Jason’s POV --
It took me a second to realize what just happened. My brain couldn’t really take it all in properly because it was actually such a shock. I couldn’t have been wrong to have made such an attempt. Normally it works, I lean in and everything falls into place. A girl has never backed out on kissing me before, never. I shouldn’t be taking this so hard but how else am I supposed to react? Normally it’s the girls who are all over me, they’re the ones afraid that I’ll reject them. It’s never been the other way around.
What the fuck?
Lea was speed walking towards the door. I look below her seat and realize she left all the things I bought her today. I wanted to grab her things and hand them to her but that’d only make things more gawky than it already was. So I look up at Lea again, watching her open the door steadily and shoving her foot in first. I was confused at first as to why she was doing that but then I realized a dog jumping up and down, trying it’s best to run out into the open.
When the door shuts, I sit back against the seat roughly. I was still all too baffled by what just happened to even start the car. I eventually bring myself to do so however and drive off down the street. On top of Lea rejecting me, I couldn’t stop thinking about how her mood plummeted back at the mall. Why couldn’t she have just tried on the shirt? It wasn’t normal, her voice didn’t sound normal. I could tell something was eating her alive and she was holding back the want to cry.
There really is a lot more to Lea than I’ll ever know.
Instead of going home, I head over to Scarlett’s house. She wouldn’t be at work until later and I know this because I’d be leaving at the same time as her. I had money to count, deals to arrange, dope to sell and bitches to fuck. Hopefully Brody and Ace were with Scarlett as well, just to have us all together incase they decide to ask me stupid ass questions.
Scarlett, on the other hand, has no idea about Lea. She was too hung up over me keeping away from Sandrine to focus on me being with anyone else. I don’t know what the fuck went on with me and Sandrine, it was all too confusing for words but I know for a fact that I have no more feelings for her whatsoever.
But I’d still fuck the shit out of her, don’t get me wrong.
Getting back on track, though, I still have to make sure people know that their time is running short. I don’t like not having my money on time, I don’t like waiting. Do not make a deal with me if you’re going to back out last minute, you should have never signed yourself up to this shit in the first place.
When it comes to my business and my money, I take everything very seriously.
At Scarlett’s house, I park not too far from her house. Two more cars occupied the spots I normally claim for myself. One car belonging to Ace and the other most likely belongs to Carter. Good a full house. Brody was probably just here for the group event, he’s a people person I guess. As I walk up to the door, I hear commotion on the inside. Everyone was either talking to the person next to them or just all trying to talk at once and no one was being heard. When I shut the door behind me, the entire house falls silent. It was like a King entering his Kingdom and making his way towards his throne. Everyone else was a peasant and they remained silent until further notice.
Kind of a harsh analogy but what else would you expect from someone like me?
“It’s Jason!” Brody says, peeking his head in.
I could see that they were all outback. Carter was grilling and everyone was sitting in seats, drinking beers and having a good time. Scarlett holds the door open for me and looks inside the house, she was always making sure I hadn’t decided to bring some slut over with me when I came to visit her.
“It ended that fast?” Ace says, leaning back in his seat. I spot Lana seated beside him, a deck of cards in her hands.
“What did?” Scarlett asks, walking over to Carter to help flip the burgers around.
“Nothing.” I say sharply and glare at Ace deathly to keep his mouth shut. The last thing I needed was for Scarlett to be all up in my business, forming questions about who Lea is, how old is she, is she prettier than her. She’s my best friend but god damn she gets annoying when I see other girls. Sadly though, I needed to talk to her. “Scar, I need to talk to you.”
I glance at Ace and find him and Lana whispering to one another. I get the gist that they were discussing Lea and what could have possibly happened while I was gone with her. I look away from them distastefully and take a step forward, bend over to dig inside the cooler and grab myself a can of Budweiser. I walk back into the house, knowing Scarlett was following behind. With my free hand, I run it through my hair and tug at the ends upwards to keep everything in place. We walk into the kitchen and I turn around, leaning against the counter, and bring the can up to my lips to take a few gulps.
