Till The End

Chapter 17

Jake

I've spent the whole day sleeping. Aelia drained all of my energy earlier. I must admit that I did need to sleep. It's not that I did not want to sleep; I just couldn't, no matter how hard I tried. But I didn't even have to try earlier, she knocked me out.

"You are cheating!" Dylan shouts when I kick his ass for the seventh time tonight.

"Just accept that I'm the best and no one can beat me."

"Yeah, no one!" Aelia shouts from her spot near the window. She is doing a final check on her book. She hasn't let me read it yet, but she said that she should be done by the end of the week, and I will be able to read it then. She giggles when I scowl at her after her sarcastic comment. Fortunately, Dylan did not see the sarcasm in her tone. No one knows that she can beat me at any game. I still don't understand how she does it.

"Yeah, right." He glares at me. "I have to leave anyway," he adds, standing up.

"Tired of losing?"

"Fuck you, Jake," he says as he walks away, "I will have my revenge!" I hear him shout from outside.

After Dylan leaves, I decide to watch a movie. Austin is still out, and I have no idea where Mia is. I haven't seen her since yesterday.

"Do you want to go out for dinner?" I ask Aelia.

"Yeah, sure. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know. Let's go, we'll choose on the road."

We are about to leave when I get a call from a friend. He works at a restaurant not too far from Pop's. We immediately head there. When I enter the restaurant, I spot Mia sitting in a booth at the back. I thank Tyler for calling me when I walk by him, heading towards Mia. When she sees Aelia and I take a seat facing her, she wipes her eyes and stares out the window. I think I already know who is responsible for this, and I can already think of a hundred different ways to make him pay for it.

Aelia's soft voice breaks the silence between us. "Hey, what's wrong?" She takes Mia's hands in hers.

"What did Robert do to you? Why do you hate him so much?" She asks me in a shaky voice, still looking out the window.

"What did he do?" I ask, ignoring her question. This is not something I am comfortable talking about, especially in public. I will wait until we get home, where there are no prying ears, to tell her everything about Robert. What is important now is what this asshole did to her. Her next words will determine whether Robert still has the possibility of living a long life or not.

She takes a deep breath and finally looks at me before saying, "He told me that he spent all of his money on the ticket to come back here and that he won't be able to stay at his friend's house for much longer, so he needs money. I gave him some money that I had, but he said it wouldn't be enough and told me to ask you for more. I told him that I could not get more, and he said that it was okay and that we should meet here for dinner, but I have been waiting here for over two hours, and he blocked my number and-"

"How do you know he blocked your number?" Aelia asks.

"I tried to call him from my phone, but the call was not going through, so I tried with one of the waitresses' phones, and it worked, but he did not pick up," she states before starting to cry again. Dammit Mia.

"How much money did you give him?" I ask, trying to keep my composure.

"All of my savings,"

"Seriously, Mia?" I can't believe she fell for that. How could she be-

"I am sorry for prying," one of the two girls who are now standing next to our booth says. "I am Sarah, and this is my little sister Amanda. Are you waiting for Robert?"

"Do you know him?" Mia asks.

"I am his daughter," Amanda says, shocking the three of us. "We saw you with him yesterday and thought you were one of his mistresses. The guy he is living with told us he had planned to come here tonight, so we came to catch him red-handed, but it turns out you are... my sister?"

Aelia

Something is not right with these girls. I am not saying that because Sarah has been staring at Jake like a starving bitch the whole time, but something really is off. They are both sitting next to Mia, facing Jake and me. They explained that Sarah is older. She is not Robert's daughter. They have a brother, Noah, who is a year older than Mia and I. I guess we know where Robert was the first time Maria kicked him out now. Then there is Amanda; she is a few months older than Austin, which means that he was still seeing that other woman when he came back home. Apparently, he moved in with them after running away.

We received our orders a few minutes ago, and Sarah and Amanda are the only ones who seem to be really enjoying their meal. Jake has only picked up a few of his fries, and Mia has not even touched her food at all. We spend the rest of the dinner talking—well, they are talking. I'm just sitting here observing them, trying to piece everything together. They tell us how Robert is an awful person who spends his time drinking and doing drugs. Apparently, they hate him.

"My mom has always been a great and respectful woman," Sarah says, her voice low. "But Robert makes her drink and take drugs. He always cheats on her, and now she is depressed and sick. She even tried to take her own life because of Robert," she adds, wiping invisible tears from her cheeks. I am not buying this. I don't think Jake is either, but as for Mia... For her, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Don't get me wrong, she is a wise girl, but she also tends to give her trust too easily and to believe everyone is as nice as her. For me, though, I am not buying their cheap acting. Maybe some of the things they are saying are true, but that 'sadness' they are showing is total bullshit, and if Sarah keeps on giving Jake this look, I swear I'm going to shove her freaking burger down her throat and make her choke on it.