Stassi: "I Lost My Best Friend"

Bravotv.com: What are you in grad school for? Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Stassi Schroeder: I'm not in grad school; I made a joke about wanting to go to grad school! Haha. I graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a Bachelor's Degree in English Writing. I absolutely love school, I miss classes, and would die to go back. But my parents aren't too keen on paying for grad school just because I enjoy it!

Bravotv.com: How did you meet Jax, and how did you get him to start working at SUR?
SS: Kristen actually played matchmaker with me and Jax. She had tried to set us up a while back, but nothing came of it; then a year later Kristen and I took a trip to Vegas. Jax and her boyfriend Tom were there. I had gotten a little too hammered for my own good, and apparently, Kristen and Tom wanted to go play poker; I didn't, so they pawned me off on Jax. The next thing I remember is waking up in his hotel room, and he was just so enamored. I couldn't remember the night before, but he was just acting so in love. I remember thinking, "Damn, what did I say to this guy to get him to fall so hard in only one night?!" If only I knew, I'd like to share that secret with every other female in the world! Haha.

After that morning, we were inseparable, and never spent a day apart. A year and a half into our relationship, his modeling career had slowed down a bit, and bills were piling up, so I begged Lisa to give him a job at SUR. 

Bravotv.com: What did you think of Jax saying that you held him back from his modeling career? Did you really unbook him from a job?
SS: I've always been uncomfortable with the idea of dating a model or actor. I don't want to be dating someone whose job is to be half-naked, sometimes making out with other girls. I don't think that's healthy or normal in a relationship. When we got together, he promised he'd be respectful of me and be very selective about the jobs he'd take. He made the decision to date me and agreed with that, so I don't agree with his saying that I held him back. He's his own person; he makes his own decisions. No one can hold anyone back if they don't let them. And yes, it was a job with another woman alone in Mexico for only a few hundred dollars. I don't think many women would want their boyfriends alone in Mexico half-naked with another model for only $300 bucks. He had promised me he would never do something like that, so I told him I was emailing his booker. A 300 hundred dollar job isn't exactly ruining someone's modeling career.Bravotv.com: Why did Scheana putting sunscreen on Jax bother you so much? Do you think she was out-of-line? Did her apologizing help at all?
SS: After Scheana and I spoke, and I made it clear that I did have several insecurities with Jax, she assured me she would never cross that line with me. Next thing I know, she's up on a float, dancing with him, and rubbing sunscreen all over him. I mean, really? She claimed she wanted to show me that I could trust her and then she just kind of proved me right. She has since explained to me that he had asked her to do that and she didn't want to be rude. I was more angry with Jax to be honest, because he used that to throw in my face, knowing it would fire me up. I appreciated her apologizing to me; I think she's just a flirty girl who doesn't mean any actual harm, but her actions often come off a little too strong.

Bravotv.com: What did you think when Lisa pulled you aside to discuss your behavior with Jax?
SS: That honestly really upset me. That whole day up until that point, I felt like I handled the situation so well and was professional. I didn't freak out on the float, and when I got to work I tried to suck it up and keep to myself. But when she came up to me, I didn't understand why, because I had been holding everything in. Lisa knows me very well, I swear she can tell what I'm feeling at any and every second! So I think she saw that I was upset and assumed I was having a tantrum. But having her come up to me and bring it up made it all come pouring out. 

Bravotv.com: What did you think of Jax taking the seven shots and showing up the way he did to Peter’s birthday party?
SS: Obviously I was seriously disappointed and upset. We had been going through a hard time, and his partying and drinking were a huge huge part of our problems. I felt like I was giving him chance after chance after chance, and everyday he kept saying he was going to try. So when I saw him come into Peter's party and do seven shots, it really hurt. It felt like such a slap in the face. After I had been so patient and willing to give him more chances, that's his response? It was disheartening.Bravotv.com: Why did you decide it was time to break up with Jax? Why now?
SS: It got to the point where I realized nothing was changing, and I was essentially enabling him. Our relationship had gone from absolutely magical to absolute hell. We used to be the couple that people looked up to and somewhere along the line, we fell apart and the arguing was out of control. We weren't a partnership anymore, we were roommates; and Peter's birthday just really did it in and made me realize that. Even though I was constantly asking him to grow up, I think he always assumed I would never have the balls to leave and that I'd always still be waiting at home. It was time for me to stop babysitting and focus on myself, and if he ever was going to change, he DID have to see what it was like not to have me. It saddens me: I not only lost my boyfriend, I lost my best friend.