"Coach is killing me." I say, rubbing icy hot on my legs.
Jordan and I are sitting on my bed, rubbing my muscles. Today was my fourth day of practice and Coach has been making us run non-stop. We haven't even touched the field yet, which we can't do until another week or so. Until then, we're conditioning. Running and lifting weights. I'll be looking like Jordan pretty soon if I keep this up.
"When the season starts, and you're able to run like me; you'll be thanking him." He smiles, rubbing my legs.
I wince when he rubs at a real sore spot. "That hurts so much, but feels so good." I say.
"You have really sexy legs." He smirks at me.
I roll my eyes, "I wish. They're hideous."
"You doubt yourself too much, Midget. I wish you could see yourself through my eyes." He's getting serious now.
Jordan hates when I doubt how beautiful I am. Honestly, I don't believe that I am ugly. I feel that I look decent, but the way Jordan describes me sometimes is just crazy. He acts like I'm some beautiful girl from one of the novels I've read.
"I'm serious, Midget. You're beautiful." He says, looking at me now.
I look down at my legs and shake my head. "I'm not beautiful, Jordan. All the girls you've ever messed around with are beautiful. They all look like models and then there is me. Plain and ordinary."
He shuffles a little and I can tell he's moving off the bed. He stands up and reaches his hand out for me.
"What are you doing?" I question.
His hand is still outstretched, "Just get off the bed."
I place my hand in his and get off the bed. He pulls out his phone and starts to tap and scroll. He clicks on something and places his phone down on my nightstand. Music begins to play and I recognize the song immediately. Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars. I smile slightly to myself and Jordan pulls me close to him. I remember Jordan playing this song for me once.
"I would sing it to you, but I don't sound as good as Bruno." He smiles.
I rest my head on his chest and listen to his heart beat. It's my favorite thing to listen to. The rhythm of his heart calms me.
"The guys and I are planning a trip soon. It's the week of spring break. Troy's parents are letting us go to the beach house and I was wondering if you wanted to come? You, Alyssa, and Jake are invited." He says.
I look up at him. "Yeah. I would love to go." I smile.
"Good, because I wasn't going to take no for an answer. It'll be two weeks before prom, so I figured you and Alyssa could probably go shopping for a dress and the guys and I could go try and find a suit." He starts to ramble and I can't help but think he's nervous about something.
"Are you okay?" I ask, humor clear in my voice.
"Yeah. I just want things to be perfect when we go there." He says.
"They will be. As long as I have you there with me." I say.
He smiles at me before kissing me on the forehead. Jordan means the world to me. The love I feel for him is so deep. It literally suffocates me sometimes, but in a good way. I want Jordan to be my first. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather share that experience with for the first time. I've made my mind up. Spring break, I'm going to lose my virginity to Jordan.
~~~~
It's Friday, which means today we get out of practice early. Or should I say conditioning. I walk down the hall of the school and take a deep breath. This is my last year here. In a few more months, I'll be graduating. I've decided I wanted to go to New York University. It's always been my dream to go there and I just feel like it's what I want and need to do. The only thing wrong with that is, what if Jordan doesn't want to go there. We haven't even discussed college with each other yet. I know Jordan is going to school to play football, so he's not going to settle at just any school.
I run my hand through my hair, thinking about how I'm going to tell Jordan I'm going to New York. I've even decided to take summer classes. Jordan is going to be furious with me.
A guy, who's about Jordan's height and has blonde hair, walks over to me. "Hey, I'm Lucas." He greets.
"Um, hey." I greet back, awkwardly.
"I just wanted to invite you to my party. It's the week of spring break, of course. It's on a Friday. You should really come." He says.
"Well, I don't know. If Jordan goes, I'll go." I tell him.
"Already invited him. He said he'd be there." He informs me.
"Okay." I say.
"Okay." He smiles, walking away.
