Foolish Games
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Shala Mungroo
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213K
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26
Jessie likes her quiet life exactly the way it is. No drama, no spotlight, and definitely no attention from the most popular guy at school. She keeps her head down, avoids gossip, and plans to survive college unnoticed. Then Nick walks straight into her carefully guarded world with an easy smile and far too much confidence. Everyone adores him, but Jessie isn’t impressed by charm, football trophies, or pretty blue eyes. That only seems to make Nick more determined. The more he chases her, the more Jessie realizes there’s something unexpectedly genuine beneath his golden-boy reputation. Between teasing conversations, stolen moments, and feelings neither of them planned for, Jessie starts wondering if being noticed might not be the worst thing after all.
1: Chapter 1
Jessie
Jessie caught a ride to school with her new friend Erica since her dad had taken the car she normally drove. She glanced over at Erica and couldn’t help but smile.
Erica was rich—like, seriously loaded—but she wasn’t stuck-up like most of the wealthy kids at their college. Which was kind of surprising, considering she hung out with all of them.
But Erica had explained it was all about image. She desperately wanted to be popular, and she always said if you wanted to be popular, you had to surround yourself with popular people. That was what she was doing. Jessie was just along for the ride.
So what if most of the popular kids were total snobs? That was just the price you paid for popularity, right? Jessie had just shaken her head and said, “Whatever.” She didn’t really care—being Little Miss Popular definitely wasn’t on her to-do list.
“So Jessie, I was wondering. Do you have a boyfriend?” Erica asked, pulling her back to reality.
“Well, no. I was dating this guy named Josh for a couple months, but we had to break up when I moved here,” Jessie said absently. “We both realized long distance wouldn’t work out, so we ended it. I’m kind of glad, honestly.”
“Why? Didn’t you like him?” Erica asked, pulling into the school parking lot.
“Yeah, but only at first. He was really nice and sweet, but then he got super possessive,” Jessie explained. “He wouldn’t let me go anywhere with my friends or do whatever I wanted. I couldn’t stand it anymore.”
“Then why didn’t you dump his ass?” Erica asked, stopping the car and turning to look at her.
“I…I couldn’t,” Jessie stammered. “Josh has a really bad temper, and sometimes it gets out of control—”
“Oh my god! Jessie, don’t tell me that bastard used to hit you!” Erica’s voice was shocked.
“Well, only a couple times…”
“He shouldn’t have hit you at all!”
“Erica, it’s behind me now. I just want to forget about it, okay?” Jessie said. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone what I just told you.”
“But Jessie—”
“Please, just promise me you won’t say anything,” Jessie pleaded.
“Okay, I promise.” Erica paused. “But you didn’t really answer my question. Why didn’t you leave him?”
“Because he threatened to kill me if I did.” Jessie got out of the car without another word, and the silence said everything.
“Jessie!”
Jessie spun around when she heard someone call her name.
“Oh no,” she groaned when she saw who it was. Nick was walking toward her.
“Hi Jessie, hi Erica!” he said, noticing Erica standing next to her.
“Hi Nick!” Erica replied.
Erica had mentioned knowing Nick for about two years, and it showed—they greeted each other with the easy familiarity of old friends. Jessie had gathered from their conversations that Erica genuinely liked him, though not in a romantic way. More like a brother, she’d said.
When she’d met Jessie, Erica had introduced them almost immediately—clearly convinced they’d be perfect for each other. Much to Jessie’s reluctance. Nick had asked her out that same day, but Jessie refused.
Erica hadn’t pressed her at the time about why she’d said no to Nick. But it wasn’t that Jessie didn’t like him—she just didn’t want to get into another relationship that would turn out like her last.
“So Nick, where are you off to?” Erica asked, making him shift his gaze from Jessie to her. But his eyes quickly found their way back to Jessie.
“I have a class in about ten minutes, but I saw Jessie and was wondering if she changed her mind about going out with me.” Nick looked at her intently, waiting for a reply.
Jessie shifted awkwardly. Damn it! Why does he have to be so persistent? Doesn’t he know what the word ‘no’ means?
“I don’t think so, Nick,” Jessie said. Erica nudged her, but Jessie ignored it.
“Why not?” Nick asked with a frown.
“Because…because…I have a boyfriend!” Jessie said quickly.
Erica looked at her like she was crazy but said nothing.
“Oh.” Nick’s voice was soft. “You should have just told me that before.” He walked off without looking back. He didn’t look back.
Erica slapped her arm. “Why did you do that?”
“Ow!” Jessie cried, rubbing her arm. “Erica, you know why! I told you about Josh!”
“Believe me, Jessie, Nick is nothing like Josh!” Erica stated.
“I don’t care. Right now, I’m not ready for another relationship, all right?” Jessie said.
