Katelyn's point of view
"Are you cold?" Jacob asked me as we sat on the beach. We were close to the shore, but not enough for the water to touch us.
"Just a bit but I'm fine." I said and shrugged. He nodded and I leaned my head on his shoulder. "So the beach is your go to spot when things get rough?"
"Yeah. I always come here. Life isn't easy." He said and I agreed. "My mum is still dating that asshole and they're always screaming at each other when they're not making out."
"That sounds like Michael and Luke." I said and he chuckled. He nodded and he pulled his cigarettes out of his pocket. "You're going to smoke?"
"I want to but... but I don't want to smoke around you. You'll get sick from that too and I don't want that." He said and I nodded. "That's why I bought those gummy candies, chewing things helps fight the urge a bit."
"Do you want me to go get them?" I asked and he shook his head. "I will if you want." I said and he shook his head again ands he handed me the pack and lighter.
"Hold these for me. Keep them from me tonight." He said and I nodded as I put them in my pocket. "So what happened in that party? Who was it that fucked you up?"
"Luke." I said and sighed. "He... He said he didn't care about me and that I was just some broken little girl. He also said that they adopted me for a dare and only kept me around because it made more people listen to the band."
"That's cold. I thought he was a good guy." Jacob told me and I nodded. "I can't believe them. They're assholes, especially Luke"
"Yeah," I said and sighed. "I guess he wasn't as great as I thought he was. He proved it when he blew smoke at me from some small rolled up thing. It wasn't a cigarette."
"It was probably weed." He said and I nodded. "You didn't breathe it in too much right?" He asked and I shook my head.
"Only when I was coughing, other than that, I held my breath." I told him and he nodded. "Why would they do that to me?"
"I'm not sure," he said and shrugged his shoulders lightly. "Did he tell you?"
"He only said that if he didn't do it, their nudes would get leaked." I said and sighed. "I... I guess I understand..."
"Don't. What they did was wrong, no matter the reasons behind it." He said and I nodded. "You don't just use someone like that. That's a whole new level of selfish."
I nodded and cuddled up into him as a gust of wind blew. I wrapped an arm around my waist and then pulled me closer. "What else happened? Where did you disappear off too?"
"I... I went to look for Michael to ask him something but then I bumped into someone, causing them to spill juice on me so I went back upstairs to change and yeah." I lied and he nodded, not questioning the pathetic excuse.
"I thought something bad happened." He said and I shook my head, apologizing for worrying him.
"You're cold huh?" He asked and I nodded a bit. "Come here." He said and pulled me between his legs.
I blushed and he wrapped his arms around me as he pulled me into his chest. "This is okay right?" He asked and I nodded.
More than okay.
"Yeah." I answered and he set his chin on top of my head. I smiled and stared out at the ocean, calming down a bit as the sound of crashing waves filled the silence.
"We're both fucked up in a way." I said and he hummed. "Your parents divorced and your mum is dating an asshole, then I don't have my real parents but when a couple decided to adopt me, they just used me."
"Yeah." He said and sighed. "I wonder how it feels to have both your parents and have them happily in love." He said and I nodded.
"Same..." I said and he traced circles on my skin. "But maybe I don't deserve such a luxury." I said and he laughed.
"What do you mean?" He asked me and I just shrugged. "If anything, you deserve to live a happy life with people who love you and need you." He told me.
"Maybe not. It seems everyone doesn't want me and if they are around me, it's because they want something from me." I said and a lump formed in my throat.
"I don't." He said and it went quiet between us for a second. "I'm not around you because I want something from you." He told me and I looked up at him.
"You're not?" I asked and he shook his head."Why are you around me then? I'm so weird."
"Because you make me happy." He said and smiled. "It's weird since we met like a month ago but you make me happy."
"Even when I'm acting like a stuck up brat?"
"Depending." He said and I laughed. "Come here." He said and I smiled as he pulled me closer to him. I laughed a bit and he kissed the top of my head.
"I'm going to have to go back there." I said and he sighed. "Deja vu huh?" I asked and he laughed.
"It is." He said and nodded. "Think it'll be exactly like last time?" He asked and I shook my head.
"No way." I told him and laughed. "They won't hit you again, especially since last time it got recorded."
"Good. I don't appreciate bruises where people can see them, especially when you mother doesn't care." He said and I frowned a bit. "Just makes me feel like shit."
"Your mum is mean." I said and he agreed with me. "What's that?" I asked as I saw something gleaming in the sand.
