CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN:
47: ~Marina's Pov~
I couldn't ignore how gravely silent the house was when I stepped in but the front door was unlocked so someone was definitely home. The house held the feeling of total emptiness. I strode towards the staircase without looking left or right but Jakob's voice stopped me in my tracks the moment I passed the living room entrance.
"Hey sis..." Jakob called out dryly.
I took slow steps back and peered into the living room and I was taken aback by my brother's bloodshot eyes. He had probably been crying all night and not to mention there was an empty pill container lying on the ground close to his feet while he reclined on the couch.
"So you're drinking now?" He asked me with a rouge smile.
My defenses stood up in that instance. "Do you mind explaining the texts, divorce or the drugs, Eugene was right all along." My hands fell flatly to my sides as I choked on a sob, staring at my brother's ashen emotionless face.
"That's the thing Marie! You really think you would have been able to cope with the news? At least one of us had to be sane and not be moving around as an eccedentesiast! But you don't freaking know anything, you just act like a–"
"That's because you don't tell me anything!" I yelled back.
Jake shook his head at me sadly with a low scoff. "Do you even ask? All you care about is your selfish self! At least I try to find out how you're doing every day, I did my best to hold the family together and where were you? Just simply going about your daily life, I can't even blame you for that because you deserve happiness but for f*ck sake you're the most oblivious person I know! I expected you should have figured something was off the night you walked in on Dad and me but you didn't and now you want to put the blame on me? It was their decision to tell you not mine, I only tried to make them tell you earlier before it escalated, it was out of my hands, I tried my best, Marie! I FREAKING TRIED!"
Bodie's voice also echoed in my head that same instance... "Saucy instead of being supportive."
Suddenly, my knees felt too weak to hold my body and I sank to the ground.
"I'm sorry, Jake." I said, sincerely.
"And since you're feeling like a saint, ask your boyfriend where I got the drugs from, he bloody takes them too, MJ." Jake added with venom in his low voice.
Boyfriend... Jakob had said but it felt more like a slap on my face.
I stood up and stared at the boy I grew up knowing as the best brother on earth for a long moment.
"So you're not denying it? And if you must know, Darnell dumped me yesterday morning." I said lastly and fled to my room.
It felt like a lifetime since I'd step foot into my bedroom even if it was just twenty-four hours ago but so much had gone down. Darnell dumped me which is so pathetic to admit, my Dad was in an accident, found out my parents were divorced, had shots for the first time in my life, kissed my best friend under a hot shower, found out my brother takes drugs... Wow. That's another point for reality.
My scanning eyes landed on my Wuthering Heights journal and suddenly it became crystal clear whom I was going to write about for my English project. I was going to write about Edgar Linton in comparison to Jakob Marcello Hunter but in the meantime I had to check on my Bunny.
Thankfully I always made sure she had food for the entire day already laid out before I leave home each day but I guess Jason was right when he said I was never the world's best pet owner.
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~Jakob's Pov~
I had never cried this much in my entire life especially in a situation when I had to be strong for others. First it was my parents, then the stupid pictures of me and Jeanne 'kissing' that was sent to Kiara, then the break-up, then being suspended from school and basketball, the accident and the bratty sixteen year old teenager that I actually loved with my life.
Everything was hard.
The drugs were supposed to help me forget and possibly cope with everything that was going on but instead it kept on drawing a more vivid picture of how contorted reality had become, how there was nothing I could do about it except sitting back and sulking to my godforsaken self.
My mind wandered back to the last time Kiara had called me which was a month ago.
I had just returned from basketball practice and all I wanted to do was slum on my bed and pass out but then my phone rang and I saw it was Kiara calling and that's when I remembered I was supposed to check on her after practice but I figured she'd understand.
I answered the call casually as always, "Hey Kee!"
But she was crying over the line and that got my attention so fast that I sat up on my bed immediately. I figured maybe it had something to do with SLake's show of the season but I was completely wrong.
"Do you want me to come over?" I had asked.
"No Jake, I don't want to come, I want you to disappear from life, we're done!"
"Kee, is something wrong? did I do som–"
The line went dead.
I tried to talk to her after school the next day when we met in the parking lot because she did a good job of avoiding me throughout that day. She had taken out the file of pictures from her car and slamed it to my chest followed by a chain of hurtful words.
"Screw you Jake, I hate yo–"
My thoughts were interrupted by my ringing tone. My heart leaped for a second thinking it might be Kiara or my Mom calling but then all I saw on my screen was an unknown number. I really wasn't in the mood but I answered the call anyway.
"Hey! Thank goodness, I thought I had copied the wrong number." An unfamiliar male voice said over the line.
"Who is this?" I asked coldly.
"It's Milan Collymore from theater, Kiara's friend!" He said.
"What do you want?" I asked, I mean it was already clear who he got my number from and that alone held my interest.
"I know you probably don't like me but I was thinking about something... Director A, won't allow it so we won't even tell him, trust me the swap would be so smooth no one would notice, I'll forward the lines to you right now, you're about to switch from Micheal Jordan to who ever the greatest male actor in history is." He sounded rather jovial for someone whom was about to sell his birthright.
"Look I know you have good intentions but I'm really not interested, I think I'll just stick to basketball." I chuckled.
The situation felt sketchy and somewhat laughable.
"Then I guess you don't like her as much as everyone makes it seem, look my offer stands for just a week and just so you know, she's still head over hills for you and you might want to prove you're still worth her feelings. When you change your mind, call me." Milan finished off and ended the call.
Does he have a point?
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A/N: both Jake & Marie need y'all's support rn, kindly vote, leave them kind messages in the comments and share OtG with a friend. See you in chapter forty-eight.
TheShadyButterfly🦋.
