Pleasure

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Once I'm released from the hospital, I climb in the back of my parents car and wait silently, staring out of the window. The rain is starting to come down, matching my groggy mood.

I don't say much on the ride home. I was told to stay home for the rest of the week, which I don't mind. I don't want to go anywhere.

Jacob hasn't called or texted since his visit, but I'm not sure what would happen if I did hear from him. I'm angry with him but at the same time, I still want to see him. I just can't get the image of that woman out of my head. She's a mystery, but I don't want to know more. I feel like the more I know, the more it'll hurt me.

When we get home, there's a few balloons in the living room. My mother says family sent them. They start bombarding me with questions, but I answer none of them. I trudge straight to my room and plop down on my bed. I stare up at the ceiling as Jacob crosses my mind. Every little memory of him flashes across my mind and I can't stop them. I wonder what he's thinking right now. The guilt on his face from the hospital is embedded in my brain. In a way, I wanted him to stay there. I wanted him to be stubborn and fight me on it, but he didn't. He listened and he left. I can't figure out which part hurt me the most.

I don't want to return to school, either. I'm sure no one knows about the car accident, but it won't take them long to find out. I don't want to see anyone. Lucas or Natalie or Jacob. Their memories are still foggy but I remember Lucas accusing Jacob of something.

I want to know more. No, I need to know more, because I'm sick and tired of being lost. I'm tired of being in the dark about so many things. There's something missing and I want to -- no, I need to make the connections.

I pick up my phone and text Lucas to meet me somewhere. It doesn't take long for him to respond to my invitation. I get up and get dressed in a sweater and some comfortable leggings. I know I shouldn't be leaving, considering I am recovering from a concussion.

I grab my phone and climb out of my window carefully. I start walking to the ice cream shop where I told Lucas to meet me. When I turn the block, I see his tall, skinny figure standing there waiting for me. I walk towards him, letting the breeze hit my face. He smiles when he sees me, but I'm in no friendly mood.

"Where have you been?" He asks, going in for a hug. I deny it, though, moving away from him. He gets me a wounded look.

"I was in a car crash." I state, bluntly. He looks at me, shocked. "I'm fine though. Tell me what you know about Jacob."

He scrunches his eyebrows and frowns. "What? Aria you should be in bed resting or something."

"No." I bark. "I want to know what you know about him."

He sighs and runs a stressful hand through his hair. "Okay, damn." We take a seat outside on one of the benches. He sighs once more, shaking his head and looking out at the trees across from us.

"Jacob and I used to be friends. Not for long, but we were friends. He was always quiet and I just thought he needed someone to hang out with, you know? So we had been friends for a bit and one night he asked me if I wanted to go to this bar that his uncle owned. I accepted his invitation. We were having a few drinks and we got a little drunk, but he seemed more buzzed than me. Some woman came up to him and whispered something in his ear, then he told me he'd be right back. He walked away with the girl but after a while, he didn't come back. So I walked around to look for him. I walked past one room and heard him whispering to the girl.

"I saw that ... he made her do a line. Then he pulled her hair and said something to her. He did a line himself and started touching her, you know? It didn't look like she liked it, either. He was ... doing things to her. So I went in there to stop him, and he just looked at me. Like ... like he wasn't even doing anything wrong. I was so drunk, for the next few days I couldn't tell if he was doing something bad or not. I didn't like it, that's why I went in there. But even now, thinking about it, I don't even know what I saw. I don't like him, Aria. I don't like anything about him and I don't like him being around you. You're too pure for that."

I don't know what to say. Jacob doesn't seem like this type. I would never expect him to be capable of something ... something like that.

"That can't be true." I mumble to myself.

He looks at me with a pitied expression. "Aria, I just think you shouldn't be messing with this guy."

"Who are you to tell me who to talk to, Lucas?" I turn to look at him. "He's still my boyfriend."

"Why do you care about him so much? He's a bad guy, Aria." I shake my head, not wanting to listen to him anymore. I stand to my feet and pull my sweater closer to my body.

"Goodbye, Lucas." I murmur, not looking at him. I don't wait for a response. I immediately pace off and start walking home.

My mind feels even more mushy than before. I don't know what to think, or what to believe. Jacob would never.. It's like I've seen his most fragile parts. But there's that one glimmer of doubt in the back of my mind and I want it to go away. I want to believe anything but what Lucas just told me.

Jacob is slowly slipping into a mystery. That night I laid and asked him questions seems like a blur. I didn't ask enough. Or he told too little. I want to confront him but at the same time I want to run. I don't want to see those mesmerizing green eyes. Whenever I tell myself to stay away, those hypnotizing things make me come back. There's no hiding from him, I can't lie to myself on that. There's only one thing I can do.

I need to see for myself.