Chapter 13: Chapter 13:

Jake POV

My eyes snap open and the hall in my apartment was bright. Its a Wednesday morning. I got up from the couch lazily and walked to the kitchen. My brain is still mushed up from yesterday's encounter with my dad. I cooked some pancakes to eat. I grabbed a porcelain plate from the cabinet, it slips from my hands and  it lands on the floor shattering into pieces  with a loud clinking noise.

"Fuck!" I blurt looking at the broken pieces on the floor. I rub my face tiredly. My head aches and I feel weak.

I take the broken pieces from the floor and it cuts my thumb! I grimace in pain and quickly turn the faucet in the kitchen and leave the cold water to wash the blood and make the pain subside.

I remove my thumb and turn off the faucet. I take a band aid from one of the drawers in the kitchen and place it on my thumb. It hurts a bit but i try to manage the pain.I don't know why but I'm not this clumsy in the mornings.

I sweep the broken pieces and dump them in the trash can. I sigh. That plate was my favourite! Now its gone!

I pick another porcelain plate and place my pancakes on it. I pick it up together with a glass of milk.

I place them on the dining  table. Then I went to the bathroom and took a shower and brushed my teeth. I got dressed in a red t-- shirt and dark jeans and black sneakers

I walked back to the dining hall with my hair tousled then I ate my breakfast. I looked at the time on the wall clock and its thirty minutes past nine. School starts at eight and I'm now sitting here having my breakfast. I guess i slept too much. I don't think I can make it to school today. I'll just call Kate  to send me our assignment.

After eating, I washed the plate and got back to the hall. I found a shattered bottle of vodka on the tiled floor. I remembered what happened. I swept the broken pieces and place them in the trash can.

I then walked into the hall and turned on the TV set. My favourite program comes on but I don't pay attention

My mind keeps on hovering around my encounter with my dad.  The more I think about it, the  more my head aches. I walk to the kitchen and get some pills to subside the headache. Then I came back to the hall.

Nicole POV:

Its nine thirty in the morning. Tigress says she's picking me up at ten. I'm already dressed up in a round neck purple fitting dress and purple flat shoes.

I grabbed my make up kit and put on some light makeup. I joined my family in eating breakfast so I wasn't hungry. I took my phone out. There were no texts nor missed calls from anyone. I wonder what's up with everyone. Its a long time I heard from Jake. I wonder what he's doing at this hour. I feel like calling him. I dial his number about to call when Tigress interrupts me with her call. I look on the wall clock and its ten already. I pick up

"I'm here" she says and hangs up

I roll my eyes and walk out of my room into the hall. I don't know why she needs me as an escort to wherever we are going to! I get out through the front door and lock it with my spare key. Tigress's orange sports car was parked in front. Luckily, I had my shades on today.

I walked confidently and sat in the car.

"Good morning Tigress" I say to her.

"Morning Nikki! Thank you so much for agreeing to come with me" she says. I notice her outfit for the first time. She's in a plain white tee shirt and a pair of blue shorts. Her hair was still orange and neck length

"Its my pleasure Tigress" I reply and she smiles.

She moves the car into the road with music blasting in the car. It was a kind of rock music and I didn't like it. Tigress on the other hand was enjoying it really.

After an hour of being in the car listening to a blasting rock music, we appeared in a neighborhood. It was quite different. The road was bumpy and the houses were not so nice like the ones in our neighborhood. Tigress parks her car and puts the engine off. She exhales heavily

"We are here" she announces and picks up a huge bundle of cash from the drawer in her car.

"Wait in the car! I'll be right back" she says and gets down. I watch her walk to a car with a man standing beside it. Other men were walking around having stern looks on their faces. They look dangerous and scary. I wonder what they are up to. She gives the man the bundle of cash and in turn he gives her a large paper bag.

She takes it and nods before walking back to the car. She opens the door and enters the car. She throws the paper bag at the back seat and drives on.

"What's that? And what just went on over there?" I ask curiously

"Its just a transaction" Tigress says with a smirk.

"I brought you here because I didn't really trust those men. I was afraid they could do something to me." She admits and I'm surprised. Tigress is afraid? But I admit I was also scared of them.

"I know you are surprised that I'm afraid of them but you don't know what they can do! " Tigress states and shivers run down my spine.

"If that's the reason, then why do you come here?" I ask her.

She chuckles a little.

"I still needed to do that transaction with them that's why I had to come" she explains.

I wonder which transaction she's talking about.

"What kind of transaction?"

She smiles.

"I can't tell you! You are still a kid" she says and I roll my eyes.

She parks at a restaurant.

"What are we doing here?" I ask her

"We are going to eat" she states obviously. I wasn't hungry! I had already eaten but all the same I climbed out and followed her into it.

She ordered two beef burgers and two bottles of coke. Then we sat down waiting for our food.

"I'm really grateful you came with me" she says gratefully.

"You're welcome" I reply and the waiter brings our food.

"I haven't forgotten about our meeting this weekend! Did you inform the others?" She states and bites her burger.

I nod because my mouth was full.

"That's great! I cannot wait to meet them!" She sang and takes another bite. After our meal, she paid for the amount and we left.

I got home at exactly one pm. I threw myself on my bed as soon as I entered the bedroom and removed my flats. I put on the TV set and a show comes on. The presenter was interviewing a celebrity.

I lie in bed with my mind not focusing on the TV. I am still wondering what kind of transaction went on. I am beginning to get suspicious. I grab the remote control and flip through the channels until it lands on a movie and I drop the remote control. I get cozy under my sheets and watch the movie.

