The New Boy

our fight

Jack shuts the door and walks over to me, still expressionless.

"Jack? what's wrong?" I ask him, scooching up towards the headboard. he sighs, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"babe?" I ask, "is everything okay?"

"yeah, just tired." he replies, clearly not telling the truth.

"babe." I say, moving closer to him, "tell me the truth."

"I got a text." he says, acting as if that explains everything. I look at him, wanting more information.

"and?" I press.

"it's from Brock." he says. my stomach drops. he's my ex, that I cheated on Austin with.

"shit." I whisper under my breath. "what did he say?" I ask louder, so he can hear.

"before I tell you, do you have anything to tell me?" he says and I know that I have to tell him.

"okay. I cheated on Austin with Brock. it was stupid." I say, leaving out the most important part.

"that's what I thought." he says, seeming upset.

"why?" I ask.

"why do you fucking think? my girlfriend cheated on one of her boyfriends. oh yeah. that's a great conversation starter." he says, clearly upset.

"what did he say?" I ask and Jack throws his phone at me.

I unlock his phone and go to his texts.

Brock: so I hear you're dating Jess?

Jack: yeah. why?

Brock: it's none of my business, but she has cheated before.

Jack: what?

Brock: she's a cheater, man.

Jack: how would you know that?

Brock: because I'm the one that she cheated with.

Jack: any proof?

Brock: yeah.

he sends two pictures of me from homecoming last year. one, I'm dancing with Austin and the other one is a picture of Brock and I kissing.

Jack didn't reply to him after that.

"listen, I'm sorry." I say, pleading with him, trying not to cry.

"does Austin know?" he asks, not even paying any attention to what I just said.

"yeah. I told him when I broke up with him." I explain.

"why did you do it?" he asks, getting angrier.

"I. I-" I try to say, but I can't get the words out because I'm too scared to relive that time of my life.

"just fucking say it!" Jack yells at me. I immediately break down in tears.

"Austin, he, he beat me." I say, feeling broken.

"you're lying Jess!" Jack yells again.

"no. I'm not. Brock didn't say why I cheated for a reason. okay? Austin hit me and Brock made me feel safe. I was to scared to break up with him, but Brock helped me." I say, the tears pouring down my face. I look at Jacks face and he's crushed.

"Jess." he starts, but I don't let him finish.

"no Jack. just stop." I say and I get up and lock myself in Jacks bathroom. I can hear him follow me.

"Jess, I'm sorry. I didn't know." he says and I can hear the sorrow in his voice.

"just save it. you shouldn't jump to conclusions like that." I say, getting angry.

"you're right. I shouldn't." he says and his voice cracks.

"fucking right." I say, a little sassy because I'm in a fairly bitchy mood now.

"Jess. please come out." he pleads.

"I will eventually." I say and go to my bag that I left in there this morning. I grab my headphones and put them in my ears. blasting Fall Out Boy, just drowning out the world.

I calm down after about fifteen minutes and call Cynthia, remembering the diner today.

she picks up after three rings.

"hey Jess. how are you?" she asks.

"I-" I say, but I stop myself, realizing that I was about to tell her everything.

"you what?" she asks, sounding concerned.

"I'm good, sorry I got distracted. homework." I say, trying to sound convincing.

"oh. it's fine. do you have to go?" she asks.

"no. it's okay. what did you want to talk to me about?" I ask her, changing the subject.

"we haven't talked in a while and I just wanted to catch up." she says and I immediately know.

"so, you want to talk about Jack?" I ask her.

"a little. I mean, how do you know anything about him?" she asks me.

"I don't know, I just feel like I've known him my whole life." I try explaining to her.

"are you happy?" she asks.

"yeah. I am. I'm staying at his house for a few days." I tell her, hesitating a little.

"you are?" she says, her voice monotone.

"yes. gavin and my dad came home." I say.

"are you okay?" she asks, knowing what I mean.

"yeah. I showed Jack my scars and he helped me through it and tried his best to get me out of the house as soon as possible." I say.

"okay. as long as you're fine. I'm going to let you go though. okay? if he doesn't treat you right, you better tell me. got it?" she asks me.

"got it." I say.

"okay. love you." she says.

"love you too." I say and I hang up.

I need to go back out, but not yet. I continue playing Fall Out Boy for the next fifteen-twenty minutes and decide to go out and talk to Jack.

-

sorry this is late, but I had a far softball game yesterday and I didn't have time.

I'm in is on repeat rn.

why isn't it on iTunes? omg.

but where art though has been my jam recently. idk why.

same with idfc (acoustic).

so that's what's happening.

oh and I have 7 home runs for softball so far.

and enjoy that picture of sammy BC it makes me cry BC he's so heart eyes. 😍😍😍

he's perfect. omg.