Oh my god, chapter twenty! I never thought I'd get this far, thank you so much for your support!
"Jade, get up sweetheart, you'll be late for school."
I coughed inside my fist. "I don't feel so good."
Jordan sighed as he perched himself on my bed. He reached out to palm my forehead and I hoped I didn't just bury myself under my covers for thirty minutes straight for nothing. Let's hope my body temperature doesn't fail on me now.
"You're not sick, Jade."
"Yes, I am!" I started to object. I grabbed his hand again and put it on my flushed cheeks. "See? I may be coming down with a fever."
He rolled his eyes. "Who do you think raised you - trust me, I know you better than you know yourself. I also raised Noah and Ash so I know all the little tricks, you can't fool me. Now get outta bed."
"But Jordannn, I'm really sick," I whined, throwing in a couple of coughs for emphasis.
"Jade, I can't miss another day of work again."
"Hey, I don't need a babysitter. I'm thirteen, not three," I reminded him, feeling slightly offended that he thought I still wasn't capable of staying home by myself.
He playfully flicked my nose. "You're thirteen in a few weeks, don't get ahead of yourself." He started to drag me out of bed and I didn't quite protest but I didn't cooperate either. "Jade," he looked down at me, half-hanging off my bed, my hair brushing the carpet.
"Jordan, please don't make me go today. Please."
He sighed and picked me up, only to put me down on my feet. "You're not skipping school," he told me firmly. I wanted to throw myself on my bed again but he was holding onto my hands, keeping me upright. "You can't do this every time you got PE from Penny."
"It's worth the try." I looked down at my toes, wriggling them against a dirty t-shirt I had thrown on the floor.
"Baby, she's not Tristan's girlfriend anymore, she has no business with you. You're just a student to her like everybody else and she has no right to treat you any differently. If she does, you come to me and I'll have a talk with her." Jordan lifted his hand to push some curls out of my face. He tilted his head to the side to catch my eye. "Deal?"
I sucked in my cheeks and nodded reluctantly. "Deal."
"Good." He grabbed my face and kissed my forehead twice. "Now hurry up and get dressed."
I grabbed my clothes for the day and dragged my feet towards the bathroom. Passing the boys' room, I suddenly came to a stop. I was walking on my tiptoes as I quietly pushed the door open, enough to put my head through it. Noah's bed was unmade and empty, he was probably up already. Ashton's bed was occupied though.
He was still asleep, his back facing me. He was shirtless and I couldn't quite see clearly because the curtains were drawn. But if I squinted my eyes, I could spot dark marks littered all over his skin. The guilt was eating at me at the sight of all those bruises. I wanted to reach out to him and show him how sorry I really was and how much it hurt me to see him like this.
Ashton groaned in his sleep and my eyes widened in panic when he turned on his back. Not wanting to see more of the damage inflicted on his body, and not wanting to be caught intruding; I quickly stepped back and closed the door.
I stayed close to the room, making sure I didn't wake him up. But then I heard him snoring softly and I knew I was safe. I didn't know why I was so afraid of facing him - maybe it was because Ashton never dealt well with people who did him wrong, and now I belonged to that category. I managed to get on Ashton Woods' bad side and I had no idea what that meant.
Someone smacked my butt and I jumped, dropping my clothes in the process.
Tristan grinned. "Good morning, baby doll."
"G'morning," I mumbled as I picked up my clothes from the floor.
"What's with the long face?"
"Nothing," I answered as I headed to the bathroom.
Tristan followed me and leaned against the doorframe. He was doing that thing again where he was trying to figure out what was going through my head.
I caught his eye. "What?"
He threw a look behind him at the hallway and wet his lips in understanding. "He'll be fine. He called in sick today but tomorrow he'll be back on his feet."
I didn't want to talk about Ashton because I wasn't sure if I could keep the tears at bay. Instead, I grabbed my hairbrush and started combing through the tangled mess on top of my head.
