Chapter 13

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After School

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I'm at home gathering my satchel to go over to Jake's, bringing me a bottle of water, more essay prompts, and strategies to help with the SAT.

I was heading downstairs and my mom saw me when I went into the kitchen to grab my phone, and she smiled at me.

"Where ya headin'?" She asked me making a chicken salad.

"Jake's," I told the truth. "I'm helping him pass English and the SATs," I reminded her.

"Oh yeah, I remember. Well, have fun. Try and be back before 8pm," she told me.

"Right. Bye Mom," I began to walk out the door.

"Alright," she replied.

I walked out the door and locked it, and began heading over to Jake's house that was a pass one house to my left and then his. I walked up to the steps and rang the doorbell. Jake's parents weren't home, but his red truck he got last year at 16 was.

I checked the time on my phone and it was 4:58pm and ten seconds later, he came to the door.

"Aw Kit-Kat. You made it."

"Of course I did dummy," I squinted my eyes at him. "I literally live two seconds away."

"Right. Well come on in."

I stepped inside and I honestly haven't been in Jake's house since the 8th grade, and the only reason WHY I was at his house that last time is because my parents had a wedding anniversary, and didn't want to leave me at the house by myself for two days as a 14 year old.

Honestly it was fun, but those days are long gone.

"So welcome to my crib," Jake opened his arms smiling at me.

"This isn't MTV," I narrowed my eyes at him.

"True, now what do you want to do first?" He asked getting a little TOO close. I took a step back with a nasty face.

"What do you mean 'what do you want to do first?'" I mocked. "Let's practice some essay prompts for the writing portion of the test." Jake smiled at me and he nodded.

"Right, sorry." He let me walk first and I headed over to the dinning room table and I set my stuff down and he was in the kitchen.

"You hungry Kit-Kat?" he asked me opening the fridge. "I know good hospitality," he referred to me at our first session. I sighed.

"I don't want anything from you," I gave an ick face. "You could drug me or something." He turned around as if I was serious, smiling.

"Really Dee? Why does it always have to come down to sex or drugs?"

"'Cause I know you," I looked at him. He laughed.

"Haha, come on trust me. What do you want?" It looked as if Jake wasn't going to let this go so I sighed closing my eyes.

"Just give me some grapes," I told him. "A handful." He nodded pulling out the drawer getting some.

"That's more like it."

"Whatever," I said under my breath. He chuckled and I decided to talk to him.

"Okay, so, you now know how to do a thesis, now you just need to know how to start that first paragraph," I told him looking down at some papers. He turned to me washing out the grapes.

"How long does the paper have to be?" He asked.

"At least a page," I didn't look at him.

"Ugh, that's too much," he wined.

"Not unless if you know what you're talking about," I informed. "Get over here and I'll help you." He sighed putting the grapes in a small China bowl, and he walked over to me.

"Okay, so you're first paragraph is going to be about one of the topics you've picked in your thesis statement," I didn't look at him.

"Soooooo one of those?" He pointed to a topic. I nodded chuckling.

"Yes," I took a grape and ate it.

"Oh, that's not hard," he began writing.

"It's not."

While he began writing the same prompt, 'Should teenagers be legal to drive at age 16 or 18,' I decided I could try and see if I could slip some deets on Asher.

"Did you ever figure out what Asher's type was?" I asked him titling my head away from him.

"No," Jake said not looking at me still writing. "But I know what most guys like."

"But I want to know what ASHER likes," I said desperately. "I told you this before!" He sighed putting his pencil down.

"Dee, trust me. I'm going to get Asher to like you. Guy expectations are not as high as girls." I gasped disgustedly kind of offended as he just picked up his pencil and started writing again.

"Excuse me?" I said aggressively.

"Girls have too of high expectation for boys than guys do with girls. You guys judge us off of EVERYTHING, and guys just care for the basics." I fake laughed pathetically my hand over my chest.

"Are you kidding me? So what are you telling me? Guys don't judge girls?" I asked.

"Nooo. I'm just saying we don't care."

"Yes y'all do care!" I exclaimed. "You cannot look in my in the eye and tell me guys don't judge girls," I crossed my arms. He dropped his pencil and crossed his arms too and when he made eye contact with me he blinked a moment and he didn't say anything.

"Well," I gestured him to speak.

"Guys don't judge girls."

"You liar," I slapped his arm. He laughed. "Guys are just as guilty as girls judging each other."

"No way," he kept protesting. I covered my face laughing shaking my head. "Listen, listen, just hear me out."

I sighed straightening up in the seat listening to him. I noticed his eyes kind of sparkled, but he bit his bottom lip about to speak, so I didn't bring it up.

"Guys do judge, but girls are looking at our hair, our clothes, our personality, the way we talk, how we look-" I cut him off there.

"And guys DON'T do the same thing??" I asked him. He laughed.

"Well-"

"Well nothing! Guys look at a girl's face, clothes, attitude, personality-"

"I don't!" He told me smiling.

