To Deal With It

chapter seven

Seven

Weeks passed and there had been no sign of Jay whatsoever. Everyone always commented how the warehouse just felt empty without Jay around. I avoided them because: one, I didn’t want to talk about it; two, I felt terrible about it; three, I know they blame me for it. Ethan had told them it for the best they knew, but he never said that he didn’t want Jay back. In fact, I think Ethan wanted Jay back more than anything. And I was right.

Ethan came up to me while I was working on one car with Toni, and he ordered us, “Come on guys. We’re going to search for Jay.”

“Seriously?” I asked, hopeful. Ethan nodded. “Jay might be a girl, but she’s still Jay. Nothing has changed about Jay besides the fact we now know she’s a girl. But hey, she’s the best, and I need her. Like a sister now, I guess. You guys in or out?”

“In,” Toni and I answered immediately. Ethan nodded and left John to look after things while Jack and MJ came with us, too. We stayed in a scattered group as we searched high and low, and we asked around to see if anyone had seen Jay. I went into the bookstore and found the manager, who greeted, “How can I help you?”

“Hi, I’m looking for a friend, and I thought maybe you’ve seen her.”

“What does she look like?” the manager, a mid-thirties average looking man, inquired. I described, “She’s about… 5’ 11’ with long red hair, clover eyes, dimples…”

“Two scars along her cheek?” the manager asked. I nodded. “Yeah, you know Jay?”

“Of course I know my employee. Jaylyn Caitlin Kinsley, right?”

I nodded eagerly. “Yeah, that’s her. Where can I find her?”

“She goes to Eastwood End High School. If you hurry now, you can meet her there because I think they’re getting out soon.”

“Alright, thank you so much.” I ran out and called over to the guys, “Hey, I know where we can find Jay.”

“Really? Where?” Ethan pressed. I grabbed a nearby phonebook at a phone booth and started flipping through. “Eastwood End High School. She goes there, and we have to hurry. Ah-ha! Here it is. Come on; it’s not far form here.”

We ended up sprinting to the school until we were in its parking lot, and when the bell rung, our eyes began to comb through the leaving kids. Ethan finally brightened and called, “Jay!”

We saw where he was looking to see Jay, wearing a black one shoulder shirt and mid thigh jean shorts with knee high boots, steeping down the stairs with a ton of girls and boys around her; she has a half way fake smile on for them as she talks to them along with absentmindedly nods. Always the one to be around crowds, even if she didn’t like it, Jay was.

We were about to go up to her when we were all shoved away and into the high school walls. I looked up to see several football-looking-jocks smirking at us, and then one of them, who had short cinnamon hair and brown eyes, said, “Well, well, well, what do we have here? Some unwanted visitors?”

“We’re friends of Jay,” I retorted, getting pissed. The jocks laughed and the first guy scoffed, “No way would Jay be friends with you dick heads.”

“What?” snapped Ethan, stepping up; uh oh, it was never pretty when Ethan got pissed. But the jock guy pushed Ethan back into the wall. “Shut up, dick.”

Ethan was ready to lunge, but a harsh Irish voice cut everyone off. “Hey! Kevin, what are you doing?”

Jay came up and stood between us and the jocks. Kevin, I guessed, smiled at Jay and gave her a one arm hug that she half way returned. “They said they were your friends, but come on. Look at them. You don’t know them, do you?”

She glanced at us, the corner of her mouth twitching to a smile. “Actually, I do. Now will you lay off of them?”

“You can’t be serious,” a jock next to Kevin laughed, looking us up and down. Jay stepped in front of him, blocking his view of us, sort of. “Yes. I’m serious I know them. Now lay off before I make you, lads.”

The jocks laughed while Jay kept shoving and shoving them farther and farther away from us until the finally left on their own. I caught up with and grabbed her hand. “Jay.”

“What?” she belittled, whirling around to glare at us. Ethan raised an eyebrow. “What’s your problem?”

“Why are you here?” she shot back. Ethan answered, “To come bring you back to the shop, of course. Why else?”

“Oh, that’s it? You just want me to go back to the shop and work on your cars while you lads go off to boost and race? Or to just let me hand over tools to Toni when he needs them and not have me do anything? Or to be the girl who just drops the flag at the races? I. Don’t. Think. So.”

“What are going on about?” Ethan questioned. Jay rolled her eyes while flinging her arms above her. “Oh my God, really? I know you don’t even let your most trusted girlfriends around the warehouse, and that you think girls in your business is ‘bad’. What’s the exception for me? Nothing. Just leave me alone.”

Before we could say another word, Jay whirled back around and stormed off, leaving us dazed and confused. What happened to her? 

Jay pov

I turned my back to them to go to my car. I couldn’t believe that they just thought they could come up to me and think I would just go with again. They’d have to a lot better than that. I wasn’t that easy to win.

But, honestly, I was really happy to see them. They were all like my brothers. I cared about that. Even if they really don’t care that much about plain old me.

I was about to get in my car when Kevin came straight in front of me, making me jump. “Damn it, Will. What do you want?”

“Is everything okay with you and those guys over there?”

“Yeah, just peachy. That all?”

“Uh, no. I was wondering if you could help me with my history paper. I’m no good at that kind of stuff.”

“What? History or writing?”

“Uh…both,” he admitted, blushing and giving me a pleading look. I laughed a bit. “Okay, let’s get started.”

“Great. We can ride to the library in my van.”

“Um…” I glanced at my car, my baby practically. Kevin saw this and grinned. “How about this: we drive in my car to the library, and when we’re done, I’ll drive you back to your car. Sound good?”

I thought for a second. “Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”

“Awesome.” Kevin guided me to his van with his hand on the small of my back, which made me edgy. He opened the passenger door for me and I got in. We drove listening to the music on his radio, which we sang along to, and it wasn’t too long until we were pulling up to the library. I unbuckled, but then Kevin was crushing his lips on mine and starting to straddle me. I pushed at his chest and tried to squirm out of his hold. I mumbled under his lips, “What are you doing, Kevin?”

“You know you want this. Just close your eyes and enjoy.”

He lifted me, and he slid us into the back of us his van; I kept pushing and trying to shove him off of me, but he wouldn’t budge. He managed to slip his tongue in my mouth when he had gripped my arm too hard and I had gasped, tiny though, at the action.  One of his arms pinned mine above my head while the other gripped my hair and pushed me into the kiss I tried to back out of it, and he was practically sitting on my thighs. He started pulling at my top, and I shoved and kicked out at him even more.

I did not want this to happen.

Why, oh why, was this happening to me? I had done no wrong… On second thought, I take that back. I had done wrong. So much wrong…and enjoyed it greatly. And now I pay the price of my life.

But then, a miracle happened.