CHAPTER 14 - WHY CAN'T WE BE LIKE THAT?

The next morning I woke up to a quiet house with thoughts of Jake still filling my head. I wanted to remember every word from the night before. How he felt when he was around me, why he felt so strongly about defending my virtue, everything!

My thoughts wandered to how amazing it felt to kiss him. His lips were so soft and I loved the sound he made when I kissed his neck. It drove me insane.

I picked up my phone to see if he had left me a message and to my surprise, there it was.

"I dreamt of you last night."

My heart fluttered as I tried to think of a response.

"And what was I doing in this dream of yours?"

His next response made me blush even though I was by myself.

"Letting me do all the things I want to do to you," he flirted back.

"Well, I tried to let you last night, but you resisted my charms."

"If you could only see what I was doing to you in my dreams. You would understand how powerless I am to your charms," he shot back.

"Well sir, if you would quit denying me, those dreams of yours could come true," I replied stating the obvious.

"If I quit denying you, you wouldn't be able to handle it, sweetheart."

Ok, he had me there. As much fun as it was to torture him last night, the thought of 'being' with him scared me to death.

As our conversation was getting heated, Jenny called. She told me all about what happened after she dropped me off with Jake last night. Tripp and Jonathon left not long after she returned to the party. Jenny was certain it was because they felt intimidated by Tag and his friends. She also felt like the other girls were giving her dirty looks all night.

It surprised me to learn that Tag did not let that deter him. He kept insisting Jenny stay for another round of Corn-hole. She spent another two hours hanging out with him. From the excitement in her voice, she loved every minute. I teased her about having a crush on him, but she denied it. She insisted she was still talking to Tripp.

"Jenny, does Tripp give you drunken butterflies?" I questioned.

She responded just how I expected she would. "No, but he is a super nice guy and I always have fun when I am with him." I knew she was not "into" Tripp. She never gushed over him. I never got a call from her telling me every detail of her date.

"You're crazy Sky, Tag is not interested in me, we don't run in the same circles," she pointed out.

"I don't think Tag cares about titles, Jenny. If he did, he wouldn't have spent time with you while fighting off the 'beautiful ones'," I reminded her.

After I hung up, I willed myself to get out of my comfortable bed. It had been so many nights since I slept there and as cold and empty as the house felt, my bedroom was still my safe place.

I went to check dad's room, and he was sleeping. "Well, at least he is here," I thought to myself. Pulling his door too so I didn't disturb him, I went to the kitchen and grabbed something quick for breakfast.

Looking around the kitchen, reality set in. My mom had left, and she was never coming back. When she left, she left a mess. The house was in shambles and looked like stage five hoarders lived there. It wasn't like she did it on purpose. The house stayed in a perpetual state of chaos.

My dad apparently attempted to "remodel" the house when I was younger. When an argument ensued mid-way through, he stopped and never returned to it. As a result, the kitchen had two different flooring finishes, and they were both tattered and torn. 

There was once a laundry room in the kitchen's corner. The only remnants of it being boards still attached to the ceiling and the floor. It looked like something someone had demolished but never completed. It stood there in full sight from the kitchen, somehow morphing into it.

My mom had never been one to keep a clean house. The laundry had piled until it was waist high. It had been there for weeks. Dad installed a make-shift cabinet at some point that was bare wood with a few simple shelves. 
A few cans of food called them home. A nice collection of dust held them together.

The windows were thick with dust, so much so you could barely see out of them. As I took in the entire scene, my mind wrapped itself around the idea that it was her world. She created it and then abandoned it. The thought we didn't have to play by her rules anymore rushed into my mind. I may not have been able to finish the thousand unfinished projects, but I could make sure we had a clean house to live in.

With that thought in mind, I turned up the music as loud as possible without disturbing dad and got to work. It took hours, but I got down and dirty and scrubbed every square inch of the house. It was disgusting, so much so it made me want to cry.

When those thoughts crept in, I told myself to "Suck it up buttercup" because it would not clean itself. I was finishing up and starting a new load of laundry when I heard dad's door open. It made me happy to think maybe, just maybe, this would bring a smile to his face. I really couldn't recall the last time I had seen him smile.

He walked into the kitchen and started his coffee. Looking around the room, he had to notice the sudden change. I waited for a response, but to my surprise, he never said a word. He poured himself a cup of coffee and when it was empty, informed me he was heading out. That was all I got out of him and I was at a loss for words. I thought it would make him happy, but I guess I was wrong.

Jenny came and picked me up that evening, and I was glad she did. After my hard work, I needed a little company. We went to get burgers at Highway 55, a small diner in town that looked like it came straight out of 1950. Their burgers were good, but their custard was amazing. We both loved it and it was the perfect place to hang out on a low key kind of night. Once our burgers arrived, we settled into a conversation. Jenny asked me the question of the hour.

"So Sky, when are you planning on letting Jonathon know things are over?"

I had been asking myself that same question. He was a sweetheart and so easy to hang out with, but that was it. There wasn't any heat between us and even if there were it could NEVER match what I had with Jake.

"I know I have to, but it sucks to let him down," I admitted.

"Well, if you don't, you will get him beat up, I don't think Jake will hold back next time."

I explained to Jenny how horrible I felt about what happened. If Jake had hit him, I would not have been able to forgive myself. The thought made me shiver, so I shifted the conversation back to her. She was finding herself in a very similar situation.

"Well, what about you and Tripp? From the sound of it, you had more fun with Tag in a few hours than you've had the entire time you have been talking to Tripp?"

She agreed that it was true and confessed that she was not sure what to do. Tripp had been kind to her, and like me, she did not want to hurt him. She also didn't want to keep leading him on if she wasn't really into him.

We talked it over for what felt like hours and then headed home to crash out. Before we knew it, morning arrived, and we were off to school. It was a gorgeous day. We rode to school with the radio blaring, singing at the top of our lungs to a Prince CD. 'Little Red Corvette' was our favorite.

We pulled up at the school and headed for our lockers, just like we did every morning. I had finished getting my books and was waiting for Jenny when out of nowhere Tag and Jake appeared. Tag came up behind her and put his hands over her eyes, playing the age-old, "Guess who" game. A smile lit up her face as she turned around to greet him.

"Well, there's my Corn-hole partner," he joked.

"Hey Tag," she replied, her cheeks unable to hide how excited she was to see him.

"Walk you to your class?" he asked. Before she could even respond, he put one arm around her shoulder, dragging her down the hallway.

Jake and I lagged after them, left in uncharted territory. We had never been in a public situation where we had to be that close to each other. I did not know what to do or how to act. I played it safe and kept my eyes trained on what was going on in front of us.

Tag could show affection to her in public for all to see. He did not care that he was in the popular crowd and Jenny was not. It was so effortless. The sky did not fall. The moon did not crash to the earth, all remained the same.

Watching them, it weighed on me because I wanted that with Jake. I did not want to stay hidden away in his truck in the dark. I wanted to be in full view of the world.

I snuck a quick glance at Jake, and he looked back, shame filling his face.

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A/N

So how are you guys liking it so far? Did you see the relationship forming with Jenny and Tag?