Chapter 21 - I would be your----what? (J)
After learning everything about what happened to Anna I understood why she is shy, scared and always seemed guarded; it made me understand her fears. She was twelve for god sake when all that shit happened yet she was brave enough to live alone. I knew her life was f***ed up but I definitely didn’t expect it to be this horrible, she is one tough girl.
In the days that followed, our relationship got strong and I was never happier staying in her company all the time. I pick her up at her house every day for school and drop her off to work in spite of her continuous refusals. Sometimes I even stay back at the store until her shift is complete though she asks me to leave; she even complained to Tom once to make me leave but he just watched the both of us in amusement. I know she finds me as a distraction but what can I say, I love teasing her.
After school ended today, both of us continued walking towards the parking lot until I remembered about the party at Gabe’s house.
“Anns.. I’ll come to pick you up at your house, 8 PM today. Gabe’s having a party”
“What? Why?” she asked looking confused.
Is there a reason to have a party? It’s been a long time since we had a party and I wouldn’t have been interested if it’s not for Gabe.
“Just for fun” I shrugged not knowing what else to say.
She groaned “I don’t like parties. Please let me pass”
“No you can’t, Gabe will kill you. Besides it would be fun” I admitted.
“I don’t think I am the kind of person who likes your idea of fun” she grumbled
“I heard that!! I bet you’ve never been to a party, just try for Gabe’s sake; it won’t be that bad”
“Oh, trust me. I’ve been to a party once and it was not just bad; it was horrible”
“When have you been to a party?” I frowned.
“Uh- It’s long back. Emily and I sneaked into Jonathan’s party once and trust me, I still feel like throwing up remembering the stench”
That name sounded awfully familiar. Wait, isn’t it the name bitch Emily said something about.
“Who’s Jonathan?” I asked in a casual tone.
“Well, he is Emily’s brother. Back then, I had a big crush on him. He is four years older than me”
“What’s with women and older guys?” I mumbled grudgingly.
“What’s with guys and older women?” she mimicked.
Giving her a look, I muttered “Is that why the bitch said you moved on fast”
“Yep, when I was young I fancied him a lot”
“Should I feel threatened of him?” I spat bitterly.
She stopped walking giving me a disbelieving look, “I was young and stupid then. I don’t even like him anymore Jason. You’re with me now, not him. You’re the one who stood by me and trusted me, not him. You are my first kiss and you would be my---”she stopped suddenly realizing what she said as she closed her mouth with both of her hands and looked red like a tomato.
“I would be your---- what?” I smirked crossing my arms over my chest.
“Sh- Shut Up” she grumbled trying to hide her blushing face.
“I never knew you wanted to --- oww—oww—stop doing that” I yelled between her kicks. Yep, she really kicked me; luckily in the shin.
Thank you so much for showing mercy, I thought of adding sarcastically but didn’t; scared that she might attack my private parts this time.
“Umm. So--- Emily would be there?” she asked slowly after few seconds of silence.
“Um, yeah. Hey, umm I am a bit confused with two Emilys and I don’t want to call that bitch with my best friend’s name. So, what do we call her?”
“Well, her full name is Emily Swift”
“Then Ms. Swift it is or--- may be bitch suits her more”
We reached the car and slid into the seats while I started the engine and made my way to the store.
“So you coming?” I asked Anna who looked distant looking through the window.
She pouted to which I added “Everyone’ll be there. Common, it would be fun”
She thinks for a while before her eyes lit up “Will Jamie be there?”
I shrugged “Yeah, may be. Why?”
“I’ll be there then” she smiled proudly.
“Is there something going on that I should know?” I asked curiously.
“Nope” she replied with a mischievous smile.
Oh, God. I hope she’s not planning anything stupid.
Dropping her off to work I went to Gabe’s house and helped him with the party arrangements; the usual DJ and drinks stuff. Once everything was set up, I went to my house and quickly got ready wearing a black jeans and white t-shirt paired with a black denim jacket.
After reaching Em’s home I walked up to the locked door and knocked it twice before it was opened by Emily. She’s looking stunning in a strapless purple knee length dress paired with the heels I gifted for her last birthday. When I asked for Anna, she gave me a smug look instead of replying anything.
When Anna finally came downstairs I was stunned seeing the beautiful girl standing in front of me wearing a white dress that reached above her knees and showed off her never ending long legs.
