Crash and Burn

•23•

Jackson
October

I was in the middle of packing when Jace came into my bedroom. He was in grey sweats and a white T-shirt. His Supreme hoodie was over his shoulder and his suitcase was in his hand.

"Coach is going to have me commit suicide when we get back. I'm not looking forward to that conditioning."

Jace and I were on our way to the airport for our flight to California. Los Angeles to be specific. I felt awful about how I left things with Hope. And me being the amazing boyfriend I am just had to fix things in person.

I pushed my suitcase closed as Jace moved to help me zip it. "Shit, Jackson, what's in this?"

"Some hoodies for Hope, and gifts for everyone else. It's not Christmas, but I had some credit in the spirit store." I tossed a visor at him. "Here, man."

Jace chuckled, flashing his perfect white smile that stood out on his dark complexion. "Thanks. Makes me feel like a student at UCF."

He put on the visor and grabbed our suitcases, giving a small bow. "Really funny, Jace. You're a fucking comedian, man."

I took my suitcase from him and we headed to his pickup. It obviously wasn't going to get us across the country (despite what Jace thinks), but we were taking it to the airport.

"I've never been to California. You would think an Army brat would've seen every corner of the country by now. Even if it was just for visiting or passing through. But I've somehow always missed California."

I laughed and rolled my eyes as we walked out of the building. "Yeah, well, I miss California. I miss my girlfriend. I miss my family. Shit, I miss high school, dude. Not the classes or anything—Parker is the only reason I passed—but the rest of it I miss." We put our luggage in the back and got in the truck.

Jace shook his head, he had a sad smile on as he spoke. "I don't miss high school. It was this corrupt hierarchy that was built on football and money. They built up the worst people in sports or school politics and turned a blind eye when kids tore down other kids. Especially the girls. Torn down by fellow females and of course the males. If they weren't being labeled as a freak or popular, then they were being labeled a slut." He shook his head as we pulled off-campus. "I had a friend, Dan, and she was a grade above me. Her dad died when he deployed and her mom got sick. She didn't have any family to lean on, only five younger siblings. She needed to provide, so Dan got a job as a stripper at this club right outside of town."

He got quiet, biting his lip. I hadn't meant to bring this back to his attention. I just missed how life used to be.

"If—if I had known she needed help, I would've quit the football team. I would've quit and gotten a job to help her out a bit. She didn't need to sell herself. It's not worth it."

I didn't mean to ask, but I was too curious. And we were going to be stuck in the car for about an hour, and then the plain for a few hours. "What happened to her?"

Jace sucked in a long breath and exhaled before continuing his story. "She got her families debts mostly paid off, it was a miracle actually, but she still wanted to go to college. Now she was stripping for that. Then she got a scholarship for lacrosse to Palmetto State University. Man, I remember how happy she was. Dan went to the club that night to quit, and then. . . ."