Whispers and looks

It was Thursday when things started going from bad to worse at the company of Max's father. He did not understand why his shares were being dropped in such large numbers. Through rumors he found out that it had all started with the Westwoods. When he came home and complained how he didn't know what he had done to offend the Westwoords, Max connected the dots. The next day he started spreading what had happened angrily to his friends, who then passed the story on to whoever wanted to hear it. By lunch it had become a tale of warning to others.

No matter where Jenny went. The halls were filled with whispers and looks. Though they didn't dare saying anything to Jason, it didn't stop them from letting their judgement know to Jenny. Especially the friends of Max's supposed girlfriend gave Jenny mean looks and cold shoulders whenever she walked the halls. When Jenny and Julia went into the bathroom by the end of lunch, those friends got in after her. After they closed the door and one of them stood on guard outside, they made sure to let Jenny hear what was being said loud and clear while they pretended to touch up their make up, and they succeeded. They were saying things like, "That poor Max, he just tried to befriend Mr. Westwood's fiance and look what he got in return." "Yeah, we should steer clear from her, before we do anything to offend her and have our family's fortunes taken away." "I thought she would be our savior, but its beginning to look like she is another way to gain the wrath of the Westwoods." "My father told me to not get involved and that they had it coming, but I don't believe that. It is far too coincidental to be anything more than a personal vendetta."

Julia, who was in the stall next to Jenny, heard it all too of course and felt bad for Jenny. How quickly people turned. One day they hated Jenny, the other they would say she was a good match for Jason and now, the moment they had anything to connect to Jenny, they started pulling her down again. Though she had heard a little from Jenny and Julia about the person sitting next to Jenny with the name Max, but she didn't know all of what had happened between the two of them. What she did know is that usually Jason would not go after someone without a good reason. Though what he did would sometimes be excessive, but she couldn't imagine him ruining someone's livelihood over a friendship. Especially not that of a whole family.

The moment they heard the stall doors being opened, the girls ran away and the only people standing there were a dejected Jenny and a worried Julia. "Jenny don't believe everything they say. I am sure there is some kind of misunderstanding. Why don't you go find Jason and ask him yourself." Jenny nodded and gave a faint, "Yeah..". With a distracted mind she washed her hands and walked out the door, subconsciously looking for Jason while roaming the halls in the few minutes that were left of their lunch break. Julia, looked on with a worried expression on her face as Jenny left. She grabbed her phone and sent a message to warn Jason and give him a heads up of what Jenny had heard, but he was too occupied with something or rather someone else to read her well intended message.

While Jenny was looking for him, Jason had run into Max on his way to where Jenny should have been, her classroom. Max was still quite angry, and his anger had given him newfound courage. A courage resembling that of a suicide mission, wanting to do as much damage as possible to your enemy even if it meant your own death. Max, who had seen nothing but stress and fear in his father's eyes for the past days, saw the person who had caused his father's misery and went to confront him. When he saw Jenny in the distance he got a plan, hoping to reach Jason before he noticed her as well. Lucky for him he was in a conversation with Nick, so he probably wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. As long as he caught his attention, he should be fine. With hurried steps he walked over to Jason, who had his back facing him and he called out to Jason in the crowded hall. "Hey! Hey you! Mighty Mr. Westwood."

The moment he said that, you could hear a loud gasp before the whole hall became so quit that you could hear a pin drop. It was one thing to oppose Jason in the shadows and another to oppose him right to his face. Jason stopped in the middle of his step and slowly turned around. Seeing that he had been successful, Max had a sneer on his face as he continued, "Couldn't handle me being friends with your girl, so you went after my family?!" Jason didn't want to cause any trouble between him and Jenny, which was part of the reason why he had let his father take action instead of doing something himself, so he clenched his teeth and balled a fist to hold back his anger. Now they were both walking in each others direction, closing in the distance between them. When Jason was close enough he said, "Mind your words. I will let what you said just now go, because I don't want to start a fight with you, but check your facts before you start spouting nonsense." But Max had no intention of checking facts, he had something very different in mind...