• CH13:
    I was on the cement floor looking at the empty road. He left, and now I might never get him back. I cried quietly to myself my tears streaming down uncontrollably. I covered my face trying to shield me away from the world for a while. I didn’t want to see or hear anything, I just wanted to disappear, vanish. The pain I felt was so horribly bad I was feeling dizzy as if I might faint.
    The day was hot and I was sweating but I didn’t care. What hurt me the most was the thought that he thought I was going to kiss Jake and he leaves me here alone on the floor. He might not even let me explain what happened and it would be over between us. I wept louder, I saw some kids look over at me but I didn’t care. Let them look, I cant feel any worse than what I’m feeling now. I heard footsteps and I saw Jake was running toward me. His face was worried. He was standing looking at me on the floor. Then he sat down next to me but didn’t say anything. I leaned toward him and dug my head on his shirt softly crying. He put an arm around me, his hand repeatedly moving up and down my arm trying to comfort me. I cried for I think about thirty or forty five minutes. And Jake stayed there with me, not saying anything.
    I asked, “What if he doesn’t let me explain?”
    “Then ill try and see if he will listen to me.”
    I giggled softly, he looked surprised.
    “He’s not going to listen to you, after you punched him and on top of the fact that he saw us.”
    Then I was more serious. And I thought back to what happened between Joseph and I again and tears went down my face.
    He said,
    “I will make things right between both of you. I caused this mess and now its my job to fix it.”
    I leaned closer to him and hugged him tighter. Right now that’s all I needed. He hugged me back. We stayed there till I stopped crying. Then I moved back and I said,
    “Oh I’m sorry, I got your shirt all wet with my tears.” I said apologetically.
    He looked down at his shirt and there were my tears on his shirt.
    He smiled,
    “Its alright I’m a man, I can handle a couple of girly tears.” He said playfully.
    We both laughed.
    He volunteered to walk me to my car but then I realized something,
    “Oh shoot!”
    “What?”
    “I was suppose to invite Joseph over my house to meet my parents.”
    Jake frowned.
    “No not the way you think, because Joseph was my tutor and my parents wanted to invite him over for dinner to thank him. But after today, its not goanna happen. And the most important question is what am I going to tell my parents?”
    I put both hands on my face.
    “This is going to be horrible.” I said.
    Jake smiled,
    “I guess I have an idea.”
    “Ok tell me.” I said.
    “Well have your parents ever met Joseph?”
    I laughed. Jake looked confused.
    “Yea but not in a good way.”
    “What do you mean?”
    I hesitated. Wondering if I should tell him more. I might as well so he knows the whole story.
    “My parents found him sneaking out of my room.”
    Jake ‘s eyes widened and I saw him lean back away from me just a smidge.
    “Did you guys….” He said trailing off not wanting to finish the sentence.
    “No! ugh you don’t know how many times people have said that.” I said annoyingly.
    “Then what was he doing in your room?” he asked. He was getting to the personal questions, I had to steer him out of that.
    “That’s not the point.” I sighed. “My parents saw him and my mom cut him on the chest with a knife, it wasn’t enough to take to the hospital it was actually rather small but some blood came out. But they were angry and screamed at Joseph and told him to never come in there house again.”
    Jake stared there eyes still wide open.
    “Wow.”
    “Yea”
    “So that’s the first and only time that they met him.”
    “They didn’t know he was your tutor?” he asked.
    “No”
    He smiled,
    “Then I have just the plan.”

