A Broken Smile

Chapter Six: Behind that Gorgeous Face

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We had arrived back at the dorm some time later and Chase ran upstairs to go change. I decided I was taking a shower soon anyways and stayed in the lounge room. I walked in, and annoyance flashed through my body.

All the guys were huddled up in the lounge room playing xbox. I was annoyed that they were still playing. It had been hours. They were playing when Chase and I had left. I mean, don't get me wrong, I could be a game addict at times too. 

"Let me give it a try.", I smiled sweetly, as three heads swiveled around to stare blankly at me.

"Psh. Yeah, alright princess. Let's see you give it a shot Ty.", Logan sarcastically retorted.

"Just give me the controller.", I demanded, fixing my glasses.

I had restarted, shot a few guys, ran away, jumped around, threw some grenades, and killed the "boss" in less than five minutes. Game over. I had won that level in a flash and before I knew it, I was being tackeld.

There was a chorus of "Dudes"s, and "Whoa, MAN! Didn't know you were a gamer!"s.

Looks like it was time for "pig pile on Tessa and squash her to pieces."

They got off after a few minutes, distracted by a new tournament starting and began chanting happily, munching on their potato chips. Jerehmy was the only one unattatched to the screen.

He walked over and sat beside me. "Seriously man. Kudos to you. You've got mad game.", he grinned. No more fireworks, no more heart-melting, no more anything.

"Thanks man", I smiled proudly.

"So, how you likin' Chase?", Jerehmy made conversation.

"He's pretty great. He's a player isn't he?", I tried to ask with casual note to my voice.

"More then you will ever know. I've been friends with him since 7th grade. After 8th...Never knew what happened. It's like he blossomed or something.", Jerehmy chuckled.

"Yeah, but he knows it, too." I rolled my eyes.

"Exactly.", Jerehmy smiled knowingly.

"What...um...You know...What happened to him before sixth grade? I mean you don't have to tell me, cause he got all touchy over the subject and didn't want to say anything and I was kinda just wondernig..."

Jerehmy looked at my curiously, as if seeing me in a whole new light. "Well, It's a long story. Chase wouldn't even tell me this himself. My mom had talked to his mom about it. Details are kinda sketchy... In short, he got into a car accident when he was in 5th grade and temporarily lost his memory all together. But, as luck would have it, he regained most of his memory...Except for anything that caused him stress or pressure and stuff, in his life. For example, he forgot everything about his dad. He refused to believe that his dad was still around, because his dad left him for some other lady, so he simply remembered it as his dad dissappearing alltogether. And, I heard that he totally can't remember this major chunk of his life, to this day!", Jerehmy looked over at me to make sure I wasn't asleep. "Word has it, his mom changed his name in sixth grade and officially divorced his dad right before middle school to "give him less emotional and mental stress" and tried to give him a new start. My thoughts? She just didn't want any of the parents gossipping behind her back...So you know...Guess there really is a story behind that "gorgeous" face of his."

"What a mouthful.", I answered simply, taking in everything, suddenly realizing why Chase didn't want to talk about it.

"Thanks.", I whispered.