“Fine. But you’re letting go of a good thing.”
Jessie watched him walk away, and something inside her cracked a little. Maybe Erica was right. Maybe she was letting go of something good.
But good wasn’t always enough, was it? Sometimes good was just comfortable. Sometimes good was settling for less than what your heart actually wanted.
Jessie shook her head and turned away.
***
Back at her father’s house after class, the hallway felt longer than usual, each step echoing off the walls like a reminder of what she had just walked away from.
Inside, she dropped her keys on the counter and stared at her reflection in the microwave door. Her hair was a mess; her mascara smudged from earlier tears she didn’t even realize she’d cried.
What am I doing?
The question hit her harder than she expected. Because honestly? She didn’t know anymore. She thought she knew what she wanted, but standing there in the empty kitchen, she was starting to wonder if she had been lying to herself this whole time.
Her phone buzzed on the counter. For a split second, her heart jumped, thinking it might be him. But it was just a notification from some app she never used.
She sank onto her couch and pulled a throw pillow into her lap. The silence was deafening. This was what she chose—this quiet, this space, this freedom to figure things out on her own.
So why did it feel so much like giving up?
***
“Oh no! I am NOT joining a sorority!” Jessie cried as Erica grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the most popular sorority house on campus.
“Yes you are! Come on! It’ll be good for you!” Erica exclaimed.
“No it won’t!” Jessie protested, trying to dig her heels into the sidewalk.
“Yes it will. Besides, I’m joining, and it’ll be cool if you’d join with me,” Erica said, her grip tightening on Jessie’s arm.
“Uh-uh. I don’t think so, Erica.”
“Please?” Erica pouted, stopping right in front of the house. “Do it for me? I really don’t want to do this by myself. It’s much more fun with a friend. Besides, it adds to the competition!”
“I don’t know…”
“Please? Please? Please? You know I’m not going to stop unless you agree to do this, right?”
Jessie let out a long breath. “Yeah, I know. All right, fine. I’ll do it.”
“Thank you!” Erica said, throwing her arms around her.
“On one condition!” Jessie said, causing her to pause mid-hug.
“What?”
“That we don’t have to be here every day.”
“Hey! I don’t make the rules,” Erica said as they walked through the front door.
***
Nick
“Nick, what’s up with you?” his best friend, Brian, asked. They were both sitting on the bench after playing basketball, and Brian had noticed that Nick hadn’t been focused on the game at all.
“What makes you think something’s wrong?” Nick asked, opening a bottle of water.
“For two reasons. One, you haven’t made a single basket and we’ve been here for over an hour now. And two, your expression says ‘My dog just died,’” Brian stated teasingly. “Now what’s really bothering you?”
“Well, remember that girl I was telling you about?” Nick asked.
“Umm…yeah. Jessie, right?”
“Yeah. Well, I asked her out and—”
“Didn’t she turn you down?” Brian interrupted.
“Yeah, but I asked her again and she still refused. She said she had a boyfriend, but something tells me she’s lying.” Nick ran a hand through his hair. “She would have mentioned the boyfriend the first time we met, but she didn’t.”
“Maybe you didn’t give her the time to say it,” Brian suggested.
“I don’t think so. Besides, Erica wouldn’t have introduced us if she really did have a boyfriend, right?”
“I dunno. Erica does weird things sometimes. It’s hard to say anymore.”
“I’ve never seen her with anyone except Erica,” Nick pointed out again.
“Look, Nick, give it a rest. You asked her out, she said no. Learn to deal with it and move on with your life!” Brian said, getting up and turning to face him.
“Besides, what do you really know about this girl anyway, except what Erica’s told you? Which was ‘She’s perfect for you. She’s not like the other girls on campus.’ I mean, what’s that supposed to mean? This girl could be a psycho!”
“Umm…Brian, I think you’re overreacting.”
“Am I?”
***
Jessie
“Okay, we’ll call you tomorrow and tell each of you exactly what you have to do to get in. Thank you for coming, everyone!” a tall brunette shouted from the center of the room. The room slowly emptied, followed by constant chatter.
“I can’t believe you’re making me do this!” Jessie muttered as they walked out the door.
“I’ll have you know that this looks good on your transcript, okay!” Erica protested.
Jessie thought about that for a moment. All her life she’d worked hard and had achieved straight A’s throughout high school. She was planning on doing equally well in college. She was determined to be successful and make her father proud.
Unlike most of the kids here, Jessie actually had to work hard to get to the top. Right now, every little bit helped.
Her mother died when she was very young, so she grew up with just her father, and she was doing this all for him. She would miss him, but even if she moved into the sorority house, she could still come stay with him some weekends.
“Okay, maybe you were right. Maybe this sorority thing might be good for me.”