"What?" He asked and I crawled away from him. I reached into the sand and pulled out the shiny something, which turned out to be my necklace. "It must have came off." He told me and I sat back down in front of him.
I held it in my hand and looked at the clasp, which was perfectly fine. I looked out to the ocean and I had the sudden urge to just throw it into the sea.
I didn't though, I was scared of the animals thinking it might be food or something. I couldn't harm the wild life, they were here before I was.
"Want me to put it back on you?" He asked and I nodded. I handed it to him and moved my hair out of the way so he could put it around my neck.
"Thanks." I said once he finished. I leaned back against him and then laughed. "I have sand in my shirt." I told him and he laughed.
"It have sand in my pants." He told me and I laughed harder. "Oh well. I have an extra pair of jeans in the car, and an extra long sleeve if you need it."
"I'm fine." I said and he nodded. "Is it okay if I play some music? It's what keeps me sane." I told him.
"Yeah, go for it." He said and chuckled. I grabbed my phone and he pulled me closer against him, his arms wrapping around my waist.
I turned on my phone, wincing as I saw how many missed calls and messages I had. Out of the eighty-nine calls and two hundred seventy-three text messages, not a single one was from Luke.
I deleted the notifications and then went to my downloaded music. I clicked on my playlist full of sadder and slower songs, then pressed shuffle as I turned the screen off.
"Nickelback, nice choice man." He said and I laughed. "Look at this photograph, every time I do it makes me laugh."
"How did our eyes get so red? And what the hell is on Joey's head?" I sang along and we laughed a bit as we tried singing along to it.
I closed my eyes as our laughter died down and then I felt Jacob's hand on top of mine. I fought the urge to lace my fingers with his and then chuckled.
"I remember when I first heard this song. I was at the adoption center with Michael and we were listening to music off of his phone. This was the sixth song that came on and he was singing along to it while I laughed at the expressions he was making." I told him and Jacob chuckled.
"The first time I listened to this was when my parents divorced and my mum had this cd she made. It was labeled 'I miss you' and I decided to play it when she went to work. The whole thing through was full of pictures and videos of them." He told me and I nodded.
"That's adorable." I said and laughed. "Well, it's kind of sad, but it's cute at the same time." I told him and he agreed.
"The first girl I kissed, her name was Josie." He said as that line came up. "I have actually never met a 'Kim' in my entire life." He told me as he traced shapes on my skin again.
"First person I kissed was... it was you." I told him and blushed. "I didn't know what I was doing. I winged it." I said and laughed.
"I feel honored." He said and I chuckled. "May I ask, what happened to you?" He asked me.
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean by that." I told him and opened my eyes to look at him.
"You just don't talk as much anymore and you're not as bubbly, that's all. When I first met you, you wouldn't shut up and got excited over everything." He said and I nodded.
"That's because I was niave to think that life was going to be amazing now that I was adopted back then. I was also excited to finally switch school because I had a lot of bullies in my old one." I told him and he nodded. "As time went on, I realized life was still shitty so I lost my excitement and joy."
"I see." He said and I closed my eyes again. My breathing hitched a bit as he moved our hands and then slowly laced our fingers together.
I smiled and then chuckled. "Maybe life isn't that bad." I said and opened my eyes to look up and him. He smiled and nodded before looking at the ocean.
"What time is it love?" He asked and I turned my phone on. I looked at the screen and then turned it off.
"Half past eight." I told him and he nodded. "I know I hate half the band, but their new album leaked and it's awesome."
"Doesn't it come out on the Twenty-third?" He asked and I nodded. "It's a good album then?" He asked me and I nodded.
"It is, and I hate admitting it but I love Michael's solos." I said and he laughed. "I have it downloaded if you want to listen to it."
"You illegally downloaded your own parents' album?" He asked me as I turned my phone back on.
"Hell yeah I did. Tumblr is a beautiful place full of people who will give you download links to good music." I told him and he nodded.
"Eh, I'm buying their album anyways since I already pre-ordered it, so just play it."
-
Question of the chapter:
-Did you know that Sounds Good Feels Good actually got leaked? Have you listened to it?
Author's answer:
-I'm buying the album so I thought that it wouldn't be too bad to get a sneak peek at what I'm buying. It's amazing and if you haven't listened to it, you'll love it, especially Vapor and Castaway and Broken Home. They're my favorites on it so far.
Reader's answer:
-