Homework completed, I decided to go ahead
and pack. Sure, I was jumping the gun, but I had nothing else to do
and it reminded me I’d be seeing Jake soon. After classes ended
Friday afternoon, I intended on leaving right away. I’d even
considered skipping my last two classes but I knew Jake would not
be impressed.
I rifled through my closet and spotted the
box of concert stuff. I took it down and sat on my bed, sorting
through all the loot. I smiled, remembering the promise I had made
Ronnie. Matt said to pass the stuff out to my friends. I had none.
Maybe. I scrambled for a notebook and pen and began writing.
Annie and Cammy,
I know how horrible I was to you both and
how I neglected you because of Lance. I am so terribly sorry I let
a boy come between us. I am very, very sorry. I’ve learned these
past few weeks how precious friendship is, especially with people
like you two. I realize I took advantage of you both, even when we
were on better terms. I guess it’s true that you don’t know what
you’ve got until it’s gone.
Jake keeps telling me to
give it time
—
that
you’re both good girls and you’ll forgive me. I know he’s right but
I miss you both so much, and I’m tired of waiting. I want my
friends back now.
I’ll try to be patient. After all, you have
a lot to forgive me for.
I’m leaving this stuff for you, and I hope
you get it this weekend. Enclosed are your Christmas gifts along
with some stuff Jake and the other guys gave me to give to you.
I hope and pray when I come back Sunday
night, maybe we can talk.
I love you both,
Bella
I put the letter in an envelope, scrawled
their names across the top and taped it to the box. I finished
packing, left Jake a voice mail and crawled into bed.
***
I raced from class Friday afternoon to my
room. The long, horrible day was finally over. In every single one
of my classes, some idiot would constantly pelt me with random
items, be it wadded up paper, pencils, erasers, whatever—they
weren’t too particular. I couldn’t wait to get away from this
school for two glorious nights.
I threw my books on my bed, changed my
clothes and grabbed my overnight bag. I made sure to leave the box
for Annie and Cammy on Annie’s bed as I headed out the door. I
turned around and nearly ran into them both.
“
Oh, sorry,” I mumbled,
staring at my feet. “Um, I left a box of stuff for you two on
Annie’s bed. I’ll be gone all weekend if you want the room or
anything.”
“
Where are you going?”
Cammy asked in her soft voice.
I looked at her, smile toying on my lips.
“Seth’s school. Jake and the guys are playing there this
weekend.”
“
So, you’re still talking
to Jake?” Annie asked, her tone hard.
A blush spread across my cheeks as my smile
widened.
“
Yeah,” I said in a
whisper. Annie and Cammy exchanged a look. “Um, I have to go. I
told Jake I’d leave right after class.”
“
Okay,” Cammy said. She
gave me a hesitant smile. Annie nodded so I nodded back. I waved
and tore off down the hall.
***
I called Jake as I neared the University. I
wasn’t sure where the hotel was so he told me to meet him in the
Hall. He said they were still rehearsing but it sounded to me that
they were goofing off.
I parked and followed the confusing signs
that directed me to the Hall. Once I got there, a beefy man twice
the size of Frankie, Jake’s bodyguard, stopped me. I was in near
tears as I tried to convince him Jake was expecting me. Finally,
the blonde with the tablet from the New Year’s show strolled up to
us.
“
Is there a problem?” she
asked.
“
Amanda, right?” I prayed
that was her name. I couldn’t recall. “Do you remember me from the
New Year’s show at West Village University?”
She furrowed her brow. “Aren’t you Jake
Johnson’s girl? He said you’d be here.”
“
Yes,” I said, jumping up
and down like an idiot. She ignored my reaction and shoved a
laminated pass on a long, nylon lanyard at me.
“
Here. Wear this and you
won’t have any more problems.” She disappeared before I could thank
her. I smiled sarcastically at the big man, and he allowed me
passage. I skipped through the doors and down the long aisle. I
spotted Jake’s bandana-clad head on stage horsing around with Nick
and a couple of members of Society Lost. I stopped as my breath
caught in my chest. It’d only been two weeks, but it seemed a
lifetime.
