The horrible feeling in her gut remained there as Jenna got out of the locker room. It was even worse as she had a hard time glancing at Tina when she saw her sitting on the bleachers. For the few seconds that Jenna managed to hold, she could see that she still looked a little pale, drinking more water as the coach and Carol sat on each side of her. Lifting her head, she glared towards Jenna, then Carol did the same. She quickly turned her head away and walked out of the gym, blending in with the crowd of students before Tina or Carol could catch up with her.

She couldn't even concentrate all throughout her second class of the day, always having her foot tapping against the chair. It was all she could do to keep her mind off of gym class, trying to not picture Tina in the state that she was in because of her. She almost felt like vomiting just thinking about it.

When lunch rolled around, Jenna hoped that it would help this aching feeling inside of her go away if she got some food in her system. But by the time she got a sandwich, an apple, and a juice box on my tray and sat down at the nearest empty table, all she could do was stare at the food. Huffing a sigh in frustration, she leaned back in my chair as Steve and Janet came over with their trays of food.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm sorry?" Steve asked her as he sat down across from Jenna. "I was upset."

"Still not an excuse to ditch me," Janet retorted, plopping down next to Jenna.

"Would you still be mad at me if I told you that I had to take Jenna home because she was upset, too?"

"Again, still not an excuse," she repeated, then furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Wait, you two didn't leave the party together, did you?"

Jenna looked at her and nodded.. "Uh, yeah. Steve found me outside and offered to take me home."

Janet widened her eyes. "And neither of you bothered to tell me this?" She glanced at Steve again, then threw a little carrot his way. "Now I'm even more pissed that you were able to take her home but not me."

"Hey, we both had rough nights," he protested. "And also rough mornings, too. Nancy and I broke up for good."

"Sounds like a personal problem," Janet retorted.

"Thanks for the support, Jan," he said sarcastically.

"How are you holding up with it?" Jenna spoke up, giving him a sad look.

He shrugged in response. "I mean, it happened right before I got here, so it's..." Trailing off, he sighed. "Breakups suck."

Jenna slightly chuckled as she nodded her head in agreement. "Got that right."

Giving her a weak smile, Steve stood up from his seat. "I'll be right back." He looked over at Janet again. "Will a chocolate chip cookie make up for abandoning you last night?"

Janet eyed him, a smirk coming across her face. "It's a start."

Steve rolled his eyes before turning around and walking away from the table. During the short time where the girls didn't say anything, Jenna found herself staring at him as he stood in line.

But finally, Janet cleared her throat, which made Jenna turn to face her. "So, dudette," she said, biting into a piece of celery before using it to point at her friend. "You forgot to tell me that Steve was the one who took you home last night."

"You didn't ask."

"Well, now, I have another question to ask: When are you gonna tell Steve that you have the hots for him?"

Jenna widened her eyes. "What?"

"Look, I gotta admit, I was getting really tired of seeing Nancy's mug all the time," she confessed. "But now that you two are available..."

She scoffed, shaking her head. "I don't even like him like that. I never have."

"You keep telling yourself that," she stated, focusing on the tray in front of her. "Meanwhile, I'll start praying that Nancy gets hit by a bus or something after whatever she said to Steve." She paused, letting out a chuckle. "I can include Tina while I'm at it."

"Janet, that's not funny," Jenna said in a firm tone, shooting her a serious look.

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you haven't thought about it."

"No, because I'd never want that for them," she snapped.

She furrowed her brows, a puzzled look coming over her face. "Relax. I was just joking."

"Well, you shouldn't joke about things like that," Jenna told her, grabbing her knapsack and tray. "I gotta go."

"Wait, Jenna--"

"I'll see you later." With that, she stood up from her seat and walked away, going to the nearest trash can to dump her food. Turning around, she was about to head to the other side of the cafeteria to leave when the familiar blond hair that belonged to Craig was coming towards her.

"We need to talk," was the first thing he said to her, his expression stern.

Jenna raised her eyebrows. "What is there to talk about? You made it very clear last night that you didn't love me anymore and that we were over."

"Not about that," he replied. "What the hell did you attack Tina in gym class for?"

