Starting Fresh (On Hold)

Chapter 9: Gemma's POV

"Babe, I'm scared," I whisper quietly over the phone.

"I know babe. If Jax finds out, we're screwed!" Marquis whispered back.

"What are we gonna do, Marq? He thinks I'm pregnant with his kid. How do I tell him that I lied to keep you a secret? I just panicked when he found the pregnancy test on my nightstand. I...I'm freaking out!" I say frantically trying to calm my nerves.

"You did what you had to do. Don't you feel better knowing that it's my baby and not his cheating ass? He's always been this way and you deserve a man, not a boy! I love you, Gem," He states affectionately. "I love you too, Marq!" I whisper back.

                                                ...

In the words of MTV true life: "You think you know, but you have no idea..." You may be wondering how I ended up in a tricky situation. Let me take you back to a crisp fall night...

"Babe, it isn't what you think!" Jax explained running his hands through his curly brown hair.

"Then what is it?! Sexting another girl and trying to cover it up so I wouldn't find out, is exactly what it looks like!" I screamed, already feeling hoarse from crying.

For weeks, Jax denied that he was flirting with a sophomore on the women's soccer team. When I found out that he was lying to me during a visit to his parent's house that night, I felt like my world was falling apart.

We had just finished having dinner with his parents and fraternal twin brother when his phone started to blow up with a series of text messages. He tried ignoring them when we were in his room, making out but the constant dings were driving me crazy.

When he left the room to go to the bathroom, I immediately grabbed his phone to turn it off. It wasn't until I saw the last text, that I found out what was going on.

I tapped the unknown name and saw a series of half-naked pictures from the girl on the soccer team. When I scrolled up the screen, I saw my boyfriend's package fully exposed with a message underneath, that said:

"This is for you, enjoy 😜 – J."

I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces. Nothing he could say or do from that point on would make me forgive him. He pleaded with me for hours that he never meant to hurt me and that in actuality the photo was meant for me and he sent it to her by mistake, without realizing. At the time, I tried to make sense of it but it just hurt too much.

I decided to catch the train back to campus that night. As I was waiting outside for my rideshare, I heard the front door open. Thinking that it was Jax, I ignored him and wiped the tears off my face.

Then a familiar deep voice spoke, "Hey, is everything okay?" Jax's brother asked, sitting down on the step next to me.

"No...not really", I said in a hushed tone.

"I heard you and Jax arguing. He can be a real jerk sometimes." He said.

"No, he's a complete ass and I'm so done with him!" I cried, putting my head in my hands.

"I'm so sorry, Gemma. Do you want me to talk to him?" He asked in a concerned but comforting tone.

"No, all I want is to get out of here and drown myself in Chunky Monkey ice cream," I explained resting my now messy hair on his shoulder.

"Well, how about I drive you back to school and get you some of that ice cream. We can't have you drowning, now can we?" He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

"Alright, um but first, what's your name again?" I asked curiously.

"Marquis, at your service!" He smiled, extending a hand out to pull me up.