“You’ve met Ace’s girlfriend right?” Scarlett begins, turning on the faucet in the sink to wash her hands.
“They’re dating already?” I ask, my voice was drier than I expected.
“No but they will eventually.” She rolls her eyes, “You met her though, right?”
“Yeah, she was at the party with Sandrine.” I nod once but quickly change the subject to keep her from forming questions about Sandrine and I, “Listen, I just have one question.”
She waits patiently, raising herself up onto the counter to get herself comfortable. I take a while to properly form the question. It’s like, I knew what I wanted to ask but I just couldn’t find the right way to word it. I wanted to explain certain things without making it seem like I was more into it than I actually am. If that makes any sense.
“You never told Sandrine about anything that we do, have you?” I say and take another sip of my drink.
“No, she doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut. I don’t tell her anything.” She rolls her eyes and kicks out her feet in front of her, “Why?”
“No reason,” I wave the hand which held the beverage, “I just know she can’t keep her mouth shut so if you did tell her anything, we’d be fucked.”
“You’d be in jail.” She hops off the counter, careful not to damage the heels she wore. “But she’s told me that she’s heard things. I never tell her whether what she hears is true or not. I let her believe what she wants.”
Turning around, I look out the window, just above the sink and watch Brody and Lana begin a game of spades. Carter had moved from behind the grill to sit beside Brody and Ace sat with his arm around Lana’s shoulder, pointing with his left hand at the which card would be most useful in Lana’s hand throughout the game.
Lea’s POV --
I was home alone. Well not literally since I had Jasper on my lap while I was relaxed on the couch. Lana was out doing whatever and Kira was probably walking home from school as we speak. Oddly enough, I kept glancing at my phone. After I walked into the house, I took a quick shower and changed into something comfortable.
Ever since then I’ve just been waiting. Waiting to either dig up the courage to text Jason or for him to be kind enough to make my life easier and text me instead. I wouldn’t know what to say to him anyway even if I did manage to be fearless for a good sixty seconds.
Jasper raises his head up from my stomach, something catching his attention. I sit up slowly and listen. Normally when something disturbs Jasper it’s either because someone was at the door or he was just hearing the other dogs in the neighborhood. As I listen, I hear footsteps rise up the porch stairs and soon enough Jasper was barking and growling at the same time. He jumps off the couch and scurries over to the door, barking louder and louder as he approaches it. It was most likely just the mailman or some person who probably figured my parents would be home right now.
Lazily, I force myself to stand up and drag my feet across the floorboard all the way to the door. There’s a knock as soon as I grab the doorknob and twist it after unlocking it. Jasper stops barking, realizing there was no danger and he scuttles back into the living room to resume his nap. I stand by the doorway, staring out onto the porch at someone who I wished hadn’t knocked in the first place.
“Hey Liam.” I say, not really wanting to talk to him. I held onto the door, prepared to slam it shut just in case he tried anything funny. “What’s up?”
“You cut school today I see.” He says, skipping the small talk.
I open my mouth to speak but instead, I shut it again. Groaning, I step outside and shut the door behind me, making sure it wasn’t locked. Liam had his back pressed up against the left pillar, arms crossed over his chest like an angry father who just witnessed his daughter have her first kiss with some jock at her school.
“Yeah, so did you.” I speak with the same tone of voice as his.
“I always do. You and I both know that.” He scoffs arrogantly, “But you never do.”
“I know.” I hated being talked down on but I could never do anything about it. “I guess I grew out of that stage.”
“Come on now Lea.” He scoffs again and lowers his hands into his pockets, “We both know you’re too good for that. And on top of that, I saw who you were with.”
“I don’t see the problem, you stopped talking to me a long time ago Liam.” I say frantically, “If we ever do talk it’s only because you’re criticizing me.”
“The problem is you don’t cut school. You don’t do that kind of shit and today you did.” He leans forward, inching closer to me slowly. “And on top of that, you were with that crack head Jason."
“Excuse me?” My mouth drops just as fast as my eyebrows rise up in complete and utter shock.
“Did I fucking stutter? Do you think you’re tough shit now that you’ve hung out with him?”
