I gazed down at my watch worriedly as I sat in our car, watching the trees wind by and neared to the school grounds. My mind kept filling with thoughts as to how my classmates might think of this 'hot news' and what my rivals are going to twist it into. Shit, what do I do? Should I hide him or something? But he would definitely suspect something. I didn't want that either.

Even if they called me a bitch for showing off or an attention seeker, I wouldn't mind it. But if they dared called me something that the juniors called Sally behind her back - a 'whore', for flirting around with others' boyfriends and older men - I'll lose my shit. I can't even think of being falsely accused with Jasper in that way and being embarrassed to even face anyone anymore. Even if that case gets solved soon afterwards, the embarrassment will still remain forever. My biggest fear was to get called that 'word', to get falsely accused of being with some random guy/guys, and being accused of that. If Sally had changed her personality earlier, she wouldn't be avoided the way she is now, and she would've been a better person too. But just because of this one reason, she has a lot of haters at school alone added to those from outside.

You might be thinking, why am I even thinking so far? Because it's my classmates I'm talking about, and some of them - Ava and Sally, mainly - will go that far just to ruin my name and make themselves feel good. Y'know those nosy bitches and assholes who get themselves associated with every single issue at school either to become popular, or just because they want to cause a problem in every damn issue? That's what Ava and Sally does to me, most of the time. And between guys, it's Trent - Ava's cousin and Karly's ex-boyfriend, a big jerk. I wonder why Karly even dated a jerk like him.

"You-you can stop just at the outside grounds and I'll go from there, okay?" I asked Jasper nervously, expecting him to deny it, since our school did have a parking area further inside where the buses were parked and students who came by bus could park.

"Is it at a good walking distance from your school?" He asked, and I nodded and pointed outside just as the grounds neared us, "Yeah, pretty much."

"Okay, I guess that's fine. I'll wait for you there."

Whew! Probably the first time that he ever agreed to something I said so willingly. And without having a big argument over it too.

The students at my school could still notice Jasper from the grounds outside, especially Sally, but at least there was less chance for that now. And the grounds, though at a walking distance from my school, is still far compared to the school's own parking area; it was located at the far back of the school and I had to cross the road and walk further behind a shop to reach there. So it's just that it looks near, it's not actually very near.

"There's heavy traffic, are you sure you can cross that road all by yourself?"

I rolled my eyes. How old does he think I am? Ten? I've been crossing this road for five plus years.

Well, it's not his fault that you LOOK like you're ten, June.

Shut up. I'm tall enough to look at least like an eighth grader, even though I'm a sophomore.

"Of course, I cross that road everyday. I'm used to it."

"Alright, be careful."

I got outside the car, scanned all around and made sure that there were no students nearby, then waved Jasper a casual bye as I proceeded to start to cross the road. However, I had to wait a few minutes as there was heavy traffic. As expected.

As I stood there, tapping my foot on the pavement impatiently, I noticed two guys on a bike drive past me, then stop after a moment, turn around and chatter rapidly while kind of glancing at me occasionally. I decided to shrug it off first, hoping that they'll probably be talking about something else and not directed at me. Then, I saw one of them point at me and whisper something in the other one's ear. That's when I realised that they were indeed pointing to me, talking about me. Gulping, I turned away - they probably got confused about some direction and wants to ask me that, I guess.

I ignored them again. What can two men on a bike do in such a heavy rush, especially with Jasper in the car right nearby me? Maybe they're just talking about the shop beside me or noticed something strange here or there. Why care about it, June?

But soon, I saw them start to take some steps towards me - or whatever they were talking about - and I tensed up, noticing that they were definitely staring at me while walking towards me. Right then, unfortunately, the traffic began slowing down as a result of more parents leaving the school after dropping their kids over at school, more people settling down in their respective workplaces, and Jasper too was nowhere to be seen inside or beside the car by now. Because of the protection that I got everywhere and how I was rarely left alone by either my dad or my friends or my bodyguards, I rarely faced creepy situations like this and thus, I had less experience with how to deal with it. In short, my social and personal life gets a little affected by the unnecessary protection I get everywhere, which is a big disadvantage to me. I need a little bit of experience about how to deal with such a situation, right? That's exactly what I don't have.

