-Eva writes-

During the week, the story about Janel en Brant slowly spread. By Friday, the whole school knew about their 'adventure' and a lot of rumors had been created. For example, some said that Janel and Brant were doing it in the living room, on the dining table and some people even believed that they did it in Brant's parents' room while they were sleeping there.

Janel was probably the only one who did not know that the whole school knew about her and Brant. Nobody talked to her about it, they all talked behind her back.

During French Janel was struggling with herself. She had taken a decision yesterday, but she doubted if she could actually do it.

-FLASHBACK-

Janel was sitting in her room trying to work on her math homework. Too bad she couldn't concentrate at all. 'Curse you, Callan Anderson,' Janel thought. She shut her math book and sat down on her bed, sighing. She really needed someone to talk to, but she couldn't figure out to whom. Shay was too young and she knew Callan, so she wasn't an option. Alex was a boy. Enough said. Her mom's wouldn't understand her anyway, since they were adults and they didn't understand her problems. Oh, and they were gay. But then, the solution came to Janel's mind and she picked up her phone. Quickly she dialled the right number and held her phone to her ear.

"Hi, this is Claire."

"Hi, Claire, it's Janel," Janel said, crossing her legs.

"Janel! What a surprise to hear from you!" Janel could hear Claire smiling through her phone, which made Janel smile a bit too.

"Yeah, well, I kind of need your advice," Janel explained nervously while playing with her hair.

"My advice? I'm flattered."

Janel smiled, but weakly. "You are probably the only one who I can ask for advice on this, so, I called you." Janel lay down on her bed.

There was a silence. "You sound like there's something wrong. Is everybody okay?" Claire asked.

"Yes, don't worry. Everybody is okay, as far as I'm concerned. It isn't a big deal or anything, really. You'll probably think it's silly or stupid…"

"Just spill it, sis."

Janel sighed. "I'm in love. But don't get your hopes up. It's the wrong person." Janel could nearly hear the confusion that her words created.

"How do you mean the wrong person?" Claire asked.

"I'm not supposed to love him!"

"Why not?"

Janel inhaled and started ranting: "Because I'm the head Cheerio and he's a total loner and everyone expects me to date a jock and he'll never love me because he'll think I'm shallow and – "

Claire cut Janel off. "Janel, stop. You were right. I do think it's silly."

"But – "

"No buts. You are beautiful and he would be an idiot if he would reject you."

Again, Janel's mouth formed into a weak smile. "Thanks. But I'm afraid people will see me differently, or even bully me…"

"Love is way more important than status. If they bully you, just come to me. And if you're really afraid, keep it a secret. Not to him, but to the rest of the school," Claire advised.

"Hmm…." 'That might be a good idea…' Janel thought. But then another problem came into her head. "But I'm not going to tell him."

"You have to! If he says no, you'll be able to get some closure. Yes, it will hurt for a while but not knowing if he likes you or not is even worse. And if he does like you, then that's just awesome!" Claire reminded Janel.

A silence fell. "It's just… I can't…" Janel admitted. "I'm too scared…"

"Janel, I know it's scary. It's always scary. But I think you should do it. Tomorrow." Claire stated.

"Tomorrow?! But, wait, seriously, tomorrow? That's way too soon…"

"The sooner, the better."

Janel sighed. "Okay… I'll do it," she gave in. "I'm gonna tell him. Tomorrow."

"Yay!" Claire cheered. "Oh, wait a minute… Yes? Oh, yeah. Yeah I'll be right there! Sorry, Janel, I got to go."

"Oh… okay. We'll talk later, right?" Janel sat up again.

"Of course! Oh, and good luck!"

"Thanks. Bye…"

"Bye!" BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.

-END OF FLASHBACK-

Janel reminded herself of what Claire said. The sooner, the better. All she needed to do now is to find a time and place to approach Callan.

After French Janel walked to the cafeteria with Cher. She saw Ashley waving at her from their table. She immediately put her mask on and started strutting to the table. "Hi! How was French?" Ashley asked. "As usual." Janel smiled. Everyone started acting like they always did; the Cheerios were gossiping and the jocks were eating like pigs.

Fifteen minutes into the break, Janel suddenly noticed someone leaving the cafeteria. Callan. Janel's expression changed and Lindsey noticed it. "Are you okay?" she asked. "What? Oh, yeah. I just, eh, need to go and, eh, touch up my make-up," Janel said hastily. She stood up and followed Callan out of the cafeteria.

When Callan arrived at his locker, Janel finally showed herself.

"Hi Callan." Janel approached Callan carefully.

Callan turned his head away from his locker and looked at Janel. "… Janel?"

"Eh, yeah… Hi…"

"Why are you talking to me?" Callan wondered. That scared Janel. 'Oh god he hates me. I can't do this oh my god,' she panicked.

"Eh… hello?" Callan asked.

"Eh, yeah, eh… I, eh…" Janel stuttered. Callan looked at her questioningly. He had never seen her like this. He knew Janel as the head Cheerleader, the arrogant bitch. He had never seen her acting so insecure.

"Are… you okay?" he asked awkwardly. He didn't know how to act in these kind of situations.

Janel was on the edge of having a breakdown. Inside, she was panicking. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that she only had twenty minutes left. She looked at the ground and opened her mouth. For a few seconds, no sound came out. But then she spoke: "Eh, Callan. I, eh, just need to tell you something…"

"Yeah…?"

Janel glanced at Callan but looked down when she saw his eyes. "I… eh… sort of… like you…" she continued. Her face went red.

That took Callan by surprise. "You like me? Can you define that?"

"Well, I like, like you. As in, romantically," Janel explained, now blushing like crazy but still looking at the ground.

"Romantically?" Callan didn't believe it at first. He hadn't forgot the rumour about Janel and Brant, even though normally he'd forget it immediately. "Are you sure?"

Janel looked up confused. "Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't tell you if I wasn't," she said bitchy.

"I thought you liked Brant. Since you guys fucked and all," Callan said. That took Janel by surprise. 'Shit. I forgot about that…'

"That was an accident! I'm sure! We were both a bit drunk, well, very drunk, and it happened by accident!" she started to explain.

"Sure. You must have felt something, otherwise you wouldn't do it, even if you were drunk." Callan said.

"The only thing I think about him is that he's kind of hot. And I'm always slutty when I'm drunk." Janel assured. "But I really, really like you. I have liked you since last year. Do you have any idea how hard this was for me? How hard it was tell you? How hard it was to risk everything I have? My status, my friends, my respect, everything?" A tear had left Janel's eye. She was frustrated. Why wouldn't he believe her? She had dreaded this moment but had finally gathered the courage to go up and tell him, and now he didn't believe her? "Please, please, believe me…" The tears were now streaming down her cheeks.

Callan hated it when people cried. He had no idea how to deal with it. "Oh, shit, no, no, no, don't cry, please," he mumbled awkwardly. When Janel didn't stop crying, he tried to put his arm around her, but it looked more like an awkward pat on her shoulder. For a short while the only sound that was heard was Janel's sobbing.

Then the first bell rang and slowly students started to enter the hallways. Callan panicked. "Eh, well, eh, I'll talk to you later," he stuttered. "I, eh, don't know, eh… I-I'll talk to you later…" He let go of her shoulder, grabbed his books, closed his locker and walked away. And with that, he left Janel standing there, crying. She ran to the toilets, which were next to Callan's locker, fortunately. She ran into a stall and started sobbing. 'Wait… how does Callan know about me and Brant?'