Tristan didn't leave and I was about to ask him why he was still standing there but he cut me off.
"She's not going to do anything, Jade. She wouldn't dare."
It didn't take rocket science to know who he was talking about. I wasn't in the mood to talk about Penny either, so I just focused on my hair, trying to do something with it.
"I warned her not to bother you again. She'd be stupid if she took that risk, but I'm sure she hasn't lost all her brain cells yet," he tried to joke but I couldn't find the humor in it. Tristan sighed and closed the distance between us. He pulled my hands away from my hair and smoothed it down. "Leave it down, it looks cuter on you."
I looked up at him, unsure of what to say.
His eyes softened as he smiled down at me. "Come get your breakfast. I'm not sure how long I can keep Noah away from eating all the bacon. This morning I asked him how he wanted his eggs and he told me in a cake."
This time he did manage to get a small giggle out of me. "Yeah, that sounds like Noah."
FADED
At school, I caught Lauren standing by her locker talking to Anna and Sophie. I picked up my pace and shouldered my way through the mass of students.
Anna noticed me first and smiled. "Hey, Jade! You're still coming to my sleepover next week, right?"
"Yeah, wouldn't wanna miss it," I smiled.
Sophie nudged me with her elbow. "Preston's looking for you."
"What does he want now?" I groaned.
"Something about a date or something."
I rolled my eyes. "It's a group project, not a date."
The bell rang loudly and I winced.
"See ya girls at lunch," Anna waved us goodbye, dragging Sophie away with her.
Lauren and I started walking towards our first class of the day, our shoulders lightly bumping into each other.
"So, have you gotten the time to think about it yet?" I asked with trepidation.
Lauren shook her blonde hair out of her eyes. "Do I have a choice?"
I pretended to think for a few seconds. "... not really."
"Yeah, I thought so," she chuckled softly. "Listen I'll come with you but you have to promise me not to do anything stupid. As soon as things go south, we get the hell out of there."
I stuck out my pinky finger. "Promise."
Lauren half-smiled as she hooked her own finger around mine.
As we walked into the class, we both went straight for our usual spots, right next to the window. Only mine was taken by someone with a pretty face and smug smile.
I dropped my bag on the desk, not caring that he already claimed it with his own stuff. "Move."
Preston smirked. "Say please."
"Screw you," I grumbled. I grabbed the back of his chair and dragged it away. Lauren pushed another empty chair and I quickly sat down.
Preston was laughing as he simply took the seat in front of me. He straddled his chair and rested his elbows on my desk. Ignoring him, I put my books down, flicking through the pages until I reached the chapter we were working on.
"We should get started on that assignment," he said casually. "How about today, after school, my place."
I fetched my pencil out of his hand and smiled. "How about no."
"Alright then, how about your place then?"
"How about no again. We have a whole month to work on it, no rush."
He folded his arms on my desk, almost knocking over my stuff as he got all up in my face. I visibly leaned away from him but he didn't seem to catch the hint. I thought he was going to speak but all he did was look at me. His hazel eyes roamed over my face and I swallowed hard, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"Huh," was all he said.
I cocked a single eyebrow. "What?"
He pointed at the bridge of my nose. "You got freckles. I didn't know that."
Okay ...?
His lips curled into a smirk. "It's cute."
"Stop flirting, Preston. It's not gonna work with me."
I wasn't impressed at all. I admit, Preston was good looking but once you get to know him, his personality soon takes over, making him bad looking instead. He thought he could sway me with his charms, but I wasn't desperate and foolish. Like Angela. Speaking of -
"For god sakes you have a girlfriend, act like it."
He snorted, humored for some reason. "It's not because she calls me her boyfriend that she automatically becomes my girlfriend. That's not how it works."
I shot him a weird look, was he for real? "Are you stupid or something? That's exactly how it works."
"So we may differ in opinions but we still got a lot in common Jade Jacobs."
"Like what?" I asked with mild curiosity.
"Well, we've both got some pretty good genes."
