::Chapter 7::

“It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured.”

-AricolaTacitus

Mira let out a sigh, running her hand through her wavy brown hair. She stared at the papers in front of her, her eyes scanning the page, but nothing registering in her brain.

She was tired.

Late night studying, research, and dealing with the newly found affections of Justin in the past week were taking a toll on her. Not that she necessarily minded, of course. The positive outweighed the negative in this case.

She looked up at the clock. It was already past eight in the evening. Plus, it was Friday. She owed herself a night off.

Pushing her chair away from her desk, Mira stood and began collecting her things, gathering her books and papers in her arms. She swung her bookbag over her shoulder and grabbed her keys. She left the small office, pulling the door closed behind her with her foot. It was a balancing act to keep from falling over as she struggled to keep all the books in her arms, her car keys hanging in her mouth, and her hand struggling with the office keys.

She finally managed to lock the door and was about to leave when she noticed a single white envelope sticking out of the manila envelope that hung beside the door. Knowing that the envelope was reserved for her and any papers and notes that may left for her while she was away from the office, she reached inside and gingerly pulled out the envelope. It was plain with no outside writing. Spotting a chair a few feet away, Mira dropped her books on the chair and carefully slid her finger underneath the glue-sealed closure.

As she pulled out the paper, her mind began running through possibilities as to who could’ve left it for her. Justin? Dr. Cohen? The strange lab tech down the hall who always looked at her funny?

Instead, it was none of the above. In fact, she didn’t know who sent it at all. The letter was blank, minus a few letters pasted in the middle, obviously cut out from various magazines.

“Stay out of it,” was all it said.

Goosebumps sprang to her arms as she looked up and down the eerily abandoned hallway. The setting, mixed with nothing but darkness outside, and the creepy letter, sent Mira rushing to her car.

She opened the car door, threw her things in the backseat, and got in, slamming the door. She quickly locked the car, sitting in silence for a moment. She looked into the passenger seat where she had tossed the envelope. Who would leave her a note like that? Was it even intended for her?

With a shake of her head, she tossed the letter haphazardly to the floor of her car. She started the ignition, slid in her Dana Glover CD, and drove home, the entire way trying to lose herself in the music and forget about the mysterious letter.

She pulled up in her driveway and scowled as she recognized the black jeep Cherokee parked along the curb in front of the house. She gathered her things and made her way into the house, not at all surprised when she spotted JC, dressed in black pants and a blue button up shirt, sprawled out on the couch, flipping through the channels on the television set.

"What are you doing here?" sneered JC.

"I live here, stupid," said Mira with a roll of her eyes. "Why, may I ask, are you sitting your ass on my couch watching my television?"

"I'm waiting for my girlfriend," said JC. "What'd you think?"

"Waiting for me," said Mira with a sarcastic smirk.

“You wish,” scoffed JC.

“In your dreams,” called Mira, stepping into the kitchen. JC rolled his eyes and continued to flip through the channels on the television.

“So where are you taking her?” asked Mira, suddenly reappearing a few minutes later, licking at a spoon of yogurt, the small plastic container of which she held in her hand.

JC’s eyebrow raised as he took in her casual attire; jeans and an oversized, long sleeved gray shirt. Her hair was pulled into a loose bun, strands from which fell and sat just above her shoulders. “Why do you care?” he muttered, returning to the television.

“Because it’s my best friend,” said Mira plainly. “I want to make sure you’re using your pop star status to treat her like the princess she is.”

“Believe me, I know,” said JC bitterly. “Why don’t you just stay out of it?”

Mira froze. Her eyes widened in recognition. “It was you!” she cried.

“What?” asked JC, clearly annoyed.

“You bastard!” she cried, walking towards him, angrily placing her yogurt on the table. “You left that note for me!”

“What note?” cried JC, his voice matching her tone. “What are you talking about?”

“What am I talking about? What am I talking about?” cried Mira, rushing around the room, her fury building. She practically attacked her pile of books and yanked out the envelope. She rushed back to the couch and threw it at him. “There! Does that look familiar?”

JC’s brow furrowed in confusion as he opened the envelope. His eyes widened as he read the pasted letters. “You got this?”

“Don’t act so surprised,” said Mira, crossing her arms over her chest. “I knew you were mad that I warned you about your relationship with Leanna, but I didn’t think you’d be so immature as to take it this far.”

“Mira, I don’t know who did his, but it wasn’t me,” said JC, his tone softening. "Did you tell anyone about this?"

"Why? Afraid your pop-star reputation will be tarnished?" asked Mira sardonically.

"This isn't about me anymore," said JC, leaning forward, placing his elbows on his knees. "This is about you and someone sending you this threatening letter. Are you ok?" he asked softly.

Mira paused, her voice and breath catching in her throat at his tenderness. "I'm fine."

"Now we need to find out who sent this to you," said JC, his eyes meeting hers.

Mira could feel her knees weakening. Then, as though remembering who, exactly, it was she was speaking to, her tone hardened. “Whatever,” said Mira with a roll of her eyes. "How am I supposed to believe it wasn't you?"

"Fine, don't believe me," said JC, tossing the letter on the table as he stood up. "But I'm telling you it wasn't me."

Mira remained silent as JC roughly pushed past her. As he passed, a whiff of cologne tickled Mira's nose. She stared blankly at the couch where JC had been seated a moment before. Behind her, she could hear JC approaching the door. The sound of Leanna's heels on the tile of the entryway followed almost immediately.