I glanced to my left and right and even started to think if I should scream for help or call someone, beginning to hyperventilate a little and having a mild panic attack. Where the hell did Jasper go right now? Idiot! Why can't he be here when I actually need him? I really might get kidnapped now if he doesn't come over here.

No, stop there, don't come near me, please, I pleaded in my mind, but I couldn't bring it out in words as I suddenly remembered some random news from the TV mentioning child rapes, sexual harrasment, and brutal killings of school kids. It flooded into my mind as a sudden warning or something. Why are you overthinking so much, idiot? It can't or won't go that far, I thought, I'm right in the middle of a public place. Who can murder me here?

Suddenly, a hand snaked around my wrist and I shrieked in horror before jerking back a little.

Shit -

But it wasn't any of them.

It was, to my great relief, Jasper.

He was here all along.

He'd probably just gotten out of the car and come beside me when he saw the approaching bikers. I gulped in a heavy sigh and forced myself to look up after so many minutes of heavy breathing and panic.

The bikers stopped right a few inches ahead of me and Jasper stared at the both of them dubiously.

"I'll help you cross. It seems like the traffic is too much," Jasper remarked, keeping an eye on the two men beside and saying that purposefully. I nodded quickly, "Y-yeah, sure."

Well, I'm pretty sure I need Jasper's help to cross the road now. I'm still not a ten year old - just a fifteen year old who's scared of random bikers being creepy to school kids. And this stupid traffic didn't stop right until those bikers started approaching me. I couldn't even think of running because that's how frozen I was. How could I really get over dangerous experiences if I get so creeped out by the littlest things ever? Dad has literally spoiled me by making me have bodyguards all the time. At least other kids have a better chance at trying to save themselves - but not me. If someone tries to do something to me, I can only stand paralyzed like a stupid loser.

"Kid, are you okay? Is that someone you know?" Asked one of the bikers cunningly, gesturing to Jasper, as if he was the one who had creeped me out and they'd come to rescue me. Ugh. Creepy idiot. He probably thinks he's so macho.

I couldn't find enough time to respond, because Jasper did that on my behalf.

"Yes, she's okay. Is there a problem here?" He retorted sharply, slightly pulling me back.

The guy at the front narrowed his eyes and pointed his finger at Jasper menacingly, "Look, you don't know who you're dealing with. You better leave this young girl alone or we're calling the cops on you."

Jasper smirked sarcastically, caught the guy's pointed finger and replied, "Call the cops? Go ahead, turn yourselves in."

Before the other guy could do something, Jasper twisted his pointed finger with a sharp move. He shrieked in pain as his finger was twisted painfully to both directions. When Jasper finally let go, the other guy behind him began to back up in fear while the first one sighed and panted in fear, shaking his finger to shake off the pain.

"Leave, right now. She's a kid, and she doesn't want to be bothered. So don't even think of approaching her ever again, if you want your head still intact," Jasper warned, keeping a stern expression and folded hands, which was actually scarier than the menacing expressions of the two creepy guys. Subconsciously, I moved behind Jasper and closed my eyes a bit, worried of a fight breaking out in this public place or of them trying to attack Jasper to kidnap me or something.

Fortunately, when I opened my eyes again, the two guys were leaving hurriedly, probably wanting their head intact. I watched as they pushed each other along and just rushed on to the bike, one of them tripping in between but still riding off, making me laugh inside. They didn't even gaze at me again - their eyes were too fixed on Jasper and what he might do to notice me standing behind him.

Great work, June! I scolded myself for having a panic attack when I could've easily defended myself or called Jasper in this broad daylight. I may dislike him, but I do know that he cares about my protection and takes it as his sole duty - he proved that already. No wonder I'm a scatterbrain sometimes. Or always.

