Higher Love // Jake Seresin

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Jake Seresin

The car ride home from Lake Tahoe had been an awkward one. There was definitely some weird tension between Rooster and Haley. Jake had no clue what was going on, and Sabrina didn't either. Haley wasn't talking to her about it, she had been closed off and in a mood. Sabrina also noted Haley wasn't out with him as much. She still was, just not like before. Something happened before they left and that much was obvious. Sabrina told him about the late night encounter with Rooster, but he hadn't disclosed what their argument had been either.

Top Gun was in it's final run, they had their last tests, exercises and attempts to rack up any remaining points. That would determine their graduation ranking. Jake hoped to finish first, but he had to admit, his sister was definitely his closest competition.   The class was in one of the lecture halls, debriefing after their final test. "These last thirteen weeks have tested each and every one of you to your limits. This has been an exceptional group of pilots-" Cypher began, but was interrupted by Jake. He couldn't help himself.

"Obviously, or we wouldn't be here." Jake said, which got an echo of cheering from Coyote and a few others around them. Cypher surprisingly didn't seem to mind the interruption considering it was the end of the program.

"The points have been taken down and are being calculated for final class rankings. Graduation is tomorrow morning and you will know your final placement then. Congratulations to all of you. You are dismissed for one final time." Cypher concluded, before leaving the room.

The class was dismissed, but a lot of the pilots were lingering around. There was a lot of chatter about the graduation and class rankings. They knew where they had stood prior to the week, but now it was a mystery to see who would be finishing first.

"Anyone but Bagman, please." Phoenix said, crossing her fingers. "We will never hear the end of it."

Jake rolled his eyes hearing her comment across the room, but she was right. They would never hear the end of it because that would be the ultimate bragging rights. He made his way outside the classroom, and stopped as he was browsing on his phone. He walked to the end of the hallway to leave, but stopped when he heard voices. He glanced back down and saw Rooster with Haley. He was standing in front of her, her back was to a wall. It didn't look threatening, but he could tell the conversation was intense by their body language. At one point it was very apparent that Bradshaw was agitated, but he couldn't hear them. He decided to slip out the door to the parking lot.

Jake lingered for a moment until he saw Haley emerge. She was heading straight for her car and he followed behind her.

"What's up with you two?"

Haley looked at him with annoyance. "Why do you care?" She asked him.

    "Because you're my sister. And clearly something is up. You two have been weird since we left the cabin." Jake answered, not batting an eye at her attitude. Haley moved to open her car door but he closed it.

    "Move." Haley told him, but he didn't budge. "You don't have to stand here and pretend to care about my relationship."

    "I'm wounded you think that lowly of me." Jake responded. Haley sighed after a moment.

    "I'm sorry. That was a low blow." Haley apologized. She hesitated, like she was trying to decide if she wanted to tell him what was going on. After a moment, she decided to talk. They ended up opening the back of his Jeep, and sitting in the back part of it with the door open.

"The last night we were there, I got really scared. We graduate tomorrow and all of us will likely go separate ways. That's the Navy. You won't always be based with the same people, maybe your squadron but that's it. I had an idea of how we could stay together and I tried to convince him to marry me." Haley told Jake. "They station married couples together. And we've talked about it, we want that one day. This whole thing with us has been five years in the making. I thought it made sense, if we know it's something we want, why wait? But he didn't see it that way. He was worried I was only suggesting it to solve a problem, like a business arrangement."