    CH14:
    “ok tell me.”
    “Well I can just go to your house and eat dinner with your family and pretend I’m your tutor.”
    He moved his arm so it was on the roof of the car and leaned on it.
    “I don’t know.” I said fidgeting with my hands. I felt uncertain about this, but what else could I do? Tell my parents what happened today? No, not an option.
    I sighed,
    “Oh ok. Come on, get in the car.”
    He smiled, “Hey wait one sec I need to call my parents, tell them im goanna get home late.”
    “And what do you plan to use as your excuse?” I asked.
    He narrowed his eyes, “I’m not sure, come on help me think of one.”
    We stayed there in the car about ten or fifteen minutes and then he thought of something.
    He smiled brightly,
    “I could always say I have a date.”
    I smiled. I slapped him lightly on the shoulder.
    “Come on Jake, is that really the only thing you can think of?” I asked sarcastically knowing what his answer was going to be.
    “Yup, pretty much.” He said brightly.
    “Ok whatever, just tell them quickly so we can go I cant keep my parents waiting.”
    He rummaged through his backpack and found his phone on the side pocket and dialed the number.
    In moments the phone was picked up and I heard Jake,
    “Hey mom I’m goanna be late to get back home.”
    Then there was silence for a while.
    “Well its because I’m taking this beautiful girl out on a date.”
    He said making sure I could hear. We both smiled.
    “Yea, ok, well I gotta go, ill see you soon.”
    “Yea ok, bye.”
    Then he hung up the phone.
    “Ok so lets get going.” I said.
    I got opened the car door and sat in the car and closed the door, Jake did the same.
    As we drove to my house we didn’t have anything to say. It felt awkward for a while. Then when we got there we waited by the door and rung the doorbell.
    My mom opened the door,
    “Hi, come on you guys come in.”
    Jake and I sat in the opposite sides of each other on the table, but my parents insisted that we sat together. It felt weird in a way.
    The table had white table cloth and the plates and glasses had detailed designs, they were very fancy. My mom brought these out in special occasions only.
    On the table there was garlic bread, pasta, rice, beans, salad, and some soup.
    “I set the table with a lot of different food just in case you didn’t like something.”
    I heard footsteps. My dad went down the stairs and smiled when he saw everyone at the table. He walked up closer us.
    “Well is this the guy that has been your tutor?” my dad asked me.
    “Yes.”
    “Well, thank you so much for helping my daughter. She got first honors.”
    Jake hadn’t heard that I got honors but pretended like he did.
    “Yes of course, I was very proud of her when I heard the news.”
    He said smiling at me in a flirtatious way, but then I stepped on his foot hard because I saw my dad was looking at both of us. I might’ve stepped on him a bit too hard because I saw his body flinch.
    “Right so anyways, I’m glad I was invited for dinner. Mrs. Ferrera you made a wonderful meal.”
    She smiled, “I’m glad you like it.”
    I served myself some garlic bread and pasta. Jake did the same.
    My parents ate some rice and beans with garlic bread. The bread was delicious.
    My Dad ate in silence. Then he said,
    “So what’s this gentleman’s name?” he said looking at Jake.
    “Jake” he answered.
    “Jake… I like the name.”
    My dad said it proudly as if Jake was his son. It was sort of weird, it seems like my parents really seem to like Jake.
    We all ate silently. Then my mom asked,
    “So Jake I cant thank you enough for helping my baby girl. Im glad she met someone bright like you.”
    “Its no problem.”
    Then we finished eating dinner. My mom started picking up the empty plates but Jake got out of his seat, and helped her. My mom seemed surprised at such nice behavior. “Thank you.” She said.

    When he finished picking up the table I said,
    “Well I think its about time I should bring him back to his house.”
    My dad smiled,
    “Don’t be ridiculous. Hey Jake do you want to stay a while longer to watch the game?”
    He smiled, “Of course.”
    Yup he was getting along with my parents perfectly. Jake walked around me and I looked at him stubbornly, he ignored me. He sat next to my dad on the couch. And I went to the kitchen to help clean the plates with my mom. She smiled then whispered,
    “Hunny, that guys a real keeper.”
    “He’s not my type.” I said a just a bit louder, enough so that I made sure he could here. I saw him look back at me, he frowned, then looked back at the TV.
    “Shh! Hun I think you said that I a bit to loud.”
    “Oh yeah my bad, I guess I didn’t realize it.” I lied.
    “Look at him Jess. He’s a polite gentleman, he’s a super sweet kid, what do you not like about him?”
    “Mom did you not remember what I told you?”
    She looked at me confused.
    “Ugh remember when that guy came over my house you caught him leaving my room.”
    She looked down and narrowed her eyes, “Unfortunately I do.”
    “Remember I told you he was my boyfriend?”
    “Oh, yea that gangster.”
    “Mom!” I raised my voice.
    She whispered,
    “Look at him Jess, cant you tell he’s a great guy? I cant believe your choosing that gangster over this wonderful bright guy.”
    “Mom he’s just not the same.”
    “Of course not, he’s better.” My mom said smiling.
    “I cant ruin the relationship I have with Joseph.”
    I hit my hand on forehead.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked.
    “Its just… I’ve been starting to like Jake. More than a friend. And just being near him makes me nervous sometimes.”
    My mom looked at me concerned.
    “Well hunny you cant like two guys at the same time. That’s just not ok” I frowned
    “Yea I know.” I said.
    “This is something your goanna have to figure out on your own.”
    “Yea.”
    “But im just saying, my opinion, I like Jake better.”
    I laughed, “I already knew that.”
    “I even saw him looking at you with googlie eyes today at dinner.”
    “Oh you saw that?”
    She laughed, “Of course.”
    We finished the dishes. And my mom and I were heading to sit down on the couch to finish watching what was left of the game. But I saw her quicken her pace to sit next to my dad, which meant that I have no other choice but to sit next to Jake. I leaned backward to look at her and she smiled at me, she was one clever woman.
    I saw Jake stiffen when I got next to him but what can I do? Then there was a point wear I saw my dad and Jake get up off the couch and they were standing up cheering with excitement, saying,
    “Come on! Just a few yards more, yea! Yea! You can do it almost there!”
    Then they both jumped up at the same time.
    “YES!” They both gave each other high fives. We had won the game. After the game Jake and I headed toward the door. While my parents walked us out.
    My Dad smiled at Jake,
    “Feel free to come over at any time Jake.”
    “Thanks ill keep that in mind.” He said,
    I nudged him hard in the ribs. He chuckled.
    “Ok well lets go Jake I got to take you home before it gets to dark.”
    We walked out of the house and my mom and dad waved Jake goodbye.