"There are always some idiots around," Jasper muttered, and I looked up in utter shock. He used a curse word? That's a first! Probably revolutionary.

Seeing how surprised I looked, Jasper caught his neck sheepishly and grinned, "Sorry, it just came out."

I had the urge to roll my eyes at him, since calling someone an idiot - especially when it's true - then and there isn't illegal and neither is it 'morally wrong', because we have the freedom of speech and we aren't hurting anyone by using a curse word.

However, remembering that he'd just saved me from two possible kidnappers, I kept my eyes still.

"June?"

I snapped out of my thoughts, sighed in relief and glanced up at Jasper with a forced smile, "Thanks, Jasper."

"You don't have to -"

"Don't say it again, I know, it's your duty. But I just felt the need to thank you," I interrupted his daily dialogue. His blank face broke into a smile as he patted my head like a kid's, "You were really worried, huh? I could see that."

"Yeah... I mean, they were walking upto me and the traffic was slowing down and you were nowhere to be seen... I thought I was dead already."

"You won't die. You still have years to go, June. And these kind of guys are just pretending to be menacing; in reality, they're just cowards. See how quickly they left when an adult came over? Such people target only kids and teenagers when they are left alone. That's why your dad appointed me, you see."

I nodded knowingly, realizing how he was stating facts. But then again, if dad keeps appointing guards for me every now and then, I won't learn to defend myself. See how I tensed up when they were coming over? How I couldn't act in time and if Jasper hadn't come, it would've been too late to do anything? That's the problem here; unless you experience this sometimes and learn to deal with it, you never succeed in life or be brave. Right now, I am exactly what Jasper had called those guys - a coward. A coward who depends on her dad, friends, or her bodyguards for protection. I haven't learned something basic that a lot of my fellow peers have learnt from experience and failures. I've never been exposed to anything merely stressful, which is exactly why I'm like this now.

"But soon, you'll be capable enough to look after yourself and protect yourself," Jasper continued, as if he had just read my thoughts, "Then you won't need me. You won't need anyone, actually."

I faked a smile again, unsure of what he said. Usually, his words are very convincing. But not this time. I didn't believe enough in myself or my capabilities to believe his words about me. I slightly smirked to myself; even a complete stranger is more believing in me than I am, about myself.

"Let's go then?" He asked, gesturing towards the road. I nodded, realizing that ten minutes had passed by already but I was still pretty early, compared to my usual time. All thanks to Jasper's driving and his quick rescue, or this would've been an ugly situation and besides being late to school, I would've been kidnapped too.

I felt a press on my fingers and realised that Jasper had been my holding my hand until now and tightened his grip now that we were about to cross the wide road.  His fingers curled around mine and I flinched, feeling a chill up my spine at his touch. I wasn't scared or anything but it's just that the touch felt so awkward and weird. I mean, I find intense comfort in my dad's or friends' touches. But Jasper...

My cold hands instantly warmed up in his hold, and though not exactly a feel of comfort, I felt relaxed. At least I was safe now, away from any creepy people and near to a person who's protecting me at any cost. That thought was very comforting to me.

We went out on the road, with Jasper signalling a stop sign with his free hand and walking past the road quickly but carefully. When we were in front - actually, at the back - of the school, we sighed in relief and looked at each other with a stupid grin.
"See? That's how you cross the road. You've to be confident enough to show a stop sign sometimes, because not every person would wait for you to cross," Jasper instructed. I felt stupid about not being able to cross in time unlike he did, and just nodded awkwardly, "Yeah, okay."

You're such a kid, June.

I looked at the school anxiously and saw the faces I least expected - and hoped - to see.

Sally and Ava.

