Unbreakable Love

by Angela Carling

  At 5:36 Cathy heard one car and then another immediately after pull into the driveway. She peeked out the window just in time to see Jennie’s dad park his car next to Jennie’s. Her family was home, and everything felt right in the world again. Just before the door opened, she slid the drawer closed and put the documents temporarily out of her mind. Just in case could wait—at least until after dinner.

  Chapter 29

  Short of outright telling Brittney’s boyfriend that the girl he loved was a cheat and a liar, Marissa had tried everything to expose Brittney.

  Kevin and Brittney were the longest running couple at Palm Springs High. According to the stories, Kevin had asked her to dance at the eighth grade graduation dance. She blushed beneath her budding acne and said “yes” and they had been going strong ever since. In fact, most girls in school drooled over Kevin’s devotion toward Brittney, and most guys saw her as a beautiful accessory that Kevin hung on his arm to make him even better looking and more popular. Clearly, their relationship was the envy of the school.

  Marissa had even gone to the trouble of videotaping Jace and Brittney blatantly making out in the car, and leaving a disk labeled “watch me” in Kevin’s locker. She didn’t want to publicly humiliate them, she just wanted to pass on the information and let the chips fall where they may. While Marissa watched from around the corner, Kevin looked suspiciously at the disk, dismissed it and placed it in the large brown garbage can on the way to his next class.

  Finally, after weeks of failed attempts, Marissa was out of ideas. She was beginning to wonder if she should just give up. That’s when pure luck stepped in and did the job for her.

  Chapter 30

  For Jennie, March 6 was a day etched in her memory as a day of misery. As Nate promised Marissa all those weeks ago, the basketball team remained undefeated, landing them in a strong position to win the championship game. That game was to be played on March 6, the Thursday before Jennie planned on leaving with her parents for Santa Barbara.

  The week before the game, the school buzzed with pre-game excitement. School colors could be seen everywhere. Posters were hand-drawn and pinned on the walls between classrooms. School spirit T-shirts were sold in the courtyard before and after school. Among the students, the boys sported Indian ball caps and the girls flaunted red and black ribbons in their hair.

  On Thursday, the day of the big game, classes were canceled after lunch so that the entire school could attend a pep rally. Nate’s extraordinary talents had created quite a stir, and now Palm Springs High was completely united in one common goal—to win the championship trophy.

  Jace had stopped attending games and finally asked Jennie not to go, either. His ugly jealousy was subtle at first, but as he sat next to Jennie and watched her starry-eyed expression while she watched Nate, it was more than his over-inflated ego could take. Suddenly, every argument they had seemed to be about Nate, even though Jennie assured Jace that there was nothing going on between the two of them. She didn’t lie; there was very little interaction between them. When they spoke or spent time together, it was usually to work on prom decorations, and Jennie was careful not to let her feelings for Nate show. Still, every once in awhile, she would catch herself staring at Nate longingly, and sometimes Jace would see it. In the end, probably out of guilt, Jennie caved and said she wouldn’t go to the games, and she didn’t until the championship game.

  The championship game was different. It wasn’t just about Nate, it was about school pride and supporting her team. At least that’s what she told herself when she lied to Jace and told him she had to work the night of the big game. Besides, she was getting tired of his petty jealousy and especially tired of pandering to his every whim. Jennie was slowly starting to acknowledge that it was so much more work this time around with Jace, but for whatever reason, she stayed, hoping they could get back to what they had once been.

  At 12:45, the bell rang and the entire student body poured into the gym like ants returning to their anthill at the end of the day. Jace couldn’t keep her from attending the pep rally, so instead he made sure that he was sitting protectively near her, holding her hand as if that might somehow get rid of his insecurities. Down on the court below, the basketball team sat in metal folding chairs near a makeshift podium. All the players were decked out in full game gear and not far from them, wearing an Indian ball cap and school colors, sat the principal, sporting a proud smile.

