Jasey Rae

"Th-Thanks for l-l-letting me stay here, J-J-Ja-Jack. This r-really means a lot to me. Are you sure your parents d-don't mind? I really don't want to in-intrude."

"Jasey, really, it's perfectly fine. You're more than welcome to stay here, trust me."

I gave him what I thought was a smile, but we both knew it wasn't real. After I had told my mom I would be out by nine, I did my best to pack everything and get out of the house as fast as I could. At first, it was going pretty slowly, considering the fast that my vision was blurred from the slight crying I was doing. So, about a third of the way done, I accidentally dropped a picture frame, the glass shattering. As I picked it up, a very large piece had cut open my left hand. So that cut a chunk out of the time I had to get out of there. Therefore, after I had wrapped it up, I only had one band to pack up. But, I managed to get out of there as quickly as I could.

Jake had heard the fight and talked to me as I packed. He begged for me to stay, but he knew I wouldn't. I was too stubborn. I couldn't stay in a house with my mom anymore, not right now at least. Jake was on my side though. He thought Mom was out of line for saying I couldn't be friends with Jack anymore. I told him I was just going to stay at a friend's house for a while.

I had considered calling Alex, and I had even dialed his number a few times. But I never hit the little green button. The image of that boy kissing the blonde kept replaying in my mind, reminding me of why I was mad at him. And that party kept coming to mind, also jogging my memory of why Alex hates me. Why he probably never wants to talk to me again, or ever be my friend.

So I called up Jack. He was more than worried when I had said I needed a place to stay.

--flashback--
“Hey, Jasey. What’s up?”

I sniffled, wiping my nose on my sweatshirt. It was currently thunder storming right now, which made this night one hundred percent worse. My makeup was already running from the crying, now it was probably running down my chin from the rain. It was absolutely freezing out, and the wind kept whipping everything around crazily, getting me really angry. I couldn’t keep my hair out of my face. But that isn’t my biggest problem right now. Right now, getting somewhere to stay is my problem. “Jack?” I cursed myself for my voice squeaking.

“Jasey, what’s wrong? What happened?”

I inwardly smiled. Jack always could tell when I was upset just by my voice, even by the way I text him. He always knew. “Jack, please, I need somewhere to stay for the next few days.” I was surprised he could hear my voice; it was just above a whisper. “You’re my only hope.”

“Where are you?”

Jack came ten minutes later, surprising me he came that fast. Normally it takes him fifteen to twenty minutes to get to my house. He must have really been speeding to get here in half the time. He came out of the car immediately after he parked in the driveway, a sad look on his face as his eyes landed on me and the few bags around me. He got me in his mother’s car before grabbing my large duffle bags and putting them in the trunk and getting in. Then, he pulled out and started driving.

We didn’t say anything for a few minutes. The only sound was my teeth chattering and the rain pounding down on the car. Jack pulled in what looked like a park, then parked in the little parking lot. He turned towards me, a distraught look on his face still. “Oh, Jasey, what happened?”

I sucked in a breath, shivering violently for a second before opening my mouth. “M-My m-m-mom t-t-old me I c-can’t be f-f-friends wi-with y-you anymore. S-So we fought, a-and…and sh-she ki-kicked m-me out.”

“Oh, Jasey.” He sighed sadly, doing his best to pull me into his arms. I started crying a little harder, causing Jack tighten his arms around my thin body. “Sh, Jasey, it’s okay. Sh, everything’s gonna be okay.”

I pulled back, shivering again before giving him a slight smile. “Jack, I love you.”

He gave me a half smile, putting his hand on my cheek softly. “I love you, too, Jasey Rae. Come on, let’s get you home.”
---endofflashback--

“W-Will they like me?”

“Jasey, I don’t know a soul who wouldn’t like you.” He smiled, wrapping his arm around my shoulders before we walked up to the door. He opened the door using his key and shook his head, getting the rain out of his hair. “Mom! Dad! I’m home! Hayley’s here too!”

I sighed, looking at my feet. Right, I still have to be Hayley here. Maybe I should just tell them….

“Oh, honey, you weren’t kidding when you said she was beautiful.”

I snapped my head up, heat rushing up to my cheeks as I looked over at Jack. He merely gave me a shrug, a pink tint to his own cheeks. I looked over to see Jack’s parents standing in front of us. “Mr. and Mrs. Barakat, I don’t know how to thank you enough for giving me a place to stay. I really don’t mean to be a bother. I’ll try and stay out of your hair as much as possible.”

“Nonsense, honey! You’re already part of the family! I’m Joyce.” The woman said, giving me a cheery smile. But her eyes were full of pity, which meant Jack told her why I was staying at her house.

“And I’m Bassam.” A man with a deep voice said. I looked up, finally realizing where Jack got his height from.

“Nice to meet you both.” I said, shivering again because I was still cold.

