regret of jacob barber - defending jacob

the knife

jacob woke up the next morning to ava shaking. he asked her if she was okay and she said she was just cold. he put his arms around her and all of her muscles tensed up. she knew he wasn't a murderer of course. he was her best friend, they've known each other forever. she convinces herself to drop it and let it go for now. after getting ready for the school day, jacob and ava walk downstairs to grab breakfast and so they can then walk to school together. they come downstairs to see laurie and andy standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for them. "what?" jacob says surprised at them waiting for their arrival. "would you like to tell us what this is?" andy says looking jacob dead in the eye. jacob looks at the kitchen island to see his knife laying there.

"you were snooping in my room?"

"i was. not your mother. that's not the point." andy continues with his arms crossed.

"it's just something i got. it's not a big deal."

"jake-" ava says touching him lightly.

andy and laurie continue to question jacob and ask him where he got it and why he bought it. jacob stood there with his hands in his pockets, answering them without making direct eye contact. ava stood there quietly in the background while giving laurie puppy dog eyes and confused facial expressions.

they start to ask him if he's ever brought it to school. he says that he did once but just to show some friends. ava sighs and walks over to the table to have a seat instead of standing. "andy, can i ask you something?" "of course you can ava." ava nods and continues, "what made you go looking for the knife? like..how did you know?" andy frowns and brings his laptop over to ava and shows her the social media post and comments. she finally sees jacobs comment along with dereks. her jaw drops and she stays there frozen. after a few moments she sharply turns to jacob.

"what the fuck? what's wrong with you?" she says in a tone of voice that the barbers have never heard from her before. andy and laurie stand there quietly, just watching her reaction. "aves.." jacob reaches over to hold her hand. she quickly yanks her hand away and turns around so that she's not facing him.

after avas outburst, laurie and andy keep interrogating jacob. things start to get intense once andy asks, "have you every used it?" "for what?" "for whatever you use a knife for."

jacob stands there silent. "why would he write that about you?" laurie asks sounding pained. "because he's an asshole. that's why." jacob answers. "you didn't answer my question. have you used it?" andy continues to grill him.

"like to stab somebody?" jacob pauses. "NO. how could you even ask me that?"

"because i have to!! i have to know with absolute certainty that this isn't the knife they're looking for."

laurie tells andy to calm down and he slows down. jacob seems hurt, he's upset that his parents could ever think that about him. jacob leaves the room before he would be asked more questions. laurie chases after him to know why derek wrote this. jake assures them that it's not a big deal.

ava breaks her silence and interrupts, "jacob. he accused you of murder on a public forum!"

"nobody means what they say on there. that's why kids do this. they just talk s-shit and they try to sound cool. that's all it is."

after a little more light arguing, jacob apologizes for not telling them about the knife and he tries to move on from the subject. "can i have it back now?" jacob asks. "are you serious?" ava yells. jacob looks over at her, shocked with how angry she is. he tells her that HE bought it, so it's his. "not anymore, it's not." andy says.

laurie offers to drive them to school and jacob says he'll walk alone without giving ava the chance to come with. the awkward tension in the room is too much for anyone to handle. especially jacob. jacob grabs his backpack but ava goes after him before he exits the driveway.

"jake, im sorry that i was harsh. but you have to understand, that's alarming and we weren't expecting it. i know you're not a murderer. don't worry about that. just know that everything will be okay and i understand if you're mad at me. i'll see you at school." she gives him a quick tug on his arm and then she walks back into the house getting ready for laurie to drive her to school.
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authors note- next chapter will have the tea