    CH15:
    We got into the car and I put the car into ignition, backed up, then went to take Jake back home. The moment we were out of sight from my parents I parked into some random persons house and I slapped Jake on the shoulder.
    He smiled,
    “What was that for?” He asked.
    “You were making my parents like you, you know they are now probably going to invite you again.”
    “Oh, so you saw my plan, you are not only beautiful but clever too.”
    We both smiled,
    “Oh shut up. My parents definitely like you now, so you happy now, your plan worked.”
    “Yes I am.” he said in accomplishment.
    Then I got the car out and I kept driving, after a while he said,
    “You know I heard you and your moms conversation.”
    “Only part of it.” I said.
    “No, do you seriously think that I didn’t hear all of that? We were like two feet away from you guys, and you two were speaking real loudly.”
    I slowed the car down then I parked the car again into some random persons parking lot again.
    “You heard, EVERY word?” I said nervously.
    “Every last one.” He smiled.
    Oh my gosh, this day just got worse.
    “Wait, just to make sure your not lying what was the most interesting part of the conversation to you?” because if he heard everything I knew he was going to say the part about when I admitted to my mom that I thought he was cute.
    He smiled wider than usual.
    “I have to say the part when you said that you liked me.”
    Bingo. He got it. I looked down and my face flushed red. This was very embarrassing.
    So like what the guys did in movies he pretended to yawn, then moved his arm slowly around me.
    We both laughed, and I moved his arm off me.
    He turned so he was facing me even more. “I seriously thought you wouldn’t ever like me after what I did.”
    I didn’t feel like talking about this, but I knew one day or another I was going to have to do it.
    “When I heard your whole story it made sense. You didn’t kiss another girl on purpose, you weren’t even conscious. But that was only part of it.”
    “What do you mean part of it?” he asked.
    “Never mind I said to much anyways.” He sighed.
    “You never tell me anything.” He said feeling hurt. I felt real bad for him.
    “Ugh, ok.”
    He turned to face me again.
    “It was when you kissed me in the park. You happy now?”
    He smiled.
    “Yes, I am. I just never knew you felt that way about me.”
    He held my hand.
    “Jake, no.” I removed my hand from his.
    “Just because I like you, doesn’t mean…” I didn’t want to finish the sentence he was making me feel confused with all of this and I couldn’t think straight.
    “That you want to take the chance in ruining your relationship with Joseph, I got it.”
    He sighed. He felt sad. But I felt bad for him.
    “I’m sorry Jake.”
    I saw him frown and look down. “Yea, its ok.”
    I held his hand, “I hope so.”
    Then I pulled my hand back.
    We sat there in silence. Just staring outside as the cars passed by.
    “Right so, I guess you better start the car, because I need to get home.”
    “Yea” I whispered.
    We drove in silence and he told me the directions to his house. His house was huge. I parked in his driveway.
    “I don’t want to end the night like this.” I said.
    He frowned, “Yea I know.”
    “How about I end it like this..”
    He leaned toward me real slowly, and gave me a kiss on the cheek then backed away just enough so we could face each other. We looked at each other for a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me and I knew he had the same idea. But I saw him close his eyes and frowned. He thought,
    She wouldn’t let me anyways, I already gave her a kiss on the cheek don’t be so greedy.
    “Well, I think that ought to do it.” he said.
    He leaned back completely now , closed the door to the car, and walked to his house.
    I felt completely blank. I didn’t know how to feel. I didn’t know what to think or say or anything. I backed away from his house and went home.
    I felt numb. I didn’t know how I was suppose to feel like. Because I felt nothing, I didn’t feel regret, happiness, sadness, joy, pain….nothing. It was like now the there was a scale, and now the levels have been balanced. Now that they were balanced, it made me blind on how to react. I came back home with my parents telling me how much they enjoyed Jake over but I just walked up to my room and ignored them while they talked.
    I lyed down on my bed, and thought to myself, ‘what am I suppose to feel right now?’
    I didn’t know.
    I decided when I woke up I would probably know how I felt, but that today had been a big day and I guess I wasn’t thinking straight.
    I tucked myself into bed and fell asleep.

