This Road

Five

Five

Seeing Jaiden Roth officially for the first time in six and a half years was a complete mistake.
Approaching him in the way and style I did was a complete mistake.
When we got home, I’d done a quick load of laundry and cleaned the new outfits Alison bought for me. I sorted it and put it away.
I dressed in a burgundy sundress that hit just above my knees, and a pink and burgundy plaid shirt. I folded the bottom hem up and into the fabric little ways up and tied the front of the shirt around my waist. Then, I slid my sock feet into the pair of tan cowgirl boots I’d gotten and stuck the nude-colored Stetson hat on top of my head. I peered at myself in the mirror and exited my room before heading down the stairs. .
Kaleb and Danny were sitting in the tv den on the leather sofa playing Call of Duty.
“Hey, where’s your mom?” I asked.
“I think she’s outside, or in the stable.” Danny kept his eyes trained on the game.
“Ah.” I spun around to walk away when Blake came through the front doors. One look at me made him do a double take.
He took off his hat and pressed to his heart. “Damn,” he said, giving me a once over. “You fit right in.”
I crinkled my nose. “Good thing or bad thing?”
He came over to me and took my hand, brushing a kiss along my knuckles. “My, my, you do look mighty fine, milady. Perhaps I can take you out dancing tonight in your fancy new boots?”
He flashed an endearing smile at me, and I rolled my eyes, trying to keep the attention drawn away from my blush.
“You’re blushing’. Don’t tell me you didn’t like the idea?”
So it didn’t work. Go me. I smiled. “Where’s the best place to go dancing?”
“In a barn about twenty minutes from here. A few of my friends and I go every Sunday night. There’s a live band playing too. It’s pretty sweet.”
I nodded. “Okay. That could be fun. I’m in.”
“Jaiden usually comes too.”
My smile faltered. “Oh. Well, I might actually stay here. I forgot I had homework.”
He chuckled. “You haven’t even started school here yet.”
I pressed my lips. “Right. I meant, I have homework due online, for my beauty school.”
He shook his head. “He doesn’t bite,” he reminded me. “And come on, y’all were best friends growing up.”
“Were.” I pointed out. “And now, I don’t know. I haven’t seen him at all or even talked to him since arriving yesterday.”
“He’s been out and about a lot lately. Don’t take it personally. It isn’t directed towards you.” But what if it was in some sense? "Anyway, if you wanna go see him, he’s in the stable right now tending to the horses. You should go see if he’s down to talk. I know you loved him while growing up.”
He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I swatted at him. “No, I didn’t. Not like that,” I lied. “But he was my best friend. I don’t know what happened.”
He tapped his watch. “Tick-tock, Sista. He’s there. Go catch him before he takes off again. See if you can mend your relationship - if it needs mending - before we go tonight. There’s nothing like awkward tension when there doesn’t need to be. Communication is a good thing to have in a  relationship, no matter what the relationship might be.”
I gave him a black look. “Damn it, Blake, why do you need to be right about things?”
He dusted off his shoulders. “It’s a gift.” the dog sat at my feet and flared her front legs at me, begging for attention before releasing a little yap at me.
Alison pulled open the back door and stepped in. She kicked off her ankle boots and took a look at me, giving me a satisfied smile. “Well, you look pretty darn amazing, if I do say so myself. Going out tonight?”
I glanced at Blake. “He’s taking me dancing.”
“Well, you have quite the outfit to do it in.” She winked at me before looking right, into the den, seeing the boys on the Xbox. “Nu-uh,” she called out before storming over to the two steps leading down. “Boys, you know darn well that y’all shouldn’t be playing games on the Lord’s day.”
“Ma,” Danny called back. “We didn’t even go to church today though.”
