Better Than The Movies

Chapter Thirty- One

My house was empty Saturday morning when I heard a knock on the door. I was confused, nobody was supposed to be here. Ashley was over Darrell's house, my parents were at a church fundraiser, and Brielle stayed the night at a friend's house.

I walked over to the door, not bothering to fix my hair or change into better clothing. It's a good chance it's Brielle who just forgot her key.

I opened the door, almost dropping the phone in my hand. My mouth gaped open at the sight of the boy who I haven't seen in nearly forty days.

Jace was at my front door

Jace drove through my neighborhood

Jace saw my house

Jace looked absolutely horrible. His shirt was rumpled and the bags under his eyes more pronounced than ever. He was wearing unmatched socks, entirely out of character for him. Jace hated when socks didn't match, he thought it was unprofessional. The thought almost made me laugh.

I stood there watching him, still having trouble grasping the fact that he's here. His jaw ticked, eyes darting over my body, and the lip was drawn in a straight line. His face was void of emotion, a blank canvas.

While I stood here exposed. Everything I was feeling was on full display.

Jace spoke, breaking me out of my thoughts. "The day you left you told me that you would come back. You promised me that I would see you next week," He sounded like a stranger. "I waited for you. Trusted that you'd keep your world. But you didn't.

"You said you'd always be there for me... so how did this happen?" I stared into his eyes, searching for a trace of the boy who I once knew, but he wasn't there. I broke him. "Why weren't you there?"

"Jace-"

He ignored me. I moved to the side, letting him in the house. It was too late, whatever he thought about me wasn't going to change. He'd already seen everything I tried to hide.

Jace walked further into the house, examining every surface, wall, analyzing my whole life. And judging me. The way I lived. The green walls with chipped paint. The raggedy couch that my father's had since the 90s. It's so different from everything he comes from. Different from what I want to be.

I followed him into the living room, focusing on the back of his Adidas slides. Jace abruptly stopped in front of my tv where Pocahantas was playing.

"For the past month I've been trying to answer the same question," My heart was beating out of my chest as I watched him clench and unclench his fists, staring at the tv. "Over and over again I've asked myself the same question for years to my parents, my brother, and now you: what did I do?

"How was it so easy for you to walk away from me?"

"It wasn't easy Jace! What part of this would you think could ever be easy?" I cried. "I did this for you. Everything that I did was for you so I could be a part of your world!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I went to that stupid family dinner, remember?" His eyes widened. "When you and your whole family bashed everything I held dear."

"Are you fucking serious?" Jace hissed. "You were lying for weeks at that point. Let's face it. You did this for you!"

"I was protecting you! You should be thanking me," he scoffed. "I would've gotten destroyed at that dinner and you know it!"

"That's not fair and you know it!" he shot back. "You can't blame me for who my family is and don't act all innocent you concocted this whole plan before that bullshit dinner!"