That was extremely weird. I hope Jordan doesn't plan on partying the whole time we're there. I mean, I don't mind going to a few parties, but they're not really my scene. If I'm being totally honest, I hate going to parties. I'd rather just stay inside than go to a hot party where everyone is drunk and dancing on each other.
I enter the library and spot Alyssa and Jake sitting at a table with each other. We decided to meet up here, so that I could help Jake write an essay. Alyssa didn't want to be left out of the loop, so she joined us.
"Hey, guys." I sit down and greet.
"What's up?" Jake says.
"Hey, girly. We get out early today. Thank God." She sighs.
I laugh, "I know how you feel."
"Okay, well, let's get to work. I'm almost finished. I just have to finish the third paragraph and the conclusion paragraph." He tells me.
I nod my head and I begin to look over the essay. It's pretty good for the most part. I go back and fix some things in the previous paragraphs and we begin to work on the last two. Alyssa tells us about how she got a scholarship to play softball at a school. She's really considering it and I'm happy for her. Jake doesn't want to go to school and play football or anything. He wants to go to school to become a computer technician. I've recently decided on what I wanted to do. Marketing. I want to go to school for marketing.
After we finish the essay, we sit and talk for a few minutes. "Did that guy Lucas come up to you guys and tell you about a party?" I ask.
"Yeah. It's going around school that he's throwing one. Everyone is going." Jake says.
"Even you guys?" I ask.
"Yup. I'm not missing it. I'm sure Jordan is going. I mean, we're all going to be together anyway." Alyssa says.
"Right. Well, we better get going. We have practice. I'll see you later, Jakey." I stand up and go over to him, hugging him.
He hugs me back and hugs Alyssa as well. Alyssa and I leave the library and head to the locker room. When I enter in, Virginia is coming out and she bumps shoulders with me. Carmen snickers at me and it takes everything in me to not punch both of them in the face. I have to hold Alyssa back from doing so, which isn't easy. I just tell her to think about her softball scholarship and she calms down a little.
We get dressed quickly and head down to the softball field. As soon as we get there, Coach has us run poles and the bases. He then makes a partner up and do the wheel barrel. Run to one end of the field with your partner on your back and then switch and run back down the field. He also makes us do leap frog, which I think is just for his amusement.
After all of that, he lets us take a break. All the girls on the team collapse to the ground, trying to catch our breath. Coach Johnson doesn't play.
"Oh my goodness. I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest." Virginia says, trying to take deep breaths.
"I don't think I can run another inch." I complain.
"Better catch your breath then, because he's going to make us run bases again before he lets us leave." Alyssa says in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Ugh. When are we going to stop all this running and actually start playing softball. If I wanted to run, I would have tried out for the track team." Virginia complains.
"We'll stop all the running when you girls can run and not collapse to the ground afterwards. You all have to be in shape." Coach Johnson says.
We all stand up to our feet. "Like I said, I'm going to let you girls go early, but you all have to run the bases. Four times, full sprint. If I see so much as one of you jogging, the whole team will have to redo them over. Give it your all the first time and everyone can go home."
Everyone looks at each other, secretly telling each other to sprint or be killed by your teammates. We all walk onto the field and get lined up. He blows the whistle for each and every one of us, letting us know when to go. When he blows it for me, I take off. My foot hits the edge of first base and I push myself off of it and go on to second base. Before I know it, I'm finished with the first lap and onto the second. When I get to my third, I can feel my body wanting to quit on me. I imagine Jordan running next to me, shirtless, telling me to keep running. That we only have to go a little bit further. That fuels me and I end up pushing myself to finish the laps. When I'm done, I wait for Coach to tell us whether or not we have to do them again.
"Good job, ladies. Break it down and you're free to leave." He says.
Everyone sighs in relief and we all break it down. My muscles are burning and my heart is beating against my rib cage. Alyssa and I walk to our cars and lean up against them.
"Just one more week of this." Alyssa says.
"Now I understand why you guys win so much." I laugh.
