“I think you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for,” he tried to convince her. “Besides, it’s time he learns that you are mine and he can’t drive a wedge between us.”
Jennie flinched. Jace was sounding awfully possessive and pushy, more like the Jace she used to date. She was just about to respond when Mr. Barthel said, “Class, take your seats, it’s time to begin.”
Jace reluctantly walked away, but before he did, he grabbed a pen from her desk and wrote think about it on the cover of her notebook. Jennie tried to listen as Mr. Barthel began to explain mitosis, but her thoughts kept returning to her conversation with Jace. Jace had a way of making his ideas sound like they made the most sense. Jennie recognized that she had been extremely sensitive about Nate. Some might say overly sensitive. Maybe he was right and it was time to let Nate see her with Jace. She couldn’t run away forever. The problem was that even though Nate had broken her heart, she still thought about him, daily, hourly, far more than she should’ve. Jennie’s phone hummed in her pocket. Discreetly, she pulled it out and looked at it under the desk. Somehow, Jace had managed to send a text.
It read: Whatever you want. Sorry if I pushed.
Jennie looked across the room at Jace. Maybe she did need to be fair to him. He had been so good to her in the last few weeks. Taking care not to get caught she sent her own text. The message was simple: Next game, let’s go.
Jennie saw Jace pull out his phone and then he glanced back and smiled at her. It won’t be that bad, she lied to herself. She slipped her phone back in her pocket and took out her notebook to begin taking notes. After a few minutes of forcing herself to pay attention, she began to feel the knot in her stomach relax and she was able to forget about her conversation with Jace, at least for a while. After class, the rest of the day went smoothly. Jace was back to his easygoing self and it was settled. They would go together to the next basketball game, and Jennie would just have to deal with it.
* * *
The following Tuesday came far too quickly for Jennie, but as promised, she went with Jace to the basketball game. Even before Jennie pulled open the heavy double doors that led to the gym, she could hear the music pumping inside. She knew the cheerleaders were probably doing their pre-game show. All week, the school was alive with talk about the basketball team. It had been over ten years since the school had produced a winning basketball team and now that it was doing so well everyone seemed to want to share in the excitement.
Jennie opened the door and stepped inside, taking a minute to scan the sea of faces looking for Marissa. Jace trailed behind, but once they were inside Jace waited for Nate to see them, then he quickly took Jennie’s hand while throwing Nate a smug look.
Nate did see them, but surprisingly smiled. He was beginning to see what Marissa had in mind. If Jace acted overly jealous or possessive, Jennie wouldn’t tolerate it. She was far too independent to be smothered like that and had no tolerance for games. Marissa knew what she was doing; Nate would keep that in mind when he didn’t understand her advice.
Meanwhile Jennie, oblivious to Jace’s subtle tactics, continued to search for Marissa. All the way at the top of the wooden bleachers Jennie finally spotted Marissa spread out across a wooden bench in an attempt to save coveted seats for the game. Jennie took advantage of the fact that Jace was clinging to her and dragged him up the bleachers until they reached her best friend.
Just as Jennie and Jace were settling in, the starting horn blared and the cheerleaders quickly took their place at the sideline. Jennie tried to concentrate on the game but she found herself mostly watching Nate. He was the leading scorer so that made it easier to hide her fascination with him. There were the other players on the court, and then there was Nate, completely in his own class. It was almost embarrassing watching the other players try to keep up with his tireless pace, but never coming even close. In fact, Nate managed to look up a couple times and catch her eye without breaking his stride. Nate couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t look very comfortable with Jace hovering over her. A couple of times when Nate glanced up, Jace had wrapped his arms tightly around her waist making it hard for her to move. Some girls would love this, but Jennie wasn’t enjoying it at all. In fact, for the first time since she and Jace had started dating again he was getting on her nerves.
