Bad Luck with Love

Chapter 39: Surprise

“Ivy, bringing in his guitar had to be the best idea ever,” Mrs. Lewis said to me a few days later, giving me a huge bear hug. “He’s remembering so many things!”

“That’s great!” I grinned. Only a few more days until he was going to be out of the hospital and I was looking forward to it immensely. It was going to be good for him to get out of here, see his house and room and school again. It would hopefully help him piece things together.

“Of course he rarely puts the thing down, but I’m not complaining,” she chuckled, stepping back to hold my shoulders. “So how are you?”

She asked me this often enough. Tyler had told her about my refusal to tell Jake about us, hoping she’d get me to see reason, but unfortunately it backfired. She was on my side, and knew it must have been hard for me to keep such a big secret.

“I’m fine. He’s almost out so I can tell him soon,” I replied, twisting my ring around my finger. “He didn’t…he doesn’t remember me still?”

“No, I would have told you if he did,” she patted my back comfortingly. “Don’t worry. You guys are getting along so well, that maybe he’ll realize he likes you all on his own.”

“Maybe,” I murmured. “Can I go see him?”

“Of course. I’m heading down to the cafeteria, you want anything?” she asked me, starting to walk down the hall backwards.

“No, I ate before I came,” I assured her. She shrugged and turned down a corner out of my view. I peeked through the window of Jake’s room, watching him play his guitar. He was totally focused, eyes closed, one hand on the neck, holding down strings while his other hand played gently across the strings over the body. I could hear just the faintest tune through the door, a soft melody that made my tears come to my eyes. It was beautiful and different, nothing I’d ever heard before.

I saw his hand falter and he stopped playing altogether, looking frustrated. He looked down at a book on his lap, staring at it intensely. I took the brief opportunity and knocked on the door. His head whipped up and when he saw me standing there, he got an embarrassed look on his face.

“Come in,” he mouthed, hastily shoving the book into his guitar case.

I went inside, curiously looking at the guitar case. “Having trouble?” I dumped my bag by my usual chair and sank into it.

“A little. But I think I need a break before I smash this guitar into tiny pieces,” he sighed, storing his guitar with a little difficulty into its case. He leaned it against the small bedside table.

“What were you playing?” I asked, unable to help myself. I wanted to know where he got that beautiful melody from.

“I don’t really know. I was just messing around,” he said quickly.

“Didn’t sound like ‘just messing around’ to me,” I said, eyeing him suspiciously. There was something he was hiding. “That was really beautiful.”

“You think so?” he asked, meeting my eyes for the first time.

“I do. But I know you won’t tell me what it was.” I leaned back in my chair, hands in the pockets of my hoodie.

“It’s a secret,” he admitted. “I just want to figure it out for myself.”

“Sounds reasonable,” I said with a straight face, before I broke into a grin. “Stop being so serious. You’ll never get it if you think too hard about it.”

“Wouldn’t thinking about it be the point?” his eyebrow arched, clearly not getting it.

“No. I find that when I’m trying really hard to understand or something, I never do. But if I put it to the back of my mind, focus on other things I’ll come up with an answer or solution much faster. You can’t force yourself to do something. Let it happen by itself.”