Thrown off, she scoffed. "Attacked her? Is that what she told you?"

"Well, is it true?"

She shot him an annoyed look before responding. "No, not exactly."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means that Tina needs to keep her mouth shut about me," she retorted. "I only got mad at her because she provoked me. I was only defending myself."

"So what, you think going after her would make yourself feel better?"

Jenna opened her mouth to give him a rebuttal, but no words came out. If only he knew that relief was the last thing she'd feel if she had seriously hurt Tina. But seeing the way Craig was acting towards her in this moment, it was obvious that things between them were no longer the same now that they were broken up, not seeing her as the girl he fell head over heels for almost a year ago.

"It was a mistake," she admitted. "I'm not..." She stopped for a moment, almost getting choked up at the thought of anything bad happening to Tina, despite Jenna's dislike for her. "I'm not some kind of monster." Even though she said those words, she had a hard time believing that it was true.

Craig shook his head, along with shrugging his shoulders. "Honestly, I have no idea who you are anymore, Jenna."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you've changed into someone I don't recognize," he stated, raising his voice.

The chatting in the cafeteria began to fade as all eyes came onto them. Jenna felt her cheeks turn red with embarrassment as she stood there and stared at Craig.

But then another voice chimed in. "What's going on?" Steve asked as he walked over towards the two.

The look on Craig's face appeared more irritated once Steve was standing in between them. "Well, look who it is. King Steve on his way over here to save his damsel in distress."

Steve let out a scoff, shaking his head. "Jesus, man, can't you just leave her alone now? You got what you wanted."

"No, I'm actually not done yet," he retorted. "How about we tell everyone here what a terrible girlfriend Jenna Howard is?"

"Craig, don't do this," she mumbled his way, the sound of desperation creeping in her voice.

"Why not? I think people deserve to know the truth about you," he stated. "And maybe I can warn all the guys here about you so that they know what they're getting into with you."

"You're a dick," she spat out.

"And you're a bitch who's terrible in bed," he snapped. "I can't count how many times we had to stop because of your episodes."

"You know I can't control those--"

"And let's also bring up how I always catch you alone with Steve," he continued, not stopping once to hear what she had to say. "How do you think that made me feel?"

Widening her eyes, Jenna scoffed again. "How that made you feel? Are you fucking kidding me?" She shook her head in disbelief. "How do you think I felt when I caught you and Tina Miller all over each other last night?"

"Hey, you said it yourself that you knew something was going on between us," he pointed out. "It's not my fault you're a dumb bitch, too."

"Okay, how about you just shut up now?" Steve intervened, extending his hand out for her to take. "Come on, Jenna. He's not worth it."

"Yeah, go ahead, Harrington. Take your slut somewhere nice and quiet. I know you two would like to squeeze in a quickie before the day is over with. Can't imagine how Nancy will feel about that."

Steve was fast to push Craig backwards. "I told you to shut your damn mouth, Bennett."

"Or what?" he retorted, getting up in Steve's face. "Come on, Harrington. Hit me." When Steve didn't respond, Craig kept going with the taunting. "I know you want to. You're not really gonna miss the opportunity to prove yourself, are you?"

Jenna got more nervous and tense as people started to stand up from their seats in order to get a better view of the fight that was about to happen. It only became worse as Craig shoved Steve to the ground, which was when the anger inside of her grew as she clenched her fists.

Before she knew it, she stormed towards him as he turned around to face her, swinging her right hand and throwing a punch to his face, which everyone around them let out gasps and murmurs of what just happened.

It took Jenna a moment to process what she just did, and when Craig grunted, lifting his head to reveal his bloody nose her way, the rage didn't die down inside her. And judging by the look on Craig's face, his rage was also still there.

"You psycho bitch!" he shouted. "I was right abo--" But he stopped mid-sentence as he let out a scream of pain, shutting his eyes as he clutched his head.

