Found her

Chapter 17 | Glove Compartment

L U C A S

'That's my mom, I'm leaving. Uh- Sadie, you staying?' Jaxon asks, packing his things and putting on his coat.

'Yeah, I'm staying here. I was thinking of maybe going to the library afterwards.' She says, slurping on her second milkshakes.

'Okay... Uh- Call me when you get home okay?' Jaxon looks fidgety, nervous. I give him a look that he just ignores. He leaves after hugging Sadie goodbye and, surprisingly, hugging me too. I don't miss the 'Thank you' he whispers in my ear.

I look over at Sadie to see her happily drinking her milkshake and kicking her legs around. She looks absolutely adorable.

But now's not the time for that.

'I'm not Jaxon, you know.' I say, breaking the comfortable silence.

She looks up at me, a frown on her face. My heart goes crazy at her confused expression.

Focus. 

'I'm not gonna act like that never happened.' I say.

Her smile drops. She looks down at her lap and shrugs.

'It's just how it always been, y'know? Jaxon hasn't been the type to open up very easily and neither was I.'

'Sadie, it's not healthy.'

'I know...'

I wait and wait. I don't want to force her into anything, I just want to let her know that I'll be there for her, that she can speak to me about anything.

Just like how she was once there for me.

'Um. A few weeks ago, we had this very important physics exam. I thought I did very well, until we got the results. It turned out I failed.'

I stay quiet, letting her continue.

'Every since I was a child, my grades were my top priorities. I have gotten nothing less than an A since elementary school. Grades... Well, the were the only thing I could control. And seeing that F on my exam threw my off.

'I locked my phone up, I studied and studied and studied until I had the whole physics textbook memorized. I refused to talk to anyone, not even Jax. I was so determined to ace the retest, which was today. I stayed after school in one of the old classrooms and I wrote the test.  My teacher ran through it and told me that I did very well.

'I was thrilled.' The ghost of a smile was dancing on those pretty lips of hers. 'I left the classroom, feeling somewhat proud of myself, when I saw them.'

'Them?'

'Angelina, the-'

'Blonde barbie?'

She nodded. 'And Mary, the teacher's daughter, and my academic rival. We've been fighting for the number one spot since first grade, and she only got it once, in fourth grade. But other than that? It was always me holding the certificate with 'Most academically gifted' written on it, and I plan on keeping it that way.

'Anyway, she saw me leaving the classroom and figured out I failed the test. They started mocking me, saying things like: 'Failure' , 'Your parents are the biggest lawyers and their daughter can't even pass a physics exam' and 'No wonder they are away all the time, they just want to stay away from the failure that's their daughter.'

Her mesmerizing green eyes fill up with tears.

'It hurt hearing them say that. I- I don't know... I felt it. I felt like a failure.'

I drag my seat closer to hers and pull her to my chest. Her tears turn into sobs and I pull her closer to my chest.

'Th-they t-told me to kill myself. They told me I should be a-ashamed of m-myself.'