"You can do much better than that," I said with the shake of my head.
"Okay, okay, I admit that one was lame - true, but lame." He ran his hand through his hair, messing it up which looked kinda good on him, not that I would ever say that out loud, ever. "How about, we both play guitar."
I was slightly taken aback. "How did you know I play guitar?"
"I got my sources," he winked. "Or how about the fact that we both hate swimming."
Now I was intrigued. "You hate swimming?"
"An accident happened when I was six, it traumatized me for life," he admitted sheepishly. "Hey, we both burned our hand."
As if on cue, my eyes instantly panned over to his hands. He was right, he had a small burn between his thumb and pointer finger. It looked fresh but I frowned a little when I noticed the exact same burn on his other hand, it was already fading but I still noticed it. I thought it was kinda strange that he had the same mark on both hands, what are the odds?
"What happened?"
"Oh, I don't remember," he shrugged off. "How did you get yours?"
I didn't miss how quick he was to change the subject but decided not to dwell on it too much. "Campfire," I said instead.
"Cool," he nodded. "Hey I know another one - we both hate Angela."
I couldn't help but laugh at this one. "You got that one right."
I felt Lauren kick my chair from behind and I turned around to face her. She discretely pointed across the room and I followed her gaze. My eyes locked with Angela's and something in the air shifted.
Preston's eyes were blank when he noticed her presence too. He shot me one last look and I expected him to shoot me one of his trademark winks or smirk again but for once his lips only twitched in an apologizing smile.
Before I could say anything, Angela dropped herself on the seat right next to his. She reached for his hand and Preston tried to pull away at first but she wasn't having it. She forcefully grabbed his hand, her knuckles white as she didn't plan on letting go.
And for the first time ever in my life, I actually felt bad for Preston.
Miss Espinoza walked in and I knew that the little moment between Preston and I was over. There was something odd about me having a normal conversation with him where he didn't attempt to use his cheesy pick-up lines on me again. Even though we only talked for like three minutes, I had a feeling that the Preston I knew, wasn't the real Preston.
FADED
I was already panting and sweat trickled down my spine when I started on the second lap. Lauren was in front of me, keeping a steady pace - Kylie and Olivia were next to me and Anna stayed with Sophie in the back. I pulled my hair back in a ponytail, pumping my legs when I caught sight of Penny talking to Coach Thomas and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Bitch. She hadn't said anything to me yet, didn't even acknowledge me and it was exactly the way I wanted it. Let's just hope it stays like that.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" Kylie suddenly exclaimed. I turned to see what was going on and saw Angela had pushed her away.
She inched closer to me until her arm brushed mine.
"So, what was that all about?"
I purposefully looked away from her piercing eyes. "What was what about?"
"You know what I'm talking about," Angela sneered. "I come in the classroom and see you getting all talkative with my boyfriend."
"Angela, seriously? How many times are we gonna have this talk - I am not interested in your boyfriend. And in case you didn't know, your boyfriend flirts with anything that has a vagina."
Her nostrils flared in a mix of anger and probably an unhealthy dose of denial.
I started running faster, trying to shake her off but she merely caught up with me.
"Don't flatter yourself, he's just trying to make me jealous."
"And by the looks of it, it's working," I snorted.
I suddenly winced when pain shot through my side. I slowed down a bit and held my ribs. "What the fuck, Angela!"
"Don't be such a baby, I just bumped into you."
"You elbowed me!" I shot back. "You think that's a smart move after what happened last time?"
She arrogantly kissed her teeth. "That was nothing."
"Psycho," Olivia muttered under her breath from beside me.
Angela's head snapped and when she started to advance on Olivia I quickly jumped in front of her.
"Knock it off, Angela."
"Get outta my face, Jade," she retorted, shoving me hard.
I felt Olivia's hands on my back when I nearly stumbled. "I told you not to touch me again."
"Or what? Huh? Whatcha gonna do?" she taunted me, shoving me back again.