He never acted this lovey-dovey. Then as she put all the clues together, she realized Jace could only be acting so overbearing for one reason—to make Nate jealous. Frustration began building inside of her, frustration that she had been ignoring or subduing in the last few weeks. The screaming crowd, Jace’s smothering arms around her and Nate looking up at her, pleading with his eyes to fix what was broken between them, it was all too much and she felt like she would explode if she didn’t get away.
At half time, even though Jennie was fuming inside, she calmly excused herself to use the bathroom. Carefully, she wove her way down the bleachers and out the door to the nearest restroom. Once she was inside a bathroom stall, she let out the tears. She wasn’t sure why she was crying; she’d been fairly happy with Jace. Maybe it was just seeing Nate out on the court, hearing all the girls chanting his name, knowing how many of them wanted him. Hating herself for still wanting him, but most of all, heartbroken that he didn’t want her. In the end, it didn’t matter why. No matter what the reason, she felt terrible and right now the tears were the only thing giving her relief, so Jennie let them fall. As the next round of tears began, someone came into the bathroom.
A familiar voice called out, “Jennie, are you in here?” Cautiously, Jennie opened the stall door to find herself facing Aria. Her thick dark hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, letting Jennie see the concern in her blue eyes. They hadn’t talked much since the dance, but at this particular moment Jennie was grateful to see a friendly face staring back at her. Aria reached into her purse and pulled out a small package of tissues and handed them to Jennie. Jennie gratefully took them and pulled out a travel size Kleenex before dabbing her eyes in an attempt to clean up her smeared makeup.
“I’m with you,” Aria began. “Never let ‘em see you cry. I used to cry in bathrooms all the time when people were cruel to me, but that was before...” Aria’s voice trailed off as if she somehow understood even Nate’s name would hurt Jennie right now.
“You’re still with Kyler?” Jennie asked, trying to change the subject. Aria smiled just hearing his name.
“Yes.”
“Good,” Jennie said, genuinely happy for her. Jennie didn’t know what to say after that, so the girls stood in a comfortable silence for a minute. Finally, Jennie took a deep breath and wiped her eyes one last time.
“Ready to go back in?” Aria asked, clearly not in a hurry. Jennie could tell Aria would spend as much time in the bathroom as she needed.
Jennie conjured up a weak smile. “Yes.” Both girls knew she was just putting on a brave face, but Aria didn’t point it out. Jennie was learning through experience that she would just have to build up an immunity to Nate, and the only way to do that was to force herself to be around him.
“All right, let’s go then,” Aria responded. The two girls slowly walked the short distance to the gym to give Jennie a little more time to compose herself. Just before Aria opened the door, Jennie paused and said “Thanks.”
Aria grinned. “Well I did owe you. You gave me your date, after all.”
This time her comment drew a genuine smile to Jennie’s face, and by the time the door opened she felt ready to face the world again.
The Indians won the game 79 to 32, another victory made possible by Nate. After the game, Jace tried to convince Jennie to go down and congratulate the team. Marissa shot him a look that said, What are you, an idiot?
Jennie responded curtly by saying, “You go ahead if you want to. I’m sure they know I’m proud of them.”
Like the coward he was, Jace hung out in the bleachers just long enough to see the team head off to the locker room. Jennie didn’t make a big d
eal of it. She was too worn out. When most of the crowd had cleared out the three friends walked to their cars. Jace kissed Jennie goodbye and watched her drive away. When she turned the corner, he pulled out his phone and checked his recent calls. One message in particular caught his attention. He was going to send a text in return but decided to call instead. A phone call left no written evidence, especially if he cleared his recent calls before Jennie saw them. He would be more careful this time. He wouldn’t get caught and then he could have what he wanted and have Jennie, too. He dialed the number on his caller ID. He only heard one ring and then Brittney’s voice.
“I was hoping you’d call me back.” Brittney sounded sensual even over the phone and Jace was already beginning to salivate.
“Have you missed me?” he asked outright.
“Why don’t you come over to my house right now and find out?” she enticed.
Jace knew Jennie was working until 8 o’clock tonight. He also knew Brittney wouldn’t blab their indiscretions to the entire school. She had her own long time boyfriend to keep happy.
