Kisses Don't Lie

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

It was quiet back on the rain. Lewis and I had not said a word to each other since Em dumped him – without an explanation as well. Something told me it was my fault. I should have been stronger and not become so close to him right now. Part of me didn’t regret anything though; today was supposed to make him happy after the drama from yesterday. At the moment, he was sat with his head in his hands, a look of pain on his face. I wanted to comfort him – tell him that everything would be alright, but I wasn’t so sure myself. School on Monday would be catastrophic. What if Em turned all of my friends against me? Jackson and I hadn’t done anything; I was only trying to cheer him up after yesterday. I didn’t really feel anything for him, did I? I let out an exasperated sigh. We should have never allowed this mess to happen.

The train pulled into the station, and in silence, we exited and I followed his lead down some stairs until we reached a car park. Now I guessed we were going to find the bus section to get home. The journey back to the bus station lasted longer than when we came because of the awkward silence between us. Neither of us wanted to say anything. Then it struck me – perhaps he planned it. Did he use me so he could have an easy way to break up with Em? Did he know she was coming here today?

            “Lewis Jackson, you cannot have planned this,” I couldn’t stop myself from saying, anger rising up within me.

            “What? No, I wouldn’t do that Lacey,” he stammered, looking completely surprised at my accusation.

            “Well it seems a bit funny how we and them ended up here at the same time, and you said you and Em were going badly, did you just use me so she’d break up with you?”

            “Lacey don’t be so stupid, I wouldn’t do that to you, how was I supposed to know she’d go to Thrill Park today?”

            “I can’t believe this, I’m going to lose all of my friends now, she’ll tell them all you were cheating on her…with me!” I exclaimed. There was too much anger inside of me, it was bubbling up and I couldn’t help but explode.

            “Listen, Lacey,” he grabbed my hand so I would turn to face him. “You mean a lot to me okay, I wouldn’t use you to break up with her, I was going to do it myself anyway tonight, and we can’t change this now.” I sighed, not knowing what to do. He couldn’t have planned this.

            “I’m sorry, it’s just so frustrating, I mean, we’re just friends, right?”

            “Yeah,” he whispered softly, a look of disappointment on his face.

            “Lewis I’m so sorry,” I murmured. The strange thing was, I did like him. I wanted nothing more than to take his hand right this moment and tell him that, but I couldn’t. I wanted to make things right with Em first, because even if I disliked her at times, she was still my friend.

            “Lacey?” he asked whilst lifting his head. “If you’re friends don’t believe your side of the story, you’ll always have me, you know that? I nodded; speechless. That was one of the sweetest things anybody had ever said to me.

The bus pulled into the car park, so we got in the queue. Lewis handed the driver the tickets and we found some seats. He let me sit by the window so I could watch the outside world pass by us. Silence became our friend once again, as it had done before. But this time, it wasn’t awkward, it was beautiful and gave me time to think.

A tear escaped my eye as I thought of what he had said. He would be there for me. It meant much more than I could describe.

            “Jennings, what are the tears for?” he asked, noticing me wiping it away.

            “Did you mean it, Jackson, what you said about being there for me?” he grinned stupidly at my question. I think we were almost back to normal again, especially as the surnames had returned.

            “Of course I did, now stop worrying, everything will work out; we’re completely innocent.”

            “Sounds like we’re going on trial for murder when you put it that way Jackson,” I laughed.

            “I guess you’re right there Jennings.” We both chuckled at how we had made light of the situation, and things slowly got better throughout the bus journey.

Eventually, Jackson pressed the stop button and we walked, making jokes back to my house. It was 7pm, and we hadn’t had dinner, and I heard his stomach rumble.

            “Jackson, do you want to stay for dinner?” I asked him, remembering the situation back home.

            “I’d love to Jennings, but I have to go check on Mum, I need to see if she’s alright.”

            “Okay then,” I walked up the steps to the door of my house. Before he left, I called him back. “Jackson, I had a good time today, before it happened.” He grinned at me.

            “I told you you would,” he laughed.

            “One more thing, if you need me at all tonight, don’t hesitate to call, or come round if you want.”

            “Same goes for you, Jennings.”

*Okay, so I am soooooooo sorry for the VERY long wait for this - it's been over a month. I've only got one exam left now, which is Geography. After than, apart from holidays and stuff I will be able to write more. Want to say thank you so much, I've got way more response for this story than I even imagined! :D