Cinders

~74~ Jake

It takes a little over a week for Jake to get back to mom with the amount, but when he finally does I wish he woulda kept taking his time.

I'm going to owe a staggering $5,000 to Taylor.

Once dad heard about what happened he was furious with me. Not only did he agree with Taylor's insane solution, he rode my ass hard until I found a job. Every single day he wouldn't let me do anything fun until I filled out applications.

I ended up getting a job at the movie theater in town—At least I get to watch movies for free, now.

Dad refused to let Taylor pay for the whole thing, but that didn't help me out like I originally thought it might. I expected to only have to pay $2,500 back...But my ignorance was really cute. I'm still giving all of my checks to Taylor, and then Taylor will start giving them to dad once he gets paid back first.

So I still have to pay $5,000, which sucks ass.

~*~

Taylor stops by the apartment one afternoon. Mom was expecting him, but I didn't know anything about it until he showed up.

"Hey bud," he says, giving me a hug.

"Hi"

"You're still mad at me, huh?" He asks, rolling his eyes once he studies my handsome, yet unhappy face.

"Yup"

"Well, that sucks," he says quietly.

I think he's actually upset that I'm still mad at him.

"What are you doing here?"

Normally I'm thrilled to see him, but not now. Not now that he's such an expensive ass.

"You, your mom, and I are going to see Jake"

"What, why?"

"Well, your mom wants to give him the money in person, and she wants you to apologize to him. I refused to give her the check without me going with—You guys aren't seeing him alone."

Well, that's nice of him. I don't really want to see Jake without Taylor being there, either.

"Oh sorry! I didn't know you were here," mom says, coming out of her room.

"No worries, I just got here," he says, smiling softly at her. "You ready?"

"Yeah. Sorry...I haven't even told him yet. It's been a busy day." She says, rushing to get her shoes on quickly.

"I just did."

I can tell he wants to ask her why her day has been so busy, but he doesn't.

"Your apology better be good, young man," she warns.

I just nod.

"Is he at his place, or at the gym?" Taylor asks her.

"Ummm, I'm honestly not sure. I'm guessing the gym since he's always there," she says, grabbing her bag and dropping it, spilling her purse out everywhere.

Taylor bends down and helps her pick everything up.

"You ok? You seem nervous," he asks, handing her prenatal vitamins back to her.

"I am nervous. Jake stresses me out."

"I know," he says, squeezing her shoulder lightly.

Mom smiles softly at him and heads for the door, and we follow suit.

~*~

"Yeah he's here. There's his truck," mom says, taking a deep breath.

We get in and scan the gym until we spot him. Jake is in the corner, kickboxing with a lady—It looks like a private lesson.