"It's hard, but it's worth it. When we start to win games, all of your hard work pays off. I plan on going back to the championship again this year. We lost a lot of our good players, but it looks like we have a decent amount of girls this year." Alyssa says.
"It would be nice to win the championship this year." I smile.
She laughs, "I guess I'll talk to you later. I think I'm going to go home, take a shower, and knockout."
"I think I'm going to do the same." I agree with her.
I hug her before getting into my car and going to my house. When I get home, I immediately take a shower. I smell horrible from sweating so much. I get out of the shower and put on my favorite pajama shorts. I flop down on my bed and sigh. It feels so good to be on my bed.
Right when I'm about to fall asleep, a tap on my balcony door makes me get up. I walk over to the door lazily and open it. It's Jake.
"My parents are giving me shit. Can I crash here tonight?" He asks.
I nod my head and walk back over to my bed. I get in my bed and close my eyes. I hear my balcony doors shut and a few seconds later, the other side of the bed dips down. I hear Jake kick off his shoes before fully getting into the bed. He had on gym shorts and a shirt cut where the sleeves would be. The sides were also cut out.
"Want to talk about it?" I ask, my eyes still closed.
"Kind of, but you're sleepy. I'll tell you tomorrow." He says, his voice shaky a little.
"Okay. Good night, Jakey. I love you." I yawn.
"Good night, Abby. I love you, too." That's the last thing I hear before falling asleep.
The next morning I wake up to the sun in my eyes. The doors to my balcony are open. I turn my head to see that Jake isn't in my bed anymore. I get out of bed and go out my balcony door. He's sitting at the small table, looking at the sky or the trees. I can't tell. I pull the other chair to the table and sit down in it on the other side of the table.
"How long have you been up?" I ask, looking out into the distance.
"About three hours." He answers.
"You okay?" I ask.
He sighs, but doesn't answer me which tells me the answer. He's upset right now and probably wants to be alone, but he's alone too much. He probably feels like he's alone in this, but he's not. He has me. He has Alyssa. He even has Jordan and the guys. He's not alone.
I place my hand on his, "Talk to me, Jake."
He looks at me. I see the bags under his eyes and he looks really tired. I can tell he's been crying because his eyes are red. The blue in his eyes look almost dead.
"I can't do it anymore." Jake chokes out.
I run my hand through my hair. "What are you talking about, Jake. What did they say to you?"
A tear falls down his cheek and he turns away from me. "Jake?" I question.
"My dad said he wished I was dead. So I'm going to grant his wish." Jake says.
I narrow my eyes and I become confused. "Jake, what are you talking about grant his wish?"
His eyes look into mine and I see that he's broken. It's different this time. Like he's giving up. His eyes are drooping. I stand up and go around the table, crouching down in front of him.
I look into his other hand, the one I hadn't placed my hand on, and see that he has a pill bottle in his hand. My eyes go wide and I turn my attention back to him.
"Jake! You didn't take these, did you?" I shout, frantic.
"I'm sorry, Abby. Tell everyone I'm sorry." He cries.
I get up and run into my room, grabbing my phone. I immediately call 911. A woman's voice answers and she asks me what's my emergency. I stumble and rush over my words. She's trying to get me to calm down. I tell her what happened and I tell her my address. I repeat it over and over. I hear a loud thump and I go back outside to see Jake on the ground.
"Jake!" I yell, rushing to his side.
I slide over to him, scraping my knees bad. I hear my mom and dad in my room, calling my name.
"Out here!" I cry.
This can't be happening. My breathing is uncontrolled right now. My dad comes by my side and I hear him, but I don't. He's asking me what happened, but the only thing I can focus on is my best friend, laying here. Unconscious or dead. I don't know. I hear the sirens coming down our street and my dad moves me out the way. He picks up Jake's limp body and carries him downstairs. I'm crying uncontrollably right now. I get up and rush downstairs to see Jake being placed on a gurney.
