I walked into chemistry, one of the only classes I didn't dread going to. As soon as I walked in, I saw Jordan sitting in her regular spot, right next to mine. Before I had the chance to say anything to her, Mrs. Winchester entered the room with good news,
"Both you and your partner are going to have to go out and get the supplies for your project," she spoke to the class, and I smirked to the girl sitting next to me. She huffed in annoyance and turned away from me. Just when I thought we were on a good note, she's suddenly angry with me.
"Aw, cheer up," Emery," I elbowed her in the side softly. "I'm not that horrible to be around, am I?"
She glared, holding her face in her palm. "Yes, you are. You're unbearable."
"Love you too, Emery."
Jordan covered her face with her hands, groaning.
"I hate you," she said, and I was glad she couldn't see me because the smirk dropped from my face instantly.
"Hate you more."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Soon enough, it was time for Jordan and I to go get the supplies we needed for our project. I couldn't wait to be alone with Jordan. Alex made plenty of jokes, and I hit him for each and every one.
Jordan couldn't have looked more uninterested about being alone with me for who knows how long. It was already beginning to get dark, and she didn't even look my way.
"I'm so glad it's Friday," was the first thing she said to me, resting her face in her hand. I started smirking. Jordan finally spoke to me.
"Are you gonna start singing like Rebecca Black now?"
"No," she snapped, annoyed with me already. I've barely started. "Just focus on the road, will you?"
"It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday," I raised my voice, trying to mock Rebecca Black's. Jordan looked even more pissed as she covered her ears and I chuckled.
"I think that song just may be the only thing that's more annoying than you," Jordan grumbled, dropping her hands. She could at least look like she was enjoying this a little.
After a long forty-five minutes, we drove in to the parking lot of the store. Jordan was getting more impatient by the second. I tried pushing my luck, walking as slowly as I possibly could while walking to the store. I found all the objects we needed for our project. Jordan kept trying to put a word in, but I got everything myself.
"You ready to go?" I asked a yawning Jordan after I finished buying all the supplies I needed for chemistry. She nodded lazily, turning toward my car. It was time to call it a night, and we had everything we needed.
She clicked in her seat belt, and I put the keys in the ignition. "Seat belt," Jordan reminded me with her eyes closed. Even though she wasn't looking at me, a stern look was still written on her face. I rolled my eyes, but put it on anyways.
We had only been driving ten minutes, when the car gave up, slowing down to a stop.
"Fuck," I swore, not intending Jordan to hear.
"What is it?" She asked, shuffling in her seat slightly. "Are we here? Why did we stop?"
"The car broke down. I'm going to go see if I can fix it," I informed her, opening the door. Jordan opened her eyes, trying to look at me. "Just go back to sleep or something."
Her head moved a little, and I took it as a nod. My hands ran over the hood of my car before I lifted it up. It only took a few minutes for me to look around, seeing as there was nothing I could do.
"Jordan," I called, opening up the passenger door. She had fallen asleep and couldn't hear me saying her name. My arms wrapped around hers and I pulled her from the chair, watching as she squealed and started swinging her fists. "Idiot, it's me!"
"Sorry," she apologized grumpily, rubbing her eyes, which turned into a glare soon enough.
"Well, I can't fix it," I shrugged, shaking my head. Jordan frowned as I felt my pockets. "I left my phone in my cabin..."
"Idiot. At least I was smart enough to-" Jordan cut off, feeling around her empty pocket. Her hand shoved into her other pocket, but nothing was there either.
I smiled smugly. "You go off calling me an idiot, but you don't have your phone either, right?"
"Shut up," she glared. "What are we supposed to do? Neither of us have phones and the car's dead. And if you can't fix it, there's no way in hell that I can... We're still pretty far away from camp, aren't we? How are we supposed to get back?"
I sighed, trying to think of what we could do. "We could always just walk the rest of the way, but I don't think that's exactly the smartest thing to do in the dark..." I could take care of myself, but Jordan couldn't. Who knows what could be hiding out there? "Why don't we just camp out in the backseat of the car for the night?"
"Me? Sleep in the backseat of a car with you?" Her eyes widened and her eyebrows rose. "No thanks. Do you know what everyone would think if they found out we spent all night together, all alone, in the backseat of your car? Besides, since the car's dead, there's no heater. So it'll be freezing."
