Dark Beauty

chapter 15

Chapter fifteen

When I woke up this morning the first thing I remembered was how Jake was yesterday. I didn’t talk much at breakfast and got to school as fast as I could. I just needed to talk to Jake. Did he get home well or had something happened to him? Yesterday, I tried texting and calling him before I went to sleep. I tried again in the morning, but he didn’t answer. I should have gone after him yesterday. Why didn’t I? 
I walked fast to school today, but as I got closer, my pace got slower and my heart started beating faster. Jake was at his locker already and I was nearly having a heart attack. He was wearing a jacket even though it was a hot day. I stared at him for a few minutes to see if he noticed me and come talk to me, but he didn’t look my way. I guess I would need start the conversation. 
‘Hey Jake, I took copy of everything you missed these past few days.’ I said as I slowly walked up to him.
‘We need to talk.’ He said after looking at me for some seconds. His tone was very serious, so I just followed him. I knew he wanted to talk about yesterday. It was good that he was the one who was going to start this conversation, because I don’t think I would’ve had the courage.
We sat on a bench in a place where there wasn’t anyone around. Most people stayed outside the school building for as long as they could. A warm breeze swept through my face. I kept biting my lip, just waiting for him to say something. He sighed at looked at me.
‘I don’t even know where to start. I’m so embarrassed.’ He said. ‘First, I’m sorry, I didn’t treat you right yesterday, and you shouldn’t have seen me that way.’ He said. 
‘It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it, you were drunk.’ I said. What else could I say?
My heart was still beating hard; I wanted to know what happened.
‘Look, it’s not like I get drunk all the time, it’s just that...’ He was going to say something but then he sighed and stopped.
‘You kept saying “He” yesterday. Did you mean your father?’ I asked. 
‘Yes, I meant my father, but I don’t want to talk about this now.’ He said, but he didn’t look at me. ‘We just had a fight these days and I think I lost control with the drinking.’ 
‘Why did you guys fight?’ I asked.    
 ‘It was just a fight, everyone has fights. I just wanted to apologize to you. Let’s just put this behind us, okay?”
‘Okay. I think we still have some time to talk. What time is it?’
 If we had time, I would sit beside him and try to make him talk about this. We couldn’t just leave this behind. He was clearly having problems. I am his friend and I feel an obligation to help him. 
Jake rolled his sleeve a little to look at his watch I noticed a big bruise on his wrist under the watch.
‘Jake what happened?’ I asked as I pushed his sleeve all the way up and saw that his whole arm was full of bruises. ‘Was this your dad?’ The question came out of my mouth before I could stop myself.
Jake looked at me and pulled his arm away. ‘No. I was drunk yesterday, so I fell down a few times before I got home.’ He said irritably as he pulled his sleeve down again.
‘Look, Jake, you can trust me.’ I said.
‘I fell down.’ He repeated coldly. 
‘What aren’t you telling me?’ I asked.
‘Nothing. Look, sometimes when you get drunk you fall, and that’s what happened. I was quite smashed yesterday.’
‘Okay, but you know you can trust me.’ I said. Even if you fall many times, you couldn’t get those types of bruises. I knew he was lying.
‘Trust me, this is what happened and It’s none of your damn business what happens to me.’ He said taking a step back. ‘I don’t need anyone worrying about me. I certainly don’t need YOU worrying about me.’ He said as he took another step back, by the tone of his voice he was angry.
‘I’m sorry if I consider you my friend and worry about you.’ I said looking straight into his eyes. ‘I just want to help you.’ I got up quickly, opened my backpack and threw him the copies of the notes and then I walked away.  

A lump in my throat appeared the minute I turned the corner, I hated fighting with Jake. To tell the truth this was our first big fight. I didn’t know if I should believe him about the bruises. I had a big feeling these bruises were made by his dad. Should I have left it that way? 
Jake didn’t even come after me to apologize. I shouldn’t be mad at him, but still why can’t he trust me? He always tries to help me. I just wanted to be able to help him once. I know it’s a personal subject, but I saw his state yesterday. It wasn’t a normal fight. If I hadn’t seen him yesterday, I wouldn’t have tried so hard to know what the problem was. Clearly, something bad had happened. Jake wasn’t the kind who would just go out in the middle of the night drinking just because he had had a fight with his dad.
Suddenly I bumped into Lucas. ‘Wow, what’s all the rush for?’ he asked. I hadn’t even noticed I was walking so fast. I looked at him and he noticed that there was something wrong. 
‘What happened?’ He asked.
‘Oh, nothing.’ I said. 
‘I know something happened; it’s all over your face.’ He said looking straight into my eyes. ‘Don’t you trust me?’ he asked. 
I looked back at him for some seconds remembering my fight with Jake. I had wanted Jake to trust me and now Lucas wanted me to trust him. You know what? I trusted Lucas.
‘I just had a fight with Jake.’ I said. Of course I wouldn’t tell the reason. I promised Jake he could trust me, even if he didn’t. 
‘Oh that’s bad, but you don’t need to be so sad.’ He said looking at me. ‘You guys will make up in no time.’ 
‘Oh I hope so, I hate fighting with him.’ 
‘Hey, why don’t you have a bit of fun?’ He said, changing the subject. ‘Friday I’m going to a party at a friend’s house. Why don’t you come with me? I’ve been wanting to invite you for some time already.’ 
‘I would like to come.’  I said. I usually don’t go to parties, but I wouldn’t miss going to a party with Lucas.
‘Okay, so I’ll pick you up at 9 o’clock and don’t worry, I’ll drop you off at home on the way back.’ He said. 
‘That’s great.’ I said. ‘Thank you for inviting me.’ I said with a big smile. Lucas really knew how to make me feel better.
‘I’ll be counting the seconds for Friday.’ He winked and kissed my cheek, really close to my lips. For a moment I thought he wanted to kiss me.