"Hey, why are you just standing in the middle of the hallway?" Samantha called out to Jean. "I came to find you since you were taking too long in the bathroom. Did something happen?"
Jean turned around and said, "Oh no, it's nothing."
"Oh really now?" Samantha smirked. "What were you looking at?" she asked as she looked over Jean's shoulder where Josh had run off. "I have a feeling that you met a certain someone." Jean's eyes widened for a split second and quickly tried to make an aloof face but Samantha saw it and her smile grew even wider. "Looks like I hit the mark. So, was he the one that's getting chased around?" she asked Jean.
*Sigh* Jean didn't know why but she could never hide anything from Samantha. She could pick up on her smallest cues and figure out what is going on by her body expressions. "Yes, it was him," she told her. "But he isn't exactly in trouble. He's-" Jean was about to explain what happened but Samantha gestured for her to stop.
"Eh, forget it. I shouldn't poke too much in it. I may not like him but you do you. You shouldn't let my-"
Jean interrupted Samantha and said, "It's not that I like him!" Jean sighed again and explained to Samantha, "We just keep bumping into each other."
"Really? Why are your cheeks so flushed then?" Jean put her hands on her cheeks and felt that they were quite hot. Jean's face turned even redder after she realized that. "Ugh, this is because you keep bringing these things up. I don't actually like him!"
Samantha patted her shoulder and said, "It looks like you're confused about it yourself. Let's sit back down first." Samantha pointed at the door with her thumb over her shoulder.
"I told you-"
"Tsk tsk tsk," Samantha wiggled her index finger. "You have to be honest with yourself."
"Ugh, nevermind." Jean shook her head in frustration. The more she tried to explain it to Samantha, the worse it got. Jean followed Samantha back into the cafeteria and sat back down. Zack had finished eating and had his head done on the table. It looked like he was taking a nap which was pretty much expected considering how sleepy he was the entire day. Since the table wasn't that big, there wasn't much room for Jean and Samantha to put their arms.
"You wanna finish eating first or do you want to talk?" Samantha asked Jean.
"I rather not talk at all," Jean replied grumpily.
"Come on, don't be like that," Samantha said in a teasing voice. "I just want to know what you see in that guy. Maybe I could find other guys that are your type."
Jean banged her head on the table, almost hitting her tray and knocking it over. "You know, sometimes I really hate you," she muttered.
"What's going on..." Zack lazily looked up from his arms and saw that Jean's head was on the table.
Samantha grinned and said, "Hey sleepyhead. Would you believe it if I told you that our dear Jean here left us to go see someone?"
"Oh really, who?" Zack perked up in sudden interest. "Wait, is it-"
"Bingo!' Samantha said without letting Zack complete his sentence. "And as it turns out, he's also the one that's being hounded."
"Wait, really!?" Zack turned to Jean whose head was still laying on the table. "Wow, I would have never guessed that you like the troublemaker type considering that you're always so well-behaved."
"Please, just shut it already," Jean grunted. She didn't have the energy to argue with the two. It's better to let them believe what they wanted since she wouldn't be able to convince them otherwise with how things are. Jean rolled her head until her cheek was pressing against the table so that she could see the two and said, "What time is it anyway."
Samantha answered Jean's question with a smile on her face, "Don't worry, we still have plenty of time before lunch ends." Jean sighed again in response to Samantha's answer. She was pretty sure that she sighed more times today than she had the rest of this month combined.
"Hey, don't try to sleep this one out," Samantha said as Jean rolled her head until it was facing the floor again.
"Yeah, I want to hear about it too," said Zack.
Jean brought her left hand to her lap and looked at the clearance card that Josh gave her. He had forgotten to take it back since he was in a rush. She probably wouldn't see him again until tomorrow so she would have to hold on to it for now. Well, it was better if she didn't see him until tomorrow considering how the two were acting. She was pretty sure that if she ran into Josh again today, Samantha and Zack were going to go sky-high with their teasing. Also, Jean could use this opportunity to ask her dad to verify this card and find out if Josh was really speaking the truth or not.
***
When classes ended for the day, Jean hurried home without waiting for Samantha or Zack. They had pestered her nonstop for the remainder of the lunch and she wasn't in the mood to deal with them anymore today. Hopefully, they would calm down by tomorrow and she could actually explain to them that she didn't like Josh.
*Buzz Buzz*
Jean picked up her phone and saw that it was Samantha who was calling her. Jean sighed for the 100th time today and took a deep breath before taking the call. "What is it?" she said into the phone.
"Wow, you sound like you're in a really bad mood today," said Samantha.
"Yeah, I wonder whose fault that is," Jean responded.
"Hmm, no clue. Any idea Zack?" Jean heard Zack's voice in the background saying no. "Yeah, Zack doesn't know either."
"Very funny guys. Anyway, aren't you two busy today?"
"Yeah, we are," answered Samantha. "I was just calling to see if you were still mad."
"Well, you have your answer to that question now don't you?" Jean could hear Zack snickering in the background as she said that.
"Okay, okay, we won't bother you anymore," Samantha told her. "Well, at least not for today anyway. You better prepare yourself for tomorrow."
"Whatever." Jean hung up and put the phone back into her pocket and continued home.
***
When Jean got home, the first thing she did was finish her homework. After that, she watched some television shows to kill time while waiting for her dad to come home. When it was almost time, she got up and went to cook dinner.
Jean heard the sound of the door opening just as she finished putting the dishes on the table. She quickly went to the bathroom to wash her hands then straight to her room to card the card that Josh had given her to show it to her dad.
"Hey sweetie, how was your day today," her dad asked when he saw her.
"It was okay," she told him. "Hey, can you look at this for a second," she asked while he was still taking off his shoes.
"Yeah, give me a second." Her dad finished putting away his shoes and jacket and then went over to Jean and picked up the card from her hand. He made a confused face as he examined it and asked Jean, "Where did you get this?"
"Um, someone was showing this to me and forgot to take it back," she told him. Her dad reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and then his card from the wallet and compared the two. Jean saw that her dad's card was a darker shade of blue than the other one and also thinner. Other than that, which she had already known before, there wasn't anything else that was different. The two cards looked pretty much identical.
"Who gave you this card?" her dad asked her.
"Someone by the name of Josh," Jean answered and then added, "He said he was the president's son."
"Josh?" her dad said in a confused tone. "Did he tell you his last name?"
"He didn't tell me that," Jean replied. Her dad went into thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"If I recall right, the president's son is named Michael, so he is lying to you. Either that or he is using an alias," her dad told her. "But no matter what the case is, I don't think you should socialize with him," he warned.
"Why is that?" Jean asked.
"Hm? Haven't you heard-" her dad paused for a second and suddenly remembered and facepalmed himself, "Ah, I forgot. Only a few I.C.E. personnel know about this."
"Know about what?"
"I'm actually not allowed to talk about it but since you're my daughter there shouldn't really be a problem."
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