Parachute [Book 4]

Chapter 32 - Thought You Would Never Ask

Angie McGraw

***

I couldn’t believe that Riley was here, and Jake wasn’t. Riley even had a good excuse for not being here if he didn’t come and Jake pretty much didn’t – and yet he still didn’t come down for me.

It broke my heart every time I thought about how Melissa had Riley had each other for this one stupid night and I had no one.

It was fine that Jake couldn’t come down for Christmas and New Year (okay, maybe it completely wasn’t) but now it seemed like it really had been forever since I’d seen him last. It had been ages since he hugged me and kissed me last, and it had been absolutely forever since I’ve been able to hold his hand.

Holding Jake’s hand all of the time was the thing I missed the most. Whenever I didn’t feel very good, Jake would always grab my hand and it would always make everything better. It was one of the many comforting things he did, and now that he wasn’t here, I didn’t have that source of comfort anymore.

And the thing that made everything much more worse was that Jake didn’t even have the time to call me and comfort me whenever I felt down and out.

My life hadn’t been the greatest and it certainly hadn’t treated me very well. When I met Jake (also Marley), I remember things looking up because I had him there to talk to. He had no idea what was going on with me back then, but I felt like I was free to smile, forget my problems and be happy when he was around.

If he hadn’t of been there for me all of those times when I couldn’t get to Marley, I probably would have given up. Just like I wished I could have every single day. In other words, Jake was the very person who saved my life.

And now that he wasn’t here, I was miserable because I didn’t have a single person to confide my feelings and thoughts with. Of course Marley was here, but she would be moving back to New York soon, and I did also have Melissa, but neither of them would be able to comfort me the same way Jake could.

Jake had this special way of making me feel better whenever I was feeling the slightest bit down. He did these little things that drove me crazy and also made me smile. I missed those few little things a lot more than I thought I would when he left.

I wished on absolutely everything that he could be here with me for a few minutes just to hold me and give me a kiss. I just wanted to touch him; I wanted to run my hand down his face one more time; I wanted to just bury my face into his shoulder and smell his too strong deodorant once more; I wanted to just take his hand in mine and just sit there with him for a minute or two. I would give anything to just have him back  in Lima for a minute and to do those few little things.

I was knocked out of my thoughts when I heard Marley running down the hallway, to the kitchen where I was seated. She was screaming my name repeatedly. “Angie! Angie! Angie!” She rushed out of the door from the hallway and stood in front of me, cramming something into the back pocket of her skinny jeans.

“What?” I mumbled to her, my mouth full of cereal. I had almost forgotten I was eating it with the overthinking I was doing. I sat the almost empty bowl on the table and turned my head to look at Marley.

Marley began frowning at my white bowl, her mouth in a slight pout. “Firstly, why do you eat your cereal with orange juice?” I opened my mouth to tell her that it actually tasted good with corn flakes, but she began talking again. When I was watching her, I caught a hint of a smile that she was trying her hardest to hide. “And secondly, we’re going to be late for school if you don’t hurry up.”

That had made me suspicious – there was still half an hour until school begun, and there was no early Glee club meetings going on… and that smile, the one she was hiding.