This chapter has been edited! :)
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Chapter 18: I Lost My Bestfriend?
Jake stood there staring at me. His eyebrows were pulled together with a crease forming inbetween them. I could feel a thick lump beginning to swell in my throat, making my breathing and swallowing painfully hard. My palms were slick with sweat, and I tried wiping them against my jeans. I wanted to say something, anything, but nothing came out, even when I opened my mouth. I was caught and I knew it.
"Jake." My voice came out dry and hoarse.
It took him a moment to respond to me."What just happened?"
"What do you mean?" I tried to shrug indifferently, playing it off.
He let out a sigh in frustration. "Don't play dumb with me, Maddie. You know what I'm talking about."
"No, I don't." I lied with small, quiet voice, directing my eyes to the floor.
"You just kissed that f*cking asshole! Why the hell are you trying to lie to me!? I was right there, Maddie!" Jake yelled, his face turning a light shade of red. I felt my body cringe back at the sound to his loud voice. Jake hardly ever yelled at me, and it had a very negative effect on me.
"Jake, I-I don't know..." I trailed off, biting my lip. My eyes were still glued to the pavement beneath me, tracing the lines with my feet.
"I came all the way over here to just make sure you didn't kill anyone on your date, instead I see you sucking faces with....with him." Jake clenched his teeth together, making a muscle bulge from his jaw. He was having a hard time controlling his anger at the moment. "Were you just playing me this whole time? Did you actually even hate him? Did you do all of this to make me look like a complete idiot? Huh?"
I felt my eyes prickle at the corners, salty water forming from the ongoing accusations Jake was throwing at me. Did he actually believe I would do that to him? Did he think I was such a terrible person? Maybe I am.
The last time I spoke to Jake, I had told him that I hated Tristan. I told him I hated his guts, and I did...at that time, but now it's different. It's changed, and I honestly didn't know how. Maybe it was when Tristan saved me from Derek and his crew a few weeks ago. Maybe it was the way his smirk started to affect me in a new way. Maybe it was the date. The date that changed my views on him forever.
It was just something that just happened. Something that happened without my consent. In the end, maybe it was just inevitable for me not to develop feelings for Tristan.
Feeling like I didn't know how to explain these feelings that I didn't quite comprehend myself, I said the only thing I could think of. "I'm sorry, Jake."
"You're sorry? You're sorry. Well that just fixes everything doesn't it Maddie. Do you know how worried I was about you? Instead, I end up seeing you kissing that damn jerk!" Jake fumed, his hands balling up into tight fists. The knuckles on his hands turned into a sickly white shade.
"Why are you being so mean? Why aren't you even letting me talk?" I whispered, feeling the first drop of a warm, salty tear trail down my cheek.
"Because Maddie, I didn't think you could be so stupid."
My heart clenched at the sound of his harsh words. "Jak-, "He cut me off before I could say anything else.
"You know what? I don't think you need me anymore. Since you clearly can't see what he's doing to you. He's using you Maddie, right in front of your face. He obviously doesn't care about you. I'm leaving." Jake pushed past me, without even meeting my eyes.
I could feel the tears being pruduced faster as I watched him walk past me. It seemed like an endless stream of tears began dripping down my chin and onto the grey sidewalk.
"Jake, please don't do this." I choked on the words as they came out.
He took a couple more steps before slowly coming to a stop. He turned around and glared at me, "You're so blind Maddie. Why won't you understand? Do I need to write it on my forehead for you?"
"What is it?" I inquired, confused.
Sighing, he shook his head side to side. "Never mind, bye."
"Jake, tell me!"
He ignored my feeble words and continued to walk down the sidewalk.
"Jake! Jake!" I called after him. I couldn't lose him, not over something he doesn't want to tell me.
He was already about a hundred feet away from me before I started to chase him down the street. I was about four feet away from him and was about to punch his back in frustration, but since my vision was still blurry from the tears, I tripped on one of the cracks in the cement.
Jake turned around just as I began to fall over and do a face plant. I shut my eyes quickly, waiting for the loud crash and the sound of skin scraping painfully against the hard ground. After five seconds, I realized that I wasn't going to hit the floor anytime soon, and I opened my eyes to see Jake staring at me. He had his arms around my waist and holding me in place. My cheeks heated up slightly and I tried to smile sheepishly.
"Still a klutz," he pointed out before releasing me from his grasp.
"Err...thanks," I mumbled, regaining my balance.
Seeing that I didn't need anymore help, Jake turned on his heel and continued to walk away. "Jake, I swear, don't make me kick your a**! Please, come back here."
He turned around and looked at me. "What?"
"Tell me. Tell me what it is." I pleaded.
His brows pulled together again, and he ran his hand through his blonde hair. He sighed once and then said, "Maddie, I can't."
"Why not? How bad can it be?"
A hint of annoyance popped into his voice. "I just can't okay. I have to get out of here right now. I can feel him getting stronger."