"We can just use each other's body heat," I stuck out my tongue teasingly. "Just imagine... Me, with my arm around you..."
"You covered in my vomit," Jordan rolled her eyes.
"Isn't that from a movie?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Ten Things I Hate About You, right? Shows how original you are, Emery. You can't even come up with your own comebacks... Pitiful," I teased, causing her to narrow her eyes.
Ignoring her annoyed reaction, I turned around. "Come on, there's a few houses around here, why don't we just go around and ask someone if we could use the phone?"
I started walking down the side of the road, Jordan fumbling over her feet as she tried keeping up with me.
"Is that safe?" She asked, right behind me now. "What if they're psychopathic killers or something? What are we going to do then?"
"Tough it out, I guess," I shrugged, taking a quick glance at her. "Come on, Emery, who's not going to help a couple kids whose car broke down?"
"They're probably going to think that we were on a date or something," Jordan huffed, scrunching up her face. My stomach did a quick flip as I saw a huge house in the distance. "I don't want anyone to think that we're a couple or something, even someone that we'll never see again. People that we actually know already tease me about enough about you."
"Right back at you, Emery," I said, not knowing what else to reply with. "There's a house."
It looked old and broken, but a motorcycle was in front of it. Someone had to be here.
"The lights are off," Jordan pointed out. "There's probably no one even here. Let's just walk back to the camp or look for a house with the lights on."
"There's someone inside," I turned around to face the panting girl behind me. Smirking, I cocked my head in the direction of the bike. "There's a motorcycle right there. Now why would someone leave a brand new motorcycle like that at an old house like this if they weren't staying here?"
"The keys are still in the ignition," she informed me. "Why would someone leave the keys in the ignition.
"It's probably stolen," I shrugged, suddenly interested about who was living here. Jordan's eyes widened and gave me a look.
"Let's walk back," she suggested, wrapping her hands around my arm. "I'd rather be hit by a car than deal with some thief!"
If she actually knew me...
I pulled my arm out of her grasp and rolled my eyes. My hand touched hers, and our fingers entwined. I expected her to pull away, but she didn't.
"We'll just ask if we can make a phone call, and we'll call one of your friends. I'm sure they're worried sick about you right now. Unless you want to call Dallas," I sneered his name, causing Jordan to raise her eyebrows.
"Why do you and Dallas hate each other?" Jordan asked. How could one person be so oblivious?
"It isn't obvious?"
"No."
"Then you're stupid."
She rolled her eyes, but continued to press on. "But, really. You guys seem like you can't stand each other. Why?"
"Let's just say that Dally and I both want something that only one of us can have."
"What?" She asked, completely confused.
I was going to pull my hair out! How much more obvious could I make it?
"Never mind," I muttered, done speaking about this. The look on her face dropped, and I wish I knew what she was thinking about. "Come on, hurry up. Your friends are probably worried sick."
"And yours aren't?"
"They know I can take care of myself," I shrugged, walking up the porch. Jordan's fingers were still laced with mine as I came close to the front door. "And I'm sure they're just joking about saying how we probably ran off and eloped."
"Stupid," she grumbled, and I wasn't sure if she was saying it about me, or the guys I share a cabin with. I pressed the doorbell, standing with Jordan in silence. When no one answered, I pressed it again. Something was shuffling behind the door. I could hear someone in there.
"No one's here," Jordan said with a pleading voice. "Can we please go now?"
"Wait," I didn't remove my eyes from the door. Something was off here, and I was dying to figure out what it was. "Something isn't right..."
My hand wrapped around the doorknob, and I pushed it open. Walking inside, I pulled a shocked Jordan with me.
"Something isn't right, and yet you yank us inside anyways?" She whispered, as if she was afraid someone would hear us. No one came into view, and I thought that maybe it was time we left.
"Jesse," Jordan started to stutter. "Wh-What are you doing? C-Can we please leave?"
"Scared, Emery?" I looked back with a smirk.
"Y-Yes."
Her answer caught me off guard, because I was expecting her to deny it. She was shaking, and I was ready to leave now. Before I could drag her away, someone called out from the staircase, "Who the hell's here?"
The voice was too familiar. Jordan froze in fear, and I'm sure I did as well.
A dim light turned on before Jordan and I could run for our lives. I'm sure she wouldn't have been able to run, anyways.
No... Fuck, no.
