Moments In Between ( Book 2)

Chapter 13: I just.....

"Jared.... honey, please come out."

That is my mom, again. She has been doing this for the past week. I have been avoiding everyone for the past week. I go out all day and come back when it's too late for them to be up. Not that it has stopped my mom. It's like she no longer sleeps. I barely manage to stay two steps ahead of her.

"I know it's hard, but we can talk about this. You can't keep hiding, Jared."

I need some time to think without her influence. Get my thoughts straight and wrap my head around this ordeal with Shane. Mom figured out I was staying home today. I swear she has superpowers. She can not possibly know me that well. It is Sunday, and well, there is not much to do. I was gonna pretend I wasn't home, but mom and her dang super-Jared-sensing abilities have ratted me out. I put in my headphones and turn the volume right up.

 She will go away in five minutes. I do not want to hear her begging anymore. I know exactly what she wants to talk about, and I do not want to hear it right now. I close my eyes and let my music soothe me. Something hits me in the face. I grab onto it. It is one of my pillows. I open my eyes to see Mark standing in front of me with another pillow. My door is still locked. But one of the windows is open. I pull out the headphones. Looking at Mark wide-eyed.

"Are you insane? What if you had fallen?"

He glares at me. "Well, I wouldn't have to be scaling a slippery roof if you would just open your bloody door."

"It's closed for a reason."

He walks over and sits on the end of the bed. "Bro, come on, talk to me."

"I don't have anything to say."

"So you plan to avoid everyone for the rest of your life?"

I sigh. He knows me too well. "Why didn't she tell me? I mean I know what I did make her hate me but a kid is different. Even if she did hate me..... I don't understand it."

He gets up and starts pacing around. He is up to something. He stops. 

"Well, maybe you should let her tell you why." 

He then opens my door and moves aside. Shane steps inside. Mark slips out and closes the door. My heart does a rollercoaster swirl. She is a vision of beauty. Her brown eyes were glued to the floor. Her lips are carrying a frown. It is quite upsetting, and I know I am the cause.

"I guess you don't wanna talk to me. "I do not answer. "Guess I should leave then." She turns around.

"Only if you're going out the window."

Mark is pretty clever. He took out my room key. I am gonna get him back for this. Or maybe I'll hug him, depending on how this whole thing goes. I put my headphones back in. I am known for being an ass. Right now, I have every reason to be. Halfway through the song, she moves. She sinks to the floor. Wiping her face. Asshole achievement unlocked. I pause the already muted music.

"I was wrong." She sniffles.

"I know that much, Shane."

"I didn't find out until after I left... I thought that if I told you...you'd be mad, so I decided... I wasn't gonna keep them... But I couldn't give them up... They were pieces of you..... Eric wanted to raise them as his own... We were... They're happy... I didn't plan on coming back or meeting you here... I was so mad at you for what you did...."

"You weren't ever gonna tell me, were you?"

Ouch. I can understand why, but it still hurts.

"For a long time... No.. Then we got here, and it pained my heart each time I saw you... I wanted to tell you..."