“Liam it’s not that serious. It was just today, why are you getting so worked up over it?”
“I’m not getting worked up.” He licks his lips and straightens his posture, “I don’t want to see you with that guy again.”
“You’re not my dad.” I spat, turning to grab the doorknob, “Nor are you my boyfriend anymore so I can do whatever I want. Jason is a nice guy.”
“A nice guy that sells dope for a living.” He replied grimly, “I don’t care if we’re not in a relationship anymore, I’m just trying to look out for you.”
I stare at him with the most flabbergasted expression I have ever given someone.
“Liam, you’re nothing but mean to me.” I shake my head, not believing anything that spilled out of his mouth. “You don’t know Jason and you never cared enough to fully get to know me so just leave me alone. Don’t make me say it again.”
“Or else what?” He retorts, stepping to the side so he could walk off the porch after our conversation was done and over with. “I better not see you with him again.”
“Whatever.”
Lana’s POV --
I walk out the bathroom and hear Ace and Brody arguing over who cheated in the final round of dominoes. Chairs were being pulled out from underneath the table and I overhear footsteps running up and down the halls. I guess they take every game a little too seriously.
It was good to get out of the house for a good couple of hours. Being home alone does some crazy shit to your head. I got to know Scarlett a lot, which is good since she’s around my age so I can most certainly see myself hanging with her a lot more. Brody was the clown of the bunch and Ace was just as aggressive as Jason but probably a little friendlier. All the same, I liked the atmosphere I was in.
As I walk down the staircase my mind races back to Lea and Jason. I know they went out together, Lea confirmed it herself sometime in the afternoon. An hour later, Jason comes waltzing in. Something wasn’t right. I wasn’t sure whether he was in a good mood or not either. Stepping up to him was a challenge, I wonder how Lea managed to last five minutes with him.
At the bottom of the staircase, I stand in the opening of the hallway, watching Brody and Ace continue yelling at one another. Scarlett was standing in between them with an irritated look on her face that only drove me to burst out into laughter. Jason appears from the kitchen, walking down the hall to witness the commotion between his best friends.
“Hey.” I say but my voice was smaller than that of a newborn kitten meowing for the very first time.
He side glances at me instead of responding, standing up tall. His facial expression was both serious and intimidating. I somewhat regretted opening my mouth to him just a few seconds again ago.
“Can I ask you something?” I tilt my head to the side a bit while speaking.
He shrugs and we walk away from the threshold of the living room to keep everyone else’s ears out of our business. We stand across from each other in the small hallway, my hands behind my back and his arms folded across his chest. I couldn’t help but stare at his biceps and the way they stretched against his shirt and since he wore merely a gray T-Shirt which some type of design on the front, his arms were more than exposed. My view was a mixture of tattoos and a pretty face.
“It’s about my sister, Lea.” I look away from his arms and up at his face. He was already looking at me, head cocked to the side like an adult ready to scold a teenager for whatever reasons. Something about his body language rubbed me the wrong way, he just seemed so upset all the time, it was actually driving me insane. “You were with her today, right?”
Blinking once he responds with a simple, “Yeah.”
“Oh.” My mouth even forms the letter “O” as I say the word. I raise my shoulders up to my ears while taking a long breath and exhale it, “So she’s most likely home now. Good.”
No answer. I don’t blame him, he didn’t really have much to say in reply to that anyway. I was horrible at conversing with new people, I still question how Ace and I grew so close in such a short time. Knowing that Lea was home and safe lifted a weight off my shoulders and now I could relax and shift the topic in a new direction.
“One more thing.” I say, raising my finger as I speak. “Do you and Sandrine have something going on?”
“No.” His voice was dead and zombie like. “We haven’t talked since the party but she’s still managing to get in my business. Why?”
“She doesn’t want Lea to see you.” I say, then I smirk at him and try to lighten the mood “Are you sure there’s nothing going on between you two? Are you still interested in her?”
But he didn’t seem to take my teasing too lightly, “No.”
