My Story Isn't Over

Chapter 9

Jakes POV

     As I applied the final coat of Charcoal colored paint to the 1986 Mustang convertible in front of me, my mind wandered to Nia. I had felt awful leaving her with those people last night, even if it was only for about an hour, and even if they were supposed to be her family. It had been my first time meeting this side of the family which I had heard so much about. The "married in" side, thanks to her mother's sister, her aunt Meg. Neither Nia, Ian, nor Elena had exaggerated. I was definitely not used to all that money, privilege, and narcissism in one person, much less a whole family. I had especially wanted to knock out that Grant guy. Oh, I know he was just baiting me, but I swear if he were to lay a perverted finger on Nia I would lose my shit.
I had still not met her father, though from what I had heard he is not in the picture all that much these days. I did not know the man, and yet I could not blame him for leaving, even if it meant being away from his only daughter. Even if it meant he could not protect her from the likes of those people, that is what I was here for anyway, to protect Nia. However, Nia's mother was enough to drive any sane person away, and so I could not fault the man for leaving. She did not need her dad though, she just needed me. I did not know how my angel dealt with those people for family. She was so much better than all of them. Just then I pictured myself punching that Grant guy in his self-righteous face, teeth and blood flying in the air, and the mere look of shock on his face. I would love nothing more than to see the look in his eyes when he realized someone who he deemed less than worthy of himself, laid him on his ass.
"What the hell you doing son?" My father's voice pulled me from my daydream and back to reality. Shit, I had botched the paint. It was only messed up in one small spot by the driver-side back fender, an easy fix. Still, a mess-up would mean putting time and money into fixing it, neither things of which my dad liked to waist.
"Dam Pops, I am sorry. I will fix it." I felt horrible, here my dad brought me in the shop because he knew I wanted to earn some cash, and here I was shitting all over his trust.
"Dam straight you will boy."
"I am really sorry, it won't happen again," I promised.
"Well," I saw the anger dissipate from my dad's face. "It better not." I nodded and my dad walked away without another word. Before I got back to work, to fixing what I had messed up, I checked my phone once more. I had texted Nia when I got up this morning, and twice more during lunch. It was now four in the afternoon and I had still not heard back from her. I was starting to worry, not a good feeling when trying to concentrate on detailing a car. I suppose I should be grateful I'm not rebuilding an engine or replacing breaks today. My dad's shop did it all, and on a good day I could do it all and do it well. Today though, I was distracted. The look in Nia's eyes when I had left her last night was haunting me. She was trying to put on a brave face, but I knew my girl better than she knew herself. Even though she had sworn she was going straight to bed, she would not relax until those people were out of her house. I started to imagine her mother dragging her out of her room making her give polite hugs goodbye to each of those assholes, and Grant, or any of those other clowns, getting fresh with her. I would kill any of those bastards if they were to hurt my girl...
     I shook my head now, clearing those horrible thoughts from my mind. If I kept thinking like this these cars would end up worse than when they had arrived at Antonio's Auto, my dad's shop. I tried to think of more positive things, and pushed the worrying aside until I could clock out for the night. I thought of when Nia and I had met, when Ian had pushed us together. I would never be able to thank that guy enough. Nia still does not know this, but I noticed her my first day. I wanted to talk to her, everything about her so dark it intrigued me, her hair, eyes, and even the clothes she wore. As luck would have it, she was the one girl that kept her distance. I thought perhaps she was not interested, and I even thought Ian could be her boyfriend even though I had also seen him with Elena. When I learned that Nia was not his girl and that Elena was but that they were all just really good friends, that is when I hatched my plan to get in with the art club that they were a part of. It actually was not even a full plan, I had just gotten the idea and was looking at the flyer when Ian approached me. It was like destiny had stepped in, even though it was Ian repaying Nia for setting up he and Elena, him knowing she had been checking me out. When they confessed this to me I had thought about coming clean as well. But then I thought, what if this takes away from how Nia looks at me? What if she does not think I am as interesting or intriguing knowing I had boarder-line stalked her those first few days of school. So I kept it to myself. Surely though, she must know how I feel about her now. I have truly never felt so close to anyone, besides family. Nia was my family now too.
     I know we are young. But I look at my parents and they were married when my mom eighteen and my dad twenty. My dad is the only man my mom has ever been with, just like Nia and I. I love the fact I am her one and only. She is completely mine, and no other would ever know the pleasure of her soft naked body, both vulnerable and intoxicating. Even though my mind began to wander, and let's be honest fantasize, I managed to get all my work done by a little after seven, including fixing my minor mistake on the Mustang from earlier.
     I  clocked out before checking my phone again. I was convinced I would have a message from Nia by now. I was only half right, I did have a couple of messages, but none from Nia. I did however have a text from both Ian and Elena, as if they were not together when they each sent it. Both messages were basically asking if I had heard from Nia today because she was not texting either one of them back. Now I was officially worried. The first day of school was in just a couple days. Maybe she was mad at me for leaving her, I hoped not. But even if she was, she would have reached out to Elena, unless she was mad at all three of us. What if something had happened... what if she blamed us because we left her? My mind began to wander, imagining all the possibilities. Perhaps it was just something stupid, like her mom caught her drinking and took away her phone. I hoped with every fiber of my being it was not something more severe. I cursed myself for leaving her side as I drove home with my pops from work. I debated on asking him to swing by Nia's to check on her, but as I looked over at him he just looked so dam tired I decided against it. It was going to be a long night if I did not hear from my girl.