After a lazy weekend, Monday rolled around and we finally found out that Ben and Jo did, in fact, hook up at the party and that’s why they disappeared. As for the friend’s house Tyler went too? He wouldn’t say a word about it, though Jake and I assumed he went to his secret girlfriend’s house for the night. As for who that was exactly, we still didn’t know.
“Hey Chad, you feeling better?” I asked him when I saw him at lunch. He hadn’t been there all morning for some reason but now there he was, leaning against my locker.
“Yeah,” he nodded, looking up the hallway. I leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek, and as I started to pull away he turned and grabbed my shoulders, kissing me hard on the mouth. I jumped in surprise and he pushed me back against my locker, still kissing me. I was a little taken aback, we never really kissed much in public, much less at school. Especially not in the crowded hallway during lunch where everyone could see.
“Chad,” I pushed him away slightly, “We’re at school.”
“I know,” he shrugged, trying to kiss me again. I frowned, turning my head to the side so he caught my cheek.
“Chad,” I said warningly. What was with him?
“Fine,” he stepped back, looking irritated. “Sorry for missing you.”
“Yeah, well there’s a time and place and this isn’t it,” I retorted, trying not to get mad at him. Seriously, what the hell was that? I spotted Jake and Shannon down the hall and my slight temper flared up at the sight of them, her arm around his waist. Jake was staring at me with a crushed expression, but as he walked past he looked away, his face wiped clean of all emotion while Shannon babbled about something.
“Let’s just go eat,” I muttered, grabbing my lunch before I slammed my locker door shut. I slammed it so hard that I scared the people in the hallway with the gunshot level of sound it made.
Chad followed me to lunch while I fumed silently, trying to calm down. Tyler and Jo were already there, and once we sat Leena arrived as well. Only Jake was missing. Today was turning out to be a really bad day.
Jake POV
Shannon ambushed me right after gym, and I had no choice but to walk down Ivy’s hall to get to my locker with her, since our locker’s were just a few away from each other. She had her arm around my waist, and was talking so fast and loud about something that I just didn’t have the heart to tune into. I used to feel bad for the girl, but now I just wanted her to get the hell away from me. She was the one who started all this crap.
I saw Chad making out with Ivy against her locker and had a mild moment of satisfaction when she pushed him away. But still it hurt to see them like that. I knew they kissed and stuff, but I hated to see it. At least I could pretend it didn’t happen, but witnessing it just proved that she wasn’t with me anymore, and probably never would be.
Her face fell when she saw me and I looked away. I wasn’t in the mood to look at her with him right now.
“Oh Jake! You need to get over her,” Shannon said in annoyance once we were further down the hall. But even I couldn’t ignore the loud slam of a locker door being shut. I flinched and ignored Shannon. She didn’t know anything nor did I want her too.
“Seriously, she was going to end up with Chad one way or another. You couldn’t have thought that she’d be with you forever,” she scoffed.
I grit my teeth in annoyance, hands curling into fists. Why was she even here? I had been doing a really good job of avoiding her since the kiss.
“I mean, you’re gorgeous, far more than Chad is, but when he wants something he knows how to get it,” she continued, glaring a little. I presume he got Shannon in bed and now that he was with Ivy she was pissed. “And besides. I’m single. You’re single. Our ex’s are dating…”
“Shannon shut up,” I hissed, untangling myself from her death grip.
“What? I’m just telling the truth. The bastard always gets what he wants. How do you think he got Ivy?” she said smugly, as if oh so proud to know this bit of information.
I stalked off to my locker, taking long strides to make sure I put sufficient distance between us. The girl drove me nuts. And her stupid commentary made no sense and just pissed me off. She made it sound like Ivy was a possession or something. I hated it. And I saw Chad look at me before kissing her. He did it on purpose. There wasn’t a lot of things that I hated, but right now Chad and Shannon were on the top of the list, with Liam just under them, as well as my parents.
All of this stress was going to kill me.
Ivy POV
I was right. The rest of that day sucked. Hell, the rest of the week sucked. Chad seemed more annoyingly intimate than usual, Jake seemed more distant, Tyler was always out with his girlfriend it seemed, Jo was always with Ben nowadays, and Leena was always busy as well with something or other; whether it be family or projects, but that was the usual with her.
