Thursday, Emma and Peter were making out in the hall between two classes.
Peter broke for air, first. "So…," he pulled Emma's arm off his shoulder, started to fiddle with her new bracelet, and smiled, "what are we doing after school today?"
Emma bit down on her lower lip. "Uh, I promised I would do some tutoring again, today."
Peter was still looking down at Emma's bracelet. "Who is this person who is getting so much of my girlfriend's attention lately?"
Emma tried to make it sound as innocent as possible. "Oh, no one really, just Jay."
Peter popped his head up and looked straight into Emma's eyes with a piercing glare. "As in Jay Hogart?"
Becoming a bit scared of her boyfriend's sudden mood change, Emma answered cautiously. "Ye-ah."
"Emma, why would you help him?! He's a pathetic loser who completely used you last year!" Peter's mood had now changed to full-on rage.
"Everyone deserves a second chance, Peter," Emma tried to reason.
"Not him! Unless…Is there something going on between you two?!" He tightly gripped both of Emma's arms and jerked her toward him. "Emma, are you cheating on me?!"
Frightened and struggling to get free, Emma quickly denied this. "No! There's nothing going on! I'm just helping him pass his classes!" She desperately looked around, hoping to catch someone's eyes, but no one passing in the hall seemed to being paying any attention to her and Peter.
Peter jerked her violently again, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "You swear?!"
The more Emma struggled, the tighter Peter's grip became. "Yes! Yes, I swear!"
"Okay, fine." And, just like that, Peter released Emma with a push, sending her back against the wall. "I'll pick you up after the session, alright?"
Emma nodded quickly, still afraid. "Yeah, okay."
Noticing the fear in his girlfriend's eyes, Peter softened his own eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just couldn't take it if Jay were to take advantage of you like that again. I just love you so much. I don't want to lose you."
Emma calmed down as forgiveness instantly took over. "That's never gonna happen. It's okay. I love you, too." She gave him a quick kiss and headed off to class.
But, things were not okay, and Emma would soon find out, that was not the worst of Peter's rage.
…
After school, Emma walked into the MI lab a few minutes early only to find Jay already there and waiting for her. As they went through the session, Emma seemed somewhat distracted at times. Jay tried his best to keep her smiling and having a good time as they studied and it worked temporarily, that is, until…
Peter knocked on the doorway to get their attention. "Ready to go?"
Emma looked at the clock, then to Jay, and then back to Peter. "Yeah, sure." She hopped up from the table and reached her hand out for Peter's.
Then, Jay saw it. Emma's brand new bracelet that just screamed 'happily in love' had escaped from underneath her sleeve and was now taunting Jay. Peter pulled Emma into a kiss right in front of him, as if to say, 'she's mine.' Emma giggled from the giddy feeling she had after the kiss.
Emma turned her attention back to the other guy in the room just for a second. "So, I'll see you on Tuesday, right Jay?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, Tuesday. Yeah, sure," Jay replied as he slowly came back to reality.
Emma smiled in recognition of Jay's confirmation. "Okay, good." Peter whispered something in her ear and she giggled again as she turned and walked out with him.
Jay's false smile melted to the ground as soon as they were out of sight.
