth cigarette today, and it was still sunny outside. Who knew repressing yourself was so fucking hard, but what other choice did I have? I refused to tell Jessie what to do, and I refused to tell him how I felt so he wouldn’t figure out what a pathetic loser I was. Jessie being Jessie meant he was oblivious to the whole damn thing. It wasn’t his fault I was hurt… was it?

“There you are,” Jessie’s voice snapped me back to reality, and I looked to find him standing over me. “You really picked up that habit, huh?” He pointed at the cigarette shoved between my lips. Looking up at him from where I was crouched, I puffed the smoke out.

“The movie over?”

He shrugged and shoved his hands into his pocket. “Nah, but it was pretty shitty. Wanna go grab some milkshakes?”

“Sure.” I took another drag and blew out the smoke before I stubbed it on the ground, stood up, and threw the used butt in a nearby trashcan. “Where you wanna go?”

Jessie looked around, his neck stretching as he checked out the street before he pointed at a restaurant with big, flashy neon signs that made it look cheap.

“I bet they have killer shakes.” He grinned and reached for my hand. “Let’s go, Babydoll.”

Holding hands, we crossed the street and walked toward the restaurant, which seemed full, considering the few couples waiting outside.

“Looks like it’s packed,” I said while scanning the inside of the place through the big windows.

“Wait here, and I’ll ask. Maybe there’s a place by the bar or something.” Jessie smiled and gave my temple a big kiss before he let go of my hand and walked in.

I’d always admired his ability to talk with people so casually. Even asking if there was a place at a packed restaurant made me feel awkward, and I’d rather continue walking than ask a stranger who’d probably tell me no.

“They said the waiting time is about thirty minutes,” Jessie said when he returned and wrapped his arm around me. I loved how easily he covered me with his body, although I wished I was tall enough to do the same. “Let’s find somewhere else. I know you hate standing in line for food.”

“Yeah, let’s.”

I hated waiting in line for food because no matter how tasty the food was, it was never worth the wait. I also wasn’t a fan of American cuisine. I was five when we arrived here and never got used to it. Not that we ever went out to eat in Russia. We didn’t have the money, but Babushka cooked a lot, and Dadushka used to make me delicious Syrniki when he was still alive.

“Oh, Jessie!” a woman called and we both turned to look.

Considering she knew Jessie’s name, I assumed they knew each other. Looking at her a bit more, she did look familiar, yet, not enough for me to remember where I knew her from. There was something about her honey eyes that reminded me of someone.

“Oh, hey, Serena.” Jessie moved his arm from around my shoulder and reached to hug Serena.

“When you crossed the street, I thought it was you, but last time we met, your hair was a different color, so the blue confused me for a moment.” Her mouth curved in a big smile.

Jessie had changed his hair to blue a little while ago, so they must have known each other before that. Maybe she was a customer?

“Yeah, I dyed it two weeks ago. Wasn’t feeling platinum anymore.” He chuckled, moving his hand through his sky-colored hair. “Oh, this is Levi.”

He turned to introduce me, and I wished he hadn’t because now her attention was on me.

“Hey,” I said unwillingly, and she offered me a kind smile before returning to Jessie.

“I’m glad I ran into you. I wanted to invite you for dinner but didn’t have your number.”