By the time Friday rolled around I was ready to behead anyone who came near me. And it had nothing to do with being on my period.
“Ivy why are you in such a bitchy mood?” Tyler groaned at me Friday night.
“Because people are pissing me off. I’m having a bad week so leave me the hell alone,” I said icily from the couch, a tub of ice cream in one hand, a spoon in the other while I watched Beauty and the Beast. “And if you keep talking to me I will launch this ice cream at your head and I guarantee I will not miss.”
The doorbell rang and Tyler went to go answer it, which had to be one of the wisest choices he had ever made in life. I heard Jake’s voice and groaned internally. Great. I had to socialize.
“Hey,” Tyler greeted him, “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“Uh…when did you call me?” Jake asked, puzzled. “Shit, it’s off.”
“I wanted to tell you I was going out tonight,” Tyler told him, “And to go home. Unless you want to risk the chance of being murdered.”
“The person most at risk of being killed is the one who won’t shut up,” I hinted from the living room. Ass.
“See?” Tyler whined, “I’ve been stuck with that all week!”
“Hardly. You’ve barely been home all week,” I snorted.
“I think I’ll take my chances,” Jake replied and I heard the door shut. A moment later Jake sat down next to me while Tyler went upstairs to get dressed.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked bluntly.
I stabbed my ice cream with my spoon. “Absolutely nothing."
“You’re eating ice cream and you’re stabbing it. That means you’re in a really foul mood or something happened. Or both, usually. So what’s wrong?” he scooted down so he was pressed right up against my side.
“Nothing,” I muttered. Damn boy knew me too well.
“Ivy,” he sighed.
“Don’t ‘Ivy’ me, Jake. Where have you been all week? I barely saw you at all," I countered.
“I’ve been dealing with something,” he said quietly.
I stared at him. Great, now I felt bad. I let out an exasperated sigh, holding my spoon out. He chuckled and took it, scooping up some ice cream for himself.
“I’m willing to forgive you for being AWOL as long as you don’t pester me about this week,” I said slowly.
“I suppose that’s fair enough. It’s not like either one of us is going to tell the other what’s going on anyways,” he scooped up some ice cream and ate it before handing me back my spoon. I went upstairs after a while to go to the bathroom and take care of my stupid girl problem, before I came back down. Well…I sat down on the stairs and slid down.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tyler asked, staring at me in shock as I slid down the stairs, one step at a time. He had already gone down while I was going up.
“I’m cleaning the stairs with my ass so that way we won’t have to vacuum it later,” I replied sarcastically once I reached the step that Jake was sitting on. I sat on the one behind him, my legs on either side of him. I wrapped them around his torso and wrapped my arms around him. I felt a bit better now, still not completely great but better than before at least.
“Oh very funny,” Tyler said, pulling his coat on.
Jake stood, making sure not to drop me. “Where are you going?” he asked, putting his strong hands over my arms.
I frowned, leaning my chin on his shoulder so I could look at Tyler. “Yeah Tyler, got a hot date with a special girl?”
“Yeah. What’s your point?” he zipped up, smirking at me.
“My point is I don’t know this girl. What if she’s another Kristen?”
“Oh dude, please tell me you’re not back with Kristen!” Jake exclaimed in horror.
“Hell no!” Tyler cried, “I would never go back to her. She’s such a psycho. Last I heard she was with Liam actually. I’m with someone else.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Do we know her?” Jake added as we followed Tyler to the door and he put his shoes on.
“Yes you know her, but I’m not telling who,” Tyler grinned wickedly, “You’ll find out soon enough if things keep going this well.”
“Aww,” I whined, “Tyler!”
“No amount of puppy dog faces are going to make me tell you. Now I’ll be back later tonight,” he said, waving cheerily before he left.
“What. An. Ass,” Jake sighed as we went to the living room. I slid off his back onto the couch and he fell down next to me, Beauty and the Beast paused on the TV.
“We should follow him,” I said after a moment of silence.
“You read my mind,” he jumped back to his feet and helped me up. “We better hurry though.”
We quickly put on our coats and shoes, venturing out into the frosty, snowy December night. We were just pulling out of the driveway when Tyler’s car turned left at the end of the street. Jake sped down the street after his car, but we made sure to keep a big enough distance between our cars so we wouldn’t get caught.
