Jayden & Astrid [On Hold]

FLASHBACK CHAPTER

Unavoidably, sitting in front of another person's house made Jayden feel like a creepy stalker. If everything went according to schedule, he knew she should have been back home for about three hours. But despite everything, he couldn't bring himself to walk out of his car and into Astrid's house. Too many 'what ifs' bounced around in his head. What if she wasn't home yet? What if she had forgotten what he looked like? What if their friendship was long dead? What if their friendship was never alive to begin with?

He couldn't help but think he would have been slightly less anxious if he had been in his own car. The Ferrari 458 Italia had been his grandma's and when it was being recalled due to mechanical faults, Granola had held on to hers and claimed that she could fix the problem by herself. Due to her busy schedule, it had taken her a while, but she eventually got to it, and once Jayden had gotten his driver's license, she passed it on to him. Whenever he sat in the backseat, he could pretend that he was in the past when the car used to drive around toddlers in car seats with sippy cups. But this wasn't his car—the last time he had seen it, it looked like a murder scene—and there was no way he could pretend that this sterling grey Bentley was a matte black Ferrari. He looked at the time. He had been sitting there for a little more than an hour. It was time to make a move.

His hand hovered near his glasses. He could see without them, but everything close up was just a jumbled blur of shapes and colors—such was the curse of being farsighted. But he categorically remembered his mum saying that he looked stupider and uglier with them on. It had been said years ago, but it had stuck and affected how often he put his glasses on. He slid the glasses off and placed them on the dashboard. When he first started wearing them in elementary school, Astrid was fascinated by them. He had no idea whether she still was.

He took his time walking to the front door, and when he eventually stood in front of it, he knocked on it so silently that he didn't even hear it. So he took a deep breath, knocked louder, and waited. It didn't seem like anyone had heard him, so he knocked for a third time. Just when he was thinking of returning to his car and driving back home, the door was thrown open, and standing in front of him was a tall, purple-haired figure.

"Hi." She greeted.

He squinted at her until his eyes started to hurt but didn't recognize her, so he guessed she was a relative that had come to grieve with Liam over Nalani's death. "Uhm. Hey." He started with a shy wave. "I'm looking for Liam. Liam Johnson."

The purple-haired girl stepped aside so he could walk in. "Okay then. Step right in." She instructed and then shut the door after him. Sleepily, she rubbed her eye with one hand and tried to cover her yawning mouth with the other. "He's a bit busy in the kitchen. Lemme just tell him you're in." Then she turned towards the kitchen door. "You have a visitor!" She yelled.

Liam walked out of the kitchen, drying his hands on a dishtowel. He looked from his drowsy daughter to the nervous guest. He grinned, then leaned on the door frame. "Are you two just going to stand there awkwardly?"

"Awkwardly? I don't do things awkwardly. I do things..." Then she yawned into her palm. "What was I saying? I don't remember. Anyways, should I offer him a glass of water or something? Do you need a glass of water?"

Liam sighed loudly. "Well, there is a significant physical difference." He murmured, rubbing his temple. "Let me do the introductions. Astrid, Jayden. Jayden, Astrid."

Purple-haired girl, Astrid, turned around so quickly he thought her head would fall off. "No fucking way!" She squealed before flinging herself into his arms. "I missed you so much." She mumbled.

"I missed you too." He said, pulling away. "You're so tall. I didn't think you'd get this tall."

"No one did." She tugged at her necklace. "Look. I'm wearing the necklace you sent me."

"It looks nice on you." He couldn't see the exact features of the necklace, but he knew she was referring to the one with gold and silver shells that he had mailed to her for her thirteenth birthday. Mentally, he berated himself for leaving his glasses in the car. Maybe if he had them on, he would have realized who she was the moment she opened the door.

"I know, right!" She squealed. "You should have seen it on me before the burn marks. I didn't put the clasp on one time..." She was interrupted by a low hum. "Is that coming from your pants?"

He had felt the vibration in his pocket but hadn't wanted to cut her off. "Ah yeah. Excuse me. Let me just take this. I'll be real quick." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and squinted at it. He could just make out the name - Evelyn. On picking up her call, he was attacked with a string of incoherent words he couldn't decipher.

"Evelyn. Wait, slow down. I can't understand what you're saying. I need you to calm down. Take deep breaths."

He heard her loudly inhale then exhale. "I was on my way to the mall when this dog just came out of nowhere. I don't even know if I hit it. My dad's going to kill me. The car is totaled." She wept.

"Are you inside of it?"

"No. I'm on the sidewalk. I crawled out of the windshield."

"Are you hurt?"

She paused for what seemed like an eternity before speaking again. "I don't think so. I'm not exactly sure where I am, but it all looks familiar."

"I'm on my way. Is your location on?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I'll find you. Just stay where you are." He hung up, a look of worry on his face.

"That didn't sound good." Astrid asked. "Is anything the matter?"

"No. I mean yes. I'm sorry. I have to go. There's been an accident. My girlfriend, Evelyn." Now he was the incoherent one.

"Is she alright?"

"She's fine, but the car's in bad shape. She sounded really shaken up. I'm sorry. I have to go pick her up."

"You don't have to be sorry about anything. Go to her." Jayden gave a curt nod and then left the house, leaving the door open behind him. He slid his glasses on and checked Evelyn's location. She was at an arcade. He didn't recognize the name, but he recognized the surrounding neighborhood. Ryder lived around there. It would take him hours to get to Evelyn, but Ryder could probably get there in less than 30 minutes. He called Ryder but it went to voicemail, so he left a message and sent him the address. Hoping that Ryder would get the message in time, he began to make his way out of the driveway.

Greetings everyone. So this is the first flashback chapter. It's not as long as the regular chapter, but it still turned out a bit longer than I intended. The events here take place in chapter two, where Jayden re-meets Astrid. I decided to write this from Jayden's point of view to shed more light on his character and to also shed light on how the conversation between him and Evelyn went. The bit about the mechanical faults of the Ferrari 458 Italia is true. Apparently, the adhesive in it would overheat and catch fire.

Ignore the shittiness, but below is a very rough map of Jayden's route. I promise I'm a better artist than this. I just have no clue how to draw maps. (Switch to dark mode for better visibility).