Secrets//Jake Jagielski

~78~

The next evening Brighid was at Nathan's signing to Duke. She was hoping to have talked to Jake by now but it was clear he was ignoring her. She stood on the side awkwardly waiting for it to begin.

"Congrats on Stanford" her dad said behind her. She turned around to face him.

"You know?" She asked.

"They called to congratulate me. I just can't understand why you haven't accepted it yet"

"I'm waiting" Brighid answered. Before Dan could say anything else someone interrupted their conversation.

"Can we talk?" A voice asked behind her. She turned around to find Jake.

"Yeah. I think we have a couple of minutes" Brighid said looking at the stage. They headed outside for some privacy.

"I want to talk about this" Jake said.

"Well talk. I told you what's going on. You heard what I had to say"

Jake remained quiet.

"You think I'm lying about this. Why would I lie when I have a call from Stanford waiting to be answered and it looks like I'm not taking it. Huh?"

"Stanford called?" Jake asked.

"Look here's the sonogram" Brighid said handing him the picture after fishing around her bag. Jake took the photo and looked at it for a minute before frowning his face. Not wanting to talk to him anymore Brighid rushed back inside.

Haley and Nathan were already up at the podium. Nathan had just accepted the position at Duke.

"Congrats Nate" Brighid said hugging her brother all happy.

"Thanks Brig. Now it's just your time to sign to a school" Nathan said with a smile. Brighid weakly smiled back.

"So how did it go?" Haley asked motioning to the talk she had with Jake.

"I walked away. He thinks I'm lying or something and I blurted out that I got a call from Stanford"

"Omg congrats. This is big"

"Yeah too bad I'm not taking it. Two kids in North Carolina while I'm on the opposite coast. It's not going to work"

"Hey you ready? Lucas called and said they got Derek. We can go back to my house" Peyton said standing in her cheer uniform.

"Yeah. Looks Haley I'll talk to you later" Brighid said. She followed Peyton out to her car and hopped in the passenger seat.

"I saw you talking to Jake. How'd he take it?" Peyton asked as the wind breezed through their hair. It was a warm night in Tree Hill.

"Not good. Can we maybe not talk about it right now"

"Oh yeah sure" Peyton said. She pulled up in front of her house grabbing her bag and digging through it for her cellphone which was ringing. 

"Hello?" She asked. As they walked into the porch Peyton and Brighid turned around to find Derek out front.

"Hey Lucas I have to go. Brighid and I just got home and my dad and Derek's here" Peyton said before closing the phone.

"Hey Derek" she awkwardly exclaimed. "Look, you know. I told you my dad's home now"

"No he's not" Derek creepily stated as he walked closer to both girls. Brighid was getting scared. Peyton ran up towards the front door bringing Brighid along with her.

"I locked it" Derek said as Peyton struggled to open the door. She dug around her bag for the house keys. He gripped Peyton's shoulders and sniffed her hair and neck. Peyton whipped out a can of hairspray before unlocking the door and shutting behind Brighid.

"What is going on?" Brighid asked all panicked. Peyton locked the front door.

"Ah that wasn't very nice Peyton" Derek said sounding like he was in pain. Peyton rushed to the phone while Brighid stood frozen in the living room.

"You better get out of here. I'm calling the cops" Peyton yelled.

"I don't think so. See you dropped you cellphone on the porch and the home line is dead" Derek said through the window. Brighid reached for her bag before realizing she had left it in the car. The glass window next to the door lock smashed and Derek reached his hand in unlocking the door. The two sprinted up the stairs and into Peyton's bedroom which was covered in photos of Peyton and a few of Brighid.

"I love you both. Can't you see that" he yelled as he banged on her bedroom door. Brighid tried opening the window but it was sealed shut.

"Let me in!" Derek yelled breaking the door off its hinge and busting it open. Peyton and Brighid began to cry clinging onto each other.

"Don't cry you two. I'm here now" Derek said holding a bloody T-shirt. He pulled out a taser and began to corner the two girls when Lucas showed up and pummeled him to the ground. Peyton and Brighid moved to opposite sides of the room.

"Run" Lucas yelled as he punched Derek. Before he could knock him out Lucas was choked and tazed. Brighid grabbed the lampshade next to her and hit Derek over the head. He immediately pushed her against her wall his hand on her neck.

"If Peyton doesn't want me I'll have you. I've been watching you too. Listening to you. I can be there for you and for your baby" Derek whispered before trying to kiss Brighid. She kneed him in the crouch and tried to get away. He gripped her arm tightly and threw her to the ground. She cried out in pain, she cried out cause she was scared and she cried out having nothing else to do.

Suddenly some one else comes barging in proclaiming to be Peyton's brother. Both him and Lucas sending Derek flying out the window.

"Brig?" Lucas asked helping her off the floor.

"She needs a doctor. She's pregnant" Peyton said. Lucas helped her up and out of the house bringing her to the hospital. Once she was taken in he headed back to take care of Peyton.

Lucas must have called Jake as he walked in.

"Lucas called. Are you okay?" Jake asked examining all the cuts and bruises she had.

"I'm fine. Can we just talk about the baby" Brighid said. Before she could continue the nurse came in.

"I ran tests. You probably had a false positive. You're not pregnant" the nurse said. Brighid frowned at the news.

"I went to the doctors. They did blood work-"

"Brig I was trying to tell you the name on the sonogram was wrong. This isn't yours" he said. Brighid huffed frustrated.

"It's mine. It says Scott on the top" Brighid muttered pointing to the last name.

"It's H. Scott not B. Scott. Is this Haley's?" Jake asked. Brighid ripped the photo from his hand and studied the name on the sonogram.

"I think they mixed us up that day. We went together. Oh my god she doesn't know. I need to tell her" Brighid said trying to get out of the hospital bed.

"Woah relax. You can tell her tomorrow. You're pretty beaten up" Jake said. He pulled a chair up next to her bed. "So Stanford?

"I know it's far. I'm hoping Duke will take me. It's much closer and-"

"Accept it. Jenny and I can move with you. California has plenty of community colleges. It's your dream. We can make it work" Jake said. Brighid lunged over grabbing Jake in a hug.

"So what happened?" Jake asked into getting a partial story from Lucas. Brighid sighed not knowing where to start.