“I had to get Ronnie situated,” she defended, crossing her arms across her chest as she parted her legs into a power stance. “TV off. Now.” Danny blew out a sigh before shutting it down.  He got up and walked past her. Kaleb followed. “Go read your bibles or somethin’. Just no games right now.” She turned to me and forced a smile. “I swear I’m not a forceful, self-righteous mother. We just have certain rules here for Sundays”
I nodded. “I get it.” Then I turned towards the back door. “I’m gonna go check out the stable, and see if Jaiden’s out there.”
She picked up the basket of laundry that was chilling on the floor and blew some hair out of her eyes. “Sounds good. I’m gonna put this away.”
I exited out the back door and turned to the left.
The stable was a big white looking building that seemed to stretch out long, with two doors that slid open and closed. It had a peaked, mint green roof that seemed to have been slightly worn away from age. On both sides of the structure were pillars holding up awnings to help keep the horses dry on a rainy day.
When I’d gotten to the entrance, one of the doors was slid open, revealing a dim light pouring out into the fading daylight.
I peeked into the room and saw horse guards lining both sides of the walls. On either side of the entrance were bales of hay stacked and ready to be untamed. I saw Jaiden leaned over among hay. He was shoveling it, tossing it over to the side to get ready to throw it to the horses. I had confidence talking loudly on the outside, but the fear of a little eight-year-old girl watching a spider eat a fly in its trap, screaming at me from inside. It had been years since I'd seen Jaiden. I'd decided to keep everything cool, and try to reignite that old flame we had, not even realizing there'd been a flame at one time. Because apparently, at one time he loved me too. We were young, and children, but there had been something there.
His sweat glistened off his toned muscles. He wore jeans with a belt, and no shirt. I had to find my breath again once I realized this. I settled down on a haystack and rested my chin on my hand as I watched him work. "I remember how much you love horses," I said, reminiscing on what had been then. "I remember you swearing that you'd own one someday, and I knew that you'd find a way." His back muscles tensed up as he heard me talk. “We were so young, back then, ya know? I remember being eight years old and playing in the tree house right in your backyard.”
The Roth family had had a huge tree in the backyard for years before they’d finally decided to do something with it. I remembered that one day, during the summer after we turned eight, Jaiden had very enthusiastically ran over to my house to tell me that his dad would be building a treehouse. He’d known that I loved doing art, and he wanted me to come over and help, and then help paint it.
So that summer, we’d built the best treehouse we could have ever built. It was our little paradise. We’d take books and blankets and sleeping bags up there along with our flashlights, and had camped out. Then, we’d tell each other ghost stories and get so afraid from our own imaginations that we’d run back inside to where it was safe.
On nights where we hadn’t been so scared out of our wits, we’d open the roof and stare up at the stars, coming up with our own conspiracy theories about life. At least, as deep as they could get for a few eight-year-olds. Then, when Jaiden would fall asleep first, I’d look at him and smile, watching the rise and fall of his chest. The way his long eyelashes would brush the skin a little above his cheekbones. That one night was the first night I’d decided I wanted to spend forever with him.
I hadn’t known he’d felt the same.
Jaiden straightened up slowly. “What are you doing in here, Veronica?”
Veronica? He never called me by my full name. “It’s been a while,” I said, crossing my ankles. “I wanted to see you.”
He turned around without even looking at me. “I’m busy.” His muscles flexed as he lifted a bale of hay.
“You’ve never been too busy for me,” I pointed out, the hole in my heart only growing bigger.
“Yeah, well, things change.”
“I know, people grow up and move away. But come on, Jay,” I said, a hint of pleading caressing my tone.
His eyes latched onto mine, and he paused for a moment before raking his hazel irises over my body, consuming my appearance. I saw something almost recognizable flash across his flawless features. It was as if the Jaiden I’d once know was beginning to come out. But then his eyes turned to stone, and he sucked in a sharp, annoyed breath. “I said, I’m busy. You, especially you, are at the back of my mind, down at the very bottom of the list of my concerns. I don’t care.”
Those words crashed into my heart and chipped away at it a little bit.
“How can you not care?” I asked him, suddenly getting defensive. “What happened to all those years of playing Hide and Seek after sunset, or our little campouts in the old tree house?”
