Perseverance (Book 2 of Jade and Nika)

Chapter 20: The Painful Truth

Jade

It's been a month since the interview with the national news. A lot has changed since then, but not all for the better.

After the interview, there was a big increase of people who became team Nika. Mainly because of how I calmed her down so she didn't punch Sky, and how she tended to me after getting punched. But I think the big thing was that I confessed to taking the punch for Nika. The media went crazy after that interview. The only one who was not happy was Sky.

I knew that the interview didn't help Sky at all. Especially since I told the country that I didn't want to kiss her. Then just the whole thing didn't make her look good. She was the one who escalated it after I calmed Nika down. She was the one who threw the punch. But in Sky Hamilton's mind, it was my fault. And that's why she wanted to talk to me after the interview.

Honestly I wouldn't call it talking more or less. She basically gave me a lecture and she slapped me. Then she started to tell me how I am going to start acting like I actually like her. That we are going to actually go out in public with each other. She even wants to start posting about each other on social media. She is really trying to shove Nika out of the picture.

So like I said it has been a month since then I have not been able to get away from Sky and she is starting to make me go crazy. I have been hanging out with her in public and making the social media posts like she wanted. I even made posts about Nika, but that just made it worse for me because Sky wasn't happy. She started to physically and mentally hurt me.

I have been talking to Nika every day. I obviously don't tell her about all the physical abuse that Sky puts me through. But I talk to her about everything else. I really do miss Nika. I even got to watch her games. I even posted pictures of me watching the games. I even told her that I love her, and she tells me that she loves me too.

Nika and Sky are not the only people who I talk to either. I also have been talking to my dad. He definitely cares about me and wants me to be happy. I also talk to Riley. She even came up to visit me. It was so much fun to have her here, and not only because she made it where I got a break from Sky.

Besides all of that I have also been cleared for full practices, and I honestly feel like me again. I am not dropping a single pitch. I can already see the hope and confidence of the team increase with every practice. I definitely believe that we can win our third consecutive championship title this year.

Honestly softball practice seems to be the only time I can actually be happy around Sky.

The only time I get to really get away from Sky is when I go see my therapist. My therapist is the only one who knows about what Sky is doing to me. My therapist agrees with me that it's just like my relationship with Matt. They told me that I needed to get out of this situation. But I can't break the love triangle yet. So instead of breaking the love triangle I started to see my therapist every week. And we finally decided that I needed a service dog.

Which brings me to today, and I am on my way to meet service dogs and see if I can find a good match. I love dogs and I am so excited about having this service dog. I believe that the dog will help me in many ways, but especially with the panic attacks. I had three more panic attacks since the one I had in Connecticut, so that was a big factor in why I needed a service dog.

When I walked into the service dog training center, I walked up to the front desk. The receptionist said that the trainer will be with me shortly. I sat down to wait until the three other people who were waiting recognized me. I took pictures with them and gave them an autograph. While I was doing that the trainer finally came to get me. So once I finished taking the last picture, I walked back to talk to the trainer.