  At exactly one o’clock the student body president, Reina, stood up to start the rally.

  Her short blond hair bounced as she bounded to the microphone with the enthusiasm of a cheerleader. In one smooth movement, she took the microphone off its cradle and let out a traditional Indian war cry, filling the already charged air with a surge of frenzied energy. The student body went crazy, some cheering and others returning her cry, their voices rising up in a high-pitched chorus.

  Beaming from ear to ear, Reina knew she had them.

  “Go, Indians,” she yelled out, and then, on cue, the cheerleaders burst through the double doors, running and cartwheeling across the floor to the pounding beat of a familiar song. Everyone was out of their seats now, clapping their hands and swaying to the music as the cheerleaders fell into position and began to perform a routine they’d perfected for the occasion. When the cheer squad was done, they quickly took a seat on the floor directly in front of the basketball team, and Reina took command of the microphone again.

  “Let’s give a round of applause to our cheerleaders,” she shouted over the noise. The gymnasium rocked as hands struck one another and feet stomped the wooden bleachers below their feet. Jennie pounded right along with them, feeling more alive than she had in a long time. Nate watched her from the corner of his eye, wishing more than anything that he was sitting there next to her, sharing the experience with her.

  When the applause died down, Reina signaled to someone who sat on the top row of the bleachers with a computer. Slowly a broad screen began to descend from somewhere in the ceiling. Little by little, the students began to quiet down and redirect their attention. Once the screen was lowered, Reina put the microphone back in its place and spoke into it, a little more quietly this time, “Our yearbook staff has been hard at work recording basketball history. Do you want to see their work?”

  The attentive crowd briefly broke out in cheering again but soon settled down as the first flickers of light touched the screen. From a seemingly invisible source, larger-than-life images of the basketball team appeared before them while corresponding music poured through the gym’s speakers.

  At first, the pictures were mostly of the team taking winning shots during games. Following team shots, the images began to change as players were caught on camera and highlighted individually. When the shot of Braiden eating pizza in the courtyard came up, Jennie and Marissa screamed wildly in response. This picture was followed by Spencer riding his motorcycle to school. Nate was caught carrying prom decorations to a committee meeting and Connor was discovered absorbed in a book beneath a tree. As each player was shown, the crowd continued to clap in support. Finally, after all but one player had been highlighted, one last picture appeared on the screen of Kyler getting into his car in the school parking lot after a practice.

  At first, the students cheered just as they had for every other player, but then as the image stood frozen on the screen for all to see, people began to look past Kyler and notice what was inadvertently caught on film in the background. Just off to the right and several rows behind Kyler, Jace and Brittney leaned against his car in an incriminating lip lock. Brittney’s face was obscured by the angle of the shot but Jace’s face was shown with flawless accuracy and the bright afternoon sun left no doubt as to their guilt. The longer the picture remained on the screen, the more people noticed Jace’s indiscretion. An uncomfortable silence began to roll over the room as the cheering gave way to accusations and whispers spread by texting and word of mouth.

  No one had to tell Jennie; she saw it the second th
e image was pulled up. In futility, Jace tried to hide his guilt but his sweaty hands gave him away. For a minute, Jennie didn’t react, and Jace began to wonder if she’d missed the glaring truth. Instead, she stared at the huge image of her cheating boyfriend, trying to make some sense of what she was feeling. Anger, embarrassment and relief all bore down on her at the same time, but then after the first few seconds, anger rose to the top of the heap and took control.

  Finally, accepting the fact that he had been caught, Jace held on to her hand unnaturally tightly and turned to face her burning eyes. They were already rimmed in red, but Jennie kept the tears at bay. She couldn’t help but think of Aria’s words that day in the bathroom.

  Never let ‘em see you cry, she thought bitterly to herself as she put forth a Herculean effort to keep her emotions in check. She wouldn’t let Jace see her cry, he didn’t deserve to share her tears.