He ignored this question.
“Or the orange mango smoothies that we’d steal from my dad in the kitchen?”
“It was that first time that made you a thief,” he said bluntly, turning away.
I winced back, surprised. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. The first sign of a growing criminal is when the person steals something small.” His voice was deep, and cold. “I was friends with a thief. Then you stole my favorite checkered blanket when I was seven.”
He’d given it to me for my seventh birthday because I’d loved it so much. “You gifted it to me for my birthday, you psycho.” I blinked a few times once I realized what I’d said. Or what was happening. “Don’t act so childish. Or petty. We made an agreement once to never let anything come between us.”
He chuckled an unfeeling chuckle and turned back around to look at me. “Right at this moment, I am not the petty one. I’m not the one who just marched in here with my heart on my sleeve, acting as if things could be the way they were before. The child here is you. You’ve always been so whiny, and clingy.” I felt my jaw drop. He was the one that would come over every given day and drag me out of my house to go play. “Veronica Grace, I don’t care that you’re standing in this stable the way you are, or the fact that you’re dressed the way you are, tryna fit in with my world, or that you’ve moved in with us for some stupid reason for some stupid situation you couldn’t fight your way out of. No doubt it was as pathetic as you’re being right now. You’ve always made things more dramatic than they had to be.”
His words stung the moment they left his mouth. I fought back tears. “You don’t mean that,” I said, standing up. I moved forward to him, my pulse pounding in my throat. I stood six inches away from him. His eyes grabbed me by the throat, suffocating me.
“Stay out of my life,” he growled. “And I’ll stay out of yours.”
“But I don’t want you to,” I told him, crossing my arms across my chest. “I want you here. In my life. I’ve just gotten you back.”
He turned away and wiped sweat from his brow before grabbing a hold of his hat. “Ronnie,” he whispered softly. His voice was so soft that it almost made me burst into tears. “I was never there. Those years of friendship, they were a lie. I’m just sorry I’d realized it too late.”
And with that he stormed out of the stable. I sunk to the ground and wrapped my arms around my stomach. I was breathing heavily, trying to combat the storm raging within me.
I’d lost my family.
Then I’d lost my best friend. Because of what, I had no clue. He’d never been good with telling people how he was feeling or what he was thinking. Sometimes it was difficult with me as well, but that was rarely ever. We’d entrusted each other with almost everything. From the smallest detailed opinion up to the biggest secret.
But apparently that was all different now. Apparently he’d forgotten what we’d once meant to one another. There was no way I was gonna go dancing with him now.
I got up and dusted my legs off before exiting the stable and sliding the doors shut. I went in through the back and kicked off my shoes before stepping inside. I removed my hat from my head and climbed the stairs to my room.
When I’d gotten there, I threw the boots into the back of my closet and tossed the hat beneath my bed. New clothing and new shoes didn’t matter. They weren’t going to make a difference for me in my life. I would never belong anywhere ever again. I braided my hair into a side braid and exited the room, looking for Blake.
I found him downstairs in the living room, reading a book. I raised an eyebrow at him. “You actually read?”
He glanced up from the page he was on and smiled. “What, you don’t remember? I was always that one kid with one of those Encyclopedia Brown chapter books in my backpack. I had the best of both worlds with my reading, and with my activities.
“You were on the Little Leagues team,” I smiled at the memory. “You’d hit a first home run on your first try.”
“Yeah, and then it was all downhill from that point on.” He laughed. “I missed ball after ball.”
“But you improved,” I pointed out. And now you’re on a scholarship because of it.”
He nodded. “True. I have the best of both worlds. Reading, and Baseball. Of course, my reading topics changed over the years. They went from books like Howliday Inn to True Facts that Sound Like Bullshit and, A Billion Wicked Thoughts. Oh, and I can’t forget Maxim Magazine.” He smiled sheepishly at this. I stared at him, my jaw dropped.
I was living in a house with a sex addict.
