Why I am starting to get an awful, gut wrenching feeling in my stomach, which gets worse as the day drags on, I do not know. Maybe it is the way I fell immediately in love with Jared the moment I saw him. It is crazy, the way I feel as if we belonged together.
By the time break arrives, it is raining outside, which means Jane and I cannot go out to sit on the grass, or the pavilion to get some privacy. Obviously, the cafeteria is not a place for secrets.
She looks at me helplessly, but I take hold of her by the hand and gently, yet persistently, I make her follow me up and down the corridors. We find a corner away from everywhere, away from too much student traffic and we sit down on the carpeting. We sit next to each other and lean our backs against the cold, damp wall, folding our legs in under us. I look at Jane and insist at once, "Tell me."
She turns her head to me, resting the back of her head against the wall. "Okay, so Jared and Sarah have history. They have basically been together from the day they were born because their parents have been friends since forever. I suppose it got serious between them in first year and everybody knew Jared was the more serious one, so when Sarah broke it off with him in their third year, he was devastated. He did not even come to school for a whole term, and rumours were going around that he had broken his leg, but nobody ever saw him to say if it was so or not. To make matters worse, Sarah left Jared for Dermot, a relationship doomed from the beginning. For two years now, Jared has not even looked in the direction of another girl, except Sarah, so she has always believed he was still hers to have, whenever she wanted him. That is also why we were all so shocked yesterday when he seemed so attracted to you and," she whispers, "Sarah now hates you with a passion."
" They are still together?"
" No, silly. Sarah thinks so though, but I am sure he is long over her." Jane sounds cheery and optimistic.
" How can they still be friends then, if she supposedly broke his heart?"
" Like I said, they basically grew up together, so maybe he has no choice to be friends with her."
" I don't think so, because why then is he ignoring me today? Maybe, he is still waiting for her and he was trying to make her jealous with me, the new girl. I obviously jumped to conclusions, but …"