“
There’s Iz!” Ronnie yelled
behind me, startling me. He laughed when I jumped, and picked me
up, swinging me around. He carried me up to the stage and deposited
me on top of it. “You don’t weigh much,” he frowned.
I shrugged and threw my arms around Jake,
inhaling his scent and savoring the moment. He kissed my temple and
eased me back.
“
You’re not looking so
hot,” he said, brows dipping in concern. “Have you been
sick?”
“
No,” I said with an uneasy
smile. “Just busy with schoolwork and play practice.”
He studied me for a couple more minutes and
kissed my cheek. “We’ve just finished up – your timing is
impeccable. You ready to get out of here?”
“
Definitely,” I smiled,
anxious to have a second alone with him. My cell rang and I frowned
at the number. “I forgot to call my brother.”
“
Have him meet us at the
hotel,” Nick suggested.
I spoke quickly to Seth and told him where I
was staying. He was so excited to meet Jake and the guys that his
voice pitch nearly sent all dogs in a two mile radius into howling
fits. I ended my call and handed Jake my keys. He took me by the
hand and led me to the car. Once we were both safely inside, he
pulled me close and kissed me softly. I melded into him, forgetting
how horrible the past two weeks had been.
He broke the kiss with a smile, making my
heart flutter erratically. “I couldn’t wait to do that.”
I blushed and laced my fingers through his
as he started the car and drove us to the hotel.
Everyone had congregated in Jake’s room when
Seth arrived. When he knocked on the door, I raced to answer it,
anxious to see my big brother. I threw my arms around him as he
entered. He returned my embrace briefly then pulled away, holding
me at arm’s length with a frown.
I took a step back, a little startled. He
pointed a finger at me. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do,
Isabella Ames.”
I took another step back, eyes growing.
“What?”
He noticed four pairs of curious eyes
watching us and his cheeks pinked. “Oh, hi. I’m Seth.”
They went through the usual male greeting
ritual; hand shake, head nod, grunts of ‘how you doing, man’, that
sort of thing. I tried desperately to blend in with my
surroundings, praying I’d suddenly turn into a chameleon. But it
didn’t work. Seth whirled around to point at me again.
“
Sit,” he
ordered.
Nick scrambled for a chair tucked under a
table and set it down behind me. I sank in it, eyes on my
brother.
Seth stood over me, arms folded, glaring at
me as though I were under interrogation for some sort of heinous
crime.
“
What’s going on at
school?” he asked, tone even but highly dangerous.
“
Nothing,” I mumbled,
dropping my eyes to the floor. It was about time the hotel
shampooed the carpet.
“
Don’t lie to me,
Isabella,” he said through clenched teeth.
I took a deep breath, panic and fear lifting
my face to his. “Drop it, Seth. It’s nothing. Everything is under
control.” I wasn’t liking where this conversation was headed or the
look in his eyes.
“
Something wrong at school,
Iz?” Jake asked. He leaned against the dresser and tilted his
head.
I jumped to my feet, eyes darting all over
the room. I couldn’t find a spot to stare at—there were too many
eyes in the room watching me. “Nothing is going on, okay? Can we
please drop the whole matter?”
Seth barked out a sarcastic laugh. “Mark
Pembrock’s little brother is in Drama Club with you, right? What’s
his name…Jeff?” I nodded in defeat. There was no way out of this
now. Jeff was the boy who’d helped me out of the snow. “Mark
Pembrock is in my Philosophy class. Bet you can’t guess what he
told me today.”
I narrowed my eyes at my brother.
“
Okay, I got you. Drop the
innocent act. I know what he told you,” I snarled. I temporarily
forgot that Jake and the others were in the room. “He told you
Alicia bloodied my nose after I punched her, right?”
“
No way, Iz,” Ronnie
exclaimed. He jumped off the dresser he’d been sitting on seconds
ago. I held up my hand and stopped him, my eyes still on my
brother.
“
I’m fine. It’s over,” I
told Seth. His smile wasn’t the soft, happy-go-lucky smile he
usually wore. Instead, it held a hint of anger.
“
Jeff told Mark people have
been hassling you since school started up again.”
