Jasper's POV
Three hours into the drive, Hattie's car was in desperate need of gas. Most of the ride, we sat there in silence. Evan had made his was to the front of the car while Hattie sat in the back with her leg stretched out on the backseat.
The sun was beginning to set, and I knew that we wouldn't make it there before dark. Now, I was standing at a gas pump outside of a small gas station while Hattie and Evan went inside to get food for us. As I was pumping the gas, I felt my phone buzz once in my pocket. I pulled it out to see that my mom had texted me.
Where are you?
I looked up into the gas stationed to see Evan and Hattie towards the back looking at drinks. Evan then said something, which caused Hattie to laugh. I felt the corner of my mouth pulling up into a smile. It was good that she was laughing. She's been through so much today, so I knew that she needed to be happy.
I quickly hit the call button and held my phone up to my ear. It only rang once.
"Jasper," my mom said with a sigh of relief.
"Hey mom," I say as I turn my attention back to the pump.
"Where are you?" I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was worried, and she has every right to be.
"About half an away away from Des Moins," I say.
"What? she asked in confusion. "Why are you there?"
"I'm taking Hattie to her grandparents house," I explain to her. "She was in no condition to drive."
"What happened? Is she alright?" she asked suddenly.
"She's fine now," I tell her. "She wasn't earlier, though. Her mom..." I started to say, but then trailed off.
"She showed up on our porch not long after you left," she sighed. "Something is off with her. It was like she a different person. Did Hattie say anything?"
"Not much," I tell her as I finish up filling the car. "Apparently her mom showed up with a new husband that Hattie had no idea about."
"Wait, she had guy trailing behind her when she walked up to the door. He's like twenty, though," she said, clearly in shock.
"Seriously?" I asked in disgust. That thought of a twenty year old man being the stepfather of Hattie was very unsettling.
"It's good that you're up there with her," my mom said with a sigh. "I know you and Hattie have had your differences, but I'm glad you're up there with her."
"Thanks, mom," I say as I watched the receipt come out of the pump. I quickly grabbed it and tucked it into my back pocket.
"Is it just you two going? I saw that other boy get in the car with you two," she asked.
"Evans here too," I tell her as I glance back up to the store. "He and Hattie are getting food while I pumped gas."
She chuckled. "Looks like she has two boys that care about her."
"Mom," I groan as I run my hand through my hair, but what she said was true. I did care about her, but I was sure Evan cared more than me. Even if it's by a little.
"What? Am I not aloud to tease you a little bit?" She questioned with a laugh. "Just keep us updated though."
"Your're not going to tell Hattie's mom where we're going right?" I asked, and the thought of being hunted down by Eleanor did not seem like fun.
"Oh, hell no," she said quickly, causing me to let out a laugh.
Just then, both Hattie and Evan stepped out of the store and began walking over to me and the car. Evans hands were full of shopping bags.
"I gotta go. Love you," I tell her before hanging up the phone. By the time I slid it into my back pocket, Evan was opening the back door for Hattie. "Did you get them?"
Hattie rolled her eyes and pointed to one of the bags Evan was holding. "Yes. Basically every gas station sells Cheetos."
"You don't know that," I say with a chuckle. "Did you call your grandma yet?"
"Not yet," she says as she shakes her head. "I'm going to do that when I get in the car."
I nodded. "I'm going to run in and use the restroom, then."
Hattie nodded as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "I'll be in the car then."
I started walking towards the store without a word. Just as I reached the door, I glanced over my shoulder to see Hattie closing the door behind her. With a sigh, I turn ahead and grabbed the door handle and yanked the door open.
The store only had a few other people in it. There were a couple of kids roaming the candy aisle, a guy was looking at the chip selection, and there was an older woman trying to work a slushie machine while her husband stood behind her snickering when the blue concoction overflowed all over her hands.
I quickly turned my attention away and pushed open the bathroom stall. The restroom was empty, and I quickly rushed into an open stall to relieve myself. When I finished, I stepped out to wash my hands before stepping out into the store.
However, when I stepped out back into the store, I saw Evan standing by the coffee machine with his back turned to me. I narrowed my eyes in confusion and turned to look at the car out the window. I could see Hattie sitting in the back seat with her phone to her ear. I walked up behind Evan and spoke.
"Since when do you drink coffee," I say sarcastically as I grabbed a cup from below and started to filled it up.
Evan turned to me and frowned. "I've always drank coffee. You don't know my life."
I chuckled as I pulled my cup away. "Did she get a hold of them?"
Evan shrugged. "Don't know. I came in here to give her some space."
"Space?" I questioned. "I thought she would be happy to see you?"
"I thought so, too," he said. "I mean, I was when I saw her, but that quickly faded when I saw that bruise on her cheek."
I let out a sigh. When they came out, I noticed that there was still a faint outline of a hand on her face. I wasn't sure who had hit her, but I didn't want to bring it up. At least, not with her. "I think her mom did that. You heard what Hattie said had happened."