“Let’s go get you dry. I’ll show you to your room.” Jack smiled, his arm still around my shoulders. He led me upstairs after grabbing my bags. He wouldn’t let me carry anything, even after I told him I was capable of carrying my own things, but he wouldn’t let me.

“And this is your room.” Jack said, walking into a rather large room and setting my bags down near the bed. “My room is right next to it, with a connecting door! We can have sleepovers!”

I laughed lightly, giving Jack a tight hug. “Thanks, Jack, for everything.”

His arms tightened around my waist. "Anything for you, Jasey Rae." He pulled back slightly and looked down at me. "I'll give you some of my clothes, okay? Yours are pretty wet from the rain, and so are the ones in your bags."

I nodded, giving him a grateful smile and watched him walk into his room. I took this chance to go look in the mirror. I grimaced, seeing my terrible reflection in the large mirror in the bathroom. My hair was soaking wet and flat to my head from the rain, my eyes were red from crying, and makeup was smeared all over my face. I looked awful. After putting my hair in a ponytail and cleaning my face off, Jack was walking into my room with some clothes in his hands.

"Here. They might be a little big, and the pants will be really long, but oh well." He smiled, setting the clothes down on my bed. “They’re dry.”

"I can't thank you enough, Jacky."

"For you, a thousand times over, Jasey Rae." He smiled, and I grinned.

"The Kite Runner, good choice. You actually read the English assignments?" I smirked, knowing the quote was from the book.

He shook his head, smirking his infamous smile. "Hell no, I read SparkNotes."

I laughed lightly, shaking my head. "I should've known. I'll be out in a minute, okay?"

He nodded and was out the door in seconds. I sighed and walked over to the clothes Jack had set down on the bed. He was right about the pants, they were a foot longer than I needed, meaning I would have to roll them up a few hundred times before they were the right length. A pair of basketball shorts was underneath the sweatpants, causing me to smile. Jack always knew I loved wearing basketball shorts under big sweatpants. A t-shirt was there as well, just a plain white v-neck, and there was one of his sweatshirts there too. I noticed it was his favorite one, black with a white zippers and strings. He knows I absolutely adored this sweatshirt. I put all the clothes on, smiling at the fact that the pants were way too long, so I rolled them up a few times. Everything smelled like Jack; the cologne he wears is amazing, although the name of it slips my mind at the moment. But still, I could smell it all day.

"Jack-"

Jack barged through the door before I could even finish my sentence, causing me to laugh. He noticed and blushed slightly. "Sorry, I'm a little excited."

"I noticed." I smiled slightly. I felt my ears perk up slightly as I heard 'Hayley' outside the room. It was Jack's parents. "Do you think I should tell them?"

"Tell who what?" Jack asked, sitting on the bed.

I sat next to him, chewing at my lip nervously. "Your parents. You think I should tell them my secret?"

"I think you should tell them whatever you want to, Jase."

I sighed, my eyes glued to my feet. Jack had lent me a pair of socks, and they surprisingly fit perfectly, which meant I have very large feet since Jack wears about a size eleven shoes. But I already knew that I guess. I thought about Jack's parents. Should I tell them? It would make everything so much easier. And I wouldn't have to keep my wig on the whole time. But there's always the possibility of them telling someone. Then the word would get out and all of this moving to Maryland would be a waste. But...Jack's parents aren't like that at all. They're so kind, and trustworthy. "I'll tell them."

[jaseyrae]

"Mom? Dad? Hayley has something to tell you guys. I think you should sit down first."

My breathing was shaky, just like my hands because I was so nervous. This wasn't exactly a thing I told many people. And telling to my best friend's parents wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done.

"What is it, sweetie?" Joyce asked, a nervous smile. She and her husband both had a nervous look on their faces, as if I was about to say I was pregnant with their son's child. And we all knew Jack wasn't exactly a virgin….

I cleared my throat. The speech I had mentally prepared myself a half an hour ago seemed to be lost in my mind. "I-I, uh...I...."

"I know this is off topic, but has anyone ever told you you look like Jasey Rae Scott?" Jack's dad asked, a slight smile on his face, to lighten the mood a little.

It didn't help me when Jack's mom quickly agreed and they started to quietly discuss how much of a resemblance there was between the two people. Or, well, one. I cleared my throat again, my hands shaking even more violently as I tried to muster up the courage.

"Mom, Dad, please, let Jas-Hayley speak. She's real nervous right now." Jack said, clearly seeing my struggle to tell them.

"Oh, we're sorry, Hayley. Go ahead, please." Bassam smiled, giving a nod.

I took a deep breath. Just tell them, Jasey. The worst they can do is kick you out of the house. "A-Actually, Mr. and Mrs. Barakat, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. U-Uh, you see, when I, uh, met you...I wasn't exactly...honest with you."

"Okay...?" Joyce said. They were both clearly confused.

