“I'm just jealous
I'm just human
Don't judge me,”

-JEALOUS| BEYONCÈ

“She may have that long legs and
blonde hair,
But I've got your heart inside mine,
And its mine to take care,”

_________________________

BRAYDON'S P.O.V

ARABELLA COLOURS WAS, for lack of better words, just plain fucking adorable. It's not the fact that her face gets red whenever I talk to her about our kiss, or the fact that she gets riled up over the smallest things, it's just the way she acts.

Fucking cute.

It was unlike me to actually like a person, especially a girl. I've never had feelings for any girl before, no, I've never even been remotely attached to them before. But Colours was different...she was a ray of sunshine in my otherwise rainy world. Our supposed 'date' had gone pretty well, save for my annoying relatives and the somewhat boring wedding procession.

I never did understand the deal with weddings.

Maybe it was the fact that my parents didn't get married, or maybe it was the fact that I hardly saw them, save for the weekly Skype calls and juicy cheques. Whatever they did however, they did together. I was glad they had each other...but as parents, they both sucked. I had forgotten to care about my lack of childhood long ago, especially since I always had avó with me. She was my rock and I didn't need any other guardian.

Back to Bella, the girl was definitely something else. I knew that what I felt for her was different...and well she was beautiful, in every sense. I was shocked when I saw her outside my doorstep after that match, and even more shocked when she gave me a hickey.

And that, is what got me loosing control.

“Braydon, filho, você estará em casa para o almoço?” I heard Avó ask, as she looked at me holding a spatula in her hand. (Will you be home for lunch?”

“Si, Avó.” I replied while taking out a granola bar from the fridge. (Yes, grandma)

“Okay, bye Avó!” I kissed her on the cheek as she smiled and waved me goodbye.

Getting into my car, I was pretty happy to go to school today. Which was definitely a first, since it was the middle of the week and it wasn't like I had practice, which gave me no reason to be so ecstatic. Yet, here I was smiling like a fool on a Wednesday morning, as I drove to school.

And I'm sure a certain blonde girl was the reason behind it.

___________________

My day was going in an extremely slow pace. First, when I walked towards the lockers, I realised that Colours was nowhere to be found. Then as I proceeded for homeroom, I spotted her but she was seated with Nathan, which got me slightly annoyed, since she didn't even notice me around. I tried to get her attention by throwing a paper ball at her, but it hit the wrong girl who ended up giving me a murderous glare. After homeroom, I stopped by Bella's desk to greet her, which she returned with much enthusiasm except it was short-lived, since she had to rush for AP Psychology.

My first two periods had no Arabella in it, which was obviously a bit boring for me. My Algebra class was specifically boring since I pretty much knew the problems and questions, which took away the fun. Currently, I was seated in my AP Literature class, and the teacher went on and on about how Robert Browning deserved more recognition than he was given. I was simply bored out of my mind, so I started keeping tallys of the number of times Mr.Gary says 'children', which accounted for 26 times till now.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that the bell rang and I sighed in relief as I began gathering my stuff, to keep it away in my bag. It was lunch already, which meant I could finally take some time off and relax near the field. I started for the door when I was blocked by someone.

“Going somewhere, hotshot?”

I looked at the girl standing in front of me and sighed, she was never a good idea.

“What do you want, Leah?” I asked her in a firm tone.

Leah just smirked at me, getting closer until her hands found their way to the buttons on my shirt.

“C'mon Bray, I know what you like...you may have your fun with that stupid girl of yours, but know that I'm waiting here for you after it.”

My hands clenched by my side, I counted till 10 to calm myself from not exploding at her. I knew that whatever bullshit that came out of her mouth, was just that. Bullshit. Sleeping with Leah had definitely not been a good option, and I knew that now. More than ever.

“Get your hands off me,” I told her, before distancing myself from her.

She laughed and looked at me with a determined look. “You really think that little slut will give you undivided attention? Look around Braydon...she's nothing special. Another a few days and she may just find herself another soccer-”

I slammed my hand against the wall beside her, causing her to jump.

“You utter one more word Leah, one more. I swear to God, I'll forget that you're a fucking girl.”

Leah's eyes practically bulged out of her sockets, and she scurried to get away from me.

“You may want to check out the lockers, Braydon. Your precious little girl's dirty secrets may just be in line.” Leah stated before leaving the room.