He laughed at my expression. “Man, I’m kidding. I’m kidding! Chill. Jeez, Girl, at least have some sense of decency for me. But True Facts that Sound Like Bullshit is legit. There are a lot worse things a person can read.” He looked at his watch. “Anyway, we should start getting ready for dinner before we go.”
I shook my head. “Actually, I’ve decided to sit out of it this week.”
“What, why? There will be students from the high school there too. You may score some new friends. I mean, my family is pretty awesome but I think you’d get sick of spending all your time with us.” He gave a small knowing smile.
“I just-  I don’t feel like going dancing tonight.” I thought back to the harsh words Jaiden spat at me. I felt my eyes glaze over. “I’m really tired. It’s been a day.”
He slitted his eyes at me. “You were fine before you went out to find Jaiden. What did that dude say to you? I'm gonna go find him and kick his ass.”
I shook my head. “Nothing,” I lied. “I just don’t want to go out tonight.”
He shook his head. “Again, with the lying’, Ron. C’mon. Talk to me.”
I took an uneven breath and tried to compose myself. Life was so unfair. I hugged my arms around my waist even tighter than before, as if I was fearing that bearing my soul would cause my insides to come out.
His expression softened. “Hey.” He put the book down before patting the cushion next to him. “Come on, Ronnie. Please, tell me what happened.”
I sunk into the seat beside him. “I don’t know what’s happening,” I breathed, tears clouding my vision. “Something must have happened between Jaiden and me years ago. I must have done something to piss him off. He’s so...hostile towards me now, and I don’t know what to do to change things. Or how to change things.”
He shook his head in dismay. “I doubt it was anything you did. You never hurt him. He meant too much to you for you to do something unforgivable. What did he say to you?" I shook my head. “Ron,” he warned. “I’m not letting go of this until you tell me what he said. And if you don’t want me calling him out on it, then I suggest you talk.”
“He doesn’t want me anymore,” I said finally. “He admitted he never did. Or that he never lost anything when y’all left.” Then I thought of what he said about my situation being stupid, and that made the tears spill over. I choked on sobs. “And he called my situation stupid. That I was being overly dramatic about everything.”
“About why you’re here?” He asked. “About the fact that you’re having difficulties with your family? Ronnie, that’s nothing worth crying over. If you look at it, it could hurt a lot worse. I mean, eventually you’ll make up with whoever you had complications with, and things will be okay.” I’d forgotten he didn’t know. “Have you talked to your mom recently?”
I shook my head. “We’re not on speaking terms.” For the rest of my life.
“Let me see your phone.”
Unsure, I hesitantly handed over my phone. He swiped up on my lock screen, punched in a few digits, and was doing something else. Had he just figured out my security pin?
Sheer panic shot through me. I reached for my phone. He pulled it away abruptly. “You need to talk to you mom. One instinct of a mother is to forgive her children, to keep them close even in the hardest times. At least, any good mom, and yours I remember was great.”
“How’d you guess my code?” I asked, sounding accusative.
“Like it was hard to guess.” It had been Jaiden’s birthday. He smirked and tapped a button before pressing the phone to his ear. I sat there in terror and guilt, my nose leaking like a faucet. I wiped my face on the back of my hand.
It rang, and rang, and rang, until the recording sounded.
“Sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please try another number. Goodbye.” The call dropped.
I sat there and felt my blood begin to run on cold, as if I’d been stuck in a freezer. The room stood still and I became all too aware of the sound the clock was making as it sat on the wall.
“Ronnie,” he said. There was a tone of dread in his words. “What’s going on?”
I shook my head. “I can’t tell you. You’ll look at me differently.”
He crumpled his eyebrows together. “I highly doubt that.”
I sat there with tears streaming down my face. “It’s so hard. It’s been so, so difficult.” I sobbed into him, my body shaking. I sounded broken. I didn’t sound like my normal self. I sounded defeated. In despair. Hatred for myself and for these circumstances. Hopeless. This road was such a difficult path to be on and it was getting hard to breathe. It had been difficult to breathe. Only now, I felt like I was suffocating.