"Hey Mir," said Leanna cheerfully. "I didn't know you were home."

"I got home just a few minutes ago," said Mira without turning around.

Leanna stared at her friend's back for just a moment, making a mental note to ask her what was wrong when she got home later on. "Ok, well, JC and I are leaving..."

"Have fun," said Mira flatly.

"Come on Leanna," said JC, tugging her hand. "Let's go."

"Bye Mir," said Leanna, closing the door behind them as they left.

For some reason, unknown to Mira, she felt bad. She remembered the look on JC's face when he saw the letter... one of pure surprise and... worry. She sighed and threw herself backwards onto the soft couch, picking up the remote that JC had left.

The next day...

"Isn't this kind of... dangerous?" asked Mira slowly.

"Why?" asked Justin with a grin. "I think it's fun."

"Grocery shopping?" asked Mira sarcastically.

"Yeah," said Justin, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. "Life is an adventure."

"Saying that in relation to a grocery store is just sad," said Mira with a giggle.

"Well, it's not often that I get to go grocery shopping," said Justin. "Usually I get my mom to go shopping for me when she visits me every few weeks."

"The food lasts a few weeks?" asked Mira.

"You don't know my mom," said Justin with a chuckle. "That woman could buy enough food for an army, and have leftovers for another month."

Mira giggled as she pushed the cart down the snack aisle. "So grocery shopping's a new thing for you?" she asked, grabbing a box of toasted wheat thins off the shelf.

"Yeah, to be honest," said Justin with a shrug, reaching over and grabbing a box of twinkies off the shelf and tossing them in the cart. Mira paused and motioned to the twinkies.

"Well, it's obvious, buddy," she said as he pulled the twinkies out of the cart. She winked at him as he grinned sheepishly at her after returning the snack. "So you're excited about being one of the commoners today?"

Justin rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around her waist. "I'm excited about going out somewhere with my girlfriend. It is Valentine's Day, you know... I'm supposed to spend the day with you," he said with a grin." Mira giggled. "This isn't the most romantic of Valentine's Day activities... you do realize that, right?"

"As long as I'm with you," said Justin, kissing her cheek.

"Watch it Romeo," said Mira with a giggle. "You don't want us calling any extra attention to ourselves. We're bound to be attacked by any teenies that step foot inside this store."

"Hey now," said Justin, adjusting his sunglasses. "I'm disguised."

"Yeah," scoffed Mira. "Because sunglasses and a baseball hat is a really good disguise."

"Don't hate," said Justin defensively. "I didn't think my clown 'fro would be too inconspicious, so this was second best."

Mira giggled and pushed the cart out of the aisle into the next corridor, abruptly running into a second shopping cart. "Oh my gosh, I'm so-" she paused when she realized who it was, hidden underneath a dark hooded sweatshirt and baseball cap.

"Jace?" asked Justin. "Funny running into you here."

"Ditto," said JC. His eyes quickly flickered in recognition upon seeing Mira. In that brief second, anger and resentment hit Mira heavily, catching his full sentiments regarding her.

"So what are you doing here?" asked JC, keeping his eyes focused on Justin.

"I was helping Mira out with a few things she has to buy," said Justin with a shrug. "You?"

"Well, believe it or not, J, I do eat," said JC with a small chuckle.

"Um... guys?" said Mira, observing a young girl a few feet away tugging on her mother's shirt, motioning to the men. "I think you two being together isn't as inconspicuous as you'd like..."

Justin took a brief look at the girl and nodded. "I think you're right."

"Why don't you go wait in the car? I'll be out there in a few," said Mira.

"Are you sure?" asked Justin.

"I'm sure," said Mira with a nod. "Besides, I'll have buff, sexy you sitting in the car to help me out with the groceries when I get there," she said with a grin.

The grin spread over Justin's lips. "Well, if you put it that way..." he teased. "Ok, I'll be in my car. Hurry," he said, kissing her quickly on the cheek. "See you tonight, J," he said, waving shortly at his friend.

"See you," said JC with a nod.

Justin took off down the aisle, leaving JC and Mira standing in silence. "Well, I better go," said JC, pulling his cart to leave. Mira pushed her cart into the same aisle as him, gaining the courage to speak.

"Listen, JC, about yesterday-" she began.

"What? You want to lecture me some more?" snapped JC, grabbing a can of soup off the shelf and tossing it into his cart.

"No, I-"

"Because I'm sick of your bitching, Mira," said JC. "I don't like you. You don't like me. That's understood. But I would never stoop so low as to leaving threatening letters, and I didn't think you would stoop so low as to blame me for it."

Mira glared at JC, her anger building. "What else did you expect from me? The way you were lecturing me the other day about our relationships?"

"I thought you'd know that I'm more mature that that," snapped JC.

"Well how would I know that, JC?" asked Mira dryly. "We don't even know each other."

"That's right," said JC with a nod. "And that's the way I'd like to keep it. You're just Leanna's best friend and just Justin's girlfriend. That's it."

"And you're nothing but a no-good pop star who happens to be dating my best friend," hissed Mira. "Do me a favor and stay away from me tonight. I'd like to have a good time, if that's at all possible with you in the room."

"Fine," said JC, pushing his cart and taking off.

"Fine," said Mira, pushing her cart in the opposite direction.

Chapter 8