Her words caused a deep unsettling feeling to settle in the pit of my stomach and I, dashed out towards the lockers as fast as I could. As soon as I reached, the first thing I saw was the huge crowd gathered near Bella's locker, which got me really worried. I pushed my way through the crowd, only to find Bella being hugged by Nathan, who kept on whispering sweet words into her ear as she clutched on to her jacket. I glanced at her locker and the word 'SLUT' was written on it with a black marker, along with a picture of her and Jake, right next to the one of her and I. I don't know happened in that moment, maybe it was the fact that I was mad at Leah for saying what she did, or the fact that Arabella clutched onto Nathan the way she should've clutched on to me. Or maybe it was just me wanting to be in Nathan's place, desperately. Whatever the case may have been, I couldn't stand there any longer seeing the sight in front of me, and so I stormed off.

Like a fucking coward, I walked away from her while she looked at me with broken eyes.

_________________

“You fucking asshole,” I heard Talon's voice greet me from behind, causing me to turn around and face him.

I was in the shady corner of our school field, sitting alone having just finished a smoke. One that I've not had, since quite some time. Talon approached me with squinted eyes and a pissed off look. I looked away, not wanting to be lectured by him.

“The fuck is wrong with you, man?” Talon said as he stood in front of me.

“The fuck do you want, Talon?”

“I want you to fucking man up and go to your girl.” Talon said while looking me in the eye.

“I don't have a girl,” I said while looking away and shoving past him.

“Oh really?” He said while following me. “Grow some balls, Grey. She fucking needs you right now.”

“She has enough men to take care of her.”

“You're all sorts of messed up, Braydon. But that girl and you have something real going on, stop spoiling it by being a dick.”

I stopped in my tracks, mad at him for giving me shitless advice. “Why the fuck do you care? She got you wrapped around her finger, too?”

Talon stood there with raised eyebrows. “Are you fucking jealous?”

I scoffed and turned back, walking away.
“Why would I be?”

Talon laughed, not just any random laugh but one that reverberated throughout us.
“Holy shit. Braydon Grey is jealous.”

I grumbled and kept walking, ignoring the idiot who was now chasing me.
“Look, Braydon. You need to keep your jealousy aside, because Bella...is scared that you left her because you believe what was written on her...locker.”

I stopped walking, turning to face him. “What?”

“Yeah man, she was a mess...she was crying in the girls' bathroom and Sarah was with her. I came here because of the showdown she's having with Leah, currently.” Talon said, causing me to curse under my breath and run towards the cafeteria.

I ran as fast as I could, my breaths coming out in pants and just as I was coming closer to the cafeteria, I slowed down. As soon as I opened the door, I met with the sight of Leah standing squarely in front of Bella, while the others just watched the show.

“Why don't you give us girls some tips on how to score soccer boys, too? Maybe we can use it on the ones you haven't slept with?” Leah's annoying voice echoed throughout the cafeteria, causing me to rile up and walk straight towards her.

“If you really think your stupid prank affects me, then go try something else, Leah. I'm not afraid of you or your fuckery.” I heard Bella say, causing me to smile at her.

Atta girl

“Listen here, bitch. Braydon Grey is off-limits, okay? He and I-”

“Are mortal enemies, until the day we die.” I finished Leah's sentence, causing all eyes to turn on me.

I looked at Bella from the corner of my eyes, catching her surprised expression and giving her a small smile, assuring her that everything was okay. Focusing my gaze back to the problem in front of me, so sighed, sick and tired of her games.

“Braydon! Are you here to acknowledge what a playgirl your partner is?” Leah asked in a sickly sweet voice.

I smirked at her. “Leah, if you think for a second that I am going to go against my girl, you're in for a surprise.”

Leah's face paled, she looked at me with anger dancing in her eyes. “She may be playing her stupid games with you but-”

“Cut it off, you really can't handle rejection, can you?” I said while looking at her, irritatedly.

She gasped. “Braydon, you never said no.”

I rolled my eyes at her lunatics. “I can't believe you. Fine. Leah, I have absolutely no fucking interest in you or your overbearing self, can you please please leave me and Colours alone now?”

Leah's eyes turned red with fury and it was almost comical, her face was red and her lips were quivering. From somewhere near Bella, I heard a deep chuckle and I realised that it was Nathan, laughing and trying to stifle it up. The rest of Bella's gang soon joined in, and if Leah wasn't embarrassed before...she was definitely...mortified now. She huffed and stormed off from there, without soaring us another glance.

Good riddance.

“So...you here for something, Braydon Grey?” Bella asked, walking up to me while everyone got back to their lunch.

“Actually, yes.” I replied, causing her to smile.

“What might that be?” She asked, closing the distance that separated us.

“You.” I said before holding her hand and walking out of the cafeteria towards the field. I didn't say a word to her until we reached the spot where I was seated not too long ago.

“I'm sorry.” I muttered, trying to look at everything but her face.

“Come again?”

“I said, I'm sorry.” I said, a little more loudly this time.

