Chapter 22
When the plane landed in Minnesota I deplaned, got my luggage and went to find Drew. He was coming to pick me up; I had called him from the car on the way to the airport in California. I finally saw him and he also brought Stefan and Chasity with him. I ran over to them and embraced them all in a hug. I couldn't stop the tears that started to flow out of my eyes.
"Can we go to the car please?" I asked them.
"Yeah," Drew said.
I needed my big brother at that moment so when we got to the car, I asked Stefan to drive the car home. Drew sat in the back seat with me, wrapped in his comforting embrace.
Chas turned around to face me once we were out of the Twin Cities.
"What happened?"
"Before I tell you that, I have to tell you something else. Drew was right, Chris is Jason Adams." At her gasp, I continued. "He came here to find someone to help him with his reputation. He used me."
"I'm going to kill him," Drew growled.
"If I ever see him again, I am going to throw a rock at him," Chas said dangerously.
I gurgled a laugh at our continuous joke: 'Boys are stupid; throw rocks at 'em.'
"When I realized it, he tried to tell me that he loves me and he never meant to."
"I'm so sorry, hun," Chas said. She didn't have to say more. None of us had gone through a situation even remotely close to this. There wasn't anything that she could say.
Drew was scarily silent. I was afraid that he truly meant what he said about killing Chris.
"I think that he really does care for you," Stefan said from the driver's seat.
"Whose side are you on?" Drew demanded.
"I am just saying that some of the things he has done suggest that he does have actual feeling for her," he defended.
"Are you really standing up for that jerk?"
"No. I am just trying to point out what could be the truth and not merely a machination."
"Please stop fighting. We don't need two more heart-broken sods in this vehicle."
That quieted them down. The rest of the car ride was silent. Enough for me to fall asleep in my brother's safe embrace.
I didn't wake up as we arrived at home, or even as I was carried inside; most likely by Drew.
As the days went on, I continued to mope around the house. I did my homework as Drew brought it to me but I couldn't go back to reading my books. They offered a distraction that I didn't want to indulge in.
It wasn't until two weeks after I returned home that I returned to school.
I dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt with converse on my feet. I decided to put my hair into a ponytail and then I was ready. I didn't think that I would be able to drive to school so I rode with Drew. People came up to talk to me but I could hardly pay any attention.
During first hour, I sat at out Chemistry table, but couldn't concentrate on what Ms. Nelson was saying.
It hurt to look over and see Chris' empty stool. I shouldn't be feeling then sense of missing him. I should be mad that he used me, not sad that we were no longer together.
As I was walking to my locker after lunch, I saw a whole bunch of papers taped to my locker. Upon closer inspection I saw that they were printouts of a magazine, taken from the internet. The picture was from that first morning when we got coffee. Chris and I were sitting next to each other, looking in the others' eyes and smiling.
The title of the article was: 'Who is Jason's Girl?' The subtitle read: 'Reward to whoever can provide us information on Jason's girlfriend.'
"Oh God. Please help me," I quietly said.
"You aren't going to get any help," Amber said from behind me. "I found this article last night and took the liberty of calling the magazine to give them what they want. The reporters are waiting for you outside. Are you going to make a statement?"
"Yeah. You are a bitch," I said to her. "Why do you take pleasure in making other people feel like crap?"
"Not other people, just perfect little you," she sneered.
"I don't know what you have heard before, but jealousy is not a virtue."
"I am not jealous of you."
"Just keep telling yourself that."
She stomped away. If I kept up the façade that she didn't get to me, she would continue to believe that anything she would do would not affect me in any way.
I ripped all of the papers down and threw them into the nearest garbage can. I grabbed my cell phone from my locker and turned it on. Once it loaded, I saw that there were ten missed calls from Chris and a couple from Jennifer. I had to give him props, at least he called and didn't send any text messages.
I heard a noise down the hall that caught my attention. I turned my head and saw a bunch of paparazzi coming towards me. I froze like a deer caught in the headlights. Their overwhelming presence had me cowering against my locker.
Their questions were shouted at me at such a pace that I couldn't understand what was going on.
After a few minutes, I saw Drew, Stefan and the guys breaking through the crowd. I also saw someone behind them and nearly fainted when I realized it was Chris. My body couldn't take many more surprises. It didn't help that I noticed some bruising starting to form around Chris' left eye. I wasn't going to worry about that in the midst of the heard of reporters so I tucked the information in the back of my mind.
Drew started pushing people out of the way and shouted to Chris, "Get her out of here."
