This Time

Ch. 9

It was a late night in November when my phone dinged with a text message. It was from Jacob.

Hey, can you meet me outside at the park?

I quickly threw on my parka and left the house. Snowflakes were beginning to fall, and it was probably below like 20 degrees. I took a quick left at the end of the street and saw Jacob sitting on the swings, swinging back and forth lightly. Shoving my hands in my pockets, I approached him. 

"Oh, hey."

He weakly smiled. His eyes were red and swollen, as if he was crying. 

"A-Are you okay? What's wrong?"

I asked, pulling up his hood for him so that the snowflakes wouldn't get on his hair. 

"I broke up with her."

He said, a tear falling out of his eye. I just stood there as he started to weep. 

"I was right. She was cheating on me. She was cheating on me with Kevin. Kevin's my best friend."

He began to cry harder. I bent down and hugged him. He cried right into my shoulder. 

"I-I walked in on them. Just a few hours ago. I left her house so mad, and she ran after me. And I..I broke up with her right then and there. My phone is blowing up with Kevin's text messages."

Jacob said, gesturing to his phone that wouldn't stop vibrating. A few minutes later, Jacob stopped crying and sat up. Tear streaks were all over his cheeks and his eyes were bloodshot red. 

"What the hell do I do now?"

He said, a puff of smoke coming out of his mouth. I stood there, hands in my pockets, not knowing what to do. 

"It only means you're going to find someone better. I strongly believe in that, you know. If you get separated from someone important in your life, it only means you're going to find someone better."

I told him. Jacob looked up at me. 

"I had a friend a long time ago...we were best friends actually. And then she turned her back on me and I changed into a different person. I was depressed for a while and then I came to Civic High and met these people who turned me around. There's always someone better out there, even if you don't think there is." 

I said, kicking at the ground and refusing to meet his eyes. Minutes later, he stood up. 

"The snow is getting worse. You should go home."

He said, pushing me out of the park gently. 

"Are you gonna be okay?"

I asked right before I turned around to leave. Jacob shook his head.

"It'll take a while, but thanks to you, I think I'll manage."

He pulled me into a hug, and I awkwardly stood there for a few seconds as the awkward person I was, and then I wrapped my arms around him too. 

"See you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

I turned around the corner and walked home in the falling snow without looking back.

Practice the next day was grim. It started to rain, so we had to continue practice indoors. Jacob and Kevin were clearly not talking, although Kevin kept stealing looks at Jacob to see how he was doing. The whole team seemed to notice, so everybody was very quiet and nervous. Jacob was doing extra weights today and angrily pushing himself to do more reps. I watched as I took a light jog on the running mill. 

"Jacob..."

I said, worried. He ignored me and kept going, beads of sweat rolling down his face. The second Kevin blew the whistle to signify the end of practice, Jacob immediately got up and left for the locker room without staying for the pep talk. 

"What's wrong with Jacob?"

Aaron nudged me on the shoulder as we huddled around. I shrugged. 

"Bad day I guess."

"Alright everyone, listen up. We have a big game tomorrow, so rest up tonight, ice whatever you need, and hydrate. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Eat lots of bananas too. That's all gang. I'll see you tomorrow."

Kevin said, wiping his sweat with his shirt. The team headed straight for the guys locker room, and I headed to the girls locker room alone. Once I changed out of my sweaty clothes and collected my things, I brushed past the volleyball players and left the locker room. Jacob was leaning on the wall, hands in his pockets, hair wet from the shower he took in the locker room. He straightened up when he saw me. 

"Ready to go?"

He asked. I nodded. Before we could go down the stairs, Kevin came running up to us. 

"Jacob, can we talk?"

He said, glancing at me for a second. Jacob's fists tightened. 

"If you can't tell, I'm doing my best to avoid you so I won't knock your teeth out. Fuck off."

He said, teeth clenched. 

"Listen, I got drunk alright? I didn't even know what I was doing man. Why would I ever do that to you? She took complete advantage of me, I fucking swear."

Kevin begged. Jacob's eyes lingered with second thoughts for a second, but then returned back to his icy gaze. 

"Get out of my face, you jackass."

Jacob took my wrist and pulled me down the stairs before I could say anything. It was pouring outside, but he started to walk across the field to his car anyway. He still had his grip around my wrist, which was starting to hurt by the way, so I didn't have a choice but to follow him through the downpour. By the time we reached his car, we were soaking wet, head to toe. Frustrated, he rummaged through his pockets for his keys. It wasn't long until he realized he forgot his keys somewhere. He sighed in frustration. 

"I'll be back."

He said, before he grudgingly walked back to the school again. He was back several minutes later with a few towels that he tucked under his hoodie and his keys. I was shivering. He handed me the towels once we got in the car, and he turned on the heater to full blast. 

"Sorry about that...I just...I don't have any of my shit together."

He said, running his fingers through his hair and leaning back on his chair. 

"I'm fine."

I managed to say through my chattering teeth. He looked at me and sighed. He took his hoodie off and handed it to me. Without hesitance, I took it and pulled it over me. It smelled like cologne. It smelled like Jacob. 

The second I walked into the house, Aunt Ambi noticed my "new" hoodie. She suspiciously looked at it at first, but recognized it as a guy's once she hugged me. 

"Jen? You have anything to tell me?"

She crossed her arms, examining me up and down. My hair was dripping wet and I had an oversized hoodie that smelled like cologne. Of course.

"I got stuck out in the rain for like 10 minutes...Jacob gave me his hoodie while driving home because my teeth wouldn't stop chattering."

I quickly explained to clear up the misunderstanding. Aunt Ambi gave me another suspicious look, but didn't say anything and went back to to reading her newspaper. I went up to my room to shower and change before she started questioning me again, because I knew she would.