To Be A Mate

Chapter Seventeen

I wake up on Wednesday after a horrible night's sleep.

The last time I saw Jake was Monday night. We were supposed to hang out last night, but he cancelled last minute due to something he had to do for work.

My body wasn't too mean to me yesterday when I didn't see him, but now it is catching up to me. Last night I tossed and turned until almost four in the morning, when sleep finally found me.

I get up to shower and get ready for school. I eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast, which is the only thing we seem to ever have in this house. When I start to do my hair and make-up, I text Jake.

I really miss you. I need to see you tonight.

I know. I sound clingy, but I kind of am. Jake is my drug and I am currently going through withdrawal. I receive a text back almost immediately.

I know, I'm so sorry. Tyler's has had me working like a dog. No pun intended:)

I smile at his text, imagining him teasing me with his eyes. I get another text from him before I can hit the reply button.

Maybe I'll stop by tonight.

I let out a sigh of relief and I already hope he can. I reply a simple okay before I make my way downstairs.

"Took you long enough." My least favorite brother says as I reach for my backpack.

"Yeah well I'm ready now." I say to Jeremy, making my way to the car. I buckle myself into the passenger seat and wait for Jeremy to get in. Once he slides in and starts the car, he pulls out of the driveway and makes his way to the school.

Thankfully, the ride to school is under five minutes, but with Jeremy those five minutes seem to take fifteen.

"So what's up with that kid." He blurts out.

"What kid?" I question.

"The one from Monday night, John or whatever."

"It's Jake." I correct. "And what's it to you?"

"I care about who you throw your body all over." He says, making me flush with anger. He speaks up again when he sees my clenched fists. "I'm sorry about what I said the other night." He tells me.

"Why apologize now?" I ask coldly.

He pulls into the parking lot but neither of us get out.

"When John- I mean Jake- put himself in front of you on Monday, I guess I realized how much I actually have been hurting you."

"So you want to be best buds now? Well I don't need a buddy now, or a brother. I already have two that actually care about me."

Jeremy grimaces and I can't help but feel a twinge of regret.

"I know this sounds horrible, but I'm not gonna promise you I won't hurt you again. I do want to ask for your forgiveness though, from the way I treated you these past few years. Even before you filled Mom and Dad in on my tendencies I neglected you when I was in a really bad place. I'm sorry Jen, I really am."

As much as he pisses me off, I know that I'll forgive him soon. He knows it too, I can tell, he just wants to hear the words.

"Yeah okay." I simply respond.

He grins widely at me for the first time in years. "So now can I warn this Jake kid to not break your heart?"

I roll my eyes as I open the door, walking around to his side as he gets out.

"Too soon." I say to him, before walking towards the school. I hear him laugh and I thank God that for once, my life seems content.

• • • • •

If there hadn't been an absence of Jake that feels like a crater to me, my life couldn't be any more perfect.

After making amends with Jeremy, I've been in a good mood. It gets even better when I see Dylan at lunch.

I sat by Leah, hoping to avoid Dylan again but before Ali sits down on my other side, Dylan gets there first.

I am about to make up some excuse about why he can't sit there but he speaks up first.

"I want to apologize!" He says as quickly as he sees my mouth open.

My mouth remains hanging open as I let his words sink in.

Dylan. Apologizing. To me.

I wait for his explanation as my mouth blatantly hangs open, probably catching flies.

"We used to be cool, you know. We were just friends and it seems things got awkward pretty quick. I know you have something going on with that other guy, but that's okay. I just want to be friends again. I want to take you to prom, as friends, and then we can go back to how we were."

His confession makes me want to cry tears of joy.

"I agree, Dylan!" I happily confess. I did miss the old him that would always joke with me. "I don't think you and I would work as a couple anyway." I wrap my arm around him from the side to show my appreciation.

Now the school day is over and I head out to the car to meet Jeremy. I don't have soccer practice today because my coach cancelled it yesterday. A smile is evident on my face as I nearly skip over and get in the drivers seat. I hope that since me and Jeremy are on better terms, he may actually let me drive.

When I see him approaching the car he raises one eyebrow but doesn't object. I am relieved. This day could only get worse if Jake doesn't show up tonight.

"You want to drive by Starbucks before we go home? I'll buy." Jeremy asks as he throws his bag in the back.

"Sure." I grin to him.

The school parking lot is crazy as I pull out. With all the new teenage drivers I am surprised there aren't more accidents.

We drive through town with the windows rolled down since the warm air from spring is finally making an appearance.

I stop at a red light and reach forward to adjust the radio.

"Why do you always drive through downtown?" Jeremy whines. He usually takes the side roads, which I had forgotten since him and I haven't done things like this together lately.

"Oh just shut up and stop whining. We're almost there."

The light turns green and I release the brake, stepping on the gas. The car rolls forward and towards the middle of the intersection.

The big SUV flying from the right side doesn't have time to stop and smashes straight into our car.

It happens so fast, I don't process much. I can only think about how Jeremy would have taken the side roads.

••••••••••

I know this is a cruel cliffhanger, which is why I'm putting up the next chapter right away.

COMMENT

VOTE

Thanks for being you <3