I was Jealous
Tina P., 15 year old girl
“My boyfriend Tom and I have been going together for 3 months. We’re sophomores and we both work at the same place part-time after school.
A girl at our work named Karen would flirt with Tom and that made me really mad. Tom would be nice to her, but I wanted to scream at her. I was afraid to complain to Tom because I didn’t want him to think that I’m a nag or jealous. After almost 2 weeks of her flirting, one of my co-workers wondered why I was putting up with it. So, I finally told Tom that I hated that he let her flirt with him. He said he didn’t think that she was flirting, but just being nice to him.
So, the next time we all worked together and she started flirting, I pulled him aside and said, “That is what I’m talking about. When she stands so close to you, touches you and laughs really loud about practically nothing. That’s what I mean. It’s driving me nuts. She knows we’re together, but until you tell her to stop, she’s just going to keep doing it.”
Tom told me that he loved me and I shouldn’t be insecure. It really hurt me that he didn’t listen to how I felt. Later, on that same shift, two of the other guys in the store started teasing Tom about being a slut and flirting with another girl. That was when it hit him. When Karen “accidentally” bumped into him and started with her flirting routine, he told her to knock it off that he and I were together and he didn’t appreciate her flirting. She was shocked almost as much as I was.
I’m really glad that he told her to stop, but I just wish he had done it when I asked instead of because he was getting a ration from other people.”
