El Niño Garcia {An Isaac Garcia FF]

V

Jackie and I come downstairs on Lucy's birthday, and she brings down the teapot Lucy gave her for her birthday. She puts it on the counter, and a few seconds later, Parker knocks it over and it breaks. Silence fills the room and tears form in Jackie's eyes.

"I'm so sorry sweetie-" Katherine starts.

"It's fine," she says as her voice cracks. She turns and runs upstairs.

"Jackie!" I start to follow.

Katherine says, "It's okay, honey, I'll go check on her."

"I'll take care of the pot," Cole says.

The room is still silent. I feel sadness develop deep down, and I decide to go outside to take a deep breath. It's hard, with today being Lucy's birthday.

I sit on the porch stairs, trying to get the bad feeling to go away.

Isaac quietly comes outside and sits beside me. "You okay?"

"Yup," I say. A slow, singular tear runs down my cheek.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not today."

"Okay." We sit in silence. It's nice not being alone, even if we're not talking. It makes me feel better, especially today.

-----

About halfway through the school day, Jackie doesn't come to class. No one I ask knows why. She isn't answering my texts. I check her location and she's out in the woods. Like an hour away drive. When she should be in English. I ask Kylie and Alex, but they don't know. I decide to ask Isaac, and he tells me she's at a lake house party with Cole and other football players and cheerleaders.

I wonder why she would skip school for that, but I guess I can understand. It's been a rough day for her.

It's late at night when Jackie, Cole, and Danny walk in. Jackie is clearly drunk. "We went to a party," she says with a laugh. Katherine sighs and brings her upstairs.

I'm in the bathroom getting ready for bed, and I see her get led into bed. She seems calm, which, I guess makes sense, since she's drunk. I decide to finish quickly and go to our room.

I walk in to see Alex and Jackie nearly kissing.

"Oh!" I say. "Sorry." Alex smiles awkwardly and Jackie giggles. Alex hurries out, and I go sit on my bed. "So how did it go today?" I ask.

"We played truth or dare and I threw up on Cole," she mumbles.

I nod. "Okay. Alright. Mind elaborating?" I'm met with silence, and I turn to see her fallen asleep. I laugh and go to bed too.

-----

The next day, I find out that there's a party at the Lark cafe, but also that Jackie and Cole can't come because they're grounded.

For the party, I wear a black dress with puffed black sleeves. Jackie helps puts my hair into a low messy bun, and I wear gold jewellery.

I walk downstairs to the rest of the family getting ready to leave. Isaac gives me a long look and says, "Nice dress." I smile at him awkwardly.

"I agree." Katherine says. "Jackie really worked her magic." I chuckle politely. People always attribute good things to her, which, is fair, because she's amazing, but it does hurt sometimes.

"Thank you," I say awkwardly. We all pile into the truck and drive to the Cafe, where lights are strung up, and the decorations are very classy and elegant.

I say head over to Skylar, who's working as server, and Kiley's there too. I say hi to them, but I can't talk long because they have to walk around. I look around awkwardly and head over to Isaac. He sees me, smiles, and offers me one of the drinks in his hand. I take it and drink some.

"I think they're gonna give a speech soon," he whispers. I nod and we make our way closer to the front. Mato gets on stage and congratulates Will and Hayley for their hard work. Isaac reaches to fist bump Will, but he doesn't see, making me laugh. Isaac squints his eyes at me and fist bumps me instead. Mato gives a toast, and everyone bursts into applause.

The night continues, and I text Jackie to see how she's doing, and she replies saying that she finished all the chores and that she made her spicy hot chocolate. I laugh, thinking about how Cole might react to it.

Isaac introduces me to a few people, and I get to talk a bit with Skylar and Kiley when they're not busy. At one point, I overhear Skylar asking Alex, "How come there was never a you and Kiley?"

Alex looks caught of guard, and laughs. "I've known her since kindergarten. Besides, she's...Kiley." He walks off. It does cause me to wonder if there have ever been any feelings in that friendship from either of them.

We run the car, and it's storming. Once we get in the car and climb into the back seat, Isaac offers me his leather jacket, and I hear Lee chuckle on the other side of me. I ignore the blush that grows on my face. I take it. "Thanks," I tell him. It smells like his cologne, and I have to stop myself from sniffing more. "It's a bit tight, but it'll work," I tease, as the sleeves fall way over my hands.

"I can take it back if you don't want it," he says, leaning into me.

I place a finger on his lips to shush him. "Nope, it's mine now."

We all walk inside. The lights are off-the power went out.

"Why didn't Cole turn on the backup generators?" Alex asks. He heads to the living room. I follow him to see Cole helping Jackie up, and they're surrounded by candles. Some jealousy and hurt flashes across Alex's face. I uncontrollably let out a small smile at the tension, because it's so entertaining. Uh oh.

"Found 'em," he says seriously.