“So who do you think he’s with?” I asked, frowning. “Somehow I don’t think its Jo anymore; she said she was busy today with all her little cousins since her aunt and uncle were coming over.”
“She could have lied to make it seem like she wasn’t going out,” Jake pointed out, drumming his fingers rhythmically along the steering wheel.
“She also hooked up with Ben at the party.”
“Okay then, I honestly have no clue. Jo was the only possibility I had so now I don’t have any other suspects.”
“This isn’t a murder mystery,” I huddled deeper into my coat, shivering.
He noticed and turned the heat up, “Well it’d be funner that way. We could pretend to be spies.”
“We haven’t played spies since we were like…ten,” I replied, eyebrow arched.
“Oh come on, live a little. You can’t tell me you don’t miss playing all those silly games,” he slapped my leg playfully.
“I do sometimes,” I admitted, “Oh fine. But if we get caught I’m sacrificing you and saving myself.”
“Fair enough, Poison,” he winked.
“Shut up, Falcon,” I hit his arm. Poison and Falcon were our code names; I got Poison because well…poison ivy, haha. He just picked Falcon because of our video game obsession. He used to love saying ‘Falcon Punch!’ a bazillion times a day.
“So…mission: Spy on Dude and find out who his secret lover is,” he held one hand out to me, eyes still on the road.
Dude was Tyler. Not a very creative nickname, but dude had been, and still was, one of his favorite words.
“Agreed. Remember, if you get left behind, you stay behind,” I took his warm hand and shook it.
“We were pretty bad as kids. You get left behind? Harsh,” he remarked, turning left after Tyler.
“Well that’s how spies work, if you got caught then too bad. You have to be the best to be a spy,” I said matter-of-factly, putting my hands over the heater.
“I think we’re here,” he said abruptly and I looked up to see the pizza place. I had very fond memories of this restaurant…not. I caught Jo and…er…Kyle? One of my ex boyfriend’s making out here.
We followed Tyler into the parking lot, but kept going to the far end while he parked closer to the door. We watched him go in to the restaurant before Jake parked in a place we could watch him from.
“Ooh this is so exciting,” I said, sitting up straighter as Jake killed the engine but left the radio on.
“Man you sound just like a stalker,” Jake joked, reclining his chair back more comfortably in the darkness of the car. The only light we had was the small amount we got from the restaurant and the dim glow from the radio.
“Shut up and let me enjoy this moment of spying on my brother.”
He stuck his tongue out at me and reached behind him, pulling a blanket back before tossing it at me. “Here, in case you get cold.”
“Why do you have a blanket in your car?” I asked curiously.
“I figure in case this old thing breaks down I can at least sleep warmly in my car,” he shrugged, eyes straight ahead at the pizzeria. “Do you see him?”
I looked through the big window and saw him walking through the restaurant. “There,” I leaned towards him, pointing Tyler out but he went behind a divider.
“Damn,” I muttered, flopping back into my seat. “Can’t see him.”
“So now what?” Jake asked.
I pulled the blanket around me tightly to keep warm while Jake leaned back, the picture of relaxation with his hands behind his head.
“Now we wait I guess. He’s bound to come out with her,” I said slowly, “Aren’t you going to be cold?”
“Nah. I’ll be fine,” he waved a hand, eyes closed.
“Sure you are…now. Just wait till later when your teeth are chattering,” I said, getting comfortable on the passenger’s seat. “How come there was no performance tonight?”
“The guys had exams to study for so it got cancelled tonight.”
“Oh crap. I forgot about our exams,” I slapped my forehead, “This just gets worse and worse.”
“I would ask, but you won’t tell me,” he said, laughing a little. “But I’d guess it has something to do with your boyfriend.”
I didn’t reply. Instead I huddled deeper into the blanket, looking through the restaurant window.
“Kyle cheated on me with Jo here,” I blurted.
He opened one eye in the darkness, “That dickhead from a while back?”
“Yeah. The one I dated before you,” I said, looking down at the gear shift. “He was kind of a slime ball. He always wanted to make out with me, but never really talked to me. And if he did it was about stupid or inappropriate things.”
He turned and watched me curiously, both eyes open now.