I clenched my teeth, mustering up everything I had in me not to counteract. But when she dared to shove me again, I couldn't force myself to do nothing so I pushed her back.
Angela's eyes narrowed and it was clear she didn't think I'd actually take the bait. With her fists now balled up I momentarily regretted ever challenging her. She lunged at me, forcing me down onto the grass, her legs straddling me. I shielded my face with my arms when she threw punch after punch.
I heard the shrill sound of a whistle followed by Penny's voice. "What the hell is going on here!"
Some girls managed to pick Angela off of me while I felt Lauren and Sophie's hands pulling me up. I tasted some blood in my mouth and spat it out.
Angela shot me a maniacal, winning smile.
I bit my tongue, deciding to be the bigger person here.
"Jade, Principal's office, now."
I looked at Penny in utter confusion. "She's the one that attacked me! You should be sending her to the Principal."
"I don't wanna hear another word from you," she warned me.
I scoffed. "Are you kidding me? Everyone here saw that she's the one who jumped me. I didn't even hit her back."
Penny put her hand up, shutting me up. "Get out. All you ever do is disturb my class so get out."
Kylie was fumbling with the hem of her shorts. "Uhm Coach, Jade's right, Angela started it."
"Yeah, I saw it too," Lauren butted in.
"Me too," Olivia added.
Penny eyed them with disinterest. "Did I ask for your opinion?"
Their eyes grew like saucers at the dismissive tone.
Angela's smile grew bigger, it was creepy.
"To the office," Penny told me with that voice that told me her word was final.
I licked the blood from my lips and stared her down. "This is bullshit."
She raised her eyebrows. "You wanna say that again, miss Jacobs?"
"Actually, yes." I hear multiple gasps as I stepped up to her, craning my neck to meet her glare with one of my own. "I said, this is bullshit. Was that clear enough or do you want me to repeat that again? Bull. Shit."
She laughed dryly. "Oh keep digging that grave while you're at it, you're gonna be in so much trouble now."
I walked away, flipping her off over the back of my shoulder.
FADED
It wasn't until I sat outside Mr. Frederick's office and heard Jordan's muffled voice behind the closed door, that I started to regret ever opening my mouth in the first place. I bounced my legs up and down, nervous and agitated at the same time. Penny was right about one thing, I was in a lot of trouble. What if I got suspended like Angela? What if Jordan grounds me until I'm forty.
I buried my face in my hands, hating my life with such a passion. I wanted to stick up for myself, I wanted to stop people from walking all over me - yet it always backfired somehow. I suck at standing up for myself.
The handle of the door creaked as it opened and I instantly jumped up. My knees were pressed against each other, my clammy hands under my thighs. I watched as Jordan and the principal exchanged a few words but I was too far away to hear what they were saying. I was also never good at lip-reading.
Seeing my brother in his uniform made me feel guilty that I called him from work. The veins on his forearm and hand stuck out as he firmly shook Mr. Frederick's hand. I gulped when I heard his heavy footsteps coming my way. He stopped right in front of me and I was too chicken to meet his eyes so I settled with looking at my skinned knees.
He crouched down in front of me and I once again tried to avoid his gaze but as I felt his fingers cup my chin, I knew I had no choice. We looked at each other for a full minute and my stomach clenched with the pent-up nerves.
His thumb grazed my split lip and his eyes softened. "You okay?"
A little startled by his question, I just nodded.
He nodded curtly and stood up to his full height. His hand was outstretched and I reluctantly grabbed it. He pulled me out of the chair and walked me to the car outside.
I waited until I was buckled up and he pulled out of the parking lot before I spoke. "What did Mr. Fredericks say?"
"Just some stuff."
I bit my lip but winced, forgetting about the cut. "You were in there for a long time."
"Well we had a lot of things to discuss."
I hated how he was beating about the bush, giving me vague answers.
I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable. "Am I in trouble?"