I poke out my lips and nod understandingly. One last time, I try to get some laughs out of him and I bring my hands together in my front of my chest, interlocking my fingers together.
“How about Lea?” I arch an eyebrow and grin at him, “What do you think of her?”
“She’s cute.” He shrugs, “Can’t say that I’m interested though.”
I pout, that was definitely not the answering I was hoping for. In actuality, I was praying that he’d say something completely different. Maybe open up a little about her so that I’d have some idea on what he thinks of her. I don’t fully believe that he’s not interested. They’ve only hung out once, I’ll give him that but I can guarantee his thoughts on her will change once he’s with her all the time. If not then, it’s his loss.
Lea’s POV --
Jasper begins barking again and a knock at the door immediately follows after. I run down the stairs from laying in bed, locked away in my room. When Liam decided to stop being an airhead and get lost, I went straight to my phone and dialed Kira’s number.
My mind was racing. I didn’t like it one bit. Half of my subconscious was mixed with thoughts of Liam and encountering him not once, but twice in one day. Why did he feel the need to make a trip over to my house and act as if he still played an important role in my life? He dumped me the minute he found out I would never spread my legs for him. Not only that but he embarrassed me in front of all of my friends, saying just that. Ever since then, all his friends have picked on me and called me names. It’s annoying and I just hope that one day somebody will knock some sense into him.
Also, why does Liam have such a strong hatred towards Jason? I mean honestly, first Sandrine now Liam. Maybe they should date because they seem to have a lot in common when it comes to making my life a living hell.
Now, the other half of my subconscious was just Jason. Jason, Jason and more Jason. I loved every minute of being with him. In his car, at the mall, and at his house. It was so fun and oh gosh don’t even get me started on the way he touched me. His hands were so soft and delicate; he touched me with so much care like as if he thought I were a feather and he had no intention of breaking me. The way he looked at me and smiled and his jokes all made my stomach turn. I was already beginning to crush on him. Not majorly, just a simple crush that a girl would catch for the cutest boy in her school or neighborhood.
When he tried to kiss me...
I was smiling so hard when I opened the door. Outside stood both Kira and Sandrine. When I spotted Sandrine, I felt a ton of bricks fall from a cloud which floated above my head. I was so eager to spill everything to Kira and not spare a single detail but sadly with Sandrine here I felt as though I had a limit to the amount of things I chose to say.
“I want to know everything.” Kira says, stepping into the house with a smile plastered across her face. “Don’t leave anything out.”
“Be descriptive.” Sandrine says and I couldn’t whether she was being sarcastic or not.
I shut the door and follow them into the living room. Kira grabs Jasper and pulls him onto her lap so she had the freedom to take his spot on the couch instead. I sit beside her and Sandrine sits across from us in my dads favorite arm chair. The TV was on and commercials were playing, I had forgotten what I was previously watching and it didn’t matter. I grab the remote from the edge of the couch and shut off the TV. Both and Kira and Sandrine look at me with wide eyes, both hungry for the good news I was ready to spill to each of them, but mainly Kira.
So I make that known but keeping my eyes on her as I speak and avoiding any type of eye contact with Sandrine. “We went to mall and walked around for a bit...he’s so funny and actually really fun to talk to. I didn’t expect that, he seemed really mean.” I start to smile now, “He was offering to buy me stuff and I think he did but I left my things in his car...um.” I poke my lip and grimace while trying to remember all that happened without causing a fuss with Sandrine. “Oh, he took me to his house afterwards and showed me how to work a bong.”
“He has those? Holy shit! I like him.” Kira laughs and looks at Sandrine who remained with a straight face the entire time. She clears her throat and looks at me, smiling all over again. “Did he laugh when you told him you didn’t know what those were?”
I blush, “Kind of.” Folding my legs onto the couch, I rest my side against the cushions. “Ugh Kira, he’s so dreamy. Like, he smiled at me all the time and while we were at the mall he put his arm around my shoulder! I was freaking out on the inside but I played it cool.”
“I’m sure you did.” She teases, “You’re such liar, I bet you were cheesing the entire time.”
