JEALOUS

The thing about Tommy was that he seemed so different from all the guys from my old school. When we moved for daddy’s job, I knew starting 10th grade in a brand-new school would be the fresh start I needed, but I didn’t expect to fall in love so quickly.

I met Tommy during my first period on the first day of school when he arrived second - just a minute after me - and sat in the front row - right next to me. He fidgeted with his backpack, taking time to lay out his pen, pencil, notebook, hand sanitizer, water bottle and apple in an organized display on the small, square wooden desk. I thought that was so sweet. I smiled at him and introduced myself, Hi, I’m Rebecca, I said. He smiled back and introduced himself as Tommy. I could tell right away that he was a bit goofy and a bit shy so I asked if he wanted to sit with me at lunch. His eyes brightened through his coke-bottle glasses and he agreed.

Immediately, I could tell he was smitten with me. I was so overcome with excitement, I covered three-fourths of my notebook page with doodles of “Tommy” in different fonts, including bubble letters, and was so caught off guard when the teacher called on me to read the next section of the history syllabus that I said I got my period and had to go to the nurse. Sneaky, I know, but I didn’t want to embarrass myself on the first day of school!

At lunch, I quickly found Tommy, sitting with a couple of boys I hadn’t met, and slid in right across from him. Tommy’s freckled cheeks blushed, and he patted down his disheveled brown hair. It almost seemed as if he wasn’t expecting me, which I attributed to the fact that he likely hadn’t had a lot of pretty girls sit with him at lunch before. Tommy, did you forget? I laughed, and he quickly reassured me that I could stay. The four of us ate our lunches quietly and when we finished, I asked the other boys if Tommy and I could have some time alone. Thankfully, they obliged, and Tommy and I were able to privately talk about school and our crazy parents. We’re both only children and we both have pets: Tommy has a hamster named George, and I have a cat named Nancy. I asked Tommy for his number and then took his phone to enter my own. I added myself as **girlfriend** knowing that would make him smile.

From there our relationship really took off; we texted constantly and I stayed up past midnight talking to him on the phone in my room - don’t tell my mom! But, after about a week I felt like he was pulling back a bit and when I asked him do you hate me or something!? he promised me that was not the case, so I knew someone else was trying to destroy what we had. Our love was just starting to unfurl when some undetectable third party decided they were jealous. I needed to get to the bottom of this, pull the pestiferous weeds and clear a path for our future.

On Wednesday, September 16th (two weeks after I met Tommy), I was assigned to read the morning announcements over the loudspeaker - a monthly duty of mine as a member of the North Hooker High Thespian Society. This being my first public address, I decided to follow the scheduled announcements with a profession of my love for Tommy in a way no one could deny. I’m paraphrasing a bit here, but it went something like this Good morning Hooker Highschool! My name is Rebecca and as your newest morning announcer, I plan to bring you all the latest school updates, news, and the hottest gossip (here, I winked at the secretary watching me from across her desk). Mr. Banks is still looking for a few male students to join his after-school prayer group, so please check the bulletin if this is of interest - it will be held in the teachers’ lounge in the basement. Your very own Hooker High Flying Cocks will be playing in their first football home game this Saturday, so everyone please attend and show your support! Except for the Jews, you’re exempt in honor of Rosh Hashanah this weekend. As always, we strive to be inclusive while respecting individual boundaries! Lastly, and I’m going a little off script here, but I, Rebecca Blacksburn, am officially dating Tommy Summerville, so please respect our new love and I hope you all find some love of your own this year! Happy Humpday everyone!  

I must admit, I felt a bit like a celebrity walking the halls after that announcement. I think the kids were sick of the dry, scripted crap the other thespians were serving. Sure, some people gave me dirty looks or laughed in my shadow, but it’s pretty obvious they were just jealous. The only downside was I couldn’t seem to find Tommy after that. Luckily, I memorized his schedule, so I spent the rest of the day poking into each class he should have been in before going to my own, but no luck. He also wasn’t responding to my texts. I figured it must have been a lot for him, being such a shy guy. He may have felt a little flustered with all this newfound fame and may have needed a little escape. I totally respect that, so I decided to give him some space and wait until after dinner to call him.

To my surprise, his phone was off. I found this odd and frankly, got a little nervous, so I thumbed through the yellow pages until I found Thomas A. Summerville and tried the number. A lovely-sounding middle-aged woman named Shirley answered and BINGO it was Tommy’s mom. She let me know he left school early with a cold and was in his room playing video games and resting. Playing video games doesn’t sound like “resting” to me, but I let that pass. I let her know how fond I was of her son and she let me know I was welcome to come by anytime, when Tommy was feeling better. 

The next morning, I got to school early and decorated the inside of Tommy’s locker with custom doodles, made by yours truly. It took me a few tries to get his locker open since the “7” looked like a “1” in my notebook from jotting it down quickly over his shoulder the previous Friday, but ultimately, I figured it out. As they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way - a phrase I live by.

I hid around the corner and waited quietly for Tommy to show up. When he did, I jumped out and yelled “surprise!” and man, he was definitely surprised! It looked like he had just seen a ghost. A highly successful ambush, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately, he appeared to still be a bit sick, so I offered to take him to the nurse, but he told me he just needed some space. No need to be a martyr, I told him, I’m happy to take care of you! At this point we were running late for our 1st period history class, so I grabbed his hand and escorted him like the caring girlfriend I am.

His friends must have gotten the hint about our relationship from my announcement, because when I walked over to his table at lunch, they immediately grabbed their trays and moved over. I thought that was quite respectful. This is where the temperature turned up a bit. I decided to confront Tommy about my suspicion that someone was trying to interfere with our budding relationship. It did not go over well. Tommy thought I was out of my mind! He couldn’t seem to grasp why someone would do that. He said he was very overwhelmed and wanted to spend some time apart. APART!? We can’t let them win, I tried to warn him, this is what they want!