No, please, anyone but them! I pleaded in my mind, but it was of no use - it was indeed them, the iconic bitches duo 'rich Ava and flirty Sally'. No one could tolerate Ava's boasting about her wealth and no one could avoid Sally from trying to seduce them like she does to every damn guy she sees. I looked up at the guy beside me and cringed at the thought of Sally trying to flirt with him too, which she obviously will. Ew, no. Not that Jasper is not good looking, but Sally most definitely isn't, and neither is she old enough. However, Sally has hooked up with multiple people much older than Jasper sometimes, even married men. She's not even a bit ashamed about the fact that she's ruining relationships or having sex every single day just to get extra money even though she's pretty rich otherwise too.

They were, unfortunately, walking up towards us and right when I was about to turn back, they saw me. Great heavens! I'm dead meat now. They had probably come behind the school grounds to gossip about our entire class and plan tricks on me and other people they hate, which includes my two best friends. In between their business, they noticed me too. How observant.

"Hey, June!" Sally called out sweetly right as I turned around, and I facepalmed internally. Jasper glanced behind at my name being called and was about to go back to the car, seeing that my 'friends' had come to get me, but just before he could, they stopped him too. He narrowed his eyes at them both and I studied their expressions - Ava was scanning who Jasper was with a pretty serious expression and a glare while Sally, like I expected, was twirling her hair flirtatiously and smiling a little. Her infinite chain of boyfriends would probably get jealous at this.

"Who are you?" Ava asked Jasper out of the blue. He was about to respond, but not wanting to create a scene right before class starts and get this issue popular around school, I interrupted with a very sweet tone, "Hey Ava, he's Jasper. He's - um -"

Should I say it? Should I say that he's my bodyguard, or some relative? But relative would sound too made up - Ava knows very well that I've no damn relatives in this entire world. She has been into investigating my whole life story since we were ten, and she's still on it. So obviously, she knows a lot about my family and friends than even I know myself. Besides, the least I can refer to him is as a 'very distant cousin' or something.

"Bodyguard. He's-he's my bodyguard," I answered, cringing at my stupid stutter and sighing heavily. What can I possibly do to avoid this situation? Or just rewind time? Or maybe I should pull Jasper and run away.

The two girls stood staring at us both with a confused look before glancing at each other and suddenly laughing.

"What?" I blurted, puzzled. Jasper was just as much as puzzled, but he was looking at me for answers since he was now wondering if they really were my friends or not.

"What a liar, January," Sally said menacingly. She uses every freaking word, except my name, to call me - like January, July and all the other months. Other times, they call me a bitch, fucker, rich piece of shit, all that. Sometimes they call me a 'fried shrimp'. I know, they love me so much. That's why they keep making new names for me every second. Who else would sacrifice so much time just for me?

"Seriously," Ava rolled her eyes, "You don't gotta lie, June, you may be rich but why on earth would you have a bodyguard? Ridiculous. Tell us the truth, hun."

I slowly frowned. What were they talking about? Why would they even think that I'm lying? Well, okay, I planned to lie because I'm embarrassed of having a bodyguard when there's absolutely no reason for it, but that's not the case here. If they don't think he's my bodyguard, then who do they think he is?

I suddenly had an idea - no, a realisation - of what they were guessing about Jasper and my eyes widened. My face flushed dark red in embarrassment and awkwardness; I'd already expected this, but I never thought that they'd actually make up something like this, because unlike Sally, Ava doesn't have the habit of bullying anyone else except me and my friends and she never dares to make up false allegations against me, like calling me a whore or something. Unlike Sally, Ava's actually pretty decent about that stuff - it's just that she's a bitch to me and anyone who's my friend for some mysterious reason. Maybe some personal vengeance for absolutely no reason at all.

"She's not ly -"

I interrupted Jasper again.

But this time, I had a sharp retort instead of the polite tone that I used at first.

"I don't care if you don't believe me. I'll just let you know something though - I would never be like her," I said firmly, gesturing to the flirtatious whore beside Ava, who was still drooling over Jasper like a dog. Sally noticed me suddenly and began to answer me with a scowl, but before she could, I grabbed Jasper's hand, rushed away from the scene as quickly as I could, and reached the front of the school in no time. Almost everyone had reached by now, so there was no one to see us and the two girls would hopefully not chase us here. I'm pretty sure that Sally might be desperate enough to do that, though, considering that Jasper is really attractive, maybe a lot more than Sally's usual standards. But unlike the usual guys who pay her, he's not rich. At least not in my knowledge.

