Jenalyn: A Splitting Personality (#2) [Complete]

Chapter 85: Jenalyn

Wednesday, 3:27 A.M. EST

I don't know what I would have done if Dane was out of town...

I texted him while I was on the plane, after about an hour of trying to convince myself to do it. I told him I that I needed to see him and that I was already on my way. He told me he'd pick me up at the Roosevelt Mall after I landed, and got a ride there- warning me that 'this better not be on some stupid shit.'

So here I am, nervously waiting in the darkness of the empty Roosevelt Courtyard, knowing that my presence is absolutely on some stupid shit tonight.

Maybe it won't be so bad though, I can't help but tell myself as I kick a small branch across the courtyard to the other side anxiously. I wait for my phone to finish synching to the cloud so that I can reset it. A lot has changed.. he knows that!

A large black truck, windows tinted so dark I couldn't see a light show if it took place in there, pulls around the parking lot bend and idles right outside of the courtyard entrance.

My heart pounds in my chest, but I waste no time making my way to the vehicle and opening the backseat door to throw my suitcase in.

Dane doesn't even turn around. His eyes stay glued to the empty parking lot ahead of him- his jaw stiff with tension as he grasps the steering wheel in one hand, and a blunt in the other.

"Lil Bit." Dane says as soon as I finish and make my way to the front door to climb in the passenger seat. "I wasn't expecting to see you for... quite a while."

I offer him a smile, though I'm sure it comes off nervous. I shrug my shoulders. "I needed to see you," I reply. "You left me very... suddenly last time."

Dane pulls out of the parking lot, flicking the ash from his blunt out of his open window with a scoff and then a smirk. He turns to me, only for a moment, before turning back to the road.

"You were on some stupid shit last time," he states matter of factly before pausing to hit the blunt, and then offer it to me. "You shouldn't complain. I just figured you wanted to keep your teeth, was all."

I take the blunt without hesitation, though I pause for a moment before hitting it.

Hayden has done so well staying away from all of this shit since finding out we were pregnant. I guess it meant a lot to her to try and make sure this baby wasn't brought into this world the way that I was...

I can't consider what Hayden wants though. I know what I have to do- I learned from last time this happened.

I haven't told Dane about the baby yet, and I'm not quite ready to do it now- so I have to hit this blunt.

A little weed never killed anybody...

"I'm sorry about that..." I say before inhaling a small hit. "I really wanted to see Evelyn, and let her be a girl for a while. I didn't think that T would... you know, do that..."

It feels weird to say that considering the real reason I was here 'on some stupid shit' last time.

Dane scoffs again, turning to face me with his brow raised, and face scrunched sourly. "Ev is no girl," he says earnestly. He takes the blunt back from my hand and hits it. "She's a whore. A whore with a really bad fucking attitude, and a drug habit she better start finding her own funds to keep up."

Evelyn is not a girl because Dane never let her be. He's shoved drugs, and sex, and beatings so far into that little girl's head that she probably doesn't even know that she was supposed to be a little girl in the first place!

I don't say anything though. I don't say anything, because I know better than to say any of that to him without expecting the back of his hand.

I can't have him mad at me before I break the news. It's probably better I butter him up the best that I can before telling him, honestly. Despite his... calm demeanor right now, I'm sure he's still mad at me for the whole thing with T last time. That's obvious in his comment about keeping my teeth.

Dane hands me the blunt again, content on the silence that fills the car for only a few moments before turning toward me.

"So what's the deal, poptart?" he asks as I take a small hit from the blunt again. I can already feel it start to lighten the voices that usually weigh so heavy in my mind. Tolerance is a crazy thing.

"What do you mean?" I ask as I cough out my hit, handing the blunt back to him before my second. I probably missed this feeling a little too much, and I don't want to start craving other feelings that I've missed because of it.

A little pot has never hurt anyone... but I'm sure some of the other shit I'll have access to being here right now has.

Dane takes it from me with a smirk on his face, though he immediately rolls his eyes. "What do you need?!" he borderline snaps, followed by a small scoff. "Well- what do you want?"

I'm momentarily at a loss for words. I feel like it's a trick question for a moment- just because it's Dane. I quickly regain myself and turn toward him though.

"I needed to see you," I say as stern as my voice can allow around him. "I... somehow got grounded out there, and it was just- I missed home. I missed you."

Dane laughs, turning down Knights Rd. before he glances over at me with the same smirk he'd worn all night.

"You missed me." he says though it comes out as more of a condescending question than a statement. "That's really funny, poptart. What'd you fuck up this time?"

I can't help but let the fake smile I'd worn on my face fade. Dane doesn't notice, but I'm sure that was the response he was looking for anyway.

"I ... I guess I have an attitude." I say with a sigh. My mind is too light and disoriented to even attempt to fabricate a story for him.

He laughs immediately, turning toward me with one brow raised as he slows to a stop at a red light.

"You guess?" he asks sarcastically, "You guess you have an attitude? I've been telling you that since I met you."

I should've expected that to be his response, but I didn't really think that far into it.

I nod my head slowly in agreement, not really certain whether or not he expects an actual response to that. It just leads into another few minutes of a heavy silence, and me trying and failing to come up with a plan on what to do from here.

Dane pulls into Creekside, cruising through the numerous conjoined parking lots until he makes it to the building furthest in the back, and parks.

I won't even reach for my door until I know he's ready to get out of the truck, having learned my lesson a while back when he busted my lip for that.

He lingers though- and as each moment passes I grow just a little more tense than the moment before.

"So..." Dane says with a sigh, removing the keys from the ignition and slapping his hands on his knees before turning to me.

I meet his gaze, keeping my face and demeanor calm though something inside of me can't help but grow weary...

There's something off about him right now. I expect him to go on immediately, but he pauses for a few moments almost as if he expects me to say something.

I can't say anything.

He senses that after a while and let's out a small, but almost chilling laugh. "So, poptart," he says in continuation, his eyes burning into me through the dark of his truck. "How far along are you?"