A face I never wanted to see again stood at the top of the staircase, peering down. I wanted to hide Jordan behind me, so he'd stop looking at her. But I was too surprised to do so.
Hunter began smirking once he noticed my surprised reaction. My eyes narrowed as I began glaring at him.
"Well, if it isn't the one person that I thought I'd never see again," he spoke, and I could feel Jordan's eyes on me. She was clutching on to my arm now, as tight as she possibly could. His eyes moved up and down Jordan's body, and I needed her to leave. Why couldn't I move?
"And you brought me something to play with?"
This snapped me out of my shocked pose, standing in front of Jordan protectively. He made his way down the set of stairs, getting closer and closer to us. Jordan was pressed against my back, holding me from behind.
"Stay away from her, Hunter," I growled and stepped back.
He cocked his head to the side, trying to take a look at Jordan. "Did you get yourself a girlfriend, Jesse? Did you finally forget about that other girl that didn't give you the time of day?"
My heart started racing as I held on to Jordan tighter. Hunter continued taking steps forward, only causing me to take steps back. "Jordan," I spoke through clenched teeth, "Get out of here. Now."
"Jordan?" Hunter asked, widening his eyes. He sounded amused, something I didn't like. It meant he was thinking of something. "Jordan Emery? The Jordan?
She was shaking, and I noticed immediately. "Jordan, get out of here!"
I took my hand off her arm, but I couldn't hear her footsteps running away. Why wasn't she running? She shrieked, making me flip around to see her being held by one of Hunter's goons.
"Good job, Butch," Hunter smirked at the guy holding Jordan so tightly I thought she'd pass out. "I didn't even have to call you this time.
"Let her go," I demanded, thinking of ways I could threaten them. I looked between both Hunter and Butch. "Don't touch her."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Jesse," Hunter continued smirking. "You see, she's something important to you. And this is just the start of the revenge. You're going to regret ever leaving, Jacobsen."
I turned toward Jordan, who had the most confused and scared look on her face. Explaining this after we got out of this would be impossible. If we actually got out of this.
I never thought I'd see Hunter again. If he showed up in my life at any other time, I'd be fine with it. But he had to show up when I was with Jordan. Why couldn't I just leave the house like she wanted me to? Instead, I was having a reunion with my old gang leader who wanted to kill me.
I turned my eyes back to Butch, watching as he was now holding a blade against Jordan's throat. If he killed her, this would be my fault. I would've been the reason for Jordan's death.
"I swear to God, if you touch her, I'll fucking kill you," I threatened to both Hunter and Butch as my hands balled into fists. I took a step closer to Hunter, causing his minion to push the blade a little closer to her throat. Jordan let out a small yelp, tears brimming her eyes.
"Come any closer to me, or even try to hit me, your precious little Jordy will be gone," Hunter sneered, taking a step back. "The smart thing to do would be to back away, Jacobsen. You don't want Jordan's death to be your fault, now do you?"
He said the words I was dreading on hearing, feeling like I was going to be sick. Turning around, my eyes met with Jordan's. The look on her face was fear, confusion and... faith. As long as she had faith in me, I had faith in myself and I'd do whatever I could to get out of this.
Seconds later, Jordan screamed. I flipped around, half expecting to see her throat slit open. When I saw she had been faking, I knew what I had to do.
I turned around, kicking Hunter straight in the jaw. He started fighting back, but I did whatever I could to protect myself. Hunter could kill, he's done it plenty of times before, I've seen him. But I wasn't scared. My eyes darted back to Jordan and I saw she picked up the knife, threatening to stab him.
She was completely bluffing, but he didn't know that. Jordan couldn't stab anyone. I took this as my chance to run, grabbing Jordan by her waist and carrying her out the door. She started squawking and hitting my arm.
"It's me, it's Jesse! Calm down, we're getting out of here!" I screamed, pulling her out of the house. We burst through the front door, and I grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the motorcycle. There was only one helmet, which I put on to Jordan's head without a second thought.
"What about you?" She asked, throwing the knife to the ground.
"I don't need one."
"Yes you do! I'm not getting on unless you have a helmet!" She crossed her arms stubbornly. This really wasn't a good time for arguing. Hunter could come out any second. I grabbed Jordan's wrist and pulled her against my back.
She tried wiggling off, but I started the engine and we drove away.
