Short Stories

Without A Goodbye

As students started entering the class, Jacob runs up to Emma to ask a question. He looks nervous as heck but Emma didn't even the notice. "Hey, can you wait for me in the garden after this class?" He asked. Emma knew that would mean skipping English and she was not going to risk the chance of being put into detention for that. She looks at Jacob and shook her head. "How about no? Dude, I'm not getting in trouble just for you to talk to me. Can't it wait until after school? It's not like this is the last time you're going to see me." She replied with a smirk.

At that moment, Jacob wanted to say something to her but stopped himself. He looked at her and smiled before nodding slowly. He said aright and went back to his desk before the teacher came into the class. Emma saw the look on Jacob's face before he went away. He looked sad for some reason but she didn't think of it as anything important.

Class went as boring as expected. Student were slowly falling asleep as the teacher kept running her mouth about how 'x' could equal a certain number and what we would do with it. She suddenly turns around and asks a random student, which happens to be sleeping at the moment. She got furious and threw a dry erase marker at him and woke him up. The poor kid shot his head up and shouted out, "Don't hurt me, Unicorn!"

The class burst out laughing, even the teacher giggled. Class soon ends and Jacob runs up to Emma once again. He said he need to talk to her but she returned with the same answer. He smiled sadly once again and said okay. Emma was about to ask him what was wrong but he pulled her into a hug and gave her a kiss on the cheeks before whispering "I love you" into her ears. He pulled apart and sprinted towards his next class. She stood there, shocked at what just happened. But then she quickly packs up without a second thought, deciding to ask him about that later.

If only she knew what was going to happen, she would've asked sooner.

The day went by fast and soon she was walking to Jacob's last class to pick him up and walk home together. And she took it as a chance to talk about what happened in first period. But when she reached his class, she found out he already went home. Feeling a bit disappointed, she went home alone but determined to talk about what happened tomorrow.

Three days later and he still hasn't come back. She wondered if he was sick or something. She tried calling his phone but no one answered. Usually, he would pick the phone up after two rings. Third period was about to start when suddenly three guys drags her out of the classroom. They told the teacher she has a reason that she's going to be late for a few minutes. When they were out of earshot of everyone, they started bombarding her with question. Apparently, they don't know where Jacob went either. They tried everything that Emma had but they didn't get any results, just like Emma. She said that they were going to look for him after school together and then went to class before she missed any more information. After school, as they planned, they went to look for him. The park, the café, the library... he was nowhere to be found. But then they saw another one of Jacob's friend, which happens to be his second closest friend, and asked him where Jacob went.

His friend looked at Emma and soon recognized her as Jacob's closest female friend. He introduced himself hoping to become friends with her. "I don't care what you want right now. You're his second closest friend, which means you should know where that idiot went. So where is he, Cole?" Emma questions.

He looked at her in surprised. "He didn't tell you?" He asked. He was getting on Emma's nerves as he was wasting their time. She shook her head and asked what he was talking about. He explained that Jacob was going away because of his parents' work. The three other guys and Emma was shocked. Why didn't that idiot tell her? Cole offered to drive her and the three other guys to Jacob's house to talk. But when they got there, no one was home. The house was filled with furnitures but it was dark. No one was there. All their clothes, suitcases and everything they could take was gone. Cole cursed quietly and offered to drive them to the airport. He had a feeling that the family was going to be there.

When they arrived at the airport, they split up to find Jacob. Cole and Emma went together, while the other three went separated. After running around the airport trying to find the idiot, Emma finally spots him. The three other guys ran to where Cole and Emma was and spotted him as well. Emma yelled out his name as she ran towards him.

Jacob was shocked. Emma never knew that he would be here but when he looked past her, he saw his friend, Cole, standing there. He made a promise to thank him when he was settled in the new place. He didn't pay much attention to the speeding Emma and that resulted in her tackling him to the ground. Emma got up and helped Jacob up as well but right after that she throws a punch at Jacob's face.

She tried to calm herself down as everyone ran towards the two. It took a second or two for Jacob to realize what she did, but he knew that he deserved that. Instead, he just looked at her and could see the raging anger Emma was trying to subside in her eyes. He opened up his mouth to explain but Emma beats him to it. "Don't you dare say you told me because you and I know all too well that you never spoke a word about this..."

"I know... I know... I wanted to tell you. Remember? I asked you to wait for me in the garden after math class but you rejected me and I never got the chance to break the news to you. Sorry..." Jacob apologized.

"You little bastard... you seriously think I'm going to let you off just with a sorry?! Do you have any idea how worried I was not hearing from you for THREE day?! Three, Jacob. THREE! And then I find out all this from another friend?! What were you thinking, huh?" Emma enraged. She raised her fist to hit him again but got held back by Cole and one of the three guys. "Let. Me. Go. I need to teach this idiot a lesson..." She said struggling, trying to get out of their grip. An announcement was made informing the passengers going to New York to broad the airplane right away. His parents called Jacob to hurry to check in. He looks back at Emma and his friends one last time with the most sincere and apologetic gaze he could make. He was truly sorry to Emma for not saying anything but there wasn't much he could do now, could he?

Emma calms down just as Jacob starts walking to the check in line. The guys let her go slowly when they knew she wouldn't run to Jacob and beat the potatoes out of him. When Jacob was about to go into the line he paused, he turned on his heels and ran towards Emma. He pulled her into a bone-crushing hug and gave her one last kiss. But this time, it was on her mouth. He push his lips onto hers and pulled away quickly before saying "I love you" once again then ran back to the check-in line, disappearing into the crowd. Emma was beyond shocked now. He just took her first kiss and then he dares to run away?!

"I freaking hate you! Don't you ever come back! I never to want to see you again!" She yelled into the swarm of people. Jacob could hear her loud and clear but decides to not answer, knowing it would her even madder.

******* ********

She spent the rest of the school year without her best friend. And soon enough, a year passed by and she was a senior in high school. She got ready for the first day of school and caught a ride with Cole. Since the airport incident, they became friends and went to school together. They arrived at school and she went to her first period after waving goodbye to Cole. She knew that Jacob wasn't there but she couldn't help getting her hopes high and prayed that he came back despite what she said at the airport a year ago. He would eventually forgive her, right? I mean, she did so why can't he?

The teacher came in and introduced herself as the homeroom teacher. She started the roll call and as she called each student's name, they either raised their hands or shout the most random words to let the teacher know they're there. Emma heard her name and hands her indicating that she's present. A few more students went after her, but she never paid any attention to the names until she heard his.

Jacob... The teacher called out Jacob's name... Her head perked up and scanned the room for the idiot. A guy in the back wearing a black jacket raised his hand and shouted, "What's up, everyone!"

Everyone in the room rolled their eyes, knowing the loudest guy was back and it was going to be a fun senior year with him there. The teacher said to go around and introduce yourself to other student to become friends. Everyone knew each other pretty well and started grouping here and there. Jacob and Emma crossed paths and calmly says hi. But Emma couldn't hold her calmness much longer and jumped on him in excitement. "I can't believe you're back," she whispered. "and don't forget what you said back then, idiot." She smiled at how Jacob was blushing and gave him a quick peck on the lips as an answer to his "confession". He smiled and everyone in the room clapped. Some even yelled "Get some!" which made the two blush.

Even the teacher rolled her eyes playfully and yelled, "Get a room!" which gave everyone a laugh. She was glad Jacob was back and Jacob was happy to be back.