Chapter 5: Stressed

“Hey, hey… Are you practicing or are you revenging it for something?”

Jason said as he grabbed Jenny by the shoulder and pulled her away from the punching bag. Ever since she put the gloves on, she’d punched it repeatedly. Whenever Jenny was stressed, Jenny often visited the boxing club’s gym to relieve herself, even though she was not a member. But she still often came here to practice because her relationship with Jason was quite good. Jason was 21 years old, and a former member of the scientific research team. Because he was already a senior, he no longer had time to participate in doing research. Before Charles arrived, Jason had been the leader, taking the team to enter many contests. Later, he switched to playing boxing to improve his health.

“I don’t know. I’ve been crazy lately Jason. Haha,” Jenny said, pulling the towel around her neck to wipe the sweat from her forehead while laughing.

It had been three days since saying about left the scientific research team. Jenny felt as if she had lost all her life force. She didn’t understand what she was doing. Most of the time, she regretted that she had made a decision too quickly out of anger and jealousy over something so trivial and unremarkable. Right. She was angry at Julia. Partly because of her joke. Partly because she hung around Charles and talked like Jenny was an outsider. (Just like she was angry that Julia’s words made her lose interest the first time she joined the team.) The rest of the time, Jenny thought she did the right thing and applauded herself for that. If she hadn’t gotten mad that day, she would have never known when she would be able to let go.

That was crazy. Before, she thought that just being with Charles was enough to satisfy. She didn't need to be reciprocated. But now it couldn’t be anymore. She was also a normal human being and wanted to be loved. It sounded selfish and petty, but it’s what she wanted.

Besides, she didn’t know what to do with Alex.

Jenny thought about that and continued to bang her head on the punching bag of the gym.

“That’s enough!”

And Jason pulled her back again.

“I don’t know what happened to you, but that’s enough stress relief. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“Okay. I’m sorry,” Jenny said. She took off her gloves, breathing hard relaxing her arms. Then, she noticed that the people practicing around with their punching bags were glaring at her. Even a few young men studying fighting in the boxing ring turned to look. Great. You’re going to be the most popular in school for your craziness, Jenny.

Taking a big sip from the water bottle Jason just handed her, Jenny sat down on the floor, her T-shirt sweaty. It had been more than a month since she hadn’t exercised vigorously. She felt her body stretched and a bit tired, but her sadness was also alleviated. Being so busy with that research team lately, Jenny only came here to watch Jason practice and talk to him. She quite liked the atmosphere here, because everyone was healthy. Besides, this practice room was quite large, everyone was busy practicing, so they could talk and joke freely. Jason was one of the seniors she could trust to confide in. After Alex, he was the second person to know that she liked Charles.

“I told you. Leave that damn team and go to this club to learn boxing. Whoever makes you mad, you can punch them. Bothered for what?” Jason said dryly. He could joke with a serious face.

The people in the scientific team were all more or less insane. Jason was that kind of guy. Sometimes Jenny doesn’t know if his words are a joke or not.

“This time, you can be glad. I’ve already left the team.” Jenny said with a wry smile.

“What?” Jason exclaimed, brushing his long, sweaty blond hair back, and straining his eyes to look at Jenny. “Really?”

“I decided. I… will forget him,” Jenny said, stretching out her leg.

“Good for you,” Jason said, his voice relieved. “Charles is nice, but being a boyfriend is a bit tiring. He thinks about research all the time.”

Jenny nodded.

“What do you think if I date someone else now?” She asked him. Asking a guy about that was awkward, but she had no one else to consult. However, she thought she wouldn’t tell Jason that Alex liked her. There was a bad relationship between these two. They had a conflict before Jason left the group. She didn’t know what it was, and she did not dare to ask. Men’s self-esteem was very vulnerable. Especially these crazy people, their egos were huge, she thought.

“Date who? Alex?” But Jason asked her as if he knew what she was thinking. Same in the old days. There was a time when Jenny was excited and said that she came here to study because she had a crush on someone. Jason calmly asked, “Who? Charles?” without doubting.

She rolled her eyes at him, exclaiming, “How do you know? I never know that!”

“You guys are all predictable. Whatever you think shows up on your face,” Jason answered, laughing.

So why didn’t she know about Alex’s feelings?

“Because in your eyes, there’s only Charles.”

Dammit. Jason, do you need to read my mind like that? Maybe she should take a skilled course to help conceal her thoughts. “It’s not that I hate him. But if you date Alex, don’t be serious. He’s not the type of person who loves someone sincerely,” Jason said, looking up at the ceiling, exhaling from exhaustion. When Jenny arrived, he had just been through a boxing match. He’s the type of person who likes to punch each other to relieve himself.

But to say that Alex was that kind of person, perhaps Jason was wrong. Although Alex often jokes and then forces Jenny with the others to make a bet, he has been helping her since she joined the team.

Maybe the old slate still wasn’t wiped clean.

***

“In summation, I think you just got to not push yourself too hard. You need to rest, think about it later, and then decide.”

Jason said as they walked through the yard, along the path behind the classroom to the garage. It was 9 pm. They had gone to the cafeteria to drink coffee and eat some cake before. This time, she usually went to the science room to see if she could help others with anything or talk to them.

“I will,” Jenny said as she looked up at the science lab as a habit.

The science room was closed and dark. But in the lab, the lights were still on. If she goes up now, she will see Charles tinkering with his new drug. And maybe Alex, too. Jenny didn’t know. Those days, she wanted to be left alone, so she didn’t contact anyone, not even Alex.

“What is that? Is anyone still using the lab at night?” Jason asked her, slightly surprised. Since leaving the team, it seems that he didn’t care anymore, so he didn’t know about the crazy passion of the students later.

“Yes, Charles likes to research at night, even bringing his stuff to stay until tomorrow,” Jenny said, chuckling.

When she looked up at the window again, she heard a strange rumbling noise.

“Are they experimenting or partying up there?” Jason asked her.

“No one is that crazy. The professor will kill us.”

Jenny said, laughing, but all of a sudden felt worried. A few days ago, when she said she was leaving, Alex had said something about Charles going to ask her if she could speed up the time and ask for permission. But at that time, she was about to leave, so he didn’t want to bother her anymore. Did he ever experiment on his own without waiting for permission?

“Maybe I should go see what’s going on,” Jenny told Jason. “You go home first.”

“It’s okay. Let me go with you.” Jason said.