Because I Love You

chapter seven.

Jake listened to his radio as he thought of how blackout drunk Bella was. He wondered what caused her to drink so heavily at her best friend's party- the biggest one of her life at that. Jake tapped his steering wheel as he waited for the hour long traffic light to change to green. Everything was just confusing for him at this moment.

What's to happen with Maria and I? Is Bella alright? Should I have left her home alone? Can I actually love Maria if I hadn't properly gone on a date with her?

His mind was as cluttered as his messy locker. Jake snapped back to reality and noticed the green light. He speeded straight and suddenly everything went black for he crashed his car into one much smaller than his since the red light flickered once again the second Jake pulled off.

Frightened, he held tightly on his leather steering wheel, gasping for breath, and feeling a pit of guilt build in his stomach. He was stuck. No part of his perfectly unharmed body could bear to see a possibly heavily injured body in a very damaged car. Jake's mind was completely out of it. In fact, at this moment in time, Jake forgot he even had a mind for it wasn't helping him to move his body. Jake was as motionless as a leaf- motionless unless something forced it to move. And what forced him to move was the quickening of his heart and the tears forming in his eyes. Slowly, but surely, he unlocked his car door and stepped out of it. No one came out of the victimized car so Jake assumed their heart didn't force them to move just yet. He thought this instead of their heart not moving in the first place. At an almost motionless pace, Jake slugged to the broken window of the car he hit and stared at his reflection. He did not see himself, but he noticed a monster. How could I have done this?

Jake reached his arm to the car door and slowly opened it. A small helpless girl, who believed this was one hell of a tragic miracle, with cuts on her lip and black and blue spots on her forehead. A girl with a name Jake learned but never had to use. A girl that used his name in every other sentence. A girl that has never been any more secretly happy to be in a car crash. A girl named Megan.

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"Do you need any help, M-Megan?" stammered Jake- who sort of forgot her name. She sat there crying and holding her now injured head against the steering wheel. In a way, this relieved Jake because he knew that Megan's only reason for not moving her head was that she didn't want him to see her cry and not for obvious reasons. On the other hand, Megan's heart beat at a much quicker pace- and not for the as fore mentioned obvious reasons Jake had. After all, what are the chances your one true love hits you with a car, tries to help you, and says your name all in the same day?

"No," said Megan so quietly it wouldn't have made a difference if she hadn't said it at all. Then, at that very moment, Jake did something he and Megan thought would never happen in a million years- he sat in the car and hugged her until the tears were dry. However, this made Megan cry even more because she wanted the real thing and not just a tease of Jake's love.

"Did I do something wrong? I'll stop," he said putting his hands up in surrender. That caused Megan to giggle through the mix of pain and happiness she felt swirling through her entire body.

"Ooh I got something out of you," Jake said jokingly. This caused Megan to giggle quietly even more. Finally, she lifted her head up and stared into Jake's big blue eyes the same way you look at the first page of a new book, excited and full of potential and hope.

"Do you want me to drive you home? My car is kind of... you know... not going to be towed away," he said while rubbing the back of his head. Megan nodded and proceeded to say,

"I would love a ride back home after... you know the police ask us questions and I make you sound like a complete douche." Now, it was time for Jake to let out a laugh.

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The questioning from the police went exactly as Megan had planned and the car ride was more awkward than being left in a room with your boyfriend or girlfriend's parent while they aren't there. Megan didn't say a word and when Jake tried to get her to speak he only received nods and quiet chuckles as a response.

Jake pulled up his fined car in front of Megan's average sized house. Her house was much smaller than Maria's, but it was about the exact same size as his.

"Well, this is it," Megan said after a full minute of pure awkward quietness.

"Yeah. I guess it is," Jake opened his mouth to say something else but was interupted by Megan saying goodbye.

"I should get going and explain this whole mess to my parents. Thanks so much for the ride."

Jake heard the crack in Megan's voice and thought nothing of the fact that it was happening because of him... because he was in love with another girl. He watched her wipe the tears away from her face and the pit of guilt came back. He rolled down his window and waved at Megan, "Dont go getting in any more car crashes without me or we will have problems." Jake saw her smile in the far distance and drove off, regretting not saying something. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say, though, but he knew it was something.