to my destiny 💫

010.

[jackie's point of view]

when i woke up, i wasn't really sure if i wanted to go downstairs right away. i was sure alex had told everyone, and if he hadn't... he was definitely going to say it when i was around. i wanted to avoid that, but i didn't really have a choice.

i quickly grabbed a bagel from the pantry before heading out to the car with the guys. "good morning, jackie," nathan said with a wave and a smile. i smiled back wearily. "hey, good morning." 

i was about to sit down next to him so i wouldn't have to awkwardly sit next to alex in silence when cole turned around and said, "hey, there's no one sitting in the passengers seat right now. it's all yours, new york." my brows furrowed as i said, "cole, i can't. you know how--"

"i wasn't asking," cole muttered. "just come sit up here." isaac raised an eyebrow and whispered something to lee. danny sighed. "hold on, cole, she should be sitting back there with alex. it's always been the same rule--" cole shook his head. "yeah, not today, and maybe not for a while."

"what? why? how is it fair that jackie gets special treatment and we never do?" isaac asked abruptly. cole sighed half-heartedly. "it's not special treatment, isaac. just sit down and stop complaining." alex rolled his eyes as he made his way to the car and said, "jackie and i aren't together anymore. that's why we aren't sitting together."

isaac raised an eyebrow. "oh, sh--crap, really? sorry, jackie. i didn't know." nathan shook his head. "yeah, none of us knew. wait-- cole, how did you find out?" cole looked out the window, acting distant, when he told them, "heard them arguing last night on my way out to the barn."

"of course you did," alex huffed, "and i'm sure you already know that jackie still has feelings for you." 

the entire car went silent. 

i felt the anger pulsing through my veins. i shook my head and turned to him and said, "stop lying, alex. we already went over this. our break up has nothing to do with cole. i couldn't care less about him like that. i just can't be in a relationship right now." 

"oh," isaac said laughing a bit, looking over at alex, "you got dumped, bro. we didn't know that either." alex shook his head. "it wasn't like that, okay? i got cheated on!" i shook my head again in annoyance. i didn't even know how to respond to that... because he wasn't wrong. it just wasn't recent. "can we just go to school? obviously we aren't on the same page here."

a few minutes later, on the way to school, someone quietly asked, "wait, cole, did you cheat on courtney too?" he gripped the steering wheel tighter as he said, "no. i didn't cheat on courtney, and jackie didn't cheat on alex. he's just pissed because he couldn't handle the fact that jackie didn't want to be in a relationship, like she already said. alex just doesn't know what he's talking about."

we all rode the rest of the way to school in complete and utter silence. when we finally got there, i hopped out of the car and started walking away as fast as i could. 

i didn't realize cole was coming after me until i was halfway to grace's car and he quickly grabbed my arm. "jackie, stop. we have to talk about this." 

i inhaled a deep breath before turning around to see his face. "look, cole, this is the last thing i want to talk about right now. alex just made our home life a living hell, and there's nothing we can do to change that right now. can we just talk later?"

"no, we can't because there are too many people around our house to get the wrong idea of us talking to each other at all now," cole muttered. "i'm sorry that he did that, but it doesn't change the fact that the way he did it changes everything."

i slowly blinked my tears away before they could roll down my face. "yeah, believe me, i know that. please, cole. i really can't talk about this right now. i have-- look, class is going to start any minute. can we please just find somewhere to talk about this later?"

"why are you acting like this?" cole asked. "don't let alex get to you. yeah, i know what he did sucks and it changes a lot, but now you can do whatever you want without having someone cling to you like... cling wrap. just breathe, new york. the worst part is already over."

i couldn't even look him in the eyes. "no, it's not. it's only just beginning. i'm sorry, cole. maybe it's better if we just don't talk to each other at all. ever. no one will have anything against us."

"jackie, that's insane. we literally live like six feet from each other. there's no possible way to pull that off, not even mentioning the fact that it just sounds horrible in every single universe. we can't just not talk to each other," cole disagreed.

i shook my head. "it's our only option. we're going to have to try."

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

[alex's point of view]

i couldn't believe my eyes. jackie and cole were already talking, and we hadn't even been broken up for twelve hours. i rolled my eyes and muttered, "ridiculous," at the sight of it.

i spotted kiley heading inside and went to go talk to her about it. "hey, kiley." she smiled wearily at me. "welcome back, alex. sorry i couldn't hang out with you yesterday afternoon." i shrugged. "it's fine. um, i think you'll be happy. we can start spending more time together now."

"what do you mean?" kiley asked. "aren't you supposed to be focusing more on riding after this summer?" i nodded hesitantly. "technically, yeah, but i just need to get my mind off of home life right now." she eyed me suspiciously. "why? what happened?" 

my eyes darted away from hers. "jackie and i broke up." kiley's eyebrows shot up. "you did? when? why?" i rolled my eyes. "last night. we both just had... different feelings from each other." she sighed. "i'm sorry, alex. i knew she couldn't be good for you."

"what do you mean?" i asked. kiley shrugged. "she took over all of your relationships. you guys spent so much time together that it was kind of overwhelming. you didn't really go anywhere without her unless you were forced to. i know it changed things between you and cole, and it changed things between us too. now that she's gone, your relationship can go back to normal."

i laughed humorlessly. "yeah, not really. she and cole were already talking to each other this morning as soon as we were out of the car." kiley shook her head. "that's so stupid. wait. isn't cole dating that myers girl?" i nodded. "yeah, courtney. jackie said she didn't have feelings for cole and 'wouldn't do anything to hurt them', but i don't buy it. she's already talking to him more than before. he knew we'd broken up before anyone else this morning."

"that's so messed up," kiley said. "we need to warn courtney." i nodded. "yeah, definitely. don't want her to fall prey to the golden boy like the others." she nodded. "i'll figure out something to say to her later. see you at lunch, alex." i smiled weakly as she left for her first class. "see you."

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

[jackie's point of view]

i was walking out of personal finance when i saw kiley walking towards me. i smiled weakly and waved. i didn't have the energy to deal with a lot of people at the time, so i headed towards the cafeteria for lunch. she didn't let me get very far before pulling my arm into the girl's bathroom.

"i don't know why you think you're better than any other girl here, but you were awful to alex. he didn't deserve what you did to him, and you shouldn't be going out with cole after all of this. it's stupid and selfish and immature after everything you put him through with cole," kiley said with a death stare.

i shook my head. "you weren't there when i broke up with him. i told him i don't have feelings for cole. he just didn't believe me. i didn't want to hurt alex, but it was better than staying with him when i didn't have feelings for him anymore."

"you don't have feelings for cole anymore? is that why alex saw you guys talking this morning the second you got to school?" kiley asked.

i sighed heavily. "alex didn't see anything. there was just an awkward conversation in the car, and cole and i were agreeing to not talk to each other. it's better for everyone. besides, he's dating courtney anyways. they're perfect for each other."

"if you're lying about this, i'm going to find out. you better watch your back, jackie," kiley said before leaving.