"You think Hattie's mom really hit her?" Evan asked as he popped the lid on his coffee.
"Probably," I sighed. "Something's not right with her mom."
"I wouldn't know much about it," Evan started to say. "When I first met her, I was taking food to their house. I guess the two of them were supposed the eat dinner that night together, but she left a minute after I got there. I could tell Hattie was upset about it, but she played it off like it didn't hurt her."
"Shit," I say under my breath as I stirred some sugar into my coffee. "Ever since her parent split, her mom was never the same. Every time I saw her after that she had a drink in her hands."
"Alcohol, huh," Evan said under his breath. "Makes you a shitty parent."
I nodded before looking up back out the window. From what I could tell, Hattie was no longer on the phone, but by the expression on her face I could tell that she was sad. With a sigh, I turn back to Evan.
"Do you really think she means it?" I asked, but Evan turned to looked at me with a confused look. "Do you think she's really not coming back?"
Evan sighed and then shrugged. "I don't know. It's her decision, but if I was her I would get as far away from there."
I nodded slowly, but didn't look away. "Do you want her to leave? Even though she'd be happier somewhere else.
Evan sighed and set his coffee down. "For me, no. I don't want her to leave. I know that's a bit selfish of me, but the thought of not being able to see her hurts."
I nodded, and I understood what he meant. Over the past few weeks, I have grown to care about Hattie, and I somehow managed to develop feelings for her that she will never reciprocate. Which would explain why she pushed me away when I kissed her that day. To her, I would always be seen as the jerk who lived next to her and made her life hell. I will always be the outsider in her life, no matter how much I wanted that to change.
"You like her, don't you?" Evan asked suddenly, which caught me off guard. I opened my mouth to deny it even though he was right, but Evan kept going. "If you didn't you wouldn't be here."
I closed my mouth and turned away. Evan could clearly see right through me.
"That obvious?" I asked under my breath.
Evan shook his head. "I don't think Hattie noticed."
I let out a sigh. "She might know."
Evan tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"
I grabbed my coffee and pushed myself off of the counter and started to walk over to the cashier. I was trying to get those two back together. There was no telling what would happen if I tell Evan that I kissed Hattie . "Nothing. Forget I said it."
"Oh, no no no no," Evan continued to say as he followed closely behind as the guy rang up both coffees. "You brought it up, now spill."
I rolled my eyes and handed the guy behind the counter a ten. "Keep the change."
Just as I was about to turn and walk out, Evan blocked my path. "What happened?"
"Look, it's better if you don't know. I'm not proud about it," I say in hopes that was enough for him to drop it, but I was wrong.
"Jasper," Evan said in a warning tone, but I honestly couldn't take him seriously.
"Evan, don't worry about it," I say as I try to step around him.
"Fine, then I'll ask Hattie," Evan said, which caused me to stopped right in my tracks.
"You wouldn't," I say as I turn to face him.
"Oh I would," he says. "The way I see it, Hattie wouldn't mind throwing you under the bus."
"Of course she wouldn't," I exclaim. "Both figuratively and literally."
"Then tell me," he pressed on.
I grunted in frustration. "Fine. I kissed Hattie when she came over to my house for dinner the other week. Happy?"
Evans face hardened with anger, and I braced myself to get hot coffee thrown at me, but it never came. Instead, Evan took a deep breath and looked away from me.
"She pushed me away, so you know," I said, but Evans eyes snapped up at me in anger. "Look, it's not like she cheated or anything. Plus, I don't think you two were together at that point.
Evan shook his head, and I can tell that he was shaken up. "You know, that day you came barreling into Hattie's home trying to make her hate me, I was planning on asking here to be my girlfriend that night."
My eyes widened in shock, and my throat instantly had gone dry. "I'm sorry, I didn't..."
"Everything would have been so much better if you kept your nose out of everyone else's business," he told me. "If you had, I might have been there with Hattie when her mother showed up. I could have been there to protect her."
"You don't think I know that?" I shouted back, and the store instantly went quiet. "That whole week, I tried to get Hattie to answer to answer the door. I called her, I tried to get her to come to her window, but it was like she wasn't there. And you, you're no better. Driving by her house but too chicken to go to her? She was a wreck."
Evan was a little taken aback, but he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he just turned around and walked out of the story. I glanced around the room to see that everyone in the store was staring at me. I mutter a quick apology under my breath and before following Evan outside.
He was already in the car before I had gotten outside. Quickly, I rushed over to the car as fast as I could because I thought that Evan might bring up the kiss when he and Hattie were alone. However when I opened the door, everything was silent.
"Did they answer?" I asked as I got into the front seat.
"Yeah," Hattie said as she looked up from her lap. "They can't wait."
"Do they know why you're coming up?" Evan asked as he turned to face her.
Hattie shook her head. "No. I didn't want to tell them over the phone."
"I bet they'll be happy to see you," I say as I look up in the rear view mirror and smiled at Hattie. I turned the car on and shifted the car into drive before pulling away from the gas station.