“You can stop drooling Jason” Emily smirked beside me.
“You look—You—You look--” I stuttered. Just when she started “Th--”, I blurted “Tall”
Anna looked mortified while Em burst into laughter. I know it was not what she expected or what I wanted to tell but it’s true, she almost looked my height.
“Um—Emily made me wear her heels. So, yeah” she replied awkwardly.
While both of us kept staring at each other I heard Emily mumble something like “I’ll be waiting outside”
Clearing her throat, Anna said “Shall we go then?”
“Yeah, wait! I have to tell you something” She looked at me expectantly as I said “Don’t go wandering around the party without me. It’s too----- dangerous”
I know it’s just a party, not a bloody forest. What I am actually scared of is guys hitting on her; just look at her legs, they’re goddamn amazing. The only thing I would be doing in the party is scaring guys off; I don’t think I’d be enjoying or relaxing any time soon.
And that’s exactly what’s happening now. As we’re walking in the crowd searching for Gabe in his house, I tightened my grip on her waist not missing the lust filled stares few guys are giving her.
When we reached a room that’s less populated and less noisy, Gabe suddenly came out of nowhere and tackled her into a hug yelling “Anna, I didn’t think you’d be here. Thank you so much for coming”
“I had to. No option” She scowled looking at me. If I knew I’d be intimidated by other guys, I would never let her come too.
“You are gorgeous” he said to her giving me a wink.
“And you are hot” she replied grinning.
“So I’ve been told” he smirked obviously implying our conversation about how I was jealous of him.
“Where’s Jamie? Can you please find her for me?” she pleaded.
“Yup, I’ll be back in a sec” Gabe replied leaving both of us and disappeared in the crowd.
Before I could question her why she is asking Jamie, Anna said “She is the host’s sister. Don’t you think we need to greet her?”
I didn’t reply anything as we stood at the same spot looking around to find familiar faces from school while Gabe came back with an uneasy looking Jamie.
“Hey” she greeted to which I replied “Hi” as she stood awkwardly fidgeting with her hands.
“Are you enjoying the party?” she asked after a few seconds of silence to which Anna instantly replied “Great” and I didn’t miss the sarcasm in her voice. After few more seconds of looking at one another awkwardly I noticed Jamie and Anna having an eye conversation; what the hell are they up to?
“Jason-Can I talk to you for a sec? Alone” Jamie mumbled awkwardly.
“Uh- I can’t leave Anna here. She-----” Before I could say a nice excuse Anna cuts me off “That’s ok Jason, I’ll be fine. You carry on”
“Can we talk sometime later? I seriously can’t leave her all alone------”
This time it was Gabe’s turn to interrupt “I’ll take care of her, you go on”
I nodded to Jamie before whispering to Gabe “Don’t leave her. I don’t want any of those drunken hungry male population make a move on my girlfriend. If I find anyone near her I am going to kill you, seriously”
He chuckled “Aye Aye Captain” while I left with Jamie to her room upstairs.
“What’s it Jamie?” I asked sitting on a chair while she locked the door and sat on her bed.
“I wanted to say sorry, for all the drama” she mumbled guiltily.
I would’ve asked her why she is saying sorry all of a sudden if I hadn’t seen her interact with Anna.
“Umm—I--- That’s ok Jam” I replied remembering her pet name.
“So—does that mean we’re fine?” she asked hopefully.
“Yup, we are. Just don’t do this again” I smiled.
“Thanks Jason. I promise I won’t repeat it” she said giving me a weak smile.
“I am sorry too, for disappearing from your life”
“Don’t be, it was my mistake. I was madly in love with you and behaved like an idiot”
“Was? So, are you rejecting me now?” I teased with a mock hurt look.
Giggling she replied “Now that you have Anna, I don’t think you need another crazy fan”
Getting up, I walked to her bed and pulled her into a hug “I missed you Jam”
“I missed you too Jason” she quietly mumbled before getting out of my arms.
“She loves you, you know”
“Yeah, I know” I replied knowing that she meant Anna.
“Do you?” she questioned to which I shrugged “I don’t know”
We went back downstairs after our little chat where I saw Anna trying to get out of Gabe’s grip while he was pulling her back yelling at her.
“What’s happening here?” I asked once I got close to them.
“Did you threaten Gabe not to leave me alone?” she asked glaring at me.
