Please Don't Cross Me, I Asked Nicely

Somehow, I ended up walking around the entire school campus once again ending up at the oak tree surprised to see someone else sitting there. Jake.

My shoes crunched in the grass, startling him slightly. He stared at me as he sighed with relief.

“I hoped you’d come back here”, he said with a small smile on his lips.

“Why?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

“Because I wanted to apologize”, he said, catching me off guard entirely.

“Apologize? For what?” I asked obviously confused.

“I want to apologize for everything. I’m sorry I touched you like that earlier in the school year. And I’m sorry for abandoning you last year and everything. Lastly, I’m sorry for abandoning you as a friend”, he said with sincerity.

“Is this some sort of trick?” I asked, surprised to see him acting more and more like the guy he used to be.

“What? No!” he answered as though I was mad.

We stared at one another as the silence of the campus enveloped us. I broke the silence.

“How do I know if this isn’t some sort of game like Vic’s pulling? How do I know if you’re truly and deeply sorry?” I asked.

“Would I be lying if I had this?” he asked, pulling out a cell phone similar to Vic’s.

“Is that Vic’s phone?” I asked, taking it gently as I turned it over in my hands inspecting it to see that it indeed and in fact was.

“How did you get this?” I asked in awe.

“Let’s just say I have my connections”, he said with a wink. I laughed, giving him a skeptical look.

“Connections? Like the cheerleaders?” I asked, raising a brow at him.

“Hey, I gave up the popular life but I never said I gave up my connections to them”, he said, slightly joking at the end.

“What do you mean you gave up the popular life? You gave up football?” I asked, gasping afterwards.

Jake rubbed a hand on the back of his neck nervously.

“Yeah, sorta. I just knew I didn’t fit in all along, ya know? It was never my type of thing”, he admitted.

I smiled thinking back to the days in which Jake and I used to joke about that.

-Freshman year of high school 2006-

“So, what do you think being popular is like?” Jake (at the time, slightly shorter and less cocky as he is now) asked as he plopped down next to me at the bleachers during gym class that day.

Vic passed by with a group of her people as Brian came over to us, sitting down as well. We watched her pass, but she blew a kiss to Brian and Jake before she and her flunkies followed her, giggling slightly at them.

I rolled my eyes.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s pretty awesome”, Brian said, getting a look from both Jake and I.

“Awesome like Mean Girls”, I said, glaring at Vic as most of the guys in our class crowded around her.

“Would you ever become one of those girls?” Jake asked, looking at me.

“Nope. If you ever became popular, you have to promise not to stop being friends with me, alright?” I asked, slightly joking.

“Why would I stop if you’re my best friend? Popular people are fake anyway”, he answered, but

I knew he was thinking of the matter as a look came over him.

“Just don’t become one of those stereotypical jocks who always leave their old friends behind and never talk to them again until after high school, year and years down the line”, I said in a low tone.

“I won’t”, Jake replied, but I knew he was lying.

I slapped Brian as I saw him watching our class and Vic getting more and more attention just as the instructor walked in.

Things were simple between Jake and I back then compared to now. I felt like some days I wanted to rip my hair out thinking of how he abandoned me and started becoming more like Vic. But could I really trust him?

Vic was already betraying me. Would Jake do the same thing?

“You know me, Rose. You know me better than you knew Brian and that’s saying a lot”, Jake said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I sat in silence and didn’t speak. I didn’t know what to say to him, honestly.

“I know you’re contemplating the matter over. You’re wondering whether or not you should trust me since I abandoned you, aren’t you?” he asked.

I nodded my head then cleared my throat before speaking.

“If I do decide to trust you again, will you ever betray me again?” I asked in a serious tone.

“No”, he answered and I believed him-partially.

“Just don’t expect me to open my arms up to you, OK?” I asked.

He nodded in return. My attention went back to the phone.

“Why did you bring this to me? Better yet, why did you steal it in the first place?” I asked, honestly wanting to know the answer to my question.

