Torn // In Stereo (Jakob Delgado, Ethan Karpathy & Chris Lanzon)

28. |

// Jakob's point of view //

My heart drops as Ethan doesn't break his gaze. His stare almost looks sorry, but he's the one that's recently taught me how what you see on the outside can be deceiving. Especially with Ethan. How long has he been playing us? We really thought he was changing. But hang on, why is he looking so guilty? Why isn't he smirking? Then it hits me. He wanted revenge on us calling his mum. That is when this all started. Kaleb. Any type of sympathy just drains out of me as I'm standing there, my mouth hanging slightly open in shock, staring at Ethan. Annabelle is talking to me, but I can't hear her. I try to calm my breathing and I get this urge to cry, but I won't. I channel all my sadness into anger and begin to storm through the crowd towards Ethan and Chris. Instead of going for Ethan, I grab Chris by the arm and drag him away back to where Annabelle is watching.

"What's going on, Jakob?" Chris asks, trying to free himself from my grip.

"That dick has been lying to us the whole time!" I try not to yell too loudly. It's not exactly quiet out here, though.

"Stop. What do you mean? Explain."

"I mean that it was Ethan. He's the one that set us up. He told everyone all these terrible things about us to make them hate us. It was him. It was him all along." I try not to take it out on Chris.

"Stop, Jakob. He has changed. I know. It doesn't matter, we need to forgive him." I can't believe the words that are coming out of his mouth. He doesn't understand, or he's too nice not to see through his little game.

"What if he's doing the same thing to Lara?"

This shuts him up, and he also turns back to where they were standing, but Ethan isn't there. Annabelle's words finally start making their way into my brain, everything starting to register again.

"Would you please calm down? Listen to me!"

"Jakob, Chris... I don't understand what's going on, or why he did it. I-" she starts, but Chris cuts her off.

"Kaleb."

"As I was going to say; Ethan was upset about Kaleb. I say he got embarrassed when you found out and wanted revenge. Being completely honest... I think he feels very differently now," Annabelle explains to us. "I think we need to get everyone together again and talk, minus Ethan."

"Okay, but can someone just tell me what the fuck is going on with this stupid fire?" Chris blurts out. Something has snapped inside of him, I can tell. I think it was Lara. As if his question was heard, Mr Thomas' voice is coming over the speakers.

"Attention all year levels! A fire has broken out in the year two bathrooms. We believe this fire was deliberate, and the fire services are on their way. The extent of the damage is not yet known. It would be appreciated if you could all remain calm and seated in your courtyards until further notice. Thank you."

"Um... I'll go find the others. Wait here." Annabelle says before disappearing.

Chris and I just sort of stand there, not saying anything and staring at the ground. I look up at one point and see the smallest tear making its way down his cheek but falling to the ground and disappearing. No one knows what to say, and we don't know what to do. How are we supposed to be in a group with a guy we can't even trust? We share a dorm with Ethan, there's no possible way to escape him.

"I don't believe it. He was so different and... Nice to us. It doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense at all." Chris breaks our silence, but Annabelle is coming back. Chris wipes his eyes and shakes his head softly, as if trying to get rid of everything out of his brain.

"Guys... I've talked to them and we all agree. We don't want to be angry at Ethan. We've all seen that he's changed." Annabelle announces as the others crowd around her. I look to Mike and Dan first- they both have this little guilty but happy look on their faces. Then I look to Sophia and Laura, the same kind of looks on their faces, but looking down at the ground. 

"Well, maybe we do." I protest, not being able to help the anger I feel.

"Jakob, can I speak to you privately?" Annabelle asks, reaching out for my hand and leading me away. I've missed the way her hand feels, even though she's not actually holding it. All of those sparks and shocks that I felt before haven't gone away. She's leading me to the corner furthest away from any ground of people. The corner is dark and shadowed by the hedges, but in a way I kind of like it.

"Please just explain to me how you're feeling. It doesn't have to be a long explanation, you could sum it up in one word."

I think hard about this, and I stare down at the way Annabelle is lightly holding the tips of my fingers. As I continue to think, I wriggle my hand around until our fingers are laced together properly. I look slightly up and continue to think, eventually coming up with an answer that's good enough to say.

"Betrayed, underwhelmed. This place, these people, it isn't what I thought it would be."

"Well, I know what I like to think when I'm feeling this way." She smiles softly, grabbing my other hand and lacing our fingers together.

"And what's that?"

"You."

"Don't.. You don't have to-" I start, but she's smiling and she cuts me off.

"Jakob... If I hadn't come here or gotten in, I would never have gone to the beach, would never have been stung by a jelly fish, stepped foot in a real recording studio, let alone in a real school, but most of all, I wouldn't have met you. You're the one that has introduced me to half that stuff. It's like a feeling you'd expect to read about in The Fault In Our Stars or a cliche book or see in a movie like that."

"I've never seen that, or read it."

"What!?" She asks, her eyes going wide and her mouth dropping open. "You've never seen The Fault In Our Stars!?"

"No, but maybe that's something you could introduce me to. "

She doesn't reply with words, she replies by kissing me. Her hands leave mine and make their way around the back of my neck. Mine rest lightly on her sides as I move one up to cup her face. My heart is beating faster than I ever thought it could and I'm starting to wonder why I'm not having a heart attack. She pulls away and leans her forehead against mine. Both of us take in deep breaths through our nose as we try and catch our breath.

"Can we pretend like nothing ever went wrong?" She asks.

"I think I can do that."

"I've missed you." She continues.

"I know, I've missed you too, but remember, nothing ever went wrong. Today I took you to the beach and you got stung by a jellyfish. You're okay now, though, and tomorrow we'll wake up and I'm going to like you just as much as I did today. We'll work out around Ethan together and we'll go busking. I'll help you with your school work and we'll do it together."

And then she kisses me again.