The little radio transceiver hooked on his shoulder cut him off as the dispatcher's voice came through. She was talking about some stolen car and a DUI and some other stuff I didn't understand. Anyway, my brother replied with a quick response before focusing back on the road.
I wondered if he had forgotten about my question but I didn't want to ask again.
Jordan glanced at me, his face once again not giving away anything. He patted my knee and sighed, "You're not in trouble, sweetheart."
I frowned. "I'm not? But I got into a fight with Angela. And I said bullshit. And I flipped off Penny."
"You're not leaving anything out, are you," he chuckled. "Mr. Fredericks and I talked, and we decided to let this one slide. You've never caused any trouble at school, you're keeping your grades up, so you're off the hook."
I know I was supposed to feel relieved but it just didn't seem right. "I said bullshit, like three times."
"Oh I know, and you can say goodbye to your tv privileges for a whole week."
"Okay," I almost smiled. That sounded a lot better - I did something wrong and now I was paying for it.
Jordan shook his head at me, amused. "You're a weird kid. A good kid, but weird."
"You raised me," I reminded him, copying his own words from this morning. "You made me this weird."
"Touché."
FADED
Since I couldn't watch tv, I played Candy Crush on Tristan's phone instead. Speaking of Tristan, he was laid out on the couch, his head on my lap as he snored away. He didn't even bother changing out of his work clothes and I didn't have the heart to wake him up before he dirtied the couch with oil stains.
He wasn't happy when he saw the split lip and the fact that it happened in Penny's class didn't make it any better. Luckily, Jordan talked to him and Tristan seemed to have dropped it ... for now.
I absentmindedly ran my hand through his dirty blonde hair while I played Candy Crush with the other. A text message suddenly popped up on his screen and I was about to swipe it away when I noticed it came from Lily. I didn't want to read it but curiosity got the best of me.
Tonight, my place? x
You didn't have to be a genius to figure out what that was supposed to mean. His phone buzzed again.
Don't forget the condoms this time.
Ewwwwww! I dropped his phone, grossed out. I had my suspicions and I knew something must've been going on between the two - but there was a big difference between assuming and facing it. God, just the thought of Tristan and Lily ... Nasty. But it was still far better than Penny, I just had to get used to it I guess.
Someone knocked on the door, startling me out of my thoughts. Noah went out to god knows where and Jordan went back to work so I knew someone had to answer the door, and that someone was me. I put Tristan's phone aside and was about to move his head from my lap when I suddenly heard footsteps go down the stairs.
I turned around and looked surprised when I saw Ashton. I thought he had left too.
"Hey," I said when he passed through the living room to the front door. I felt a pang when he didn't greet me back, he didn't even look at me.
I slumped back against the couch, feeling somber all over. It had been almost a week since he last talked to me. When Ashton pissed me off, I used to ignore him too. But it never lasted longer than two days and he always managed to not make me mad at him anymore. And now the tables have turned and I didn't know how to make him not mad at me anymore.
"Booh," someone whispered in my ear.
I startled and turned around, my eyes widened in stupefaction.
"Preston? W-what are you doing here?"
He shot me his trademark smirk as he lounged on the loveseat. "I thought we were gonna work on our assignment."
"I told you not today," I clenched my jaw, I swear this guy ...
"We don't have any homework, might as well use our free time for other educational causes."
"Says the guy who can barely keep his grades up," I deadpanned.
I heard someone climb up the stairs and knew it was Ashton. I felt a bit disappointed that he didn't stay, he usually didn't like any guy near me. Or maybe it was because Tristan was here and he thought Preston wouldn't dare to do anything with my brother around. But Tristan was practically comatose when he slept, I could scream bloody murder and he still wouldn't wake up.
Preston cleared his throat. "What happened to him? He looks like he got into a fight with a lawn mower."
"You want something to drink?" I offered, not wanting to talk about Ash.
"Sure."
Glad he didn't press the matter, I carefully slid out from under Tristan's head. He always slept like the dead. I slipped a pillow under him and walked to the kitchen.