"We're going to get pulled over!" Jordan shouted over the loud engine after we were miles away from the house. "If this thing was stolen like you said it was, then we're going to get in trouble. And anyway, we kind of just stole it again right now! Not to mention you're going to get in trouble for not wearing a helmet!"
"Well, you know, Emery," I said, smiling even though she couldn't see. "I'd much rather deal with the cops instead of Hunter and his goons."
I sped up, making Jordan hold on to me tighter. A smile formed on my face as I drove into a parking lot of a strip mall. Jordan got off the motorcycle before I did, almost falling over in the process.
"Careful, Emery," I said, catching her before she fell. I began taking her helmet on, so she could steady herself. "I don't want you hurting yourself after you got out of that without a scratch."
She gave me a weird look, like she didn't know what she was feeling. But she was safe, and that's what mattered most.
"I did get a scratch," Jordan titled her head up, revealing a small line that definitely wasn't from a blade. It looked like it was from a fingernail.
"I think you'll live," I said, examining the mark.
"But, what about you?" Her question caught me off guard a little, and I noticed that after she looked me up and down, she started tearing up. Nothing was really hurting. I've been through much worse.
"I'm fine," I said, truthfully. My hand wrapped around hers as I started walking her closer to one of the stores. "I'm used to it."
"You're used to it?
"I'll explain it to you when we're inside," I reassured, leading her into the store. Jordan wasn't shaking anymore, but she was still scared about what happened. I wouldn't blame her, it wasn't fun. Jordan seating in a booth once we walked in, and I walked up to the counter.
After ordering her favourite ice cream and grabbing myself a bottle of water, I sat across from her in the booth she chose to sit at. I pushed it in front of her, which she just stared at with wide eyes.
"Why didn't you get anything?" Jordan asked as I slipped my hands into the pockets of my jacket. "I don't want to feel like a pig or anything, eating something all by myself..."
She attempted a joke, but I wasn't in the mood. Forcing a smirk, Jordan looked back at the ice cream again.
"How did you know Oreo was my favourite?" She asked, her eyes widening once again. Here goes nothing...
"Do you remember the first time we met?" I smiled, not believing I was actually bringing this up now. "Do you remember what happened?"
"I remember," she chuckled to herself. "I thought that I was on a date with Dallas, but it turned out he just thought it was an outing between two best friends. I wore my favourite shirt... And you ruined it by running into me and making me drop my ice cream all over it. I was angry with you, and I immediately pinned you as annoying and rude. I didn't even give you a chance, did I? I was so obsessed with Dallas back then... But now that I think of it, you were giving me such a strange look. Your eyes were wide and your mouth was open slightly. To this day, I still don't know what it means..."
I couldn't look at her as she said this, I didn't expect her to remember this much, but it seemed she remembered almost ever detail.
"Why were you running that day?" Jordan asked. "Who was that guy, Hunter? How did you know him? Were you friends?"
Here came the hard part. She'd either accept me or never talk to me again, and I was terrified.
"You could say that, I guess," I shrugged. "I'll tell you, Emery, I definitely will, but you have to promise me something."
She took a bite of ice cream. "Okay. What is it?"
"Promise you won't look at me any differently."
Jordan blinked in astonishment, and I knew she was confused. But I had to know. I had to make sure she wouldn't treat me differently.
"And don't think of me any differently, either," I added.
"Okay, I promise I won't," she said, and I felt relieved. "Now tell me everything. How do you know Hunter, and what was he talking about revenge for? And what did you leave that caused him to want revenge? And how did he know my name?"
"Hunter..." I began, looking toward my fidgeting hands sitting on the table. "Hunter's the leader of the gang I used to be in."
I looked down so my hair would be covering my face. Jordan's hand reached over, cupping my face so I'd look up at her.
"What? Did you just say gang?"
I nodded, turning away from her again. "Hunter Drax has been the ruthless and cold leader ever since I entered right before freshman year started. He doesn't give up on anything, and he's got people that are willing to do anything for him... So I guess you can say I'm afraid. Not for me, but for you..."
"You were in a gang..." Jordan blinked, staring at me. I was feeling self conscious as her eyes never left my face.
"And that's how I know Erica," I continued. "She was in the gang, too. Well, it was more like she was Hunter's girlfriend and she just came along for everything we did, but she broke up with him for me..."
"For you?" Jordan asked, and I thought about how I was going to explain it to her.
