Beyond the Sea by Emily Goodwin

they never stray from that type. It doesn’t matter how shallow or narrow minded she is, she just needs to look good on his arm to uphold his social status,” she said quickly.
    “Melia’s not shallow or narrow minded. She’s nothing like the ‘type’ you’re thinking of. And actually, you are the narrow minded one for assuming that. Trust me; you have no idea who Melia is,” Jamie spat, surprising herself with her bluntness.
    Looking enviously at Peter, Zack sighed. “What I wouldn’t give for a girl like that.”
    “Dude, I know,” CJ agreed, looking up from a Psychology Today magazine.
    Jamie knew Melia was a hard ten. She knew Melia could easily be a swimsuit model and win every beauty contest she entered. But she couldn’t help but wonder what the male population would think about her if they knew the truth. They would have to see it to believe it, of course. Would that make her a freak? Or, perhaps, even more enticing?
    “Hey guys!” a cute, petite blonde called, striding up to their table. “Oh, Jamie, hi!”
    “Hey Rosemary,” Jamie said back, happy for a distraction from conversation with Elle. Rosemary stood just over five feet. She wore pink dresses and braids and just looked like the sweetest girl in the world. And she was captain of the debate team. She never backed down from an argument and could talk her way into or out of almost anything. For the next few minutes Jamie felt very out of place. Jeff and his group of friends spoke of things she knew nothing about, reminiscing over the fun last weekend, planning for the upcoming one. She wanted to go back and sit with Melia. She turned to see if she and Peter were still by the fountain. Rosemary followed her gaze.
    “Oh. My. God. They are so freaking cute!” she squealed, scrunching up her face. And they were. Peter and Melia sat angled toward each other. Peter held both of her hands and looked longingly into her eyes as he spoke. He must have said something funny, for Melia laughed, leaning toward him as she did so. Then he put a hand on her cheek, gently pulled her face forward and kissed her. “Well, there goes our chances for ‘cutest couple’,” she pouted. CJ shrugged.
    Cutest couple? Jamie wondered. CJ was tall, chubby and had ear length curly black hair. He and Rosemary made a very odd couple. She smiled at the thought.
    “Yea, but they’re not a couple,” Elle pointed out.
    “Yes they are,” Rosemary stated, looking right at Jamie. “Aren’t they?”
    “Uh,” Jamie started, aware that everyone in the little group was staring at her. She didn’t want to go blabbing Melia’s business, but there really wasn’t a point in keeping it a secret. “Yes.”
    “Told you,” Rosemary said. “I saw it on Facebook last night.”
    Jamie felt a wave of proudness for Melia doing something so normal like that.
    “Janet’s gonna be so pissed,” Rosemary continued.
    “Why?” Jamie asked.
    Rosemary looked at Jamie as if she asked is the sky blue. “He’s her ex.”
    “Yea, but that doesn’t mean anything,” Jeff interjected.
    “I’m, uh, gonna get my books,” Jamie mumbled, aware of the armload or textbooks in front of her. Ungracefully, she gathered them up and hurried to the covered hall that led to class. She hadn’t realized Jeff had followed until he said,
    “Sorry if they upset you by talking about Melia like that. I know she’s your friend.”
    “It’s ok,” she said quietly.
    “Listen, give me a chance to redeem them, ok?” He slowed. So did Jamie. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”
    She almost replied with ‘hanging out with Melia’ before remembering Melia would be with Peter. “Uh, nothing.”
    “Well, if you’re interested you should come over. We watch old horror movies every other Friday. Lame I know, but we’re broke and bored and the tradition was born.” He smiled. “It’s my turn to host.”
    Jamie looked at Melia; she would tell her to go. “Sure, sounds fun.”

     

 
    -Chapter