Preston took a seat at the kitchen table, looking around the house indifferently. "The guy on the couch, is he the cop?"
"No, Jordan's still at work. The sleepyhead is Tristan."
"Oh right, Coach P's boyfriend."
"Not anymore," I corrected as I handed him a coke. "You want a sandwich?"
"No I'm good. I already ate before I got here."
I wasn't hungry either so I just sat on the opposite side of the table, eying him curiously. "Why are you dating Angela?"
"She did a number on you, huh," he snorted, indicating my busted lip. "I'm sorry about that."
"What are you sorry for, you didn't do anything."
"Maybe not but it was because of me." He stared off at his can, catching a drop on his finger. "I don't know."
"Don't know what?"
He looked at me with something akin to sincerity. "I don't know why I'm dating her either."
"She treats you like shit."
He laughed quietly. "Yeah, well I treat her like shit too."
"You're both shit," I said.
He didn't seem offended at all and just nodded in agreement.
"Why are you here?" I knew he didn't come to work on the assignment, he never was an exemplary student, he could care less about school.
He shrugged. "I was bored."
I propped up my elbows on the table and tucked my chin in the palm of my hands. "Where did you get that burn on your hand?"
"W-what?" he sputtered.
"It's not a hard question, how did you get burned?"
"I told you I didn't remember."
"How can you not remember getting burned? What about the other one, on your other hand."
He looked down at his hands and I could tell he didn't expect me to notice. He folded his hands together and faced me with sharp eyes. "How is this any of your business?"
"You're being suspicious about it."
He made a sound at the back of his throat, a sound of indignation. "I'm not."
"I got high and I thought I saw Lady Ladybug in the campfire. I accidently killed her when I was five. I felt guilty and wanted to save her so I stuck my hand into the fire and got burned."
Preston's mouth opened and closed. He studied me closely as if waiting for me to crack and burst out laughing. "What kinda made up story is that?"
"It's better than claiming you 'forgot' how you got burned in the first place." I ran my tongue along my front teeth. "You like dogs?"
"What?" I swear he was looking at me like I had lost my mind or something. "I guess so, yeah."
"My neighbor Marion has a dog, Elvis. Wanna go play catch with him?"
He still looked at me weirdly. "Sure ..."
I shot up out of my chair and scribbled down a quick note before putting it on Tristan's forehead. "Okay, let's go."
I hadn't lost my mind. I just wanted to get to know Preston, the real Preston. That look in his eyes when he said he didn't know how he got burned, the glint of defensiveness flashing through them - I knew that look, I recognized myself in it.
FADED
The rest of the week flew by and I was already counting the days I'd visit my dad for the first time. I was beyond nervous but also terrified - what if he didn't want me, I didn't think I could handle being rejected by my own father. I still had a week to mentally prepare myself and I was currently writing down some questions I could potentially ask.
My bedroom door suddenly opened and I quickly hid the notebook behind my back.
Noah grinned as he plopped down on my desk chair, spinning around before facing me. "How is your Saturday going so far?"
"Umm ... good."
"Now ask me."
I was puzzled. "How is your Saturday - "
"Fucking great!" he cut me off. "Guess who got a job at the bowling center."
"You're happy 'cause you have to work?"
"Work for money," he pointed out, tapping my nose. "Which means that in a few months, I'll finally be able to buy my own car."
"You passed your driving test?" Now I understood why he was in such a happy mood. "Congratz."
"Now go bake me a cake."
"What?"
He pulled me out of bed. "We need to celebrate. Go make me a chocolate cake."
I shoved him off me. "Make your own damn cake, I'm busy."
"Busy doing what?" he caught my notebook on my bed and I could practically hear the gears turn in his head, but I was too slow. Noah grabbed the notebook and held it out of my reach. Why were all my brothers freakishly tall and why did the tall gene skip me?
Noah read the questions I had listed and frowned. "Are these for Dad? You don't even know where he is."
I shifted on my feet, not saying anything.