Taking a step back, Jenna didn't break my focus on him, as she knew exactly what she was doing. She let the power rise in her hands like before, but quickly realized that this wasn't what she wanted for him, no matter how much he hurt her. Still, she was having a hard time stopping as her head started to spin, along with her nose bleeding. Next, she could feel her chest tightening, then her heart beating fast and her breathing becoming uneven. As she continued to watch Craig in agony, her hands began to shake, finally making a dash for the door that led her outside, running towards the open field.

With the impact her fist took just now that caused a throbbing pain in her knuckles, in addition to her having an episode from the powers and a panic attack all at once, Jenna stopped running, unable to hold it in anymore. Tears fell down her face as she felt a burning sensation come over every inch of her body. Having a hard time keeping a stance, Jenna felt her body sway side to side, waiting for the dizziness to take over. She was ready to pass out in the middle of the concrete with no one to help her.

But that never happened, not when she heard him shouting her name.

"Jenna!" Steve called out.

The sound of worry in his voice caused her to turn around as he came running towards her. "Stay away from me!" Jenna cried.

"Hey, it's okay," he said calmly, though it looked like he was far from being relaxed. "Jenna, I'm right here. Just talk to me."

Jenna shook her head, taking a step back. "No, I don't..." She stopped for a moment, breathing rapidly. "I don't wanna hurt you, too."

Steve shook his head as his face fell, placing his hands on either side of her face. "You won't hurt me."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I know you," he stated. "You'd never hurt me or anyone else you care about." He paused, taking a deep breath. "You're my best friend, Jenna, and I trust you."

She opened her mouth to speak, only to get a whimper out first. "Steve..."

"Just keep looking at me," he said in a low voice. "You can get back in control."

The more Jenna kept her eyes on Steve, the more she noticed his expression of assurance. The way his thumbs rubbed across her cheeks to catch any tears was a start to getting her body temperature back to a normal level. Then her breathing was no longer uneven, along with the weight being lifted off her chest. Slowly but surely, she was going back to herself again. Once her head was no longer spinning, Jenna inhaled sharply and saw the relief on Steve's face when he realized that she was okay.

"Thank God," he whispered, dropping his hands. "I was worried for a minute there."

Jenna wiped the blood off her face, still feeling shaken up. "I-I think I'm gonna go home. I'd rather not be here right now."

Steve narrows his brows. "You sure?"

"Yeah," she replied, nodding her head. "I'll see you tomorrow." Jenna spun around on her heel and headed for the parking lot before he could stop her. She knew that Steve was probably still looking at her as she walked away from him, but she didn't turn around. Instead, she focused on her heart still beating at a faster pace than usual, and she had no idea why it wouldn't slow down.

*******

Jenna wasn't sure what to expect when her mom got home from work that evening. From the way Dorothy greeted her, it looked like she had no idea that Jenna left school early, despite her bruised knuckles that she attempted to deal with once she came home, which was a relief to her.

However, as they sat at the table, eating the stuffed peppers her mom had made, she cleared her throat, breaking the silence.

"I got an interesting phone call today during my lunch break," she said.

"Let me guess, Chief Hopper got another lead on something about my biological family?" Jenna retorted.

"Actually, it was from your school."

She froze, placing her fork down. "It was?"

"Yes, it was," she answered. "Your principal told me that Craig came into his office with a bloody nose. According to Craig, you were the one who gave it to him." She eyed the purple bruises on Jenna's knuckles. "And seeing how banged up your hand looks..."

Jenna huffed a sigh. "Yeah, I did. Go ahead and punish me, if you want."

She chuckled, shaking her head. "I'm not going to punish you for hitting your ex-boyfriend, Jenna. I just don't want you wasting any more time and energy on him after what he did to you." Pausing, her face fell. "But was it for a good reason?"

Leaning back in the chair, Jenna folded her arms over her chest. "He cheated on me. He embarrassed me in front of everyone in the cafeteria today. He almost beat the crap out of Steve if I hadn't intervened. So yeah, I'd say it was for a good reason."

Her mom's expression turned suspicious. "There's more to it, isn't there?"

Reluctantly, she nodded her head. "Maybe it started with Tina Miller in gym class."

"Of course it did," her mom stated. "Wanna tell me what happened?"