°~•~•~•°

The week goes by very fast and Saturday is here. I have one huge problem! Trina! I don't want to take her to the party tonight cos Tigress would be coming and so I don't want her to get to know the kind of people I associate with. I sigh and just remain in my bedroom

I also have so much to do! My hamper is full of rumpled clothes. I need to get them washed. I picked them up and walked to the basement.

I put them in the washing machine and turned it on. After a while, they were all laundered and I got them fresh and neat again. I folded them and sent them to my bedroom.

I was packing them into my closet when Trina barged in.

"Morning sister! What's up?" She says in a very good mood today.

"Morning" I say in the shittiest mood ever. I don't know how to respond.

"So tonight's the party! We are going to rock and roll" she states excitedly. I knew she was going to bring this up.

"Erh......Trina" I begin nervously.

"Yeah" she replies confident.

"You can't go today" I say.

"Why not? Cos I didn't get into trouble the last time" Trina protests.

"Yes I know but I'm afraid cos tonight's party is going to be different than last week's own!" I say hoping she gives up.

"Really? That will even make it more exciting! I can't wait" Trina yells and I slap my forehead. She doesn't get it.

"There will be people coming and they are not good people! They are kind of bad" I say to her.

"Does it mean you're not going too Nicole?" She asks me.

"Yes" I lie.

"I really had plans for tonight's party" Trina says heartbroken.

"But we will attend next week's own right?" Trina asks hopefully. I nod and she shrieks

"Trina! Nicole!! Get down here!!!" Mom hollers from downstairs.

"Time for breakfast" Trina says and I nod. We both file out of my room into the dining hall.

After breakfast, Trina and I studied together. Its been a long time we had actually than that. But I liked it because Trina kept on talking. I wonder if she never gets tired of talking.

Troy's call interrupts me. Trina was in the middle of her speech and so she had to pause.

"Hey Troy! " I say

"Nikki! I just wanted to inform you that tonight's party is a special one because Tigress is coming so it will be a pool party"

"A pool party?" I blurt forgetting Trina is in the room and I instantly regret it. I look at her and she has a confused expression on.

"Yeah! I was just telling you so that you will be able to pack a bikini or something" Troy says with amusement.

I roll my eyes.

"Okay but.....I'm not coming" I lie because of Trina. I had plans.

"But why? Tigress is coming and you are the alpha! You need to be there at all cost!" Troy retaliates.

"Yeah I know but something came up and so I can't make it! Can you apologise to her for me when she comes? I'll explain everything later" I lie again.

"But Nikki! Tonight is going to be a phenomenal one! You can't miss this!" Troy insists and I am tired of lying and talking so much

"I'm sorry Troy! I'll explain later" I say and hang up before he tries to convince me again.

"What was that about?" Trina asks with her eyebrows raised.

"Troy was telling me how the party will be like tonight but I told him I wouldn't make it and he was trying to convince me" I explain to Trina

She nods.

"Poor Troy! He'll be so disappointed" Trina says and I know I'm deceiving her. I feel bad for being deceitful but that's the only way I can protect her from this 'phenomenal' night as Troy said. Only God knows what he meant by saying that.

I sigh.

"Let's continue" I say in order to change the subject before Trina begs  me or convinces me that we should go to the party.

After asking ourselves questions on every topic and reading our long notes, we went for lunch. Mom cooked some chicken potpie and I loved it. After that , Trina and I sat in the hall and watched a basketball match.

"So.....have you seen Jake this week?" Trina purrs and I look at her.

"No" I simply answer.

"Gosh Nicole! You are so unfriendly! At least call or text him" Trina spits completely disappointed.

"You think?" I ask her.

"Yes!" Trina urges.

"I don't know Trina" I say numbly and look at my phone. What am I going to say if I call him.

"Gimme the phone" Trina says and snatches the phone from my hands.

She looks through and finally puts it to her ear. Then she puts it on speaker. Jake's voice booms out of my phone.

"Hey Nikki" he says but his tone is distant and somehow sad.

Trina urges me to talk but its kinda weird.

"Hey Jake! What's up?" That's the only thing that I managed to say.

"Am okay" he says but his tone doesn't sound okay to me. Trina notices it and frowns.

"Did something bad happen? Did something go wrong?" The words just kept on coming out. I wondered what happened

"Let's just say I've been thinking out loud and the more I do, I become confused and terrified! This week has been very difficult for me and I'm drained" Jake  states. His voice is weak and there's no life in them. I wish I was there to comfort him.

"Give me the address of your house! I want to come and visit" I say out of the blue.

"No need Nikki! I'll pick you up tomorrow morning so that I'll tell you what happened" he says. His voice still remains the same.

For no reason I am worried about him. Meanwhile I barely know him. I just met him and we became friends. That's all. And all I know is a little background about his family but I don't know about his present life! If he has a girlfriend or he's single! I don't even know the work he does! I don't know if he's a college student or high school student!

"Nikki! Are you there?" Jake says.

Trina snaps me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah I'm here! OK I agree. Pick me up tomorrow and let's talk" I say quickly.

"Thanks! Bye" he says and hangs up

"Where in the world did you go Nicole? Wonderland?" Trina gushes and I chuckle.

"You really like doing that! It doesn't look good on you so quit it!" Trina snaps.

"Its just thoughts Trina! But I'll try to control it" I retaliate.

"I wonder what happened that has got him all sad." Trina says and I nod in agreement.

"I don't know Trina! But I'll find out tomorrow" I reply.

As we continue to watch the match. I think of the possible reasons of Jake's sadness. Maybe his mom is sick or he lost a loved one. I don't know but I'm still freaking worried.

Hey there guys! Its me again! I hope you are enjoying the story! Its a brand new one! I am looking forward to complete my first story, The Chosen One! Please continue to read it and vote! And don't forget to cast your votes here too.

I love y'all.

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