Jake took a step toward me but I couldn’t
face him. I was too embarrassed. “What’s going on, Iz?”
I rubbed my forehead in an attempt to hide.
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“
How can you say that,
Bella?” Seth exploded. Did I ever mention that we were close? And
that he is very protective? “Look at you! You look like you haven’t
slept or eaten a thing since Christmas break.”
Ya think?
“
I can take care of it,” I
whispered, still hiding.
“
You’re not doing a very
good job,” he shouted. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“
I tried calling you,” I
said, glaring at him. “You’re always busy.”
He paled and took a step back. “I kept
putting you off, huh?”
“
I wasn’t going to tell you
anyway,” I admitted.
Nick stepped between us and took me by the
shoulders. He gently eased me back in the chair and squatted in
front of me. He held my hands. “What’s happening at your school,
Iz?”
His voice was so soft and sweet that it
broke me. A sob caught in my throat, and I had to swallow before I
could speak. I stared at our connected hands, watching Nick’s
thumbs run softly over the top of my hands. I had a strange, sudden
urge for my mother as the first tears fell from my eyes and landed
on Nick’s hand. I swiped angrily at them, horrified that I’d once
again been reduced to a crying, sobbing mess.
“
It’s horrible,” I
whispered when I finally found my voice.
Nick lifted my chin and his green eyes met
mine. “Tell me, sweetie, what do they do?”
“
They call me bad names,
spread rumors about me, try to trip me in the halls. They throw
stuff.” I spoke so quickly and quietly that I didn’t think the
others heard me. But I could feel every pair of eyes boring into me
and I knew they heard every word.
“
Bella,” Seth said
hoarsely. “You didn’t do anything with Lance, did you?”
I shook my head, finally looking at his
face. “No. He tried. He made a bet with Dean Gold. But I swear he
lost!”
Seth cursed and I was certain my mother
would not have approved of the words coming out of his mouth.
“
So you quit going to the
cafeteria,” Nick continued, dragging my gaze back to him. He was so
handsome I was surprised he didn’t have a girlfriend. “And you’re
not sleeping.”
I could only nod. He continued to rub his
thumbs over my hands in sympathy and it suffocated me. I jumped
away from him and out of the chair, knocking it down in the
process. I wiped my face again. “Look, I can handle this. It’s
nothing but a bunch of immature, childish stuff. It will stop soon
enough.”
“
It won’t stop, Iz,” Nick
said, standing in front of me. “I know. I dropped out of school
when I was fifteen because of the same thing.”
I froze, jaw falling to the floor. Nick?
Nick who had the best build out of all of them? Nick who was so
handsome? Who would bully him except girls wanting to date him?
His cheeks turned a lovely shade of scarlet
and I realized I must have spoken the last part aloud. He grinned
sheepishly. “I was a lot skinnier back then. And nerdier. Ask
Jake.
Jake clapped him on the shoulder. “He was.
We all stuck up for him as much as we could but it didn’t help a
whole lot.”
Nick reached out and took my hand again. “So
don’t blow this off, Iz. Okay?”
I nodded, still grappling with the thought
that Nick was bullied. Nick!
“
You’re asleep on your
feet, Bella,” Seth said as he pulled me to his chest. I closed my
eyes and fought off another bout of tears as I hugged my brother
back. How much better it felt to admit all my humiliation to him
and to my friends. It was like a huge weight lifted off my
shoulders—and my heart.
“
Why don’t you go to bed?
We’ll figure this out in the morning,” he said in my hair. I nodded
against his chest, not too anxious to let him go. Finally, he
released me and gave me a smile. “Go on. I’ll call you in the
morning.”
I couldn’t even protest at being sent to bed
like a child—I was far too exhausted. It was pretty late, after
all, and I needed to sleep. I cast one last longing look at Jake as
I walked through the adjoining door. I changed into an old t-shirt
and a pair of shorts and climbed in bed. As soon as I closed my
eyes, I was out.
I woke sometime before dawn to find Jake
snoring in my ear. His arm was thrown over my hip and I snuggled
closer. I smiled in the dark, content, and fell back to sleep.