Don't Let Jack Drive!

Chapter Nineteen

JACK’S P.O.V:

That Monday, I’m surprised to see Beth getting out of Alex’s car. When she said she forgave us, I was so stoked, but when I hadn’t heard from her all weekend; I wasn’t sure what to believe. I mean, she sounded pretty wrecked on the phone. Then again, I hadn’t heard from Alex all weekend either. I hadn’t heard from anyone. Something must be going on. And judging by Alex’s exhausted face; I’m probably not going to like it. Beth, on the other hand, looked pretty great. And I wasn’t just thinking this as her ex-boyfriend. She really did. She no longer looked… Crushed by the weight of the world. Her hair was scraped back from her face in a loose ponytail and she was wearing huge, black sunglasses, a baggy, white long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of black leggings with black converse. She looked like she was going jogging. I’d never seen her like this before. But still… She looked happy. Would you believe it? When she notices me staring, she waves me over and pushes her sunglasses onto the top of her head.

“Hi!” she grins at me.

“Hi?” I say, although it comes out like a question. She laughs and throws her arms around my neck. I glance at Alex on the other side of the car. He looks worried. Why? Beth lets go and grabs her backpack from the ground.

“Beth, are you sure you want to do this? I can take you home, tell Mom you’re sick, or-”

“Alex,” she says, her smile fading. “I’ve got to face this. Really. I’m fine,” she tells him.

“Face what?” I ask, confused. For a split second, Beth looks nervous, before covering it up with a classic Gaskarth-grin.

“You don’t even want to know,” she replies, turning to Alex again. “Can I have my pills?” she asks. He nods, reaching into his backpack and taking out her medication. He tips two pills into the palm of his hand and gives them to Beth, along with a bottle of water. I shoot him a look and he mouths, “later” at me, while Beth downs her pills. She leans off the car, handing the water back to Alex and starts walking towards the school without saying goodbye.

“I’ll see you at lunch, okay?” Alex calls after her.

“Okay,” she replies over her shoulder.

“Am I going to get an explanation?” I ask. Alex sighs, before nodding.

“Get in the car,” he tells me. So I do. And that’s when he tells me everything that happened this weekend. Everything. The drugs, Mark, the pills, cutting herself, the note, that she was going to kill herself. That Zack rescued her. I sit there, numb, not knowing what to say.

“Was it… Because of… Us?” I finally manage to choke out.

“She says it wasn’t, but I don’t know. I guess everything got to her. She said it was because of her and that we had nothing to do with it,”

“You think she’s trying to spare our feelings?”

“I don’t know, man,” Alex whispers.

“I’m going to kill Mark,” I whisper back, suddenly so angry. Alex actually scoffs.

“Yeah. Good luck with that. But anyway. Beth just wants to keep a low profile. So we’re going to ignore him. Okay?” he says. When I don’t respond, he repeats himself, giving me a stern look. “Okay?”

“Fine,” I reply. Alex opens his door and gestures for me to do the same.

“C’mon. If Beth can face today, so can we,” he tells me. So, more for Beth, than myself, I get out of the car and walk into school.

BETH’S P.O.V:

People have been staring at me all day and I can’t figure it out why. But I put it down to my outfit and try to get on with my day. People whisper, and because of the stares, I’m paranoid it’s about me. Still, I try to brush it off and keep to myself. I talk to no one and no one talks to me.