“But I guess I was so used to it from other guys that I figured staying with him would be the same as dumping him and going out with another guy. I’m pretty sure if he hadn’t cheated on me with Jo I’d have been with him until he dumped me.” It was a pathetic thing to admit, but it was true. Before relationships just seemed…moot. All I ever did was make out with dickheads like Kyle, or try to push them away, but get forced into it anyways. Neither of us ever cared about the other.
“But you were different. I was wrong when I said you were like other guys. You were never like that,” I wrapped my arms around myself under the blanket, leaning back against the inside of the car door.
“Chad isn’t like that…” he trailed off, somewhat doubtfully.
I looked through the windshield, “He’s…different. He does enjoy the more physical aspect, but he stops if I tell him too at least.”
“But you guys talk,” he said, but I was already shaking my head.
“Not like we talk,” I said quietly. “I don’t know why. We just…don’t talk too much. And if we do it’s usually about you.”
“So what? Are you going to break up with him or wait for him to dump you?” he asked and I couldn’t ignore his annoyed tone.
I didn’t even flinch. I deserved it. “I don’t know. I’m a bit confused.” I pressed my lips together. “Why were you talking to Shannon?”
“When did I talk to her?” he asked tiredly, passing a hand over his face as he turned back to facing the steering wheel.
“Monday at lunch. You guys were walking down the hall together…”
He snorted. “You saw that? Wow, that's surprising considering you had Chad’s tongue down your throat.”
Now I winced. That wasn’t fair. That hadn't even been my fault.
He glanced at me for a moment before he rubbed his eyes, “Sorry. I’m just stressed. And I didn’t want to talk to her. Whatever she was saying wasn’t making any sense anyways, and what parts did make sense were stupid.”
“Like what?” I asked curiously.
He let out a breath, making a puff of white fog appear. “Something about how both our ex’s are dating so we should too. Before that was just a bunch of random crap about Chad always getting his way.”
“Meaning?” I asked, bewildered. Sure he usually had a certain charm about him, and yeah he got what he wanted sometimes, but it was usually stupid little things. So what was she talking about? Even I did that. Give a good puppy dog face and you could get quite a bit.
“Like I know. I just wanted to get away from her so I didn’t bother sticking around to ask questions,” he closed his eyes again, shifting to get comfortable.
Now that’s what I didn’t get. He was so annoyed with her, but why’d he kiss her? Unless he didn’t and she kissed him? Hope rose in me. But what could I do? Dump Chad on a hope that Jake didn’t actually cheat on me? I had to get real.
I peeked at the restaurant windows. Tyler was still nowhere in sight. It was going to be a long wait; not only did it take roughly half an hour to get served, it was also a Friday night which meant it was packed. Then there was time to actually eat and sit around talking, possibly have dessert…we were going to be here for hours.
“Jake, I don’t think we planned this out too well,” I mumbled, shivering slightly.
“Sitting here for a few hours isn’t too bad.”
“Um…it is when you’re on your period,” I said sheepishly.
“Oh great. If you ruin my car I am not afraid to beat you with a stick,” he warned me.
“Well pardon me for bleeding. If I could stop it I would, but I can’t. And it’s not just that. We’re going to be here for a few hours…its cold, and we’re going to get hungry eventually.”
“We are at a pizza place,” he reminded me. His face lit up. “That’s perfect! We could go in to get a pizza and you can sneakily go to the bathroom and see who Tyler’s with!”
“I’d prefer it if Tyler didn’t know we were spying. Spies never get caught, Jake.” My teeth started chattering.
He frowned, “Are you cold?”
“N-no,” I stuttered, laughing slightly. “Okay maybe a little.”
“I declare we move to the backseat then,” he said, unlocking the doors.
“How is that going to warm me up? Unless you want us to do like the movies where we have hot, passionate sex,” I teased.
“Don’t tempt me,” he smirked at me, getting out of the car, letting in a gust of icy wind.
I hurriedly got out of the car, “Jake? Seriously, why the backseat?”
He came around to my side of the car and opened the door, rolling his eyes at me. “Just get in.”
I tossed him a suspicious look before I climbed into the back. He slid in after me and pulled the door shut and locked it. He put his legs up on the seat and spread them slightly, patting the space between them.