“I’ll be right there,” he promised as he pushed the thoughts of Jennie aside and climbed into his car. This time, he thought as he drove, she will never know.
Chapter 25
Nate stood in front of Jennie’s house staring at the large bay window in the front room. The room was dark but he could see light coming out of the kitchen spilling faintly into the entryway of the house. He’d watched Jace leave about half an hour earlier, so he knew Jennie was either alone or with her family. Celeste told Nate he should be spending some time watching Jennie every day to keep up with what was going on in her life. It had become harder and harder to spend time near her, mostly because he couldn’t stand watching Jace put his hands all over her.
Jennie always seemed to be saying “no,” or “stop,” or “I’m not ready,” and Jace seemed to be losing his patience a little at a time. That gave Nate hope, but it still made his stomach turn to see them together.
Nate moved forward noiselessly and passed through the outside walls of the house. Once inside, he listened first to make sure that he wouldn’t see anything that would embarrass Jennie, then he moved silently forward to join them. Her family was in the kitchen sitting at the table with a deck of cards out in front of them, but no one seemed to be paying attention to the game. Nate took a minute to get up to speed on the conversation.
“But Mom, I don’t want to go to Santa Barbara,” Kate whined.
“Why not?” her mother asked, “You were looking forward to going last month.”
Kate rolled her green eyes dramatically as if her mother were the most clueless person on the earth.
“Oh, Mom,” she began, “that was before Mr. Feinstein’s campaign launch.”
Jennie’s mom continued to look at Kate with a blank expression, only adding fuel to her daughter’s dramatic presentation.
“You know, Rebecca’s dad, the one running for city council.” Kate continued trying to enlighten her politically inexperienced mother.
Jennie couldn’t help it, a small laugh escaped from her lips. Hearing her laugh again was like a boost of oxygen to Nate’s brain, making him feel alive but also at the same time reminding him how much he missed her.
Jennie tried to step in to save her mother from further belittlement. “You remember Kate’s friend Rebecca. Since Kate is interested in politics Rebecca’s dad has invited Kate to spend the week following him around to learn more as he works on his city council campaign.”
“Yeah, Mom,” Kate piped up, “We’re going to help get signatures and put up signs and talk to constituents.”
Jennie fought another smile.
“Constituents?” Jennie’s dad chimed in. “That sounds serious.”
Kate ignored his obvious teasing and turned back to her mom. “So can I go to Rebecca’s instead of going on the family trip to Santa Barbara?” she begged fervently.
Jennie’s mother and father looked at one another before giving her their standard answer. “We’ll talk about it and let you know,” her mother said, bringing closure to that part of the conversation. Kate smiled. She knew from experience that her mother’s words meant she had a chance. She would make sure she was extra helpful around the house for the next little while. The trip was still a little over a month away. Time was on her side.
Jennie’s father turned to her. Jennie had been listening, but her mind had wandered away at some point in the conversation.
“Jen,” he said, bringing her back, “Are you still planning on going?”
Jennie took several ringlets and tucked them behind her ear. Most of them fell back in her face as soon as she pulled her hand away.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” she finished, sounding vaguely committed.
Her father seemed to sense her hesitation. “You don’t have to go.” He said. “Your mother and I can enjoy the beach house just fine by ourselves.”
Jennie’s father was always playing with the girls. Lighthearted teasing and word games were a staple of their family makeup. Jennie gave her dad a feigned look of contempt.
“Now, why would I let you guys have all the fun? I’ll be a poor starving college student soon. I need to live it up while I can.”
Jennie’s mother rose from her seat at the table and began rinsing the last few stray dishes from the day. Jennie’s dad took that as a cue and stood up to help. The conversation was over. Jennie drifted toward the stairs while Kate went to her room to do her homework, hoping to score points with her parents. Nate watched Jennie leave the room, his heart feeling heavier with every step that she took away from him. She would be leaving with her parents in March unless something drastic changed and, as Celeste was quick to remind him, she would die with her parents unless he stopped her, altering the course of history.