"You're such a liar! Oh my gosh!!" I sighed helplessly smiling. We started laughing. "So you're telling me you didn't judge Celeste when you asked to date her?"

"See now that's when you're wrong. She asked to date ME," he corrected. I quickly paused.

"Wait..... Are you serious?" I titled my head a little.

"Well yeah. It was last year, sophomore year, and she asked me to the valentines dance and I accepted. After that she just always stuck by me so I guess that's how we became a couple," he shrugged. I stared at him as he hid his lips in his mouth and began writing again and I just kept staring at him.

'Celeste is such a skeeze!' I thought disgustedly. 'She told everybody that Jake asked her out and she just accepted because he didn't want to hurt her feelings....' I looked back at Jake and I squinted my eyes at him.

"Then....why did you give her a bouquet of roses and a poster that read something about would you take her to the dance?" I really wanted to know.

"She told me she wanted to be asked out in a cute way, so....I did," he didn't look at me. I titled my head even more. "I keep my promises."

"Wait, so you just...did it? Like...did you even want to do it?" I asked him agitatedly. He shrugged.

"I didn't care...." I felt he was lying to me, but most of the time Jake really didn't care....

Just look at his grades.

"Oh.....well....if I were you, I would've said no. You can't let Celeste, especially someone as conceded as her, boss you around. Once you let her have her ways, she thinks she can do it all the time," I ate some more grapes. I felt Jake looking at me and he said,

"Oh yeah. You reminded me of that thing I wanted you to help me with. Follow me." He got up and I still sat the table as he thought I was following him and when he felt he was alone, he turned around.

"Come on," he motioned me.

"Where are we going?" I asked stupidly.

"To my room. Come on, this is really passionate to me." I sighed and I squinted my eyes at him as I followed him up the stairs. When he lowered me to his room and opened the door I wasn't surprised.

For a guy, his place was typical.

Dirty.

He had his football clothes in one pile with his pads and helmet, another set of clothes scattered in front of the laundry basket, his desk top with his computer scattered with papers and a tipped over college cup with writing utensils before it and his bed wasn't even made.

I felt like a cesspool and I didn't want to go inside it.

"Aw come on, why are you standing outside the door?" He asked me like a little kid.

"I'm not going in there," I crossed my arms. "Something could be alive in there..." He laughed showing his vampire teeth. "Or dead."

"Come on Kit-Kat. I'm pretty sure there's nothing living in here," he looked around.

"You sure?" I asked him again. He let out a breathe smiling.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," he nodded with open arms. I sighed dropping mine.

"Fine."

I went inside and I was at least happy it didn't smell the way it looked, but I guess that's why the window was open.

"So you askin' me to help you clean your room?" I joked with my hands on my hips. He laughed.

"Haha, very funny. But no....." I looked around his room. "Although it would be helpful..." He said quietly. I groan.

"Uggh, just pick up stuff and throw things away," I said simply. "Why can't you just do that when it needs to be done rather than wait for no reason?"

"I don't have time for that," he brushed me off, walking over to his pile of clothes. "Things can wait."

"Not the washer," I commented under my breathe walking over to his cluttered desk top. I felt him look at me. I turned around. "Kidding, kidding," I finished. He smiled nodding.

I suppose he was cleaning his mess and I figured I'd help. I picked up his dirty laundry and began to fake cough making a joke out of it. When I did and he gave me this smile of 'really?' and I chuckled tossing it in the basket. He was straightening some books that looked brand new and I went over to his desk top to clean that off.

I put all the pens and pencils back into the college cup and neatly placed his journals in a stack, but I stared at them for a quick moment. 'I know Jake doesn't take notes.... So what are all these journals for?' As I finally started to see the bottom of his desk top-yes it was that dirty-I noticed some loose papers to the left of me.

I picked some up thinking it was trash, but I noticed they were in a poem format and picked up others. Some were balled up, others were just wrinkly. Others even looked unfinished.

I skimmed over them and eventually I asked Jake, "What are these?" I felt him turn to me and he quickly came over in a slight jog.

"Don't read those," he took them from my hand. "They're not good."

"Wait, so you write?" I asked him confusedly intrude.

"No," he gathered all the papers.

"Then, what is all this?" I asked him sadly. "It seems interesting." He avoided my eye contact....I saw him swallow.

"I don't write," he repeated. I stared at him with wrinkly eyebrows.

"Jake...." I said to him quit firmly. His dark brown eyes looked at me. "I won't make fun of you...." He's eyes sparkled again. "Just tell me." He sighed setting all the papers down.

"This..... This Is what I wanted you to help me with...." He left me at his desktop and I glanced back at the papers as they looked well thought out and good and when I heard what sounded like him drop something, I turned around, only to see him getting a guitar from underneath his bed.

He sighed as if it were a bad thing and I widen my eyes at him and glanced at it and back up to his eyes as finally he told me sounding depressed and embarrassed,

"Um..." He sighed again. "I...can play the guitar."

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