"S-See...when Mr. Barakat said I looked like Jasey Scott...he pretty much hit the spot." I said, my voice just above a whisper.

"I'm not following." Jack's dad said, still trying to figure out why I was telling them all this.

I cleared my throat, rubbing the back of my neck nervously. "W-Well, you see...I-I...I'll just...show you." I reached up with my shaky hand at the edge of my awful black wig and took a deep breath. I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled.

I heard a pair of gasps when I set the wig down on the table, my heart skipping a little. "I'm Jasey Rae Scott." I said, opening my eyes. Their expressions matched their gaps: shock.

A few minutes passed as they watched me take my fire orange hair out of the low bun it was in and shake it up, take my contacts out-which were earlier switched to prescription contacts because I'm blind without them-and put them in their case.

Mrs. Barakat was the first to speak up. "Well...that's quite a bit of news."

I nodded, looking down at my lap. Jack was holding my hand for support. His hand was at least five times larger than mine. You could barely see mine. My fingers didn’t even go past his knuckles, on the other hand, his fingers almost touched my wrist. He gave me a reassuring squeeze, but it didn't really help. They were going to kick me out for sure. I just knew it. I shouldn’t have lied. “I understand if you don’t want me to stay here any longer. I can be out in ten minutes. I’m so sorry.” I let go of Jack’s hand as I stood up, staring at my feet.

“Oh, good Heavens, child, why on earth would we kick you out?” Mrs. Barakat said, complete alarm in her voice.

I looked up, on the verge of tears. And at the moment, I didn’t know what for. It was either the fact that I was still upset that my own mother kicked me out, or that I was about to be homeless in the next ten minutes. “Because I lied to you.”

“Oh, gosh, honey, you had a perfectly good reason for hiding who you were. We would never kick you out for something that was your personal secret. We’re more proud than anything.” Bassam said, shocking me.

“So…you’re not…you’re not mad?” I asked quietly, a smile slowly forming on my lips.

“Not at all, Jasey.” Joyce subtly, winking faintly.

I grinned. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“Like Joyce said before: You’re already family to us, Jasey Rae.” Mr. Barakat smiled, putting his own arm around his wife’s shoulders.

This is seriously the best family ever.

[jaseyrae]

“No, seriously, he actually did that.” Jack laughed along with me. We were currently telling whatever funny stories we could to each other to pass the time.

‘hello there, the angle from my nightmare
the shadow in the background of the morgue-’

Jack sighed angrily, glaring at his phone before answering. “What, Alex?”

I went wide-eyed, pressing my ear on the other side of the phone to listen. I’m glad Jack didn’t pull away; instead, he put it on speakerphone.

“Jack, man, I’m sorry….” Alex said, sighing. I knew he was rubbing the back of his neck. Alex always did that when he was nervous. “I never shoulda said what I said.”

“Yeah, sorry’s really not gonna cut it this time, Alex.” Jack said curtly, obviously getting mad. I grabbed his hand to calm him down, and thankfully he did a little.

“Can I come over? I wanna talk.”

I swallowed hard, looking down at my hand. I didn’t want to see Alex at the moment.

“Uh, not tonight, Alex. I have company.” Jack said, squeezing my hand lightly.

“Who?”

“Uh…it’s Ja…Hayley.” Jack said, and I squeezed his hand tightly for almost giving my name away. He only laughed.

“Why the hell is she there?”

I glared at the phone, opening my mouth to start yelling, but Jack cut me off.

“Because she’s staying at my house for a few nights.” Jack said.

“Why? Her mom kick her out or something?” I could almost see that he was rolling his eyes. I knew Alex better than he knew himself.

Jack looked at me for an answer, asking me if he should tell his best friend the real reason or just make up a lie through his eyes. I mouthed that he should tell the real reason. There was no sense of lying to Alex about something like that. “Yeah, that’s exactly it, Alex. Her mom kicked her out because her mom told her she couldn’t be friends with me anymore. And Chicago didn’t like that so they fought, then her Mom kicked her out since Hayley was still going to be friends with me. So she came here.” Jack squeezed my hand lightly.

“Damn…. Why couldn’t she be friends with you?”

“The band.” Jack said shortly, getting annoyed with Alex’s constant questions. “Look, I gotta go. Bye, Alex.”

“No, wait, Jack! Please, I want to talk. I don't wanna keep fighting.” Alex said, practically begging Jack to stay on the phone.

"Are you still Whitney?"

"What? Yeah, why-"

"We're still fighting." Jack said and hung up. He gave me a small smile as he turned off his phone after checking what the time was. "It's midnight, Jasey, get some rest. You've had a long day." He kissed my forehead, giving me a sad smile.

I reflected the smile and hugged him tightly. "Thanks, Jack, for everything. I love you."

"For you, a thousand times over, Jasey." He whispered before walking into his room, shutting the door behind him quietly.

I sighed, lying back on my bed. What an insane day....