Jenna let out a scoff. "Let's just say we won't get in each other's way anymore." There was an ache in her chest as she said those words, almost wanting to vomit as she looked down at her plate and pushed it away. "I'm finished with dinner."

"Wait, Jenna," her mom quickly said before Jenna could leave the table. "Did what happened today it have anything to do with your pow--"

"What do you think?" she snapped, then realized how rude she sounded. "I'm sorry. It's been a long day. I'd rather not think about it anymore. Well, at least not until tomorrow, since I'm sure I'll be getting a lecture from Principal Mendes." Sighing, Jenna finally stood up from her chair. "I'm gonna go upstairs and just relax for the rest of the night."

Giving her a sad smile, Dorothy nodded her head. "Okay, sweetie."

Jenna turned around and headed up the stairs, going down the hall to the bathroom. Her thoughts started to scramble in her head as she stepped into the shower, letting the hot water run down her body. She wanted to wash this day off of her, wash the guilt and pain that she was still holding onto. She stayed in that position until her fingers began to prune, finally getting out of the shower, then wrapping herself in a towel. Jenna took a moment to look at her reflection in the mirror, wringing her hair in the sink during that time, before exiting the bathroom and walking down the hall to the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She jumped when she heard a bumping noise coming from the desk.

"Ow!" a voice let out in pain. "Shit!"

"What the hell?" Jenna looked down, her mouth dropping when she saw who it was on the floor. "Steve?!"

"Jenna!" he said, standing up as he rubbed the back of his head, placing something on the desk. "I just-- Oh my God!" His eyes went wide as he quickly covered them up with his hand.

"What are you doing here?!" she asked.

"I-I just came to check on you," he replied frantically. "Your mom let me in. I was just looking around your room and then I dropped something on the floor so I--"

"Okay, okay," she cut him off. "Just...just turn around so I can get dressed."

He nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea."

When he turned his body around to face the window, Jenna felt her face get flustered as she grabbed a long-sleeved pajama shirt and pants, hurrying to put them on. Once she hung up her towel on the door knob, she glanced in the mirror to see her face almost bright red, then plopped down on the bed.

"Are you decent yet?" he spoke up.

"Yeah, you can turn around now," she answered.

Looking over his shoulder, he opened his eyes and looked more calm as he came over and sat on the bed next to her. "Sorry. Like I said, your mom let me in and sent me upstairs."

"It's fine," she told him, though it was more weird than fine. "Anyway, so you're here to check up on me?"

He sighed, looking her way. "I wanted to see if you were okay after what happened this afternoon," he said. "So, are you?"

Jenna stared at him for a moment before shrugging her shoulders in response. "I don't know. I feel like I'm all over the place with what happened with Craig and Tina last night and today."

Steve nodded his head. "All that stuff he was saying about you and Tina...what was he talking about?"

Tensing up, Jenna took a deep breath, already replaying the incident from gym class in her head again. "She was...she was saying all these things about me. You know, how Craig was bored of me and shit. She even hit a volleyball to my face. And I just..." She shook her head, already feeling the lump in her throat. "I got mad. I was so fucking mad at that bitch, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to hurt her." Pausing, she gave Steve a guilty look. "And that's exactly what I did."

Steve looked at her as if she was a lost puppy. "Jenna--"

"I stopped once I realized what I was doing to her," she assured him. "But if I had kept going...if I had continued to raise her body temperature..." Trailing off, the tears came back like before. "I'm a monster, Steve."

"No, you're not," he said, scooting closer towards her. "You didn't mean to do it."

"Just like I didn't mean to do the same to Craig?" she pointed out. "Let's stop pretending I'm some kind of saint."

"I never said you were," he said, letting out a slight chuckle. "Hell, no one in this town is a saint." Pausing, his smile faded a little. "I used to think Nancy was and look where that got me."

"Yeah, well, maybe she was too good for you to begin with."

Steve chuckled. "I think you're right. But I did love her, and to think that she didn't feel the same way makes me wonder if any of it was even real."

"It was real," Jenna told him truthfully. "I could tell it was real for you two."

He scoffed. "Yeah, tell that to Nancy."

