Borderline

II

Malik POV

"It's going to be a long night." I said shaking my head.

"Yeah, it is." Michelle said in response.

"I wonder what caused all of this. The accident. Jay is usually a good driver." Miliana said quietly.

"Maybe it was the truck driver's fault." Jessica retorted.

"Nobody knows what happened." I said before everyone started jumping to conclusions. "We'll find out when we talk to Ariella."

"Did anyone call Jacob?" Jess asked. Everyone shook their head no in response. I don't think any of us really care for Ariella's boyfriend. "I'll call him. He should know." Jess said as she got up and went to a nearby corner in the room to call Jacob.

Jacob POV

I've been sitting on the ground in front of the school for at least three hours. It's slowly getting dark out. Ariella's voice saying the words "Don't ever fucking talk to me again." keeps replaying in my head. I had been cheating on her for weeks, but this time Dani came to my locker and I couldn't resist her. I wasn't thinking that Ari would come looking for me when she didn't see me at her locker. But regardless, I regret everything. I didn't realize what I was damaging until I saw the look in her eyes when she said those words. Sadness. Anger. Pain. I wish I could take it back, but I can't. The security already started locking the school up, so I decided to finally get up and drive home. I walked to my car and got in, putting on my seatbelt. Before I turned the car on, I heard my phone ring. I saw that it was Jessica and answered it.

"Jacob?" she said through the phone in a calm but slightly shaky voice.

"Wassup, Jess?" I responded.

"Um, Ariella and Jay got in a bad car accident coming from school."

"What? Are you serious!?" I said with a perplexed expression on my face.

"I'm dead ass, but they both are fine, so don't worry too much. I just need you to come down to Mercy hospital. A few of us are here already.," she said.

"Fuck, man. I'm on my way.," I told her before quickly hanging up the phone, turning the car on and driving onto the busy streets of Chicago. I can't believe this shit, I thought to myself. Should've never left with that nigga in the first place. I bet this shit was his fault, trying to play hero. If anything wrong with my girl, we gone have a much bigger issue than what he thinks it is.

Malik POV

We were all sitting down quietly, anticipating further updates from the doctor when our Aunt Chrissy stormed in and of course, Jacob wasn't too far behind. I stood up to greet her as she swiftly made her way towards us.

"I got here as fast as I could! Is everything okay? How is she?" she frantically asked while in a panic. I gently grabbed both of her arms to calm her down.

"She's alright, Chris. Calm down, okay? We're all worried, but she's alive. Jay is stable. Just relax, please.," I consoled her, looking into her eyes for reassurance.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry.," she said as she took a deep breath. I looked behind her to see Jacob standing there nervously, rocking back and forth with his hands in his pockets. I lead my aunt to an empty seat before walking back up to Jacob.

"Hey, Jake," I heard Jessica say as she stood up and walked past me to give him a warm hug.

"Hey," he replied, returning the hug while still looking directly at me.

Jacob POV

Aunt Chrissy and I walked into the hospital together, but I was a lot calmer than she was. She ran in and I slowly walked in behind her, immediately seeing Ari's brother, sister, and a group of her friends. Seeing them made me nervous, knowing what I had done earlier today. Since I was told to come, I assumed they still didn't know what happened. I didn't want them to, especially not her older brother, Malik. We've gotten into it about his sister so many times. He hates my guts, and I can't necessarily blame him. I can't imagine what he'll do when he finds out I hurt her. I was lost in my thoughts before I heard Jessica speak to me. I returned her love, but I couldn't help but meet eyes with Malik as he glared at me. I pulled away from Jess, hesitantly stepping toward Malik as he spoke.