He loves me; He loves me not *Currently Editing*

Chapter 38

The first thing I do when I get to town is go to the hospital & visit Mom.

I hold her hand & talk to her.

"Hi Mama," I whisper. "I don't know if you can hear me or not. A lot has happened since your..incident." She doesn't move. "It's not fair what happened to you. If Megan had to take her vengence out on anyone, it should be me." I kiss her on the forehead & leave.

I send out a mass text to my friends here.

'Guess what girl is in town?? (;' Texts instantly come through.

"Ok ok! Lol meet at my apartment??" I hit send. The apartment building manager was really understanding & still has the room under our name. I get to the apartment & smile. It's certainly been a while.

Soon, I start hearing knocks. Alisha gets here first, followed by Jen & Jeff, still going strong. Last but not least, Catherine comes in, with Luke right behind her. I give a weak smile, til Catherine hugs me, & it turns into a real one.

"Hey, didn't Jack come down there for a visit??" She asks.

"Uh yeah," I say.

"Where is he??" Jeff asks.

"Still there, probably. We kinda are over now, so I don't care where as long as it's not near me," I blurt out. They all look shock.

"What did he do??" Luke asks. I just wave my hand through the air.

"Let's forget about it. I get to spend the night back in town, let's enjoy it." They all smile, except Luke. No doubt in my mind that he isn't going to forget this. He'll want to hear about how right he was about Jack.

"How bout we have a sleepover at Jen's guesthouse??" Alisha suggests.

"It's cool by me, i'll just have to get parental permission," Jen explains. I feel my phone vibrate, & look to see a new text from Jack.

'Oh you're clever. Alright, let the game of cat & mouse begin.' I feel myself get light headed. I get up from the couch & go towards my room.

"Be right back," I say, then close the door. I fall on my face in the pillow & I feel the tears go down my cheeks. I knew I couldn't avoid him forever, so I don't know why i'm this upset. I'm just scared.

I hear a knock on the door.

"Hold on," I say as I wipe my eyes. A minute later Luke walks in, closing the door behind him. He doesn't say a word when he sits next to me on the bed.

'I knew when I saw you when I walked in earlier that you aren't alright. Something happened," he finally says. "Your eyes have lost the happiness they usually carry."

"Nothing's wrong, it's been a rough couple of weeks, with Mom being in the hospital & all." He just nods. I sigh. "When you texted me, to not do anything stupid, what did you mean??"

"I figured when the time would come, you'd know what it would mean to you." Yeah, Luke has the looks & the brain.

"I did a really stupid thing," I say, my voice cracking. "I trusted him." I feel myself starting to tear up, & he pulls me into a hug, where I cry harder.

When I'm done, I pull away.

"Sorry."

"No, you can talk to me whenever you need me, for whatever. I'll always be there for you." I smile as I stand up, & give him my hand to help him up.

"Thanks," I say.

"What are friends for??" I wipe my eyes as we head out. The others look at us like we're crazy.

"Let's all go out for ice cream," Jeff suggests. So we all decide to take 1 car, but 1 person has to either sit on a lap or hide in the trunk. Of course I end up being the last 1 to the car.

"Come on here," Luke says, waving me in. He's sitting on the 3rd right seat in the back. I gently sit on his lap.

I try looking away at the window, because I know my face must be red.

When we go over a speed bump or make a fast turn, he puts his arms around me to keep me in place. He's a really really good friend.

When we finally get to the ice cream parlor, I hop out. I love ice cream. When we all get our ice cream, we sit at a couple of tables inside.

"So how is it there?? At your grandparents town??" Alisha asks.

"It's a nice place, I've met some friends," I say. "But I heard that you & Rob made it official," I wink & nudge her.

"Yeeaaah," she smiles. "But what did happen between between you &.."

"Gotta pee! Can someone hold my ice cream cone??" I cut her off & hand her my cone, making my escape. I can feel their eyes staring at me. I make sure to take my sweet time at the bathroom before returning.

I quietly take my seat & take my cone back. The conversation topic had changed thank goodness.

"Oh 1 second," I say as I pull out my phone & head out the door.

"Hey Grandma, I just wanted to call to let you know i'm here," I say to the voicemail. "Bye." I walk back in to the parlor & take my seat.

"Busy person," Jeff jokes. I grin at him. Everybody continues to talk & have a good time. I check my phone to see a new text from William.

'Hey I kept seeing your bf around earlier, but no u'

'I'm sleeping over at a friends house back home 2nite. & he's not my bf anymore' I hit send.

"Ooh who you texting??" Catherine teases.

"He's just a friend that I met there," I answer. "There's acouple of other guys too, just friends." I emphasize the just friends.

"Girl got moves," Jen smirks. I give her the death glare.

I read the new text from William.

'Aw sorry.' I simply reply with a smiley face.

After we finish the ice cream, we get back in the car.

"I can go back to the trunk if you want," Luke tells me.

"No it's ok, I can," I smile at him.