“I was.” I bat my eyelashes cutely, “So what! He didn’t notice so it’s all good!” Now I toss my hair over my shoulder and half smile at her like a boy who tries too hard to be cool. “And you know what else?”
“What?” Kira was petting Jasper to the point where he was knocked out of this world and she leaned forward like as if I were going to tell her a dark secret.
“He tried to kiss me.” I was smiling throughout the entire sentence.
Sandrine stands up and places her hands on her hips. I had completely forgotten she was here, I got lost in my thoughts. Talking about Jason was such of a fun yet dangerous topic. You had to pick the right people to talk about him around. Kira and I look up and even Jasper wakes up from his nap once again but quickly places his paw over his button nose and shuts his eyes. My phone vibrates but I decide to ignore it for now, figuring it was only Lana and she could wait a few minutes if need be.
“So I’m guessing you just completely forgot everything that I told you?” Sandrine hisses, staring down at me the same way Liam had done. “Kira, tell her that he’s not good for her.”
“Sandrine, I talked to him!” I lift my hands in a plea to end her rampage, “Look, while I was at his house I found a gun and--”
“You what?” Kira turns her attention on me and even backs up against the couch.
“You see!” Sandrine was pointing at me, hand shaking uncontrollably. “That’s exactly what I was talking about!”
“Hold the hell up.” Kira raises her hand up at Sandrine to shut her up and then looks at me. “Lea, you’re telling me you found a gun at his house and you still want to see him? Sweetie...No.”
I shake my head vigorously, “You’re not letting me finish!” I sounded like a five year old ready to burst into tears. “I did find a gun! And I talked to Jason about it! I even told him what you said.” I look at Sandrine and she stares back, shifting her weight from one hip to the other. “He said that he uses it for protection, he’s never even used it before.” I stop to catch my breath and look at Kira, “I don’t care what you guys say. I believe him and I want to keep seeing him. Can’t you see how happy I was today?”
Kira considers for a moment, looking from me to the ground, to Jasper and back up at me. “Yes.”
“Wouldn’t it be great to see me that way all the time?” Not only did my mouth try it’s best to convince Kira that Jason was a medicine I needed to take but my eyes were doing most of the work too.
“It won’t last long. Lea, he’s no good.” Sandrine sighs, “Trust me. Stop being an idiot.”
“How am I being an idiot?” I frown, “What’s the problem?”
“The problem is that you’re letting him wow you and now you’re thinking that something more will come out of it. Stop being stupid Lea, it’s not going to work out. Nothing good comes out of knowing Jason.”
My top row of teeth bite over my bottom lip. I had nothing to say. I didn’t like arguing. It was better to just let the other person think they were right so they’d shut their mouths. Kira was staring at the both of us but mainly me. Every part of this day was great up until I came home. I wished I had stayed with Jason and continued getting to know him. Maybe he would have tried to kiss me again and I would have allowed him to go through with it.
I grab my phone and decide to check the text message I had received. To my surprise it happened to be Jason. Wow, speak of the devil and the devil shall arrive. I unlock my phone and read over the message and try my absolute best not to smile in any way, shape or form.
Hang with me tomorrow after school.
Kira and Sandrine were talking and I didn’t even notice. I look at Sandrine and begin to think. What if she’s right and seeing Jason would only be making a wrong turn in my life? What if he’s as bad as she says he is? Could he have been lying about what he uses that gun for? I don’t know for sure...I wasn’t the type to take risks but I took one today. That should say enough. I guess I’m willing to take another.
So I begin to thumb back a message and when Kira asks who I was speaking with, I say it was simply Lana and she continues on with her conversation. Sandrine looks at me and I just stare at my phone, acting as if I didn’t feel the knives she slowly inserted into my back.
Alright. :)
I press send, lock my phone and drop it onto my lap. My fist was pressed up against my mouth and I was stared off into the space while Kira and Sandrine were talking about all sorts of nonsense.
If, in the end, it turns out that Jason was as bad as everyone says, then it’ll suck to be me. However, I think it’ll be fun to watch it all play out before my eyes. I have a good feeling about this anyway.
A really good feeling.