“Y- Yeah, why?”
“Why? I am the one supposed to ask that question. Why can’t I be left alone?”
“Where do you want to go that urgently?” I scowled.
“I saw Emily making out with some random guy and my body guard here isn’t letting me go”
“Why? Do you want to join them?” I grumbled angrily.
She gave me a disapproving look to which I quickly added “I am sorry; I didn’t mean to say that”
“What’s your problem Jace?” she asked softly but I didn’t reply anything.
“He is jealous” Gabe interferes as Anna snorts “Why would he be?”
“Because you’re beautiful and I’m scared some other guy might----” I mumbled awkwardly not completing what I was trying to say.
She looked at me in shock before closing the distance kissing me passionately not bothering about people around us until we heard someone - Gabe and Jamie to be exact clear their throats rather loudly.
“Wow, I never expected you to kiss me in front of so many people” I smirked seeing her blush.
“Umm I- I guess – I completed the bet” she said looking anywhere but me.
“What bet?” I asked to which she answered “The bet we had on our date. Um you told me to kiss in front of our friends”
“I told you to kiss in front of our whole group; not just Gabe. And I know you didn’t just kiss me for the sake of bet but because you wanted to”
She blushed making me laugh at her innocence as I got out of her arms and turned towards Gabe.
“Dude!! You are whipped” he whispered in my ear as I pulled Anna to the living room where the dance floor was setup. We danced, kissed and talked until both of us are exhausted and finally made our way to the kitchen. She grabbed soda while I just had a can of beer and walked to Gabe’s room where our group assembled, including Megan and Cheryl much to my annoyance.
“What’s up? Why did you call us here?” I asked Gabe who was standing beside the door while everyone else are either passed out on his bed or lying on the floor.
“First, I need to talk about something else. It’s kind of personal” he said looking at Anna who immediately left my hand and walked towards the group.
This better be good; I don’t want her to be anywhere near Cheryl.
“Umm—I--- I met a guy” he exclaimed timidly.
I smiled instantly “Great. So is he---? um gay?”
“I think so, I am not sure. He is so handsome, you know. I—I---”
“Do you want me to talk to him? You know to find out?” I asked
“Can you do that?” he asked hopefully.
“Of course. Just give me his details or at least a number; I’ll see what I can do”
“Thanks Jason” He smiled hugging me.
“Ok, now tell me why you called us here?” I asked pulling him towards our group.
Instead of replying me, he announced “Who’s up for Truth or Dare?”
Everyone cheered while Anna grimaced looking at the group; well her last experience was bitter and she was slapped, I can’t blame her.
“I want to go home” she mumbled quietly beside me.
“Scared baby doll?” Cheryl sneered.
“That’s none of your business” I snapped at her.
“Ignore her, she is drunk.” Em said as she added “Stay Anns, it’d be fun”
“If being dared to kiss some random guy or girl is fun, then no thank you I’ll pass” she replied confidently.
“Stop behaving like a nun” Cheryl growled looking annoyed.
“I’d better be a nun than be a bitch” Anna replied boldly earning gasps from the group.
Before Cheryl could retort back I pulled Anna away from the group as we walked downstairs and finally got into my car making our way back to her house.
“That was epic” I smiled patting her shoulder.
“I am just tired of her” she whined looking ahead of us.
“Why? Is she bothering you?”
“Ever since we started dating, she never missed the chance to irritate or humiliate me. I am tired of running away from her”
“Don’t worry, we’ll do something about it” I replied pulling her into a one arm hug and kissed her hair.
********************
The following Monday I messaged Anna to leave for school without me as I’d be late meeting Sky Palmer at the diner to discuss about Drake Meyers; the guy Gabe fancies. After doing a bit of recon, we found out that Drake is in fact gay and he’d be attending our school along with his brother this week as his family shifted here recently. Feeling happy, I instantly messaged Gabe ‘Be prepared; we’re getting you a boyfriend’
He replied quickly ‘COME TO SCHOOL ASAP, we have a problem’
‘What happened? Is it about Anna?’ I typed fast and ran to my car waiting impatiently for his reply.
‘Sadly, yes. Just come’ was his reply and I pressed the gas reaching school in less than ten minutes.
Taking the detention slip from the receptionist I walked into History class, the third period of the day. As I am late by five minutes I mumbled a quick apology and sat beside Gabe searching for Anna.
