The Heartbreakers.

Chapter Twenty-Two.

Song: Fifteen- Taylor Swift

Luke's face clouded with confusion as he asked, "What story?" 

Jaylee sighed. She knew he had to have a story. No one just became a jerk-- well, some can. But she doubted that from Luke. She had seen the real him. He was sweet, compassionate, nice, funny, and caring. Luke was nothing like his heartbreaker facade showed. He had a heart of gold underneath all the hurt, and she wondered who could have hurt him so badly that he chose to shut down like she had. 

"You know.." She trailed off, growing nervous. She was afraid he would get mad at her for asking. Luke raised his eyebrows at her, and she let out a deep breath. "How you became a heartbreaker." 

Memories of the girl flashed into Luke's mind, and his hand shot out, gripping Jaylee's. The girl had completely ruined him then, and having to remember was going to painful, but he wanted Jaylee to trust him. He wanted to be able to trust Jaylee, and that meant being able to talk to her about anything. 

Besides, Luke knew Jaylee would never judge him. She was too good to judge him. 

"When I was in eighth grade, I fell in love with a girl named Rebecca. She liked me first-- or so I thought-- but to her surprise, I liked her too. Rebecca was one of those player type girls who was with a different guy every night-- the whole one night stand thing--, and I didn't know until after the incident." Luke's whole body stiffened, and Jaylee gripped his hand, assuring him it was okay. He shot her a grateful smile before he continued. "I slept with her, and a day later, she went and slept with my best friend. Rebecca didn't care about how bad she hurt me, and my best friend felt terrible. I hated her and I stopped talking to my best friend; all over a stupid girl." 

Jaylee stared at Luke in shock. She couldn't believe he was used. Of all people, Luke was the one to be used by a girl. That was one reason Jaylee never said anything bad or complained about guys who were players, because girls could be just as cruel and play with the guys too. After Jaylee listened to Luke's story, she felt like she understood him better. 

"Your turn. What's your heartbreaker story?" Luke wiggled his eyebrows at Jaylee, and she giggled. Hearing her laugh again made his heart swell with warmth, as cheesy as that sounds. But he needed to hear her laugh again. It killed him to see Jaylee so upset. Jaylee rested her head against Luke's shoulder. She knew talking about Eric would test just how well she could hold herself together. 

"When I was a freshman, I liked Eric, the captain of the football team. He was everything I wanted in a guy. Eventually, Eric found out I liked him, and the feeling became mutual. We started dating, and we were the typical high school sweethearts. We were together for a year and a half." Jaylee paused for a moment, holding back the tears that were threatening to come out. Luke wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. "One day before the beginning of sophomore year, I went to his house to hang out after soccer. I went up to his room and saw him making out with another girl." 

Tears started to spill out of Jaylee's eyes, and Luke rubbed her back as she cried. Something inside of him snapped, and he suddenly wanted to hurt Eric. Jaylee didn't deserve to be used. She was a defenseless freshman who didn't know any better. He was the senior who knew exactly what he was doing, and Luke realized he hated those types of people-- the kind who would be cruel enough to destroy a person so badly, that person would completely change so they could never be hurt again. 

Luke suddenly realized he was that guy. He played with all the girls, and he broke their hearts. He was pretty much Eric four years later, and all the freshman were like Jaylee when she was a freshman. He felt mad at himself for being so stupid as to hurt a girl like that, but then he realized Jaylee had changed him. She made him want to be good. She made him want to treat everyone well--especially her. Jaylee was the change he needed. She was the one to fix his damaged heart right back up.