I try to rush over to him, but my dad stops me. I'm trying to push pass him, but my dad is too strong.
"Abby!" He yells, trying to get me to focus on him instead of the ambulance that's taking my best friend to the hospital.
"Abby!" He shakes me again.
I turn my attention to him. "We'll follow them to the hospital. I need you to go upstairs and get dressed as quickly as you can." He demands.
I can't seem to focus right now. I can't seem to make my legs move right now. My dad starts to push me into the house. I look at my mom to see that she's a mess just like I am. She can't seem to wrap her mind around this just like I can't.
"Go upstairs and get dressed, Abby. If you want to see Jake and be there for him, you have to go get dressed." He says.
I quickly go upstairs and go to my closet. I quickly find some yoga pants and put them on. I find some shoes on the floor and slide them on. I'm not even matching, but I don't care. I rush downstairs, to find my dad and mom waiting on me. My mom is silently crying to herself and my dad looks like he wishes Matt was here. He has to deal with two emotional girls right now.
We all get into the car and head to the hospital. As we pass Jake's house, a sudden anger fuels me. If it weren't for the fact that I have to go check on him, I would be marching over to their house right now getting ready to punch his parents in the face. They did this to Jake. He never asked for this. All he ever wanted was to be loved.
The ride to the hospital feels like forever. My mind won't stop thinking the worst. What if Jake doesn't make it? What if they didn't get to him fast enough? What if it's my fault because I didn't wake up soon enough and stop him? What if Jake dies? Those same questions keep running through my mind, trying to get me to break. It's working. I can't seem to stop crying back here and I want to call someone and let them know what happened, but I can't speak. My dad has been asking if I'm okay for the past ten minutes and I haven't answered him yet. I tried, but the words no, I'm not okay wouldn't come out.
As soon as my dad parks, I rush out of the car. I run to the entrance and go up to the desk to where the front lady is. She's looking at me like I've gone nuts and she's probably thinking I need to be checked in somewhere.
"I need to see my friend. His name is Jake Riles." I finally say.
She stares at me for a moment, adding to my irritation at the woman before looking at her sheet.
"He can't be seen right now. The doctors are performing a gastric lavage on him. You'll have to wait in the waiting room." She tells me.
"You don't understand. I have to see him." I start to raise my voice.
"Ma'am, please lower your voice. You can either go wait in the waiting room or I can call security." She says, her hands on the phone.
"I just need to know that he's okay! Why won't you help me!" I yell.
I feel a pair of arms wrap around me, pulling me away from the desk. "Please don't call security. I got her." My dad says.
My dad forces me into a seat and sits in the one beside me. My mom is talking to the lady I was just talking to.
"Listen, causing a scene isn't going to help Jake right now. I know you're worried, but acting like this won't help Jake right now. We're all worried for him. So sit here and calm down." He says, anger and sympathy in his voice.
My head falls and I begin to cry again. "I should have made him tell me what was wrong last night. Instead, I wanted to go to sleep instead of listen to my best friend. I could have prevented all of this."
"Don't you dare blame yourself for this. This isn't anyone's fault. It's not even Jake's fault. I swear, when I see his dad I'm going to kill him." My dad's hands grip the arms of the chair.
I wipe my eyes. "I need to call Alyssa. Let her know what happened."
"Okay. Don't get into a fuss with anyone and get kicked out, okay?" He demands.
I nod my head and walk outside of the hospital. I don't like being at hospitals. I hate the smell of them. I take my phone out of my pocket and check the time. It's ten twenty-one. My hands are shaking and I can't seem to pull Alyssa's number up. I take a deep breath. Just calm down Abby. Everything is going to be okay. Jake is going to be okay.
I pull her number up and press the call button on my screen. It rings a couple of times and she picks up.
"Hey, girly." She says, happily.
"Alyssa." I break down in sobs after I say her name.
"Abby, what's wrong?" She immediately becomes concerned.
