The Squad Effect

Chapter 17 | The New Guy

Carter Reynolds

2 Hours Earlier

Since lunch I've been distracted. I've had a lot of stuff going on in my mind and I personally don't even fully understand why. I was sitting at our regular table when I looked back to see some dude kissing Matt, my roommate.

Ever since then I've been feeling strange. It's like my stomach has been turned inside out. I've never felt this way before.

To calm my erratic feelings down, I've turned back to my old habits of drawing . I let my pen travel where it wanted, letting it take control. When I finally looked back down at my drawing, I was able to identify two hands holding a ball of words, many that had to do with Matt.

I ripped out the drawing and crumpled it up once I realized I was unhappy with it. I promptly threw it to the trash can in the corner of the room, missing it completely

The front door of our dorm room opened suddenly, and my ears were filled with the sound of Matt's laughter. I quickly hid my sketchbook under my bed and tried to look busy on my phone.

"Hey Carter! You don't mind if Jacob's in here right?" Matt asks.

"Not at all." I lie. I noticed Jacob bending down to pick up the paper that was near the garbage. I would yell at him to put it down, but I don't want to draw Matt's attention to it as well. That would create an even bigger issue.

He un-crumples the paper and looks at it. A smirk forms on his face before crumpling it again. He chucks it in the trash, being sure not to miss.

"What was that?" Matt asks.

"It doesn't matter anymore. It's where it belongs now, babe." He answers coldly while sitting on Matt's bed.

"Okay..." Matt trails off, seeming off put by Jacob's word choice. He lies back on his bed, pulling Jacob to lay next to him. My stomach turns as I watched them smile dazedly at each other as if they were in a mutual love struck stupor. "Kiss me." Matt whispers to his new boyfriend.

Matt guided Jacob to climb on top of him while they made out passionately. This time my stomach made an audible sound as another uncomfortable feeling ran through me. Almost as if on par with my gastric gurgling, Jacob opens his right eye and winks at me. It wasn't a seductive wink. It was a gloating wink. One that expressed pride.

I rolled my eyes, stopping myself from taking this any further. One thing that I've always prided myself on was my self-control during stressful situations. The minutes dragged on as I continued to pretend to be engulfed in something on my phone. In reality, I was staring at the same two comments over and over on a photo in my timeline. Once fifteen agonizing minutes of Jacob and Matt making out dragged by, they finally stopped. Jacob climbed off of Matt and grabbed his hand.

"Let's go to the kitchen. I'll make you some dinner. Carter would you like anything to drink, you seem a little thirsty." Jacob mocks with a malicious gleam in his eye.

"I'm good. Thanks though." I cringed while trying to sound calm. Jacob opens the the cupboards once he gets to the kitchen and takes down a pot and a bag of uncooked spaghetti. Matt hugs him from behind as he begins cooking. The sight of them giggling together made me even sicker.

I know that I probably seem jealous, but I don't think I am. I've never been jealous.

When the spaghetti is finished Jacob leaves it on the stove to cool down. In the meantime, he turns around and picks Matt up off of the ground. He places Matt on the counter and stands in between his legs, planting playful kisses on Matt's neck.

"He is hopelessly in love with you, y'know." I hear Jacob whisper to Matt.

I don't know if I wish he was better at whispering or not.

"Who cares if he is or not? It makes no difference since I have you." Matt whispers back.

"That's so sweet." He says before gently kissing Matt on the lips. Jacob laughs evilly against Matt's lips. "God, he's pathetic." He mumbles. Matt rests his hand on Jacob's jaw and deepens the kiss.

"What makes you think that I'm pathetic?" I ask Jacob while rising from my spot and walking into the kitchen. He breaks his kiss with Matt.

"The fact that you have a big ol' crush on someone whose already got a man." He claims.

"Please, you are not a man." I scoff.

"You're just angry because Matt has never wanted you and he never will." Jacob chuckles darkly.

"Jacob, please." Matt scolds while putting his hand on Jacobs shoulder. He puts an arm around Matt tauntingly.

"If he's never wanted me; why was I the first guy he kissed? Why was I the first guy he slept with?" I ask.

"What?" Jacob asks while looking at Matt.

"I-I-I..." Matthew stuttered.

"It doesn't matter. What's important is, now we're gonna have s*x and there's nothing you can do about it." Jacob seethes. Matt nods excitedly. Jacob turns away from me and begins making out with Matt. Matt kisses him back hungrily. My whole face becomes hot as blood rushes to my cheeks. I clench my fist involuntarily.

That's it. I can't take this anymore.

I pick up the item that was nearest to me; a blue, spun-glass vase. This vase was a gift, along with some flowers that died earlier, that Jacob bought for Matt.

I reel back the arm that holds the vase. Matt opens his eyes slowly. When he notices the vase, and the position in which I had it poised, his eyes widen and he pulls off of Jacob.

I smash the glass on Jacobs' back, almost a split-second later. He falls to the ground and Matt screams.

"Why the f**k would you do that?" Matt yells. I could see tears beginning to stream down his face. He storms out of the room and into the bedroom. He sits in his bed loudly sobbing.

"I'm sorry! It's just, you guys were... and I don't-"

Suddenly the door opens. It's Shawn, Taylor, Nash and, after a couple seconds, Cameron. They survey the room and look at me fearfully. I couldn't help but look down at Jacob with a regret-filled face.

Why did I do that?

That's when he started bleeding.