Jake smiled brightly.

“Well, we all know Vic’s phone is her life basically. I wanted to see if she’s been playing all of us all of this time or if she’s actually changed, which I highly doubt. You see how she’s basically wiggled her way into your inner circle of friends”, he pointed out.

“How do you know that?” I asked, surprised he knew this.

“Well, besides the fact that Vic hangs out with you, Nick, and your friend Mel, she’s been avoiding her own friends so they’ve done the same to her”, he answered smoothly.

“Avoided them? Why?” I asked.

“Well, she”, he began, but his phone started ringing. He put up a finger to signal me to wait.

“Hello?..Yeah, dude, I know..Ugh. I have to give the phone back now or she’ll find out it’s me?...Who told it was me?!.. OK. Thanks for lookin’ out.. Bye”, he concluded before speaking to me after he hung up.

“Sorry. That was one of my connections”, he said politely.

“It’s no problem. So someone found out?” I guessed.

“Yeah. I don’t know who it is, but I gotta get this back. I haven’t looked through it or anything, so, here”, he said, handing me the phone.

“Why are you handing it to me?” I asked incredulously.

“Because Vic trusts you. She won’t accept her phone back from anyone else, especially not now”, he answered as though it were obvious.

I sighed, taking the bright, pink and black phone in my hands staring at it in disgust.

“Yeah, I know. It’s horrid. How do you think I felt carrying that thing around?” he asked before walking away from me, waving a hand in the air like he used to.

I watched him leave before inspecting the phone in my hands. A part of me wanted to see what Vic was planning, but as my fingers touched the keypad, an odd feeling came over me and I stopped.

I didn’t want to do that. I’d be as bad as Vic. But what if she is hiding something from both Nick and me? What then?

The war within myself continued for a few more minutes as the sound of crickets filled my ears.

I hadn’t realized how long I was down there until a voice caught my attention.

“Rose, what the hell are you doing out here? Isn’t that Vic’s phone?” Mel asked, bundled up in the appropriate clothing, holding my phone in her hands.

“Y-yeah”, I answered nervously.

“How did you get it? Vic called you a few times asking where it was so I went to go find you even though I thought you’d be outside of the door, not out in the field of the school!” she exclaimed in a stern tone.

“I know. I-I ran into Jake”, I said, waiting for Mel to blow up on me. But she didn’t. Instead, her face twisted in disgust.

“Ewwww! Why him of all people? And what did he say?” she asked, handing my phone to me.
I checked it quickly as I answered her.

“Basically, he apologized for everything he did and all. He was the one who stole Vic’s phone, too”, I replied.

“Stole it? Why?” she asked. I recounted what Jake told me and she groaned in agreement.

“See?! I knew I wasn’t crazy!” she exclaimed in an upset tone. I knew she wanted to kill Vic.

“We don’t know if she’s actually had some sort of influence on Nick, so, this could just all be him”, I defended, feeling stupid afterwards.

Mel stayed silent, obviously tired of me defending Vic, but I couldn’t help it. A part of me still wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and that’s what I was doing.

“Just return her phone, OK?” she said once we reached the top of the staircase.

I nodded as Mel walked in first as I followed behind her.

What was I going to say? What was I going to do? Unfortunately, I didn’t think that far ahead by the time I reached Vic’s door, knocking slightly.

The door swung open a few seconds later revealing an angry Vic. Her hair was a mess as she wore short yellow shorts and a yellow tank top. She glared at me but the glare quickly dissipated once she saw me with her phone.

I held it up to her as a smile replaced the ugly look before she hugged me gently.

“Oh, shit. Thanks so much, Rose! Where did you find it?” she asked.

“In the grass outside. You know how you move sometimes and you don’t realize once you’ve dropped something”, I lied easily.

“I guess you’re right”, she said with a laugh. “Thanks again”, she added, flashing Mel and I a smile.

I flashed one back as we said our goodbyes for the night and walked back in silence to Mel and I’s dorm.