to my destiny 💫

001.

[jackie's point of view]

"i promise, katherine, it had nothing to do with me. i'll call you when we get there," uncle richard said through his phone. he looked up at me after ending the call as i finished putting my things away in the overhead storage compartment. "you sure about this?" 

i didn't say a word. all i could do was nod. it was the only thing i was sure about. i had made the biggest mistake of my life the night before. alex told me that he loved me, got drunk, and fell asleep... while i cheated on him with his brother. 

there was no going back. having to face alex after everything would be too much. so, i got up and left. i woke up at 2 in the morning, feeling wracked with guilt, and that's when i called uncle richard and told him i was going to leave with him. i said i didn't want to talk about it yet, but that was only partly true. i never wanted to speak about it again.

i didn't know if i could just leave for good. i knew it wasn't right, but then again nothing going on at the moment was actually right. maybe it would be better this way, if i wasn't around cole the entire summer with alex gone. it would definitely be better than cheating on alex.

"so... i know you said you didn't want to talk about what happened this morning on the phone, but i have to give katherine some sort of explanation, jackie. she's probably worried sick about you and how you're doing, and i promise i'd call after we landed," said uncle richard.

i frowned as i said, "there's just been so much happening that i wasn't prepared for there. is it okay if i just stay with you over the summer and then decide at the end of the summer if i want to go back for junior year?"

uncle richard hesitantly nodded. "i guess that's fine. i'll let katherine know after we land. she said you're dating her son alex, right? this doesn't have anything to do with anything he did to you, does it?"

"no!" i exclaimed a little too fast in defense. "sorry. no, it's nothing alex did. he's been the best. he's going to be away for the summer, so i wouldn't really see him anyways. i just needed to get out, and i've really missed the city while i've been away."

uncle richard nodded. "well, the city has missed you too. i'm sorry things were hard there, but i'm glad you'll be getting a little more fresh air in the city to help you clear your head."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

[cole's point of view]

as soon as alex showed me jackie's note, i knew i was in deep shit. "alex, i swear i--"

before i could say anything else, he was already on his way downstairs to tell everyone else. i quickly hopped out of bed and threw on a shirt and some shorts before following him down.

"come on, mom! she's not answering my call and i don't know why she left!" alex was shouting as i stumbled down the stairs. great. this was going to be one for the record. mom shook her head wildly before saying "okay, okay, alex! calm down! i'll just call richard and see if she's with him!"

the first time she called, he didn't pick up, but he did the second time. "richard! hi! sorry to bother you so early in the morning, but is jackie with you?" he must have said something in return because she started nodding. "okay, okay. it's fine! she just didn't tell us where she was. can you put her on the phone?"

"oh, i'm sorry to hear that. will you have her call me once you've landed in new york?" mom asked again. she was frowning now. of course jackie wasn't going to answer the call. she was probably anxious as hell because of what happened last night. 

"oh, no. no, that's fine. just let her know she can call anytime. will you let me know what's going on once you guys have landed?" mom asked richard. "thank you."

she sighed as she put her phone down on the kitchen counter. "i don't know what you two did," she said, looking up at me and alex, "but jackie won't even speak to me right now. i don't care who's fault it was right now, but you both better text her and apologize. she's already been through so much, and you two have only made it worse. i can't blame her for wanting to go back to the city."

alex shook his head, raging with anger. "i can't believe she's actually going back. this is all your fault! what did you say to her?!" he shouted at me.

what the hell was i supposed to say to that? that she found out about the tea pot and kissed me and then started to leave and i pulled her back and we kissed a dozen more times? 

"i didn't say anything, alex. she came and talked to me last night because she found something that i made for her a few months ago. please, don't get mad at me. i know i made a mistake, but it doesn't matter right now. jackie's going back to new york, and i don't think she's going to want to come back now," i muttered in return.

he stared at me with his jaw hanging wide open. "what kind of mistake did you make that made her leave the whole freaking town, cole?! all you want to do is steal the girls that fell in love with me and have been mine!"

the girls that fell in love with him and that have been his? if they were really true to him, they wouldn't have done what they did. the whole paige thing was her fault, but jackie is completely different. this is my fault and her fault, and the fact that she just got up and left the second after things got too difficult is really pissing me off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

[jackie's point of view]

as soon as we hit the ground, i felt like i could breathe again.

i was away from silver falls and alex and cole and all of the drama, and i wouldn't have to see them for at least a few months.

i was back in the city, back where i belong.

then i saw the texts. the three long paragraph texts from alex and the few single lined texts from cole. 

i couldn't ignore them, so like any other person would, i answered them.