    CH16:
    I woke up confused still. Ugh, I thought I would’ve figured it out by now.
    I went to school and the first person I saw was Joseph.
    “Hey”
    He walked right past me and didn’t look at me.
    “Hey!” I said screaming at him. I walked right in front of him.
    He stepped to the side and kept walking.
    I was afraid this was going to happen. Maybe ill try calling him later. I cant expect much from him.

    School finished quickly. Today was finally Friday so everyone was dying to leave. I saw Jake walk out but I didn’t want to talk to him after yesterday so I walked farther away from him. I glanced back and I saw him looking at me, and he started running toward me. I sighed and stopped walking. He caught me too soon.
    “I guess you don’t want to talk to me.” He’s a good guesser.
    “Jake just stop trying to flirt with me ok? Its just making me feel more confused.”
    He looked at me, then looked away.
    “I’m sorry, I just cant help myself.” He smiled slightly.
    “I tried talking to Joseph but he just ignored me.” I said to changed the topic.
    “Let me try.”
    ‘Not yet, I’m goanna try calling him today, you can try tomorrow.”
    “Whatever you say.” he said.

    When I went home I called Joseph and his mom picked up,
    “Hello?”
    “Hi I’m Jessica can I talk with Joseph?”
    “Oh yes wait one second please.”
    “Jake!” I heard in the background.
    “Yea?”
    “Jessica wants to talk to you, she’s on the phone.”
    I heard him lower his voice, “Just tell her I’m not here.”
    “Why?” his mom asked.
    “Just do it.” I heard him.
    She came back to the phone.
    “Oh I’m sorry I forgot Josephs out with some of his friends.”
    “I heard Jake in the background I know he’s there, I need to talk to him.”
    Then I heard some mumbling in background.
    Joseph picked up the phone,
    “Jess stop trying to talk to me.” Then the phone hung up.
    I frowned. This wasn’t going to work out. I finished my Homework real quickly and went to bed an hour early.

    I woke up and ran to school.
    Today I saw Joseph his bandages were off his head and he looked back to normal. Then Jake walked up to me,
    “Hey, can I try talking to him now?”
    “Yea go ahead.”
    I waited next to my locker as I saw Jake run to Joseph. I heard them talking but I didn’t hear what they said.


    It is in 3rd person now.

    Jake runs to Joseph.
    “Hey”
    “I cant believe you have the courage to even talk to me after you punched me, but worse than that, after what I saw with you and Jess.” he said.
    His eyes narrowed any wear but Jakes.
    Jake walks right in front of Joseph. Joseph just takes a step to his left, then keeps walking.
    “Listen to what your girlfriend has to say!” Jake says loudly. Joseph just keeps walking like if he didn’t hear anything.
    “Don’t listen to me, but just listen to what I’m about to tell you now,
    You and I both know that Jess is an amazing girl, do you really want to take the chance of losing her? Just because you are to stubborn to let her explain?”
    Joseph stopped walking.
    Jake says,
    “Just giver her a sec to explain, please.”
    He moved his head the opposite direction Jake was standing at,
    “I just don’t know.”
    “Please?” Jake was begging. He couldn’t go back to Jess and tell her he failed after he promised he would fix things.
    Joseph sighed,
    “Wear can I meet up with her?”
    ‘I guess after school seems fine.” Jake said.
    “Alright” the Joseph headed back to his other class.
    Jake had a smiled on his face, he could tell Jess about the good news.

    Its back to 1st person

    Jess saw Jake coming back smiling.
    Jake screamed from a distance,
    “He said he’ll meet you after school.”
    “Oh my gosh thank you so much Jake.” I ran to him and gave him a huge hug. Once I hugged him I regretted it, I was starting to like him to much, just touching him made my heart start pounding. I backed away quickly, I saw Jake was smiling and some other kids were looking around us.
    I thought,
    I’m glad at least I can talk to Joseph. I’ll explain what happened in the park, even though I know he will hate to hear it, then I will explain why Jake had punched him, then I will explain what happened when he saw Jake and I near the bench.

    I would have to explain it perfectly and hope he understands, because if he doesn’t, Then it might be over between us.







    To be continued……