I panted in relief, catching my knees and then standing up straight with a sheepish smile. All the while, Jasper had a very confused look on his face, and his eyes asked me the very obvious question here, 'What the hell just happened?'

Not waiting for him to ask it, I shrugged, "So, uh, they're not nice kids."

Don't look at me like that. I was just not interested in explaining everything to him after such a tiring run.

He narrowed his eyes again, "I did not wait all this time to hear just that."

I sighed again, "Okay, they hate me."

"And?"

"And they're not nice."

"You said that already, over."

"Right. Ava joined our school in fifth grade and we've been rivals since the starting."

"The one who asked who I am?"

"Yeah, her. Sally's just a -"

The word 'brainless bitch with a hundred boyfriends' was the word in my mouth, but I changed it right at the last moment, considering Jasper's slight aversion towards curse words.

"- minion of Ava's," I said, clearing my throat, "She is...kind of too much into guys though."

Say it slowly, carefully, don't be too straightforward.

"Like - uh - hitting on other guys even when they're already dating and stuff and mainly, uh -"

- hitting on older guys, but I'm not saying that. Nope. Very awkward subject for me.

"You guys are dating at 15?" Jasper asked with an amused smirk, completely going out of topic, much to my relief, "You've got someone too?"

I gagged in disgust, "Me? Never."

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an aromantic or even asexual. It's just that at this age, I preferred focusing on my studies than any relationships. Besides, I had more than enough knowledge about how relationships at school worked from my friend Karly's toxic relationship with Trent.

Having a boyfriend during school days was the last thing in my mind. Not that I judge whoever dates at school or put my nose into it unnecessarily, but personally, I'm just not interested. I've even rejected some prom proposals by my classmates and went only with my friend Klaus for all the past years so that they wouldn't get the wrong idea and follow me around for a date. Klaus, on the other hand, is just a friend and has never had such feelings for me. I know him too well and fortunately, no one in class has shipped us either. Except Sally, of course, she thinks that no girl and guy can ever be friends without them falling for each other soon. And Klaus too hates the idea of having a date to prom and prefers me, so we're even. We go to prom as two best friends. Karly usually goes with her boyfriend, Trent.

"That's good for you then. Personally, I think a little crush now and then or even flirting is fine, but starting to date at this age might end up in all downs. You might not understand it now, but you soon will," Jasper advised, and I nodded agreeably - I already knew that well. I've witnessed many serious commitments, heartbreaks, cheating, and disasters in front of myself, since these so called couples aren't even mature enough to handle themselves yet, so I knew more than enough and I didn't even have a crush currently. Just not interested, y'know.

"I know. I'm not interested in such stuff at school. We went out of topic, though," I changed the topic back to Sally, having realized that this topic is more awkward to me than the former. Somehow, discussing that subject with someone like Jasper was weird for me.

"Oh, right," he nodded in realisation, "So, the girl who's the other one's minion. Why did she look so creepy?"

Creepy? I laughed internally. Maybe he meant the way she was staring intensely at him. Staring is actually just one of her ways of flirting. Most of the times she boasts about how men fall for her 'sexy' stare so easily, but I'm just amused that Jasper found it creepy instead. That's a good thing, though. At least he isn't falling for it like other dumbasses do. Those people who hook up with Sally don't even know that they're actually committing statutory rape, and how can they know? She lies about her age to every older guy.

"That's just her natural look," I laughed, and he laughed along. I didn't care to explain more about her 'personality' to him, though. I'm sure he won't fall for her seduction anyways, and besides, Sally most likely won't go for Jasper seeing that he's my bodyguard. She hates anyone who is associated with me in anyway. Maybe, just maybe, she might not like Jasper for this single reason either. But it's very unlikely, though that's what I hope for.