"It's Jake. Just," I pause, taking a deep breath, "Come to the hospital."
"Yeah. Okay. I'm on the way." She rushes out before hanging up.
I let the phone fall to my side before I fall to the ground. I'm not even able to hold myself up. I cry and cry for what seems like forever.
"Abby!" I look up to see Alyssa running over to me.
She crouches down beside me. "What's wrong. What's going on?"
"It's Jake." I sob.
I know me saying it's Jake isn't telling her what's going on, but every time I try to go further into explaining, I choke on my words.
"Alright. Let's go inside." She picks me up and we go inside of the hospital again.
She goes into the waiting room and sits me down. She's always been the strongest out of us two. I sit there and cry, while my dad and mom explain to her what happened. When they're finished explaining everything to her, she comes sit beside me and she stares blankly in front of her.
"How did this happen." She says.
She's trying to comprehend everything. "His dad said he wished Jake was dead. Jake tried to make his wish come true." I sniff.
"Oh my God." She covers her mouth.
I wrap my arm around her and bring her close to me. She begins to sob into my shoulder and I know she's hurting just like I am.
She wipes her eyes, "I need to call Daniel. Let him know what's going on."
She gets up and leaves me by myself. My head falls into my hands and I somehow wish I could just go back to the days where Alyssa, Jake, and I were happy. Even when he lived with his parents, he never felt like this. He never was at the point of where he wanted to kill himself. He always had Alyssa and me. Until we got boyfriends. We left him. This is my fault. I'm so in love with Jordan that I'm forgetting about my two best friends. I can't even remember the last time we went out and had fun, just the three of us.
Alyssa returns a few minutes later and sits down next to me. "The guys are on the way. They were all together."
"Okay." I say.
She throws her arm around my shoulders. "Everything is going to be okay. He'll be okay." She says.
I nod my head, not trusting my voice. If I speak, I'll cry again. My mom and dad decide to go to the front desk and ask the woman if she can tell them anything. I doubt she will.
"Midget." I turn my head to see Jordan rushing over to me.
I stand up and go over to him, wrapping my arms around him. "Oh, Jordan." I cry.
"Shh. It's okay, baby." He rubs small circles on my back and tries to soothe me.
Daniel goes over to Alyssa and comforts her. We're both not in good shape, but Alyssa is handling this better than me. She's not crying every five minutes like me. She's always been tough and not one to show too much emotion. Me, I'm the exact opposite. I'm literally the definition of a cry baby.
Jordan takes me to a seat across from Alyssa and Daniel. Troy sits beside Jordan and Ryan sits beside Daniel. I want people to be here, so when Jake makes it through this he'll know that he has people that love him.
"What happened?" Jordan asks.
I can't stop crying long enough to tell him the story. He could easily just ask Alyssa, but he doesn't. He wants me to calm down and tell him. He places his hands on my cheeks and makes me look him in the eyes.
"Midget, breathe. Calm down. I'm right here, baby." He says, looking me in the eyes.
I stare into his eyes and try to calm down. His thumbs are rubbing against my cheeks, causing me to feel a bit better. It's crazy how Jordan can calm me. Be my anchor.
"Now what happened?" He asks again.
"Last night he came to my house. He told me he had an argument with his parents and asked if he could stay. I told him he could stay and I asked if he wanted to talk about it, but he knew I was tired and that I would probably fall asleep on him so he said it could wait until in the morning." I take a breath and close my eyes.
"This morning I woke up and found him outside. I sat down and was talking with him. His eyes were distant while we were talking. He had been crying. He told me his dad told him he wished he was dead and he would make his wish come true. It wasn't until I rushed over to him that I noticed the pill bottle. I went inside and called 911 and he passed out. They rushed him to the hospital. They won't tell us much." I tell him.
"Damn. I thought my dad was a prick." Daniel says.
"If I see his dad I'm going to punch the shit out of him." Jordan says.