"She broke up with him for me, but we never went out or anything," I explained, smirking slightly. "That's just another reason why Hunter hates me so much. I technically stole his girl, even though I never did anything with Erica. I never saw her that way, but she definitely did... It was obvious to everyone, even Hunter, that she liked me and not him.
She was breathing heavily, and I was trying to figure out what she was worrying about.
"I didn't kill anyone, if that's what you're freaking out about," I sighed, and Jordan seemed to calm down after that. "If I had killed someone, I would have been a hypocrite about Marnie's boyfriend, that Seth guy. He's killed before... I've had plenty of opportunities to, and I was so close to doing it, but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't end someone's life. And every time I was about to, the one person I could see... Was you."
Jordan blinked, and I was sure I stopped breathing for a second or two. "Me?"
"Yes, you."
Her eyes dropped to the bowl of melted ice cream in front of her before she pushed it away. "But..."
"And he wants revenge on me for leaving the gang at the beginning of senior year," I shook my head, not wanting to leave out a single detail. "Let's just say the gang I was apart of isn't exactly the easiest thing to get out of... Remember that one time I came to harass you one day all beat up and sore and I said I was mugged?"
"...Yeah."
"That was them."
Tears started to form in her eyes, but she wiped them away immediately.
"I'm sorry, Jordan, for bringing you into this," I looked away from her again. "I never would have brought you into this... I never should have went into that house. I knew something wasn't right, I could just feel it, and yet I still dragged you inside. I'm so sorry."
"But, how did he know my name?" Jordan asked, desperation dripping from her voice.
Sighing, I leaned back in the booth and grabbed my bottle of water. "I... I told some of them about you. How... How you were the one that was distracting me."
I started drinking my water, hoping it'd buy me more time to think of an answer to her reaction.
"Distracting you? How would I distract you? And how would I stop you from killing anyone? Wouldn't Yolanda be the one distracting you?"
I spit out the water I had been drinking right then. Yolanda? Yolanda?
"Yolanda?" I asked in surprise, wiping my mouth. "That shy blonde you hang around with?"
Rolling her eyes, Jordan crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't lie to me, Jesse, I know you know exactly who she is. You love her."
Love? I barely knew her name and Jordan was saying I loved this girl? When did this happen?
"Where did you get a crazy idea like that?"
"Don't you remember the night Headmistress Belladonna and Headmaster Solomon said we were going to Camp Kingston?" Jordan began explaining, and I didn't like where this was heading. "You said you only cared about two people. Marnie, and then you cut yourself off before you could say the other person. I heard that it started with a Y, and Yolanda was the only person I could think of. And them when you learned that Yolanda had been asked out, you went and punched a wall and told Marnie you loved her."
I groaned in frustration about the girl who sat before me. Jordan tried sounding smart with her explanation, but she got it wrong completely. She was looking smug with herself as I pressed both hands against the table.
"For a smart girl, Emery, you're really stupid."
"Excuse me?"
"You're the smartest girl in Adeline, right?" I asked, my attention focusing on lid of my water bottle. Jordan simply nodded. "I guess you're only smart when it comes to academics."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Her eyebrows furrowed. "Just how am I so stupid? Don't just call me stupid, tell me how I am! How am I stupid for figuring out you love Yolanda? It's so obvious! You punched a wall when you were told that she had been asked out!"
Why did I have to fall in love with a girl who had as much common sense as a wall? I covered my face with my hands and chuckled. "How did we go from talking about Hunter and a gang to love and Yolanda?"
It was a rhetorical question, but Jordan answered if anyway. "You told me that I stopped you from killing and that I was a distraction for you, and I said it should have been Yolanda," she said flatly.
"You really are stupid, Emery," I sighed and stood up, getting ready to leave. "I'll tell you what you want to hear. The reason you distracted me? You were annoying and we were always fighting and bickering, so I couldn't concentrate. The reason why you stopped me from killing? Maybe I just wanted to do it to you. Now, even though those are both lies, that's the only thing you'd believe, right?"
She said nothing as we both made our way out of the ice cream parlour. "I'm not stupid," she finally spoke as we walked over to the motorcycle. "I'm not the one riding a motorcycle with no helmet. That's stupid. You could get yourself killed, you idiot."
"Better me than you," I said simply.
"What's that supposed to-" Jordan began, but was cut of by the roaring of the engine. We were finally going back to the camp.