Hearts ✓

Fifteen 💕

You ain't at phase three

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Jake nose aligned with mine as time basically froze until I broke apart and reached to hug him. I've been being played and being pushed, manipulated, and enough is enough.

Dear Jake, my mind writes, wherever you've gotten with me using that sick charm that has been practically embedded onto you since the day you were born, it's going to stop right here, and right now.

I refuse to lose.

I had been thinking using my heart recently, and it had to stop. I urged my brain silently, logically, not emotionally. Losing would put another generation of poor paper hearts into the shredder, eventually, someone had to put their foot down, and that person was me.

The disappointment written across his face is evident, but only lasts a split second, and although I'm not sure it even existed, I choose to believe it was there, I could be wrong, though. He hugs me back, instantaneously, his athletic muscles wrap around my waist.

The sun is slowly setting, and the sky has turned a shade darker from when we walked into the garden. I actually like the color, it's a very nice type of 'cool mid-tone', as I call it. "That's you, Sunset."

"Jake," I laugh, "I'm not sure if that even classifies as corny."

"I know, I'm very original." His hands aren't shivering, but they're tucked into the pockets of his jacket.

Suddenly, the door slides open to reveal a small girl who mirrors Jake's features runs towards Jake and grasps his foot as if she was holding onto it for dear life, and insists he plays with her. I let out a giggle and her head whips towards my direction.

"YOU BROUGHT A GIRL!" She exclaims. "CATY, JAKE BROUGHT HOME A GIRL."

From how Jake described his sisters, I'm guessing this one's Lou.

"A girl?" A drop dead gorgeous chocolate brown-haired teen stepped out. "Aw, Jake-y, from all your sweet flings, your very first bring-home is an actual decent girl."

"Caty!" He yells. By now he's blushing intensely, obviously embarrassed by his sisters.

"Uh. I should probably be heading home now," I say. "Nice, uh, meeting all of you."

"Nonsense, come in." She says, "I'm Caty, and you?"

"Callie."

Needless to say, the interior of the Arden mansion, was just as gorgeous as the previously described exterior. In my previous visit, I had only managed to see a small portion of his house, but today, Caty gave me a short tour of the facilities. It was as if I had taken a trip to Italy, the carvings were so skillfully intricate, and the marble was freshly polished, but the most exhilarating features were the grand staircase and the chandelier.

Soon enough another young girl came in, around the age of seven, and she just stared at me as if she were examining me. This one was probably Asha. Her hair was a mere dirty blonde, and her eyes shone of cyan blue, but they intensely stared at me, hollowly.

Jake had grabbed my hand playfully and dragged me across the entire mansion, taking me to the kitchen, while Lou chattered excitedly, and Asha trailed behind me, staring at me weirdly. With my eyes, I ask Caty if this was normal, having Asha trail you, and she offers a shrug.

Wherever I went, was where Asha went, and she was really beginning to freak me out. Unlike her siblings, she was quiet and reserved, but the characteristic that scared me the most was her cyan eyes they were borderline cyan, on the verge of white, and they looked to me as if I had wronged her.

I take a seat on the stool next to Caty while Jake and Lou reheated a box of leftover pizza. Asha, like normal, was trailing me. She appears as if she's scanning me like an X-Ray.

While Caty read her phone, the more she scrolled, the more her expression grew soberer, after sneaking a glance in her direction as subtly as I could muster, I could see the tears welling up in her eyes, but for her siblings' sake, they didn't fall. As the oldest, she had a 'reputation' to keep up.

"Is this the player game?" I asked well aware of what was happening. Although I should've asked her if she was alright, I knew she would just give me the same answer everyone did. "Did you last a month, then get dumped."

Her head snaps up as if motioning me to quiet down before any of her siblings heard. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"No, you're right. That's exactly what happened." She says. "I can't imagine Jake having to go through being a player, it's very much unlike him. To me, he's still the young innocent boy I grew up with."

"Except he's doing it right now."

"Shit, already?! who is she?" Caty fretted, rubbing her palm across her forehead. "Oh my god, I have to speak to her."

"You've already spoken to her and are speaking to her at this very moment." Caty gives me a questioning look while I grab the tiny purse I had brought, shuffling through it to make sure that everything was still there, including my paper bills, and credit card. Then I grab my phone and Lauren's Panama hat, and I prepare to leave. The last thing I do is face her with a stony expression, "She's me."

I take in her very resonating shocked expression, her face has completely turned pale, just like snow. She continues to stare, the color continuously disappearing, she looks as if debating if she should express pity, or run over to punch Jake.

I take this as my queue to leave, after all, with Jake still preoccupied with the oven, by the time he figures out I'm gone, I'll be long gone.

You ain't at phase three.