Bella smiled at me and crossed her arms. “And, what for?”

I rolled my eyes. “For not being there for you, even when I saw you distressed.”

Her expression turned serious. “I-I thought you actually belived-”

I instantly closed the gap between us and gathered her in my arms, hating to see her like this. Because of that stupid incident, because of me. It bothered me to know that I had been the reason behind her tears, and that I had unintentionally...hurt her. All because I saw her with another boy. Shaking my head at my absolutely shit behavior I looked at her, while, cupping her cheeks.

“I hate to see you upset because of me,” I said while kissing her forehead.

“Then why'd you walk away?” She asked me, looking at me with her doe-like eyes.

Oh, fuck me.

“Because you were with Nathan,” I mumbled, incoherently.

Bella looked at me confused. “What was that?”

“Because, you were with Nathan.” I said out aloud, this time.

And for the second time that day, I heard another hearty laugh at my expense.

_____________________

Bella and I were driving back to her place, she was humming to some song that was playing on the radio and I, well I was a wreck. My hands were drumming on the steering wheel, and were kind of sweaty from all the thoughts that were running around my mind. The truth was, I was absolutely clueless about how the whole dating thing worked, and it scares me to have these feelings for Bella.

Also, I had no fucking idea how to ask someone out on a proper date.

The wedding was nice, but that wasn't exactly a date. Not when there were thousands of other guests attending an event alongside us. Asking Bella out on a date where we would be alone, was a completely different question. I had wanted to do it earlier, but was too chicken to go with it. Clearly, i was new at this whole thing.

“So, Leah said something interesting today,” Bella said, without looking at me.

I frowned at her vague statement, waiting for her to elaborate. When I got no response, I shrugged. “And...?”

Bella looked at me with doubtful eyes. “She said you were involved with her...like sexually.”

I gripped my hand on the steering wheel tightly. “It's true,” I say stiffly, too scared to look at her reaction.

Trust Leah to ruin my moment.

“It's okay. You don't have to be so tensed around me,” Bella said while gently touching my arm.

I parked the car near her house, turning to look at her. Her eyes were bright, but they didn't shine as much as before and I knew, as much as she didn't show it, she didn't like the fact that I slept with Leah. She gently removed her hand from my arm, placing in on her lap. Opening the door, she proceeded to get out of my car but I stopped her.

Bella looked at me with confusion laced in her eyes. “It was quite a while ago...in Junior Year, I was at a party and I was drunk. We hooked up twice, but, nothing happened after that.”

“You don't owe me an explanation, just like I don't owe you any.” Bell said with a stoic face. Bad move, babe. Her response to my confession seemed forced and not something that I expected. It irked me to know that she thought that we were nothing. It bothered me even more to know that she didn't care to hear my explanation.

“Really, Colours?” I asked her with a quirked eyebrow, she just shrugged in response and retrieved her arm from mine.

I scoffed at her actions. “Talk about hypocritical,”

“Excuse me?” Bella asked, looking at me in bewilderment.

“You act like I committed a sin, yet you were involved with a guy not even a month back?” I spat out, annoyed at her behavior.

“Oh! Wow, because my relationship with Jake was exactly like yours with Leah!”

“I didn't even have a relationship with her, dammit.” I screeched out, pissed at her accusation.

“You slept with her but refused to sleep with me!” Bella yelled out, her face was flushed and she was moving around her arms.

She looked so fucking hot.

“Because I didn't care enough about her to make it special for her!” I argued, clearly outraged by her accusation.

Bella's eyes softened at my response and, she looked at me without any apprehensions.

“I-I'm sorry. She just really...gets to me." Bella spoke, slowly while fiddling with her fingers.

My eyes darted towards her, sighing I held her hands in mine. “You've nothing to be worried about,”

Bella nodded at my statement and looked up at me with a smile, reaching forward to give me a hug. I immediately returned it with a grin on my face. This girl was absolutely fantastic, and I was delighted to have her in my arms. Loosing all my inhibitions about being rejected, I finally found the courage to as Bella the question I've been waiting for since a few days.

“Uhh, Bella?” I started as she moved to look me in the eye. “Would you like to well, I mean-I...fuck this is weird.”

You absolutely, idiot.

“Will you go out with me on a date, this Saturday?”

Bell looked at me and blinked once, then twice and finally burst into a fir of giggles while nodding her head furiousky. I was just glad that her laughter was accompanied with a positive response, otherwise it would've been pretty embarrassing.

Finally, once her laughter died down, she looked up at me one last time, before gathering her things to leave. I waved her goodbye and drove out of the familiar street, smiling to myself at the prospect of our date on Saturday.

Damn you, Colours.