Once Jennie went into her room, Nate quickly left. There were still rules, and he was working hard on keeping them. Nate slipped unnoticed from the house like he always did now that he had to watch as an outsider.
As he was leaving, he could feel his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out to find a sketchy text from Celeste.
It read: Go to Jace’s house now.
With nothing but the power of his thoughts, he relocated himself to Jace’s house. Celeste was waiting for him, sitting in the crook of the branches of a large tree that shaded most of the front yard. He should’ve been more surprised to see her, but nothing surprised him lately. Without another thought, he joined her and settled on a thick branch that allowed him to look over the property.
“Why are we here?” he asked his words sounding strange out in the night air. Celeste’s dark eyes looked almost catlike as they reflected against the light coming off the front porch. “Watch,” she said.
For the first time Nate noticed a car parked in front of the house. It wasn’t Jace’s but it looked vaguely familiar. Suddenly the front door opened, bringing Nate’s attention back to the front of the house. In the soft lighting of the porch, Nate saw two figures emerge from the house, Jace and Brittney. Nate couldn’t hear them from his vantage point but he didn’t need to. They clung to each other, kissing as if they were dependent on each other to stay alive. Everything about their body language screamed familiarity and intimacy with each other. This obviously wasn’t the first time they had gotten together. It was provocative and sensual, and Nate had to turn away. Part of him was furious that Jace would cheat on Jennie and the other part was thrilled that maybe, just maybe, this could break them up. Nate looked back just in time to see Brittney untangle herself from his arms and walk to her car.
Nate looked around, but Celeste was already gone. In all likelihood, she’d probably bent some rule by showing him Jace’s indiscretions and needed to escape the scene of the crime. Not long after Brittney left, Jace’s parents arrived home. The timing was too convenient and Nate could only assume it was planned that way. Nate knew it was probably not a smart thing to do, but he moved swiftly and noiselessly until he was
standing right next to Jace on the porch. Now he was close enough that he could see a smudge of Brittney’s lipstick carelessly left on the neckline of his T-shirt and a self-indulgent smile on his face. His parents climbed out of their cars and met him on the step leading up to the house.
“Did you get all your homework done?” his mom asked as she passed by with a bag of groceries.
“Been working on it all night,” Jace responded.
The word “liar” flew from Nate’s mouth, but no one could hear it. After Jace’s dad gathered the rest of the groceries from the trunk of the car, Jace and his parents went inside and closed the door without any further conversation. Nate didn’t follow them in. He couldn’t even look at Jace without fighting the urge to take on a more human form and punch him right in his cheating mouth. Instead, he pulled out his phone and punched out a detailed text message. When he hit send, he knew he’d better move to a place where he could talk. Once Marissa read his text, a phone call or a visit would soon follow.
Chapter 26
Marissa was driving home when her phone vibrated in her pocket. At a stoplight, she pulled it out and quickly glanced over the new message. She was surprised to find that it was from Nate, but before she even finished reading his words, the light turned green. Reluctantly, she put her phone down and drove on until the next red light. This time, she read quickly. Each word seemed to incite her rising anger a little more. “The snake!” she said out loud in her empty car, feeling surprised by the level of contempt she felt toward Jennie’s boyfriend. Marissa had never been crazy about Jace, even the first time he and Jennie went out, but this time around, he was more than just annoying. He’d actually driven a wedge between her and Jennie. He was always trying to get Jennie alone, and didn’t even attempt to get along with either her or Braiden.
Marissa was beginning to feel like she was losing her best friend. She hated it, but if it made Jennie happy, she would step aside. The fact that he was cheating on Jennie, however, changed everything. Somehow, she would find a way to catch the lowlife, selfish, pathetic excuse of a boyfriend in the act and then she would convince him to step aside before Jennie found out and got hurt again. Not only did she want to protect Jennie, she also wanted to see her end up with Nate. Accomplishing both things was going to be tricky.
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