TROUBLE // Jemma

Chapter 24: Regret

Just a short reminder: This is an AU story so lots of things don't go like the show, which means things will go differently.

*****

Everyone's phones went off with a Miss Information alert, saying:
"This is Miss Information with a breaking news report: Sophomore student Jax Novoa was spotted getting beat up by a man about a block away from school. Several texters reported that the man was robbing his motorbike and kidnapping a little girl with him. Someone call some help!"

[Picture of Jax with some bruises and a nearly black eye standing up strong against another masked teenage boy.]

***
Lunch time

Emma

A commotion of gasps spreaded across the halls of Iridium High. Some were even quite shell-shocked, if I may add.

Mia, who was walking side-to-side with me, also gasped, having her eyes glued to her phone. Her eyes widened and she clasped a hand over mouth. "No."

I furrowed my brows. "What's with the shocks all of the sudden?"

"Must've been a Miss Information alert. Maybe they ran out of tasty tacos; it hurts everyone to the bones everytime." Andi snickered. Her face fell once she realized what she had concluded. "They ran out of tasty tacos?!"

Mia playfully slapped her arm, shaking her head. "Puh-lease. If the cafeteria would've ran out of tasty tacos, everyone would be acting as if it was the end of the world."

Andi's face lit up again. "So they didn't run out of tasty tacos? Oh, thank goodness."

"GUYS!" I half-yelled, stopping their petty little conversation. "Back to the topic, what's with the commotion?"

Everyone turned dead silent. Damn. It was as if I was already hearing crickets.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" I heard a few girls gasp from behind me.

More girls continued. "You were such a brave guy." Huh?

I turned around to face the Iridium High entrance to see a bunch of girls (and some guys) huddled around a guy who appears to be Jax... who looked wounded and hurt?

Mia tapped my shoulder and handed me her phone. It was, indeed, a Miss Information alert.

"Sophomore student Jax Novoa was spotted getting beat up by a man about a block away from school." I looked up at Mia, who was already giving Jax a pitiful look, and continued reading. "Several texters reported that the man was robbing his motorbike and kidnapping a little girl who was with him."

Jax. Oh my gosh.

***

During free period, I had a chance to talk to him for a short while so I took this opportunity to make sure he's okay.

When he was walking across the hallway, I took his hand and entwined them with mine, making him turn his attention to me immediately. "Em..."

"Jax. You feeling okay?" I shyly asked.

He rolled his eyes. "I just got beaten up by a stranger-slash-robber-slash-kidnapper. Yes, Emma, I'm totally fine." The tone of his voice was dripping lots of sarcasm and I knew he wasn't in a good mood, especially when placed in this spot.

"Poor Jaxy." I teased, pouting. He giggled at me.

Then he got serious.

"That one day I decided not to go back home, I thought everything was clear to me: that my dad was truly evil, that my mother was dead, my sisters were under my father's control... that is, until..." he audibly gulped and looked up at me, "today."

"What happened?" I asked him.

"I actually helped kill my own mother." He clenched his jaw, blocking off the anger that was brewing inside of him. His fists started to crunch, a few tears were about to drip from his eyes.

He further explained. "I think I do understand my father now. He isn't the evil one in the family, it was my mother. He pretended and taught me that she was dead this whole time to protect me from her who wanted to train me to become evil like her. That is, until, we killed her... or so as I thought."

Huh? I was involved? "Did you just say we?"

"My mother was Torres, my brother was Julio, Jessie is really fully my sister, not just a half. And Torres? She's just stranded in Limbo who doesn't want to see my face ever again. Jess told me the truth earlier and that stranger was..." he stopped, becoming even more nervous by the minute. "It was Julio. She wanted Jessie back at the magic realm with him and his-- I mean our mother but I didn't let her fall into the wrong hands. Then there, he fought me."

"Jax..." I pitied him. He looked so hurt (physically, emotionally, and mentally) and I want nothing but to take that away.

He blew out a breath. "Do you think I did the wrong thing?"

I shook my head. "No, you just wanted Jessie out of evil hands. That's a good reason."

"But what about that day we thought we made her vanish forever? Should we have done that?"

To be honest, I don't know.

"I'm sorry, Em, but I feel like I regret it at some point." He took his phone and left the cafeteria in a rush. The girls who were hiding & waiting with their pens to sign Jax's cast? They came out of their hidings and chased him.

I followed after him, as a natural instinct. I saw him go through the hallway, go up to the second floor, pass our lockers, enter the janitor's closet then BAM, he was gone.

Not long after, I found myself near a waterfall in the middle of nowhere... with Jax. He must've teleported me here. I was already sitting on one of the logs with him as the small waves splashed against our feet. "I'm sorry for walking out on you like that."

I nodded. "It's okay. I know what you're going through right now."

"Really? How so?"

I explained. "There was this one time wherein I regret doing something. In fact, there are a lot of things I regretted doing." I sighed, preparing myself for the next couple of words I was about to say. "...and one of them was breaking up with you."

*****

CLIFFHANGER! MUAHAHAHAHAHA... Just kidding. I'm not that mean. Another update coming soon. By soon, I mean less than a week. Prepare yourself for dem feels about to come.

***

If you're still reading this, comment "Poor Jaxy." and I'll give you a shoutout on the next chapter. *wink* *wink*