“Why isn’t she here? Didn’t she come to school? Is she sick or--?” Gabe thrust a pamphlet in my hand breaking my panicked rambling.
“What is---” My words got lost as I saw the paper with the heading ‘The Juvenile’ and a younger looking Anna’s photo. All that happened to her was written except everything was twisted to frame her as a slut; and the worst part, the story was told by Emily Swift. In it was written how Anna fancied Jonathan, how she was close to their family and how she ended up in jail for killing her father. However, she failed to mention why she was released; she even wrote how Anna’s mom disowned her for being wild.
Wild? And Anna? I am going to kill that bitch if I ever saw her again.
“Where is she?” I asked slowly as Gabe whispered “We don’t know. Hunter told he saw her running upstairs after seeing it. I called her number of times but her phone is switched off”
“How much of it is true?” He asked slowly.
“She is innocent” I stated to which I got an immediate reply “I know that much”
Em was looking at me sadly as I gave her a reassuring look and no one tried to speak about the topic until lunch. As much as I wanted to leave the class room and search her, I couldn’t; not wanting to take risk of getting caught, especially as she missed all the classes.
Everyone was looking at me expectantly during lunch waiting for me to say something and so I did.
“She is innocent guys, what’s written is not true” I muttered.
“Jason, we know that. You need not justify for her, just tell us what to do” Blaise said looking up to me.
“Thanks guys. We need to split up and search for her. And—As much as I wanted to tell what happened, it’s her story to tell. I hope you understand” I said looking at all of them.
Just as we were about to separate, I realized something “Who did this? Who distributed these pamphlets?”
“I got it from Beth” Elle replied just as Em said “Megan”
“Beth” Gabe and Kyle said while Blaise said “Megan”
“Cheryl. I saw her giving one to Anna too” Hunter said in almost a whisper.
That bitch is going to pay for it; I am going to kill her.
“Jason, calm down. We can kill her after finding Anna; my mom and dad will help us getting released” Gabe joked trying to cool the atmosphere.
I smiled weakly remembering his lawyer parents as we split into different directions searching for her; the girls went to check if she’s in the ladies’ bathrooms while Gabe and I went upstairs to search for her in any unused class rooms.
Just as we were about to cross the detention room, I heard “Searching for your girlfriend?”
“What do you want Cheryl?” I snapped looking at her evil smile.
“Nothing. I just wanted to know if you are searching for your slutty girlfriend”
“No, I am not searching for my ex” I hollered.
“How smart of you!! She is not as innocent as she posed to be; didn’t you read that paper?”
“I know whatever’s written in there is bullshit. Now if you please excuse us, we have something import---”
“You don’t believe what I say? that’s ok. But it’s her best friend who---”
“I know what happened, whore. Just tell me how did you know her?” I droned angrily.
“It’s easy you know. I typed her name in google and found out what happened back then. Then I chatted with Emily Swift who’s victim of the---”
“Yeah, whatever. Just stay away from me; if I don’t find her, I am going to----“
“Let’s go Jason, the bitch is not worth it” Gabe grumbled impatiently.
As we turned away from her walking upstairs, I heard her say “What do you see in that nerd?”
Just like that light bulb flashed in my mind and I ran upstairs quickly followed by Gabe towards library.
“Is she in there?” I asked Blake who is coming out of the library with a sad look on his face.
“Yeah. If you wanted to know how she is, she is horrible man. I think she needs you, just go”
I ran into the library ignoring people’s stares as I searched for her at every corner until I found her in the back of the library sitting in front of a system with her head laid down on the desk.
“Anna” I called her slowly. She lifted her head and ran into my arms sobbing.
“Anns, please stop.. I am so sorry it happened” I mumbled quietly just as she croaked “Everyone knows about me Jason. They think I’m----”
Before I could say anything, Gabe replied “Anna, we trust you. All your friends are with you, we know you are innocent. And you don’t need to explain truth to the others who don’t give a damn about you; they’re not even worth it”
She looked at him gratefully and hugged me tight while I mouthed him ‘Thank You’
---
Thank you so much for reading. Please consider voting if you liked the chap.
Lots of drama coming in. And their relationship is going strong too. What do you think of Jamie BTW?
Thank you to each and every person who is voting and commenting.
Please share it to your friends if you liked the story. Pic of Drake Meyers is attached ;) ;)
-Janaki
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