Chapter 14

"Well, call him already," Drey said. "This is the most exciting thing that's happened all day."

"No shit," I said. "That's because you're studying all day."

"Call himmm, Jasp," Drey pleaded and I rolled my eyes.

I sat up in my bed and looked over at Drey who's eyes watched me with excitement. Then I raised my arm up in the air and chucked my phone at him. He screamed and fumbled to catch it, eventually dropping it on the ground.

"You call him," I said and leaned back. "If you're so damn interested."

"What was that for?" Drey asked, reaching over to pick up my phone. "You could have cracked it."

"But I didn't," I said. "Go ahead, Drey. Call him."

"Fine," Drey replied and swiped to unlock my phone. "What's your passcode?"

"DreylovesXander," I replied, holding back a grin.

"Shut up," Drey shot. "May is the only one in my heart. But really, what's your passcode?"

I told him my passcode and he quickly typed it in before looking up Xander's contact. His eyes squinted at the screen as he scrolled through my contacts, eventually becoming confused.

"You didn't save his number?" he asked.

"I did," I replied.

"Xander Peyton isn't showing up," he said.

"Of course it's not," I said. "His name is Rude Bastard."

Drey looked up at me and laughed. "Ah, should've known."

He pressed on the contact and my phone instantly began to ring as I sighed, placing my arms behind my neck.

After a few rings, Xander picked up.

"It's about time you called," Xander said, his deep voice resonating through the room as Drey put him on speaker.

Drey cleared his throat before he began talking, evidently attempting to make his voice deeper to match mine. "What do you have to say to me?"

"You're not Jasper," Xander said. "Why do you have his phone, Drey?"

"Oh come on, how'd you know it was me?" Drey asked, obviously down on himself. "I thought I did a good impression."

"Not sexy enough."

"What?" I yelled as I immediately sat up in my bed and walked over to Drey.

"There you are, Jasper," Xander said and I heard him laugh.

"The fuck you mean 'not sexy enough'?" I asked and ripped my phone from Drey's hands. "You think my voice is sexy?"

"Hell no," Xander replied, still laughing. "I figured that'd be the only way to get you on the damn phone."

Damn it.

"Screw you," I spit.

"My house?" he asked.

"Oh my god," I said and rolled my eyes.

"Just messin' with you," Xander said. "But hey, take me off speaker."

"Wait," Drey said. "Why can't I listen? Or is it something private?" he asked and winked at me. I almost gagged.

"Nah, I'm just thinking that you should get back to studying," Xander replied. "I'm right behind your rank, you know."

"Oh shit!" Drey yelled and whirled around to face his homework.

I took Xander off of speaker and put my phone to my ear. "What do you want?"

"Before you get angry, just listen to what I'm about to say," Xander said, his voice serious.

"What is it?" I asked. I couldn't imagine what Xander would have to say to me for him to sound so serious.

"I heard your phone call earlier," he started.

"You what?" I almost yelled.

"Listen to me, Jasper," Xander said. "My car wouldn't start earlier and I called my sister to jump it. While I was waiting, I just happened to hear part of your conversation."

"You damn asshole," I growled. "How could you listen to something like that?"

Drey whipped around to stare at me and I looked away.

"Jasper, I know how you feel," Xander said softly.

"How would you know how I feel?" I asked.

"I don't have a mom either," Xander quickly replied.

I stilled.

"Or a dad for that matter."

I didn't reply. My voice caught in my throat.

"Jasper," Xander said. "Are you there?"

I took a second to reply. "I'm here."

"You may not believe me, but I do understand what you're going through," Xander continued.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"For one, after finding out there was someone else who understood the same pain that I felt, it made me feel like I wasn't alone. So now, I guess I'm just trying to tell you the same thing. You know, that you're not alone," he replied.

I didn't understand why he was saying such kind words to me. It was like he was a completely different person.

"You're weird," was all I could manage to get out. "I'm not like you."

"You're right," he said. "Your parents didn't abandon you."

"Abandon?"

"My parents left me with my aunt when I was two years old," Xander explained. "My sister was one at the time. Neither of us remember it happening. But still, I understand where you're coming from."

I didn't know how to respond.

"But you said your dad was the one who was sick at home," I said.

"Shit, did I?" he asked.

"Yeah, so what're you hiding, Xander?" I asked.

"Nothing," he quickly said.

"There you go again being all mysterious," I sighed.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it. But really, how're you feeling now that you know my past is like yours?" he asked.

"I'm not sure how I'm even supposed to respond to all of this," I said. "You just spilled your life to me."

Xander laughed. "I didn't expect much from you anyways. But I guess I just also needed to vent. Sorry it had to be to you."

I choked over my words. "I, uh. It's fine. I let Hayden vent to me all the time."

"I'm sure most of it was about my sister, Paisley," Xander responded.

"How'd you know?" I asked.

"They were dating, weren't they?" Xander asked. "I mean, I know they were. I was the one who introduced Hayden to Paisley."

"So it's your fault," I said.

"My fault? I didn't want my sister dating one of my closest friends, you know," Xander replied. "It was out of my control when they started going out."

"Oh," I said.

"But he's single now," Xander said. "Why aren't you taking a shot?"

"Why should I tell you?" I muttered. "I wish you never found out."

"Then should I tell you a secret to make up for it?" Xander asked.

"I don't care enough about you to want to know a secret of yours," I said.

"Haha, fine," Xander said. "I can make up for it in a different way."

"How's that?" I asked.

"I'll help you out," Xander replied. "With Hayden."

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