A little too late

Chapter 35

Finn and I walk side by side back to school. We still are talking about Jack and I’m surprised he isn’t sick of talking about his brother already.

“Hey, can I ask you a question about Jack?” I ask him.

“Depends on what you want to know” He replies cheekily.

“You’ve pretty much already told me all about his personal life, what more could I ask that you wouldn’t be able to answer?” I ask curiously.

He gives me a little shrug before sighing, “What’s your question Stella?”

“Well, you know how I accidentally told you Jack and I slept together...” I say awkwardly. He gives me a nod, prompting me to continue. “Well, when we got back to school, we got caught for wagging and we were pulled into the principal’s office. Anyway, Jack got us out of trouble but he kinda made up a lie to do it.”

“Sounds like Jack to me” He interrupts me and I give him a little frown. He sees my face and laughs before muttering, “Continue Stella”.

I struggle to continue without telling Finn what actually happened. I’m not too keen on telling him that Jack told the principal I was pregnant.

“Anyway, I think the principal may have told that lie to his daughter and now his daughter is avoiding me. I told Jack that she was avoiding me and he said he’d deal with it. She’s my friend you know and I just don’t want to lose that. I don’t have many friends here in England, so you can imagine why I want to keep her. But what I want to know is, do you know what Jack did or is going to do?” I ask Finn willingly.

Finn looks straight in front whilst answering, “Yeah I think I do”. He keeps it at this but doesn’t bother to continue. I give him a little nudge with my arm and he looks at me hesitantly.

He bites his lip before continuing, “Look I don’t know what Jack would’ve told her but...”

“But?” I press him for answers.

“Remember how I said my mother cheated on my father... Well, she cheated with Laurens father” He tells me hesitantly.

“What?” I spit out.

“My mother slept with the principal” He restates in shame.

“Does Lauren know?” I ask him.

He merely shrugs, “I’ve got no idea. But if Jack wanted her to do something, I’d imagine he’d use this to blackmail her”.

“Jack would do that?” I ask surprised.

“There’s a reason why Jack gets away with so much shit at school. The principals happily married. If Jack hadn’t blackmailed the principal, he’d no doubt be expelled by now” Finn tells me. I bite my lip nervously and Finn picks up on this. “Hey, don’t judge him for all this. He was in a bad place back then but he’s changed since he met you.”

I give him a little nod and we continue walking to school in silence. My mind is going crazy with all this information. He’s given me so much to consider and I just don’t know what to do. In many ways, I just want to grab Jack and reassure him that everythings okay. But then on the other hand, he’s done so much fucked up shit and I just don’t know if I can get passed that.

We finally take a turn and reach the school gates. As we walk through, the devil himself appears in front of us. He gets up from where he is sitting and runs towards me.

 “Are you okay? What did he do to you? Are you hurt?” Jack bombards me with questions while looking my body up and down to make sure that I’m in one piece.

“I’m fine Jack” I reply. He looks at me with concern for another minute before turning to his brother.

“What the fuck did you to her? I swear if you touched her I will fucking –“ He says before I interrupt him.

“He did nothing to me Jack. We were just talking” I inform him. I see Finn nodding his head beside me. Jack protectively puts his arm around me and starts to lead me away from Finn.

“Stay away from her” He orders Finn. Finn looks hurt by Jacks words but just turns around and walks away. He doesn’t even bother to defend himself which just annoys me.

As Jack and I stand there alone, I start to talk, “We really were just talking Jack”.

He just shakes his head, “I don’t want you anywhere near him Stella”.

I move Jacks arm off me, “Jack, he’s your brother”.

“Yes, a brother that I now can’t trust!” He tells me.

“Nevertheless still your brother. And you can trust him Jack” I say.

“Why are you defending him? What the fuck did he say to you?” Jack asks me, concern flashing over his face.

“It’s nothing Jack” I reply.

Jack puts both of his hands back on my shoulders, “What did he tell you?”

I bite my lip, wondering whether or not to tell him. I take a deep breath before spitting out the truth, “Everything. He told me everything Jack”

“What’s everything?” He counters back angrily.

“Why he did what he did and why I should trust you” I tell him.

He shakes his head, “You shouldn’t trust me”.

I reach up and touch his face with my hand, “Don’t think of yourself so low Jack”.

He closes his eyes and rests his face in my hand. When he doesn’t talk anymore I decide to ask some questions.

“I have so much I want to ask you” I whisper. He finally opens his eyes and only now do I get a good look at him. His eyes are bloodshot and he’s obviously been crying. He still doesn’t answer me.

“How do you feel about wagging?” I press him. This brings a little smile to his lips.

“Since when did you get so rebellious Stells?” He jokes. I laugh along with him and grab his hands off my shoulders. I slowly pull him out of the school gates and he follows willingly.