“Ronnie,” he said my name softly as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Don’t freak at this question but, did someone die that you were close to?” He said this slowly, and calmly.
I nodded into him.
“Okay, was this person the one that gave you your life?”
My body only shook harder from the tears. I tried calming myself. My flyways were sticking to my wet face. I brushed them away from my mouth and sniffled. I pulled away from him and licked my lips.
He leaned over to the side table and grabbed my tissue. I took it and thanked him silently. “Yes. And then some.”
He frowned. “Wait.”
I took a breath. “Blake.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I haven’t been completely honest because it’s hurt too much for me to handle it. I also don’t want to be pitied. The less people know, the better.” I took a breath, but felt myself getting choked up again. “My family...isn’t around anymore.” The pressure on my chest seemed to have lifted.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
I clenched my eyes shut. “A few weeks ago, my family…” my voice choked on the words. I could barely bring the truth to my lips. I hadn’t really said the words since they’d died. But I was about to. I mustered up the courage as I sat there, with my eyes closed. I balled my hands up into fists. “My family was...they-” I swallowed and forced the words out, “-My family was killed in a car accident a few weeks ago. That’s why I’m here. Your parents are my legal guardians now.” The words tasted like bile in my throat.
“Jaiden said some things that wounded me beyond repair. Things about my family dynamics.”
His jaw clenched and his eyes went dark. “He’s a dead man.” He proceeded to get up. I shot my arm out to keep him from going. “No, stop. Don’t. I don’t want him knowing anything. You approaching him because of it will give things away.”
He sat back down. He remained frozen for a while. Not moving. His eyes were cast down to the ground. As if he was contemplating something. It was as if he’d turn to stone. Then he spoke. “Why haven’t you said anything?”
I shook my head. “I wanted everyone to see me as more than a girl who lost her family.” My voice was a whisper.
“Damn it, Ronnie,” he low-key exploded, slapping his hand onto his thigh. “And you’d think we would think otherwise?”
I shrugged. “How many years has it been since I’ve seen you all? Long enough for Kaleb to get most of his adult teeth and for Jaiden to make up his mind that I don’t mean anything to him anymore! Long enough for Lindsey to start dating a football player and for Mia to be contemplating on getting a double piercing.” My breath hitched in my throat. “Think about it, Blake. Up till recently y’all have been strangers to me for years until this point. And It’s sad to think that it’s taken us till this point and this catastrophe to actually know each other again. But now it’s only me. Not Lindsey, or Mia, or anyone else except for my mom who stayed close to your mom, but now she’s gone. Now they’re gone.”
He had a look of dismay on his face. “I can’t believe it. All of them are…?”
I gave a solemn nod. “All of them died in that crash. They collided with a Semitruck after hydroplaning, and then the moment they crashed they tumbled over the guardrail. Fell fifty feet down. Meanwhile I was at home sleeping, too proud to go on the ski trip. When in reality, I should have been in that van with them. I shouldn’t even be alive right now. It’s not fair.”
Blake placed his hand on top of mine. “Don’t say that. It’s a miracle you weren’t in that car. Your life would have been ripped from you too. Imagine how much more pain would have been inflicted on those who loved you. Imagine Jaiden’s reaction once he’d heard that you were dead.”
I laughed a bitter laugh. “He wouldn’t care.”
“One thing I know about my brother, is that he isn’t heartless. Though he may seem so at times, he does care about you, even if you can’t see it. Imagine how much it would hurt him if he found out his childhood best friend went up in flames?” I combatted the flashes of horror thriving in my head from the grotesque images being painted. “Imagine how the rest of the family would have felt. But you’re still here, and that is a blessing for her. She’s loved you like her own, ever since you were an infant. I know this because I remember her talking about how happy she was to actually have her first niece. You may not be blood related, but family runs deeper than blood relations. You being alive gives her a sense of closure.”
