Complete | Jake Armstrong

Wake [6]

It's been two days since Nick's death. I've been in my room the whole time. I stopped crying after the first night. The whole circle has tried to get ahold of me but I ignored them and eventually turned off my phone.

But Faye and Melissa showed up at my door and forced me to dress just to drag me to the boathouse. So here I am dressed in a black long-sleeve sweater dress, fishnets, and black booties with my hair in a messy bun and no makeup. I sat in the booth with the girls, next to Melissa so she sat near the window with Faye across from us. I stared at my hands the whole time, watching as they played with each other.

My eyes flickered to the scabs on my knees from two night ago. I pick at them through my fishnets.

"Amy Leones stood up in English lit yesterday and read this tragic poem she wrote about Nick." Faye stated making me flinch at the mention of his name. "Something about thorns and a rose or a vine."

"Oh, god." Melissa mumbles.

"The whole thing was pretty hilarious." She says. I don't look up. Not even to roll my eyes at her.

"Yep." Melissa says under her breath.

Faye awkwardly takes a drink of her tea. Her eyes travel outside making her choke on it. "Oh, my god."

"What?"

"Jake Armstrong is here." I snap my head up to look at her. She reaches across the table and turns my head away from the entrance. "You are so not meeting your ex for the first time in two years looking like that." She pauses. "No offense." I only shrug, not really paying attention. Faye continues to watch the door before sighing. "Thank god he didn't see us."

Melissa looks at her confused before turning to me. "I thought you were passed all that. He treated you like such crap."

"He never once treated me bad. That's just how he acted towards everyone else. It's like he had a mask on around everyone except me." I look down at my hands that were still picking at my knees. I continue. "Besides, I never said I wasn't over it cause I am... sort of."

"Yeah, okay. I gotta go." She says, before looking at me to let her out.

"Melissa, Aria. I know you guys miss Nick." Again, I flinch. "We all do but you can't spend the rest of your lives lying on your bedroom floor listening to depressing music."

"It's been two days, Faye." Mel states before I let her out. I follow after, wanting to go to the abandoned house where I hope to be alone.

☪️

I was only by myself with my thoughts for less than two hours when the rest of the circle walks in making me groan. I currently laid on the couch with my hands and sleeves covering my face. I hadn't bothered to change before coming here making the crisp cold air prick at my skin, not that I minded. The scabs on my knees were completely peeled off, some blood had trickled down my leg before it dried out again.

"There's no way I'm gonna let Jake be apart of this circle." Adam states.

"Well, according to my grandmother, it's not up to us. He is by virtue of his bloodline." Cassie says.

"That doesn't mean we have to tell him." He says.

"Don't we want to?" The blonde asks.

"You don't know him like we do. He's hurt a lot of people. Including Aria." Diana says making me groan.

"You can't just replace Nick with Jake." Melissa says to Barbie. "It isn't right."

"I'm sorry. I know how hard this must be for you guys." Cassie tells us.