Home is a Four Letter Word

chapter ten

The Day After Prom, Early April

Connor had never texted Jake since he had given him his number earlier in the month.

Jake hadn't quite noticed until the first message came in, drawing his attention over to his phone as he laid on his bed nursing the inevitable day-after-prom headache. There had never been a day in his life he was more grateful for the pouring rain outside his window. His blinds were kept open so his mother wouldn't yell at him, but it was still barely bright enough to warrant a difference. The light of his phone screen was the brightest thing he had seen all day and the very sight of it made him squint as he raised the damned thing above his face to read it through hazy eyes.

It was an unknown number, but that didn't matter because Jake knew from the notification who it was.

hey, it's connor. could you maybe take me home on wednesday? my mom is headed out again and I don't have a shift.

Before Jake had even finished reading through the first one another message popped up on the screen.

wait, is this jake? sorry.

The last one made Jake smile, his eyes creasing as he opened the message screen and typed in a short:

Hey, yeah it's me. Wednesday is cool.

The typing bubbles popped up on the screen and stayed there way too long. Jake was convinced Connor was writing a paragraph of sorts. That or typing and erasing. What came across after confirmed Jake's later suspicions.

you're a lifesaver, thanks.

Don't worry about it.

Jake stared at the screen even after his message went to read. Some fluttering feeling in his chest hoped that the bubbles might return to the screen with something new to say, but too much time passed for that to be the case.

He was caught staring at the last message on his screen with a smile when McKenna barged in and sent him into a death-grip on his phone as he locked the screen as quickly as he could. Of course it would have looked suspicious, but Jake never took chances with his family.

"Jesus Christ, Ken–"

"What did you do to Katherine?"

She stood in his doorway, her hand holding onto the frame beside her head as an intimidation tactic. Jake sat up in his bed with his new company, his headache growing more and more as he leaned back against his wall instead. Squeezing his eyes shut, he hoped maybe he could make the pain of her voice echoing in his ears go away.

"What?"

"What did you do?" She repeated, her patience wearing thinner than the tight-lipped grimace she wore on her face.

He stared at her for a minute to process what she was asking, but then the switch flipped in his head that remembered the events of last night.

Shit.

"Ohhhh... right." Jake rubbed the back of his neck—not at all looking forward to justifying himself to yet another person. "I told her I didn't like her because Aaron does."

"What?" She shook her head in ridicule.

"It's bro-code." Jake shook his head back, not getting what she seemingly didn't understand.

"You're a dick."

"What?!" His head snapped back in annoyance. "No, I'm not. I'm being a loyal friend... What the hell McKenna? Get out of my room."

"Mom's gonna be so pissed." She taunted him with a mad look as if it changed anything.

"I don't care! Go."

She did what she was told, but slammed the door on her way out—one of Jake's trophies on the other side of the room shaking on its shelf from her performance. He might have yelled some censored profanities after her if he could have stood the sound of his own voice, but instead he opted for covering his hands over his ears as he prayed they would stop ringing.

I'm not even hungover, what the fuck.

Jake glanced down at his phone where he dropped it on the bed once he realized McKenna wasn't going to steal it from him for being so suspicious. The screen was dark—untouched by any new messages that Jake knew was unrealistic to think would come in. That didn't stop him from reaching out and confirming it once more when his lock screen picture of Aaron sitting sideways on McKenna's horse with his middle fingers out sat utterly uninterrupted by notifications.

As if hitting his head against the wall could solve all his problems, he tapped the back of his skull against the gray surface, hoping it might rid him of the dull pain that filled his brain with every wrong move. He had never before been more wrong as the feeling left him reeling in discomfort that filled his body with the urge to vomit from last night returning all over again.

The vibration from his phone sent his hand to it immediately—bringing it up to his face once more only to see a message from Aaron in their trio group chat.

Keller: McDonalds

Aaron never used punctuation, but Jake knew as well as anyone that it was both a question and a statement. He knew they didn't have a reason to refuse him, so his request was likely to be met with a cacophony of support in the form of 'fuck off's and 'as long as you're not driving'. Hunter's message came in after Aaron's, and it was sad how accurately Jake had predicted his response.

Anderson: Ur buying I'm driving

Aaron wasted no time with his eager reply—a simple message that brought a grin to Jake's face.

Keller: Yes ma'am

Jake knew he couldn't stomach it, but regardless of whether he replied or not, the boys would've picked him up in thirty minutes to drag him along on their journey through hangover hell. He decided to use the first predicted response as his own.

Fuck off.

Anderson: That's the spirit Holmes

Keller: See you in ten ;)