I left lunch feeling frustrated but also very energized. There was a call to action, and I was going to answer it. I needed to find the truth and reveal it to Tommy. With so many distractions, I thought it must be hard for him to know what’s real, plus I assumed he was new to the whole relationship thing.

Well, it didn’t take too long for me to figure out who was at the helm of the sabotage ship.

After probably about 2 hours, I guessed Tommy’s AIM password: George1122! (hamster, birthday, special character) and with some careful conversations and digging, I was able to quickly eliminate the idea that another girl was vying for his attention. I also cozied up to his two best friends, even giving them vodka I stole from my mom’s liquor cabinet - I refilled what I took with water so my mom wouldn’t notice! I thought the dilution would actually do her some good. The boys were very excited to sample the alcohol and were very loose lipped after just a few big swigs. I got a lot out of great information out of them, but nothing incriminating. So, that’s when I decided to take Shirley up on her offer.

It was late September by this point in my investigation and I knew there would be pertinent material at Tommy’s house, so I snuck out of school before 3rd period and walked the mile and a half to Prowler Lane, where the Summerville’s lived. I peered into the windows of the family’s ranch but saw no one in the living room and while there was a car parked a bit down the road, the driveway was clear. I climbed the chain link fence to the backyard, crawled beside a flourishing garden of carefully planted flowers and herbs, and crept inside through the sliding glass back door, which was left unlocked. As soon as I tiptoed through the kitchen, I heard a disturbing sound, and well wouldn’t you know it? I wasn’t alone, after all. I crawled down the hallway until I was just outside of what I assumed to be Tommy’s parents’ bedroom and put my ear up to the door. OOO, MMM, AHHH, YESSS, LIKE A BAD HABIT, KEEP GOING, JACK! Who in the hell was Jack? Tommy’s father’s name was Thomas A. Summerville. My jaw dropped and in a panic I ran into the next bedroom, which turned out to be Tommy’s, but I guess my footfalls were heavier than I thought because I heard Shirley’s voice call out, Who’s there?

I covered my mouth with my hand and ran my eyes around Tommy’s room, taking inventory as quickly as possible and looking for leverage. Then, I reached into the hamster tank and grabbed George, shoving him into the little Joey pocket of my hoodie and prepared for my escape. Just as I was opening the window facing the front lawn, Shirley, wrapped in a floral robe, yelled at me from the doorway, Who the hell are you?

I’m Tommy’s girlfriend! I yelled back and that’s when Shirley’s eyes got dark and she shook her head saying, Oh, no you’re not, young lady! And you need to leave Tommy alone. His focus has been slipping and he’s been very stressed with all this girlfriend nonsense you’ve been spewing on him. I can’t imagine your parents will be too thrilled you’re skipping school to break into private property!

That bitch! I thought. I should have known his whiny mom was the one pinning him against me, pretending to be so innocent the first time we spoke. Listen Shirley, I said calmly, you tell my parents anything and I’ll be sure Tommy is caught up to date on Jack’s bad habits! And just like that I slipped out of the window and ran as fast as I could, with one hand holding tight to George, all the way home.

Things really sped up from there, starting with a letter I mailed to Thomas A. Summerville, urging him to go home and check on his wife during work hours from time to time, ending with, you may stumble upon something… untoward. Signed, “Bad Habit Jack”.

Next, I did something I’m not so proud of, I stole sheers from the Thespian High Society wardrobe and craft closet. THS has welcomed me with open arms, and I’m not one to slight someone who hasn’t wronged me, but this situation required an exception. I biked to the Summerville’s after midnight and snuck into the backyard, with even more stealth than last time, given my practice. I used the THS sheers to destroy every living plant in Shirley’s garden. I arranged the fallen petals in a pattern that spelled out “JEALOUS BITCH” on the back lawn and then tossed some raw meat from my daddy’s freezer into the garden for good measure. Good luck with the raccoons, whore, I thought.

Finally, and this was the most difficult task, I had to hurt Tommy, so I could lay his mother’s evilness out in plain sight for him to see. I called the local animal abuse hotline as an anonymous tipster and detailed seeing my neighbor, Shirley, striking an injured hamster on her front lawn with a bat. Once they arrived at the Summerville’s, a trail of animal hair and blood would quickly lead them to George’s haphazard burial site on the side of the house. Surely, (wink) Tommy would never forgive her.

All my traps were successfully planted within a week and the following Monday while I was staring out the window of my 1st period history class, wondering when Tommy would arrive, I was called over the loudspeaker to the principal’s office.

Once I made it into the office, I peered around the security officer’s large, uniformed stomach and saw my drunk mom weeping into my daddy’s shoulder, “what is wrong with her?” she stammered. My daddy took a deep breath and looked at me with affection, “I know, Rebecca, it’s been a hard transition. I think maybe this isn’t the town for you.”

I told him I hated it here, just like I hated it in Henderson and Akron and Grand Rapids. I’m sorry, Daddy! I don’t want to get in trouble. It’s just so hard. Everyone hates me here because they’re jealous! Tears bubbled up and climbed out of my eyes as my bottom lip puckered up. Then, we embraced in a familiar three-way hug that reeked of vodka and Old Spice and I knew my family would protect me.

It’s now January; a new year and a fresh new start at a new school. I’m excited to see what this year has in store for me! My goal is to fall in love with someone who’s actually ready for it this time. When I have a goal, I set out to achieve it and in the long run, I know I’ll succeed because as they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way!