~ Chapter 20: Time Is Ticking ~
[ Justin’s POV: ]
I swallowed hard, continuing to hold my phone to my ear.
“Do you want to come over tonight?” Alicia broke the silence. “I want to spend more time together.”
I bit my lip and glanced at the clock, a sudden uneasiness overcoming me. My intestines felt as if they were tied tight into knots and I could feel my head pounding.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I have to go.”
“What? Where are you going, babe?” curiosity rang in Alicia’s tone.
“San Diego,” I simply answered, and hung up the phone. I grabbed my jacket and quickly put it on, making sure I had my car keys. When I stepped outside into the fresh air, I noticed that even though the sun was shining, the day did not feel happy at all. There was this dark, solemn feeling surrounding me and I didn’t know how to avoid it.
Swinging my hoodie on, I rushed across the parking lot and quickly got inside my car. With the turn of the keys in the ignition, the vehicle roared to life and I felt my entire body become tense. Attempting to relax my shoulders, I let out a small sigh and looked at myself in the rear mirror. I closed my eyes, counted to three and opened them back up, pulling the car into the road as I prepared myself for the 2 hour-long ride.
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[ Robin’s POV: ]
I sat on the steps of Jackie’s front porch and stared out into the street, my brain storming up ways to try and get Jackie out of bed. I couldn’t get inside the house but it didn’t mean I’d give up and continue to let my best friend torture herself. She did nothing wrong, so why does she think she’s the one that needs to be punished? I just don’t get it.
Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair and looked up, seeing a black car approach the sidewalk and park right up front. Confusion began to grow on me and I saw a person get out of the car and shut the door. The person began to walk towards the front yard and whoever they were, they were wearing a hoodie, but it didn’t take me long to figure it out.
“Justin?!” I asked in utter shock, standing up immediately as he approached the front door.
He wiped right under his right eye with his index finger and stuffed both hands into his pockets. “Where is she?” he sniffed.
Has he… Been crying?
“Whoa, are you okay? You don’t look so good,” I said in concern. The last thing I needed was to try to take care of two depressed people.
He ignored my question. “Is she inside?”
I sighed. “I told you, she hasn’t gotten out in days. I’m really worried about her.”
“We need to get her outta there,” Justin bit his lip, examining the house slowly.
“Well how do you plan on getting in? I’ve tried for days.”
“Easy. I break a window,” he shrugged, and began to walk around to the backyard. My eyes widened and I stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.
“Justin! You’re not breaking a window!” I scolded.
“Don’t worry, I’m Justin Bieber. I’ll pay for it to get fixed.”
“What will her parents say when they return?”
“They’ll never know.”
“That’s still a bizarre idea. You can get into a lot of trouble and it’s a little dangerous, don’t you think? Plus, what are you going to break it with?” I frowned. Justin gritted his teeth, forming fists with his hands.
“What the fuck do you think I should do then, smartass?” he snapped, causing my heart to sink. I didn’t expect such a rude remark. But before I could react, Justin groaned, seeming annoyed with himself. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I’m just really frustrated.”
“Justin… Did something happen before you got here?” I spoke quietly.
“No,” he simply answered, turning his back to me and resuming his walk towards the backyard.
Is he serious? He’s going to break Jackie’s window, drag her out of bed and then what? Expect her to forgive him? Expect her to look at him as a hero when he’s the one who caused this mess in the first place? What really goes on inside that head of his? ‘Cause I’d really love to know.
Rolling my eyes, I decided to follow after him and, when I reached Jackie’s backyard, I found Justin pounding softly at one of the windows.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “I thought you were going to try and break it.”
“I am,” he mumbled, continuing to knock in different spots of the same window. He then stopped and turned to me. “Do you have an axe? Shovel? Something really hard? A rock, I don’t know?”
I gave him a look. “An axe? Why would I carry around an axe with me?”
“Robin,” he paused. “Answer me.”
Oh, and you can’t answer me? How rude.
“No. I don’t.” I crossed my arms, officially annoyed with him. I watched in silence as Justin stood there, staring at the window. He dipped his head back and closed his eyes, flexing his muscles. Taking a deep breath in, he exhaled it out slowly and, all of a sudden, he raised his arms forwards and punched the window as hard as he could, creating a loud, shattering sound. I snapped both hands to the side of my head and covered my ears, watching in disbelief as the window broke into pieces and fell to the ground. Justin seethed in another sharp breath and looked at his left hand. I squinted my eyes at the sight before realizing his hand was bleeding.
My jaw dropped and I was about to say something but he just looked at me, emotionless and said, “It’s okay. I’m fine.”
I swallowed hard, not knowing how to react. But Justin just brushed it off and threw himself in through the window, landing inside Jackie’s house. I approached the place where the window was shattered, careful not to step on the glass currently in the ground.
“Listen to me,” Justin breathed, his eye twitching from the pain in his fist. “Don’t try to come in through here. There are spikes left over and I don’t want you to get hurt. Just wait here and I’ll get Jackie.”
“You think it’ll be easy?” I asked, slightly scared.
“No,” he answered. “But I’m not leaving this house until I know she’s okay. Truly okay.”
I let out a small smile. Even though he caused all this and broke a window because of it, I gained respect for Justin. He acknowledged it was his fault and is willing to physically get hurt for Jackie. His hand is bleeding and the damage looks pretty bad but does he care? Doesn’t seem like it.
[ Justin’s POV: ]
“Shit,” I murmured, the pain in my hand unbearable. I cut myself pretty badly and there are even smaller cuts on my wrist and my arm. But I sucked it up and slowly began to walk down the small hallway, reaching the living room. Remembering that Jackie’s room was upstairs, I headed towards the stairs in front of me and climbed slowly, careful not to make too much noise. Upon reaching the top, I immediately noticed that the door to Jackie’s room was open. Lowering my hoodie, I walked in silently, seeing that no one was there. Her bed was a mess and the room was unusually dark, thanks to the closed curtains.
My heart began to feel pain for her and I held back the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. Before I could do anything else, there was a thud coming from the hallway and I turned around quickly to find Jackie in her pajamas, her hair in a messy bun as she held a baseball bat towards me. The minute she recognized who I was, she lowered the bat slowly, unable to believe it was really me.
“Hey,” I whispered, swallowing the pain I felt. Her eyes were wide in shock and she looked as if she wanted to tackle me with a hug. A small smile scattered across my lips as we stared at each other for what felt like years, frozen in time in our own little world.
“You’re here,” she spoke quietly, dropping the bat to the floor.
“I am,” I nodded.
In the blink of an eye, Jackie charged forwards at full speed towards me and, putting all the force she could muster in one hand, she raised it and slapped me hard across the face, causing me to lose my balance and fall to the floor. My jaw dropped open in surprise as my right hand rubbed the cheek I had been slapped in to calm the pain.
“That…” Jackie breathed, tears filling her eyes. “That was for all the pain you made me go through these past few days.”
I looked up at her, feeling tears of my own spill from my eyes. I felt weak, my hands shaking as I wiped my cheeks from all the tears.
Okay… Maybe I deserved that one.
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Hey y’all!
I’m at my grandma’s house and quickly decided to update because… Well, I love you guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and if you’re still bored or something, check out the prologue to my new book “Oh God, Why?!” (on my profile) if you haven’t already :)
And things are getting intense, aren’t they? Jackie encountered Justin… What will happen? ;)
- Nina xx