He he said him, I knew he meant Andrew. One side of me wanted to just keep pestering him with questions, but I knew I couldn't. I couldn't rick the saftey of both of us over this. Andrew's personality had been coming out more frequently, and I didn't know why.
I nodded my head solemnly. "I understand. Can we talk about this tomorrow at school?"
It took a moment for him to respond. It seemed like a cloud had shaded over his eyes. "I- I don't know."
"Please Jake, we need to sort this out. I'm not going to give up on our friendship that easily."
He nodded once. "Fine, I'll...talk to you...later."
"Okay, I'm sorry, Jake, for whatever I did wrong." I said sadly and brushed my hair back behind my ear.
"Bye, Maddie." With that, Jake walked down the street, and this time, I didn't pursue after him.
I sighed sadly as I watched him disappear behind a corner. After waiting for about three minutes, I turned around and headed back home. When I came inside I looked up to see Cristy. She looked at me knowingly. She must have over heard the yelling earlier.
"Everything okay?" She asked and walked up to me.
"Not really." I said honestly. "But, I don't want to talk about it right now. If you need anything I'll be up in my room."
From the corner of my eye, I saw her nod. Then I walked up into my room and shut my door. I jumped onto my bed and screamed my frustration into my soft pillow. I didn't know what was wrong with Jake and I didn't know what to do. I could tell Tristan about it tomorrow and maybe he could help me.
I didn't know how long it took, but I found myself drifting off into sleep.
***
The next day at school
Tristan walked over to my side of the car and opened it for me. I smiled at him and stepped out in the cool air.
"Thanks,"
"No problem, Princess." He said and he held his hand out for me.
I took it reflexively and he led me to the school's entrance. I could feel eyes on me and watching my every move. When I looked around I noticed that there were dozens of people staring at Tristan and I. Nervously, I tightened my grip on Tristan.
"People are staring." I said quietly.
"Yeah, feels kinda uncomfortable." He said and looked around us.
"Do you know why they're staring?" I asked feeling uncomfortable too.
"Well, I'm guessing because they school's toughest bully and the school's bully fighter are going out." He said shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh, that's a good reason." I said understanding the wide-eyed stares.
"Mhmm," he said looking at me and winking.
I laughed and said. "You know, isn't ironic how you blackmailed me into going out on a date with you and then we ended up dating?"
"Nope, not at all." He said and smiled.
"Why not?" I asked slightly confused.
"Well, because I knew we were going to date sooner or later. You just couldn't resist my charm." He said and smiled deviously.
I playfully punched him and said, "you are so cocky."
"Yeah, but that's one of the traits you love about me." He said grinning at me.
I shook my head sideways, but cracked a smile. We walked down the hallway until we reached my locker. Tristan waited patiently as I grabbed my History book and folders, then we headed for his locker. On our way there, I noticed Jake walking down the hall towards his own locker. I turned around to talk to him, but he saw me coming and went the opposite way from me.
My eyes drifted down to the floor and I could feel the pain of being avoided swell in my heart. I turned back around to see Tristan studying my face.
"Everything okay?" He asked putting a hand on my shoulder.
I looked up at him and forced a fake smile on my face. "Yeah, everything's fine."
"You sure?" He asked not believing me.
I nodded once and said, "yeah."
"Okay," He said and shrugged it off.
A wave of relief washed over me, he would let it go...for now. We walked to his locker and this time I waited for him to grab his supplies. From there, we headed to class. When we entered the class, we gained a few more curious stares. I rolled my eyes, getting tired with all the staring. I quickly scanned the room for Jake, he sat in the very back corner.
He wasn't making eye contact with me. He stared intently at his pencil like it was going to come to life or something. I let out a mental sigh and sat in the second row middle seat. Tristan sat right next to me and talked to me before class started.
I paid attention to what Tristan was saying most of the time, but I was still upset that Jake avoided me this morning and right now.
***
Lunch
I was about to sit where I usually ate, but I remembered that Jake would be there and he's probably leave, just like he's been doing all day today. He could at least make it less obvious. I was thinking about Jake so much, I jumped when Tristan called me.
"Princess, you okay?" He asked, probably wondering why I jumped.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I was just caught up in my thoughts." I said in a voice that was hopefully convincing.
"Okay, well what did you want for lunch?" He inquired.
"I'm fine, I brought my lunch." I said pulling out my brown sac lunch.
"Oh okay, I'm going to get my lunch real quick, do you want to come?" He asked, holding his hand out to me.
"No thanks, I'm going to talk to Jake real quick. I'll be back within a few minutes."
He studied me before saying. "Alright, then. I'll be here when you come back."
"I won't be long."
He nodded and I turned around and headed to where Jake was at. When I rounded the corner, I saw Jake lying on the grass, staring up at the sky. He saw me and quickly sat up. He started to walk away again and I just stood there. He walked about 4 ft before a voice said, "Are you too chicken to talk to her?"
I turned around to see Tristan staring at Jake. He walked over to where Jake was with me right behind him. Jake didn't walk away from me this time; instead he walked over to Tristan and glared at him with a hatred I've never seen in him before.
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