“Um…” I faltered.
“Sit,” he pointed between his legs.
“Okay,” I crawled across the short seat, adjusting myself so I was lying down, my back and head against his chest, my legs stretched out across the seat. He spread the blanket over both of us, arms around me under it.
“Warmer?”
“Much actually,” I blinked in surprise.
“Ha. See how smart I am?” he said proudly, “Now we can be warm, comfortable and look at the restaurant all at once.”
“We could also sleep,” I yawned, cuddling closer. “If I fall asleep I blame you.”
“Might as well, we’re going to be here a while,” he rested his cheek against the top of my head, squeezing me tightly.
“Maybe we should have picked a warmer day to follow him,” I yawned again.
“Don’t yawn,” he said, yawning as well.
“Sorry,” I giggled.
“You’re terribly moody you know,” he told me, the muscles of his body flexing as he moved a bit.
“Um…” I faltered a little, slightly distracted. “Why?”
“Well all week you’ve been kind in a foul mood. Today you seemed like a bitch. Now you’re normal,” he gave a half shrug, “I’m not sure whether it’s because of your period or if it’s just you.”
“Probably both. But usually you cheer me up,” I smiled, tugging the blanket up higher. I turned my cheek to the side, leaning it against his chest, hearing his heart beating a little faster than normal. I close my eyes, listening to his heart in the silence.
“Ivy? Ivy look,” Jake whispered, shaking me awake. I struggled to open my eyes, rubbing them and blinking at the harsh light of the restaurant window. I saw a guy walking out with a girl and it took me a moment to realize it was Tyler. I leaned forward, squinting as I tried to make her out. She looked familiar, but I was so groggy it was hard to tell.
“Jake we should probably call Tyler, tell him we went out. We’ll never make it home before him,” I breathed, although we had no reason to be quiet.
“Oh shit,” he cursed, leaning forward to reach for his phone on the front seat, but he couldn’t quite reach it. He moved so he had one hand on the floor of the car, the upper half of his body completely off the seat.
“Jake they’re coming!” I hissed, grabbing him by the front of the shirt through his open jacket. I was trying to tug him back on the seat when the car opposite of us turned on, headlights lighting up the whole inside of the car, burning my eyes.
“Crap! Ivy we need to hide!” he said hastily. There was no way we could hide, they were just about to walk in front of the car. Panic filled me and I did the first thing that came to mind. I pulled him to me just as I leaned down to him, pressing my lips to his. We both jumped, as if frightened as well as shocked, before all that disappeared.
He put his free hand on my cheek, using his other hand to get back on the seat properly. I turned around to face him, keeping my lips locked with his.
It was cramped and uncomfortable with both of us folded up in the backseat, especially with Jake’s long legs, but I found it easy to ignore all that when he was kissing me like this. Like I was the girl he loved.
It made me feel warm from the inside out, butterflies erupting in my stomach. I smiled against his lips, folding my legs on either side of him on the seat, both of us still under the blanket. I felt him smile back hugely before I kissed him again, my hands sliding under his shirt to his warm chest, resting over his heart where I could feel its quick beat. He played with the hem of my shirt for a moment before slowly sliding his hands under, leaving his warm hands against my skin, fingers splayed across my back.
He pulled away and I inhaled sharply, not wanting it to end, but he only started to kiss my neck, rubbing my back with his warm, rough hands. I pulled back, feeling greedy and hot as he put his warm mouth back on mine, making my already unsteady heart stutter more. It was hot and heavy, his hands running up and down my body, lips moving fast and passionately against each other, heating me up to such a degree that I wanted just to toss that blanket off, not to mention a few other things as well.
Suddenly we were plunged in darkness, the bright lights going away. I jerked away, sitting up so fast I smashed my head on the top of the car.
“Ow!” I cried, bending over as I clutched my head. Jake stared at me, both of us panting, looking dazed for a moment before he burst out laughing. And I couldn’t help but laugh too. I felt giddy. I was too awake, had too much energy and Jake’s kiss made me feel lightheaded. I guess smashing my head brought me back to Earth. My laughter slowly quieted, as did his. He reached up, still lying under me with his knees bent, which I was leaning my back against, and took my face in his hands.
“Did that hurt?” he asked, clearly struggling to keep his laughter in.
