last summer - jack gilinsky

fourteen

jack and i were parked on the beach in malibu, the trunk of his car popped open and the two of us sitting in the back of it with blankets.

"this is nice." i laughed, resting my head on jack's shoulder.

my phone vibrated in my hand and an unknown number appeared on the screen, but from what i saw it was a very long message.

"what's up?" jack asked as i climbed out of the car onto the beach.

[323-672-8101] hi rose, this is madison. i understand that you and jack are a thing now but he's a liar. he's manipulative and abusive and if you do one wrong thing he'll hurt you. he hurt me all the time and i don't wish that upon anybody else. he lied about how long ago that audio was on his apology he posted. just know that you need to watch out because he is a fucked up person.

i didn't reply, reading the message again.

"rose?" jack asked. "whats wrong?"

"madison texted me." i told him.

another vibration.

[323-672-8101] you probably think i'm exaggerating or jealous of you but im not. listen for yourself.

she attached an audio file of jack calling her stupid.

"rose why are you listening to that?" jack questioned, taking my phone out of my hands. i flinched a little.

"oh my god, you thought i was going to..." he handed my phone back to me, walking back to the car.

"i'm sorry." i said quietly, my eyes tearing up. i had no reason to be crying other than the fact that i felt guilty, but after hearing the way that he talked to madison in the audio file she sent me i couldn't help it.

"i won't hit you, rose." he said, walking back over to me and pulling me into his arms.

"why did you say those things to her?"

"i was drunk. i know that isn't an excuse, but it's the truth. she's said things to me before, too. our relationship was extremely toxic on both ends and i'll admit my part but she won't."

i stayed silent, holding him in my arms. who do i believe? madison, who has the proof, or jack, who i have feelings for but also have no proof of what he's saying being accurate?

i pulled out of our hug and went to the number i hadn't texted in ages.

To: Sammy Wilk ❤️ - can i get jack j's number from you? i need to talk to him without jack knowing.

-

"what'd you need to talk about?" johnson asked me as we walk down the street.

"uh, the whole madison and jack thing. i don't know who to believe. she sent me some clips and jack told me she said things too.." i sighed, running my hand through my hair.

"well, for starters, it was bad on both ends. mad is trying to make g sound like someone he isn't. i won't ever defend what he said to her because no one should talk to their significant other like that. madison said the craziest shit to g all the time during arguments and i heard it all. this one was just conveniently recorded and mad held her tongue for the first time." jack explained to me.

"so when jack said that to me, he wasn't lying?"

"nah. i would tell you. you're a cool girl and i can see you make him happy and he won't want to let you go anytime soon." he said with a smile.

"thanks j." i laughed. "we should probably get back before they wonder where we went."

"yeah, you're right. but hey, if you need anything let me know and if he ever acts up i'll knock some sense into him for ya, okay?" johnson joked, but i could tell there was some seriousness in his tone.