"Jade?" he tried to catch my eye. "Oh my god, you found him, didn't you."
"Something like that."
"How did you find him?"
"On the internet." I wasn't about to tell him that mom gave me his address.
"You're planning to meet him?"
"Maybe."
He sighed, raking his hands through his hair. "I'm coming with you."
I jumped up. "No, you're not."
"Yes, I am. Jade this is dangerous, you can't just meet up with a guy you never met. What if he's a rapist or something."
"Lauren's already coming with me, we'll be fine."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, 'cause sending two twelve year old girls to meet a grown man is safe."
"For your information, Lauren's already thirteen. And I'll be thirteen in two weeks."
"So not the point. I'm coming with you two, or I'll tell the guys about this."
My mouth dropped. "That's blackmail!"
"Yes or no?"
"Whatever," I grumbled, snatching the notebook out of his hands.
Noah grabbed me around the neck, ruffling my hair. "So how about that cake?"
"Why don't you take that cake and shove it up your - hey! Noah, put me down!"
Noah had slung me over his shoulder as he carried me to the kitchen. "Oh and I also want chocolate frosting."
FADED
Since I still wasn't allowed to watch tv, I grabbed the basketball from the garage and went to play some ball on our driveway.
"Jade!"
Tristan came out and I thought he was going to tell me to come back inside, it was getting dark out. But he held up my hooded sweater and beckoned me over. I dropped the ball and made my way over to him.
"It's not even cold."
"Don't want you to get sick again," he said as he helped me into my sweater. He flipped the hoodie over my head, obscuring my eyes.
When I pushed it out of my face, he had a silly smile plastered on his face as he squished my cheeks together.
"What?" I muttered through my mashed up lips.
He kissed the tip of my nose. "Stop being so fucking adorable."
I wrinkled my nose. "I'm not even doing anything."
"Exactly." He released my face after another kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow."
I watched him jiggle his car keys in his hand. "Let me guess, you're meeting up with Lily?"
"Shh, don't tell anyone," he winked.
"Everyone knows already," I laughed.
He laughed too as he got in his car, revving it up. "I love you!"
"Love you too," I waved as he pulled out of the driveway.
I picked up the basketball when I heard the door open again. Ashton stepped out, his eyes briefly meeting mine before he shook a cigarette out of its pack.
"Wanna play?" I asked.
He stuck the cigarette between his lips and lit it. "No."
I was a little downhearted that he declined, but at least he was talking to me. Even if it was only a single word.
I dribbled the ball for a bit but I wasn't in the mood to play anymore. I also didn't want to get back inside, especially now that he allowed me to be in his presence for once.
I watched as he kept himself busy with something on his phone. The bruises on his face were finally fading but they were still there. He wasn't walking around with a limp anymore but he still occasionally winced when he strained himself.
"You feeling better?" I questioned out of concern.
He didn't respond.
"Ash."
When he still didn't look up, I once again dropped the ball. "You can't keep ignoring me. I told you I was sorry." Queue more silence. "What do you want me to do? At least say something, anything. Please."
A car pulled up in front of our house and it honked once. That seemed to get his attention and he got up.
I realized this was his ride and I hurried to catch up with him. "Where are you going?"
He moved past me without a word.
"Ash! You don't have to do this. Please stop doing this." I knew that as soon as he'd walk through our front door again, he'd look battered again. "Stop doing this to yourself, I said I was gonna fix it. I promised!" Still nothing. "Ashton, you stupid jerk!"
He stopped dead in his tracks and I thought I finally got through to him. He looked at me for what felt like the first time since forever. But I couldn't tell what was going through his head. He took a long drag from his cigarette and shook his head.
"Get back inside, Jade," was all he said.
A/N: so I had this chapter done for quite some time now ... until my cat deleted the entire chapter and I had to start over again. I kid you not. So this was more of a filler, I promise more action and drama in next chapter.
Psst.
Hey you.
Yes you.
Don't forget to vote. Pretty please.