"You'll have to wait in line. My dad has first dibs." I joke and let out a forced laugh.
Jordan pulls me to his side and kisses my forehead. "Everything is going to be okay."
I feel like I've heard that a million times already. Everything isn't okay until I know that Jake is okay. My parents come back in with nothing. They say hey to Jordan and the guys. The rest of the time, we sit and wait. Waiting is the scariest part. It leads up to the good or bad news you're going to receive.
A doctor finally comes walking in and says Jake's full name. We all stand and walk over to him.
"Are you guys his family?" The doctor asks.
"Yes." I immediately say.
The doctor knows we aren't his real family, but he doesn't say anything. That's probably best because I'm on edge and I will punch someone right now.
"Jake is going to be fine. He's sleeping right now, but should be up soon. I also want him to talk to a therapist. This was a suicide attempt and I want to keep him overnight for observation and to make sure he doesn't try to harm himself again." The doctor says.
He makes it sound like Jake is crazy. He's perfectly fine. It isn't his fault. He should be calling someone on his parents.
"If you want, two of you can go in and visit him. But only two at a time." The doctor says.
"You and Alyssa should go in first." My dad says.
I nod my head along with Alyssa. She takes my hand in hers and we begin to walk down the hall. Each step I take feels heavy. I think Alyssa feels nervous just like me because the grip that she has on my hand tightens. We get in front of his door and all of a sudden I feel like I can't do this. Like I'm expecting to see someone else besides my best friend.
"We can do this. You can do this." Alyssa reassures me.
I nod my head and look back at the door. I twist the knob and push the door open. I walk in with Alyssa behind me. We see Jake at the same time and we both gasp. He's so pale. I rush over to him and pull a chair up beside his bed. Alyssa pulls another chair up, right beside me.
"Thank God you made it Jake. If you hadn't, I don't know what I would have done. Please don't ever try that again." I begin to cry.
"Right. I would punch you in the arm right now if it weren't for your condition. You have me crying. You know I don't waste my tears on just anyone." Alyssa cries along with me.
"You have us still. I know I haven't been there for you like I should and I'm sorry for that. I've been putting Jordan before both of you and I'm sorry. I love you so much, Jake. You have to know that. Please, just talk to me next time. I don't want to lose you. I won't lose you. Okay?" The tears fall freely and I can't stop them.
"Please stop crying. You're making me feel bad." Jake says, his eyes still closed.
I look over to Alyssa before a huge smile breaks out on my face. "Jake!" I yell, hugging him.
Alyssa stands up and hugs him too. "You scared the shit out of us." Alyssa sighs in relief.
We pull away from him and sit down in our chairs. He opens his eyes, like he's unsure of where he is. He looks at us and I can see the guilt forming in his eyes.
"I'm sorry guys." He says.
"You should be apologizing! You could have died you asshole!" Alyssa yells at him.
He looks away from her. "But I'm glad you didn't." She sighs.
A small smile breaks out on his face, causing her to smile. I'm so relieved right now. My heart is thumping against my chest right now from relief.
"Come back and live with me." I say.
"Of course. I'm not going back to that place. Ever." He says.
His voice is weak and scratchy. We talk to him some more before letting everyone else visit him. Soon, the nurse tells us that visiting hours are over and that we have to go. Everyone has left out of the room, except for me.
"We'll come back and get you tomorrow." I tell him.
"Okay." He smiles a little.
I smile back at him. "I'm really glad you're okay. I love you, Jake."
"I love you, too, Abby. I'm really sorry about scaring you." He says.
"It's okay. Just get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow." I kiss him on the forehead before turning the lights off and leaving the room.
______________________________________
So what do you think? Does this make up for how bad last chapter was? Lol .. I hope you guys like this. A lot of drama. Don't forget to vote and comment what you think.
I love you guys and I can't wait for you guys to start reading the second book. I've already started working on it. The question is, how many of you will read it?
Creative_Mind23