“Of course it did,” I rubbed the top of my head, wincing slightly now.
He sat up slowly, leaning forward to kiss the top of my head. Warmth flooded again, the butterflies going crazy. “Better?”
“A little,” I said breathlessly, and I felt myself blush. Oh this was crazy. Since when did I get this emotional when a guy kissed me? I mean, even with Chad I didn’t feel anything. With a gasp my eyes went round, the realization of what I just did hitting home. “Chad!”
His face creased. “Who?”
I struggled to get off his lap, ending up on the floor between the front and back seat before I fumbled with the door handle. “My boyfriend!” I said, hands still shaking while my mind reeled, from his amazing kiss and my own betrayal. Oh God, how could I do that? “We need to get home.”
“Okay, okay! Calm down!” he unlocked the doors and the door finally whipped open. I stumbled out of the car the opposite way I came in, before I went around to the passenger door. He opened the door for me and I hopped in, avoiding his gaze while I clutched that blanket for dear life.
He got in next to me, turning the key in the ignition. The car engine sputtered and died out.
“Come on,” he muttered, trying again. It took three tries to get the car going, and when it did he took out his cell phone, dialing Tyler. “Hey bro…I just wanted to let you know Ivy and I went out…where? We went to see a movie,” he lied, leaning his elbow against the door of the car, his forehead against his hand. “I just wanted to let you know so in case you get home before us…nothing happened Tyler…I swear. I’m just really tired, okay? See you at home.” He slid the phone shut, looking at it for a moment in his hand. I saw the low battery sign. Great. This damn car better make it home.
I hadn’t noticed, but while Jake and I had been in the backseat it had started to snow. Fat flakes were falling quickly, and he turned on the windshield wipers so he could see before he pulled out of the parking lot, headlights swinging to light up our snowy path.
I suddenly felt chilled, my previous heat from Jake was gone and now I felt ice in my gut. I cheated on Chad with Jake. I put my head in my hands, staying that way until suddenly the car let out the loudest, strangest noise that made me scream before we slowly cruised to a halt. Jake had enough sense to guide the car off the side of the snowy road, out of the way of other cars before it stopped completely.
“Not tonight, not tonight, not tonight,” he hissed, turning the ignition, giving it gas, but to no avail. It just wasn’t starting. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the falling snow had turned into a full out blizzard.
I looked through the windshield at the empty road and the snow storm that had somehow started because life just hated me. I guess that was what I deserve after what I just did. It wasn’t just about cheating; I was leading Jake on. Like I’d been doing all this time with all our hugs and times we’ve slept together or come so close to kissing…
I crawled between the two front seats to the back one, stretching out as much as I could while I tucked the blanket around me, refusing to sit up front with him all night. The wind howled, rocking the car a fair bit. I really didn’t like this. It felt like a horror movie. The movie Chad made me watch jumped into mind and I cringed, making sure to keep myself completely covered in a blanket as well as keep my whole body on the seat.
“I’m sorry, Ivy,” Jake said quietly, holding the steering wheel in his hands, his forehead against the middle of it.
“Don’t,” I whispered.
He didn’t reply, instead he reached for his phone, dialing away. “Tyler?” he asked, “Tyler I can’t hear you…there’s a storm…there’s a storm!” he repeated loudly, “Tyler! My car stopped,” he said slowly, “My car,” he repeated, “I’m stuck with Ivy. With Ivy.”
There was silence, besides the occasional ‘what?’ from Jake before he finally hung up.
“Tyler’s stuck too. He pulled over because it’s too bad to drive. He said once it blows over he’ll come get us,” he tossed his phone back in the glove compartment. “And judging by all this snow, we’re in for a long night.”
I didn’t answer and made no move to even acknowledge him. I simply lay there, shivering slightly, staring at the back of the passenger seat in the darkness. It was too cold to sleep, and I refused to lie with Jake just to get warm. Clearly, I couldn’t be trusted where Jake was concerned.
“Are you cold?” Jake asked after a moment.
“Yes,” I said honestly, my voice empty.
He tried the car again, but once again it sputtered out and died.
It was going to be a long night.
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No time for a message since I should have been in bed sleeping like two hours ago eeesh
Much love and good vibes,
xxLaura