I pulled my knees up to my chest. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “But I can’t begin to imagine what you must be feeling right now. I know it must hurt something fierce, and I can’t take the pain away and I’m sorry I’m not capable of that. But I’m here for you.”
I rested my head on his shoulder and bobbed my head up and down in response. “Don’t tell anyone, please? Not yet.”
“You won’t be able to hide this forever,” he pointed out.
“I know. But I just need a little more time to compose myself. It’s still so fresh. I don’t feel up to having my life change any more than it already has for a little while.”
“Okay,” he answered softly. “I won’t. But you have to promise me that you will, eventually. We were all close to your family. Keeping things from them will only deepen the damage.”
The last thing I needed was to have more bitterness directed towards me because I was doing what was best for me and not saying anything.
“I’m so sorry about everything. I would really like it if you’d come with us tonight, though. Maybe it’ll take away some of the distress for a little bit. But if not, I understand.” He didn’t say much more to me after that. We just sat in silence, listening to one another breathe.


The next day came too fast. Alison drove me to the school to get me registered for classes for the next day.
The high school combined two neighboring towns; ours, and the next one over. There was a population of about one thousand students, both places combined. Back in Vermont, I’d gone to a school with over two-thousand students. This was going to be a change for sure.
The front of the building had glass windows to offices and classrooms. There were two sets of double doors. Over the doors was a long, slick, glass awning that stretched out to where the sidewalk was before stopping, leaving it to the pillars to hold its weight up.
The moment we entered we went through a door to the left, leading to the main office. The main office was to the right of the Common area where lunch was served.
As we approached the desk, an older woman with her hair clipped up and a pair of black,  cat-eyed  glasses looked up at us and smiled.
“Mrs. Roth, what a pleasant surprise.”
“How have you been, Ms. Smithfield?” she returned.
“Doing pretty well. How can I help you today?”
Alison pointed to me. “Getting this sweet girl registered here. I have an appointment with Principal Murphy.”
“Alright, I’ll let him know you’re here. Please take a seat and he’ll be right with you.”
We sat in the chairs backing to the office window. “Are you sure you don’t wanna wait for a week?” she asked me, the look of concern pinching at the corners of her mouth.
I shook my head. “I’ll be fine, Ali. I promise.”
“I know but, it’s just, this is all very soon and I know that things haven’t been great for you. Coming to a new school especially after a tragedy can be scary. I just don’t want you to feel any unnecessary pressure.”
I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “It’ll be great. I’m a good people person. Plus, Basketball tryouts are at the end of this week and I really want to be here for them.”
“It’ll be so great to have someone else on a team,” she smiled. “Jaiden’s been the Quarterback on the high school’s football team for a few years now. He’s hoping to get a full ride scholarship to California State University.”
My heart plummeted to the bottom of my stomach. Oh. Terrific. “He’s that good?”
She smiled. “Good enough to the point where a scout from the school came out to watch him play. He was impressed by his leadership skills, and team skills. They think he’s very gifted and see incredible potential. We’re just waiting for the school’s decision letter to come.”
I painted on a smile. “That’s kind of cool though. I’m hoping to get a scholarship from my Photography portfolio. It’s kind of a dream.”
“Where are you hoping to go?”
“Same place.” I forced another grin.
Her eyes lit up. “Really? Oh, what if you and Jaiden both end up going? Y’all could be roommates or something. He’ll be so excited.”
Sure, he will,
The man whom I assumed to be the principal walked out of  one of the offices. “Mrs. Roth,” he greeted her with a friendly smile.
“How are you, Principal Murphy?”
“Not too bad.” He smiled. Principal Murphy was tall with broad shoulders and a groomed beard and mustache. He had no hair on top. He had a kind smile and was built like an athlete and kind of reminded me of Shaquille O’Neal. He turned to me. “And this must be Ronnie.” He stuck out a giant hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”
I took his hand, giving it a firm shake. “You as well, Sir.”