  “It’s not what it looks like,” he tried.

  Jennie shouldn’t have been, but she was stunned at his pure audacity. Her wide eyes moved to the screen and then back to Jace. All eyes were on them now. The source of entertainment had shifted from Reina to Jennie and Jace, and Reina didn’t do anything to take it back. On the gym floor, Nate rose to his feet and waited tensely, every muscle in his body ready to react if Jennie needed him. She didn’t. In one decisive movement, Jennie tore her hand from Jace’s tight grasp and delivered a blow with the palm of her hand across his cheek that was so loud the slapping sound echoed faintly through the gym. A collective gasp came from the crowd and initiated a new round of gossip among her classmates, but Jennie didn’t notice. She was already climbing down the stairs, kids parting like the Red Sea to let her through. As she descended, people she knew and some she didn’t patted her on the back and said things like “should’ve hit him harder” or “he doesn’t deserve you.” To Jennie it all sounded far away and detached, as if she were watching someone else’s pain instead of living it. She ignored her fellow students, focusing only on the voice in her head that urged her to get away from Jace as fast as she could. Once she reached the bottom of the bleachers, she broke out into a full sprint, heading straight for the double doors.

  Nate ran to meet her, working hard to keep up with her brisk pace. The principle had come to the microphone to try to get control of the assembly again.

  “People,” he called out over the buzzing of the student body. Some glanced his way, but most continued to talk. “People,” he tried again.

  Nate reached the doors first and pushed them open, allowing Jennie to escape into the warm spring air. As soon as the door closed behind them with a heavy clank, all the chaos and noise of the gym faded away. Right away Jennie turned to Nate, commanding his full attention. Her eyes still burned with a fiery intensity that Nate knew could lead to more trouble if he said the wrong thing, so he stepped back a little and composed himself.

  “Did you set this up?” she demanded, keeping her eyes level with his.

  At that very moment, Marissa, who had somehow escaped the bedlam of the gym, pushed her way through the heavy double doors.

  “Nate had nothing to do with this,” she stated forcefully before the doors even closed behind her. “Neither of us did, although we both knew he was cheating. Jace getting caught like that was dumb luck.”

  Jennie’s eyes glistened in the sun as the tears began to force their way out. She felt so vulnerable, so abused. Worst of all, standing with her best friend and the boy she loved, she still felt so alone.

  She would never let them know this, though. She moved close to Marissa, looking for answers that might take some of the sting out of this painful moment. Jennie knew, no matter what, Marissa would never lie to her, even if it meant their friendship.

  “Do you swear to me that neither of you had anything to do with those pictures?” She asked, still breathing heavily from her hasty departure.

  “I swear,” Marissa replied, her voice low and steady and her eyes meeting Jennie’s gaze head on.

  Jennie let out a heavy sigh, not of relief but of defeat. The anger was wearing off now and the pain was setting in. She looked at Nate and then Marissa. She believed them, yet somehow it didn’t make her feel any better. Now beginning to feel physically weak and emotionally spent she turned to them one last time and said, “I want to go home.”

  Nate didn’t know what to do. Once again, he felt powerless to help her. He wanted to reach out and grab her hand, he wanted to wrap his arms around her and comfort her until all the heartache went away, but he couldn’t. Instead, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and squeezed his fists open and closed, trying to burn off the frustration he felt.

  Realizing she had said all she wanted to say, Jennie turned and walked toward the school parking lot. Nate watched her walk away until she was almost to the gate and then something inside of him broke free. He couldn’t stand idly by any longer, at least without trying to make it better.

  Marissa saw the opportunity, too.

  “Go,” she said fervently.