Chris grabbed my arm and hauled me away from them. The football guys held the reporters back so they couldn't follow us and we could get away. We ran to a hardly used door and outside a car was waiting for us. We hopped in and I saw that Mike was in the driver's seat and Jennifer was in the passenger's.
"Where do you want me to go to?" Mike asked.
"Go to Lucinda's. She is home today," I told him.
We drove the short distance in silence, and when we got to Lucinda's house, we all exited the car and walked up to the door. It took her a minute to waddle to the door to answer it. When she did, she willingly let us into her house.
"You're getting so big Lucinda. How has everything been lately?" I asked her.
"You would know if you would have actually come around," she joked. "It's been really good. I have been resting a lot. The doctor says that I'm healthy and I am into my last trimester. If I wouldn't have had that appointment today, I would have been at school."
"It is probably best that you weren't there."
"Why? What's going on?" she worried.
"Don't fret too much," I calmly reassured her. "Where's your laptop? That will help me to better explain."
She went to grab it and set it on the table. I pulled up the magazine article and turned the computer for her to see.
"Wow!" was all she had to say. She then leaned over to whisper to me, "Who's the woman you came with?"
"His mom," I replied.
"Doesn't she look like...?" she pointed out.
"Yup," I smuggle replied. She loved 'LeAnn Thomas' just as much as me.
"Is she?"
"I can or cannot say with absolute certainty whether that is or is not correct." This wasn't my secret to tell.
Lucinda quickly walked over to the living room where Chris, Mike and Jennifer were. I could hear her whispering to Jennifer about something. When she let out a squeal, it was apparent that she knew the truth.
"Calm down Lucinda. You wouldn't want to go into early labor," I teased her.
"I know, but Andy, its LeAnn Thomas, in my living room," she exuberantly exclaimed.
"Lucinda," Mike said to get her attention, "will you show me and my aunt the nursery for your baby?"
Catching on, she agreed and the three of them left the room; leaving just me and Chris standing in an awkward silence.
"What happened to your face?" I asked to break the tension.
"I ran in to Drew's lunch tray with my face," he responded.
Scoffing, I walked out of the room and into the kitchen, going right up to the freezer. When I opened the door, I couldn't find an ice pack so I grabbed a package of frozen peas. When I walked back into the living room, Chris was sitting on the couch with his head in between his knees.
"Sit up," I told him gently as I sat down at his side. He sat up and I put the bag on his eye and continued to hold it there. "Why did you come here Chris?"
"I need you to understand why I did what I did."
"I don't want to listen to any more lies," I protested.
"I am not going to lie to you. You once said that you wouldn't judge me until you knew my story. Can I ask you to do that one more time?"
"I can grant you that," I told him.
It seemed like he took a minute to get his thoughts in order before he began.
"I came here to find a girl that would help me. People around here are generally nicer and wouldn't demand too much in return for their help. I didn't know you were Mike's ex until after I met you. I wouldn't have picked you had I known. But, I don't think that I even picked you. I was drawn to you. It started out as me going to ask you for your help, but I couldn't go through with it. There is something about you that makes me just want to be with you. Me, Chris, not Jason. When I am with you, I forget that I ever was Jason Adams. With you, I am just Chris, the ordinary high school senior who is in love with his beautiful girlfriend."
He brought his hand to my face and stroked his thumb across my cheek. When it came away wet, I was surprised to realize I had silent tears rolling down my cheek.
"I know that I hurt you with my actions and I swear I didn't mean to hurt you. I was going to tell you at the right time, but there never was a right time. I am so sorry for what I did to you and I promise to try and make it up to you by doing anything you want me to do."
He waited for me to speak.
"Can you just hold me?"
"Come here," he said to me. I moved to him and wrapped my arms around his torso and he wrapped his around my shoulders. With my head on his shoulder, we just sat on the couch.
"Do you forgive me?" Chris asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I may not have lived the life you have but the only thing I could think of when those reporters cornered me was that I understood why you would want to do what you did."
"They really scared you, didn't they?"
"I never knew that my body could just shut down like that."
"It is a horrible feeling. It gets easier to deal with but is most of the time, suffocating," he reassured me.
"What are we going to do about school now that everyone knows?"
"I was thinking about going back to having my mom home-school me. She has a teaching degree you know."
"I didn't know that. But, you can't do that. Do you realize how hard these last two weeks have been?"
"I'm sorry. I just don't want them to get to you."