Alison stood up. “I’ll be back out soon, Baby. Hang tight.”
She followed Principal Murphy into a back room, and clicked the door shut.
The bell rang, and instantly I watched students through the glass window of the door leading out to the hallway file into the common area, ready for lunch. I observed different people passing by, and watched as other students rushed to their next classes they had before their lunch periods.
A few minutes later I saw Danny cross into my field of vision. He saw me in the office, and smiled and waved at me.
I waved back.
A moment or so later I saw Jaiden walk by with a group of friends, and instantly my smile faltered. As if he felt my presence, he turned his head as his hazel eyes landed on mine. He stopped laughing at whatever joke he’d been told and pinned me down with his cold stare. His friends looked to where his gaze led and fell on me too.
I felt myself heat up.
He leaned over and whispered something to them before they laughed. Then, they started shooting vulgar, sexual movements at me, and I looked away, staring down at my hands folded in my lap. Humility crashed into me like a tidal wave. I focused on my chipped nail polish. I had painted them yellow because the bright yellow color always seemed to have complimented my skin. I had one white nail on both hands. It was about time for a new paint job.
I could feel them mocking me. No doubt he put them up to this. I wasn’t going to guess. I already knew. 
Glancing up at them through my eyelashes, I noticed they’d moved closer to the window.
A tall, very lean guy with black hair practically made out with the glass separating himself from me.
Another guy with shaggy, auburn red hair and pale skin pelvic thrusted into the widow.
The last one who also had really dark hair and a hint of a tan to his skin turned around and basically mooned me, minus the removal of clothing.
Again, heat flashed across my vision as I looked away. All Jaiden was doing was hanging back and enjoying watching the chaos unfold. I was not okay with this.
Anxiety gripped me as I felt the desire to get up, storm out there, and give them all a piece of my mind. I could pull it off and then defend myself if the Dean were to ask any questions. However, I was terrified at the thought  of doing so.
But I didn’t have to because a second later I heard, “Uh. Nope.” I looked over to the receptionist as she stared daggers at the boys. “Get your ass out of that window.” She bounced out of her chair and sashayed out the doors and around the corner. She made her way over to the boys and chewed them out, looking like she was giving them a warning. She held a stern finger up in their faces with her other hand on her hip.
Solemn looks on their faces made it look like they were taking her warnings personally, but the moment she turned around, The Auburn haired boy threw her double middle fingers. I watched the others snicker. Meanwhile the whole time Jaiden wasn’t paying attention to them, only me. He crossed his broad arms across his chest before giving me a seductive smile that melted my insides. Then he himself flipped me off and casually walked away.
I’d been bullied when I was nine years old because I had some pretty awful looking bangs my mom had cut me, and I was skinny. For months people called me  “skinny hillbilly” and “toothpick” because of it. There had been one particular day where someone decided to get physical with me and tried to see if they could break me as easy as they could break an actual toothpick. Moments after they’d made the decision, Jaiden came along and told them to back off. They pummeled him instead and he willingly took it because he wanted me to be safe. They’d given him a black eye. The kids had gotten in trouble later on as well as expelled from school. Every time I’d apologized for not being the one to receive the blows, he’d look at me, smile, and would say, “I’d take it all over again if that means keeping you safe. Some people are just bad and there’s nothing you can do sometimes. All we can do is work on ourselves and try to be better people than we were before. Plus, nobody’s allowed to pick on you, except me.” He’d winked at me.
He held true to his word. Here he was, years later, picking on me as if I were the enemy in this life of his. We’d always had each other’s backs when we were kids. But apparently that was all different now.
Never in a hundred years did I think that Jaiden would become a bully towards me. I had a feeling that this was heading in a very, very bad direction.
The water wasn’t even close to boiling.
I knew that this was one of the first many, many tricks he was planning on using on me.
If I knew one really bold fact about my ex best friend, it was that he never played nice.
He could be  vicious. And he didn’t even care.
Oh yes, this was only the tip of the iceberg.