She shrugged her shoulders. "I just think you two had a hard time talking and listening to each other."

"What, you don't think I listened to her?" he retorted, almost sounding offended.

"Well, you're not exactly an expert in that department," she pointed out. "Janet would agree with me on that."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Yeah, she sure would. Maybe I was an asshole to Nancy whenever she brought up her friend." He glanced her way. "Did she talk to you about me?"

Jenna nodded her head. "Yeah, kind of, at Craig's party. I mean, you can't blame her for being upset over what happened. Barbara was a good friend of hers." There was a short pause as she was trying to come up with what else to say. "Would you feel the same way if it was me or Janet that got taken instead of Barbara that night?"

He furrowed his eyebrows her way, as if it was a dumb question to ask. "Of course I would," he answered. "You two are my best friends. If anything happened to either one of you..." He stopped when he realized his voice was about to crack. "Honestly, I have no idea how I'd move on without you two by my side."

A grateful smile came over Jenna's face as he said those words to her. It made her appreciate him more as a friend, happy that he was here for her whenever she needed someone. Just like Steve, there was no way she'd be able to move on if anything happened to him.

"You think Janet will forgive me if I tell her what I just told you?" he asked, grinning.

Jenna laughed. "Maybe, but you know how stubborn she can be," she replied. "Plus, we did abandon her last night."

"Yeah, we were shitty for doing that. At least you're in her good books."

"That's because I'm her ride to school," she pointed out. "But like you said, we had a rough night."

Nodding his head in agreement. "We sure did."

Jenna couldn't help but smile a little as she held up her bruised hand to him. "My breakup was a real bitch."

Steve gently grabbed her hand and looked at it some more, rubbing his thumb across the bruises. "Jesus, you really whacked him hard. It's not broken, is it?"

"I don't think so," she responded, shaking her head. "It still hurts a little bit, but that'll go away soon, I hope."

"Well, speaking from experience, you might wanna wrap it up," he suggested. "I can bring some to school tomorrow for you."

"That'd be great, thanks," she said. "And, uh...thanks for today. I appreciate you sticking up for me, along with helping me when my powers...you know..."

He nodded, understanding where she was going with her words. "You're welcome. What are best friends for?"

She smiled a little. "Although, I have to say, not sure if you would've won a fight against Craig."

Steve placed a hand over his chest, acting offended. "You really had no faith in me, huh?"

"No, not really," she replied, chuckling. "But the idea of you kicking his ass sounds nice."

He laughed. "Yeah, maybe it'll happen one day. That jerk deserves it after what he did to you."

Jenna scoffed. "I couldn't agree more."

There was silence between the two of them for a moment as they sat on the bed. While a part of it was awkward just sitting there and not talking, it still felt nice and comfortable with him here, especially after the shitty day the two of them had. In a way, Jenna felt a bit better just talking to him about all of it.

"So, um, since we're trying to get over our terrible breakups..." Steve started, breaking the silence. "You wanna hang out tomorrow night? Just you and me? We can get drunk and sulk over our shitty love lives since my parents will be out of town."

"Hm." Jenna gave it some thought, and the offer was sounding more interesting by the second. "That's a very tempting idea."

"So say yes. It'll be fun."

Grinning, she nodded her head. "Okay, then. Yes, I'm in."

"Cool. Eight o'clock sound good?"

"That sounds perfect."

"Great." Steve then turned to look at the clock on the nightstand, quickly getting up. "Shit, I better get going."

"Yeah, I'm getting tired," Jenna said, standing up next to him. "I appreciate you coming over to check on me."

"No problem." Walking towards the door, he opened it, then turned his head to look at her once more. "Goodnight, Jenna."

"Goodnight, Steve,"she responded, giving him a little smile.

He smiled back before exiting her room and disappearing down the hall. She could feel a shift in her mood as it got slightly better. But she was confused as to why her heart was beating a little bit faster than usual like before.

And when Jenna tucked herself into bed, thinking of Steve in the process, it kept going.

~~~~~~~

A/N: OOP, well, wasn't this an exciting chapter (but just wait until the next one, hehe).

Comment, vote, more to come soon!

-A