Neighbors

Neighbors XII

Chapter 12

S E C R E T L Y  L O V E  J A S O N

My phone rings and I quickly grab it, seeing an Unknown Number. I contemplate whether to answer it or not, knowing it can only be one person: Jason. I lick my lips and decide to finally answer.

"Quinn? Oh thank God. I've been calling you over and over again."

"What do you want?" I ask him. Sighing, I listen to what he says. But then I bolt right up when I hear some words come out of his stupid mouth.

"What?!" I shriek like a pig. I get off of my bed and run over to my calendar to see its April 26th, one day after the 25th. No, no, no. I run my finger over the boxes, to land on the first of May. No! I scurry over to my pens and grab one, quickly writing down something.

"Hello? What's wrong with that?" I hear Jason ask on the other side, but I'm busy scribbling 'the day fucktard appears' on the first of May. I have...four?..four days left until Jason gets to my house. No! I whine and lay down on my bed, today being Wednesday. Come next Sunday, I'll have to spend the day with my ex. Why would he do this? Why would mom tell him where we were?

"Your mom invited me to dinner, and to stay there for a night while I look around the state of Ohio. Because, you know; I'm traveling the United States. Without you." I close my mouth to stop from screaming and jumping like a monkey in anger. He's staying here! No! Not when my life was looking up again. Now I picture my body aimlessly falling down a never ending hole, not being able to get back up. I was climbing up the hole before, but now Jason fell down and pulled me with him.

I can't have him here. Parker won't allow it. So I'll stay somewhere. I cannot! I repeat! Cannot! See Jason Housan here at my house for a week. I hang up before I crush my phone and throw it on my bed. I fall to the floor and curl up in a ball. I used to secretly love Jason...a lot. But I guess I was ignoring it when I was dating him. If I would've told him I loved him, I wonder if things would have gone differently. But now I have Parker. And I'll end up loving him. Then he will leave me.

The thought brings tears to my eyes.

Look at me, crying over a guy I just started dating. Is it possible I'm already in love?

Parkers amber eyes flash in my mind, and his smirk paints around his face. Then the smirk is gone, replaced. His genuine smile looms over his face, but then that one is replaced. And his glorious smile—the one that makes me shiver—takes its spot. Memories of our night together sweeps my mind. Of how. I held onto his shoulders and how we slept together. Yup. I think I'm already in love with Parker Cipriano.

That's impossible though. I haven't loved anyone, but Willy for years. After my dad died. I think that I stop saying the three words. I would say them to my dad four times in a row, and then one day I had to stop. And my dad's soft 'I love you too' was never responding to me.

So I quit.

I thought other people would leave me. And look! They did. Jason. Mom. Willy will be leaving soon, and could possibly die. But I have to think positive.

Something warm touches my cheek and I look up. The hand pulses a warm current and wipes my tears away.

"Oh, my poor baby." My mother says and leans down to sit with me. I watch her with red eyes, not even realizing I was full on crying. Surprise emits through me as my mom wraps and arm around me and hugs me. This is it; I realize.