"Chris, I love you. I don't want to be away from you anymore. If that means that I have to deal with paparazzi jerks, then so be it. You are worth it."
"You have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that."
"Yes, well, it does feel good to tell you something that I realized as the car was pulling away from your house."
"Then why didn't you come back."
"Too much pride and I needed time to process what was happening. Anyway, here is what we do. Let's skip school tomorrow and then we have a four-day weekend. We will go back on Monday, after the state football championship, and deal with whatever happens. Come what may and we will deal with it."
"This is why I love you. You are a strong woman who can deal with whatever comes your way."
"You flatter me too much."
"Oh, good. You made up," Jennifer said as she walked into the room.
"We're still talking, mom," Chris said.
"Okay. I will just ask Lucinda to show Mike and myself the backyard."
She left the room and we sat in silence until we heard the back door slide shut.
"This all seems so surreal," I pondered aloud.
"What do you mean?" Chris asked.
"We have only known each other for two and a half months, but it seems so much longer and that so much has happened."
"A lot has happened. We are not like other couples our age. We have been through a lot but that makes us stronger."
"That's true. Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Why did you get so defensive so fast when I joked that you were using me?"
"I had been living with this weight on my shoulders; constantly in fear that you would figure out what I has planned. When you said that, I thought you had figured out and I wanted to stem your doubts. I was too tightly wound to realize you were joking.
"When I realized what was going on, it felt like my world had crumbled around my feet," I explained. "It seemed like all guys have ever done is use me. First Jeremy used me to make himself feel like he had power. Then Mike tried to use me for sex. The straw that broke the camel's back was finding out that you used me for your reputation." At the look of painful sorrow on Chris' face, I quickly continued, "But you know what? I don't really mind that you used me. I couldn't be more thankful for having the chance to meet and fall in love with you."
"And I couldn't be more grateful for making the wondrous mistake of sitting next to a beautiful girl in Chemistry and deciding to use her to help my reputation."
"As long as we are on the same page," I responded.
When Jennifer, Mike and Lucinda came back inside, we were silently sitting on the couch in each others' arms.
"I am glad to see that you two have made up," Mike said.
"So am I," Lucinda agreed.
"Glad to see you two agreeing for once," I said to the pair of them.
It was no secret that Lucinda and Mike had never really liked each other. They were always batting heads and arguing. Lucinda was always telling me how much she hated Mike. On the opposite side, when we were dating, Mike always said how much he couldn't stand Lucinda.
"Yeah well, things can sometimes change for the better," Lucinda said.
In the silence that followed, I heard a phone vibrating from the kitchen counter. I got off of the couch and went to grab my phone to answer it.
"What's up Drew?"
"Are you okay Andria?"
"Yes. I am fine, here at Lucinda's," I responded.
"Okay but I think that you should come home. There are only two reporters here now but I suspect more will be on the way."
"Alright, I will be there shortly."
I hung up the phone and walked back to the living room.
"Lucinda, can I use your car to drive home?"
"Well, I need to drive to St. Cloud to the mall to get some things. I can drop you off along the way."
"Or wait," Mike spoke up, "how about I drive you to the mall and let Andy take your car. On the way back we will pick it up."
"That sounds like a good idea," Lucinda agreed. She went to get her keys and purse and came back to the kitchen where we were waiting. She handed the keys to me and told me to be careful. She then turned to Jennifer to give her a hug. "It was so awesome to meet you."
"It was great to meet you too Lucinda," she responded. "Good luck with your baby."
"Thanks."
We got into the car and I drove us to my house. When we got there, there were still only two reporters.
Jennifer, Chris and I quickly hurried in to the house where Drew held the door. Stefan was also there.
"How are you doing Andy?" Stefan asked.
"I'm good."
"Mom and Dad will be right down," Drew told us.
"Alright. Drew, Stefan, this is Chris' mom, Jennifer. Jennifer, this is my brother, Andrew, and his boyfriend, also one of my best friends, Stefan."
"It's nice to meet you both," said Jennifer.
"Jenni," we all turned to the stairs to see my mom descending them. "How have you been lately?"
"I've been getting better and better."
"That's good to hear. How about you come with me into the kitchen. Andria, your father would like to speak to Chris in his office."
"Is he in a good mood or a bad?" I asked her.
"It's iffy today."
"Oh no. Alright Chris, we shouldn't keep him waiting."
I took Chris by the hand and led him up the stairs and down the hall to my dad's office. Before I could give him any warning points, my dad opened the door and drew him into the room.