  Nate went from standing still to a full sprint in seconds and met her at the gate. Without asking for her permission, he wrapped his arms around her and said, “I am so sorry,” over and over. Jennie didn’t know if he was sorry for the pain Jace had caused or the heartache he had brought into her life, but it didn’t matter. Nate’s words broke what was left of Jennie’s strength and her tears began to spill, one rising up as soon as the other fell. The familiar tingling sensation came as Nate’s skin touched hers but even that was not enough to soothe her aching heart. In fact, it only served as a reminder of Nate’s rejection, of the relationship that would never be. She knew he was trying to help, but instead, his kindness only made her feel worse.

  “I have to go,” she said, using what was left of her willpower to pull away. Nate didn’t try to hold her. He knew she’d made up her mind. Still, he had to look away as he heard the creaking of the hinges of the large metal gate closing behind her. His stomach churned and his throat suddenly felt dry as walked back to the gym to get his backpack. Weeks had turned into days and days had turned into hours. All he’d been given to earn Jennie’s friendship was gone and now the time left to do his job and to be near her could almost be measured in minutes.

  That night, for the first time ever, Nate stepped into Jennie’s room and disappeared into the background to watch her sleep. The rise and fall of her chest was soothing to him as he wrestled with his choices, which were now extremely limited. Since their fallout on New Year’s Eve, Nate had been working very hard to follow the rules. He’d hoped, somehow, his obedience would make everything work out, but so far his life and job were a total mess. In his desperation, he considered physically holding her back or tricking her in some way so that she wouldn’t go on the trip with her parents. Those thoughts came and went quickly without merit. Taking away people’s freedom to choose was never part of a protector’s arsenal. Finally, about 5 a.m., Nate made his decision. He would try honesty and hope for the best.

  When the sun began to push its way up over the horizon at 6:10, Nate was still in her room, savoring every last minute he had with her. Before long, the hazy grey of morning began to give way to the emerging light of day. Merciless time was gone, just like the dark night before, and now, Nate knew that like time, he must move forward.

  Without making a noise or even rustling the air around his being, he moved to Jennie’s bedside and kissed her delicately on the cheek.

  “I love you, Jennie,” he whispered in the still of the room and then, he was gone.

  Chapter 31

  Jennie opened her eyes and squinted against the morning sunlight. Her swollen eyes burned after hours of tears the day before and her muscles ached with exhaustion. As if it might make her feel better, she squeezed her eyes shut and then tried again, this time looking around her room instead of straight at the sunlight streaming through the window.

  Nate was long gone, although she wouldn’t have seen him anyway.

  When she f
elt ready, she looked at her clock: 7:08. She hadn’t set an alarm. Jennie had no intention of going to school today. She was considering never going back to school if the days were anything like yesterday. Instead of getting up, she stretched out until her toes touched the end of the bed and then immediately curled back up beneath her covers. Somewhere in the house, she could hear her mom’s footsteps. She knew her mom would be scurrying around getting ready for their trip. Kate was already at her friend’s house and would be going to school with their family today. Her father would be working half of the day and loading up the car when he got home so that they could leave mid-afternoon. All these familiar sounds should’ve gotten her excited about their upcoming trip, or at least been soothing to her, but they weren’t. She felt anything but enthused about her life. First Nate rejected her and then she let herself become the victim again by trusting Jace. What was wrong with her that neither boy wanted her and only her? Jennie could actually feel herself wallowing in a mud bog of self-pity, yet she made no attempt to escape. It was less painful to stay there, wallowing and ignoring the world.

  Her mother’s footsteps changed pattern. She was coming upstairs now. Jennie pulled the covers over her head but she could still hear her mother heading her way.

  Gently, Cathy pushed open the bedroom door and peered inside. “Jennie,” she called out softly, “you need to get up.” Jennie thought about ignoring her, but quickly realized her mom wouldn’t give up until she saw Jennie’s face. Slowly, she pulled the covers down, revealing her swollen and bloodshot eyes.

  “Oh,” her mother didn’t hide her surprise. “Yesterday took its toll on you.”

  Jennie’s mom came and sat down on the bed and wrapped her arms around her oldest daughter and held her through her blankets. When she pulled back, she managed a small smile.