Three Words, Eight Letters [Watty Awards 2013]

Chapter Two- Resurfacing Feelings

**UNEDITED**

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"Peyton! You, me, mall, now." I practically screeched into my iPhone.

"Well good morning to you too, sunshine!" Peyton's voiced mumbled through the speaker.

"Shut up, I forgot it was Mallory's birthday. You've got to go with me to the mall to get her gift," I pleaded. "I'll buy you a coffee on the way."

"Yes! Now you're talking."

"Just be ready. I'll be there in fifteen to pick you up."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anything for my coffee." Peyton hung up, barely finishing her sentence. It was way too easy to bribe that girl into doing whatever you wanted her to.

Coffee really shouldn't make a girl as excited as it makes Peyton, but hey, I'm not complaining. Without her insane coffee obsession I'd probably be going to the mall and facing people all by myself. Not exactly what I'd call exciting.

Jake used to pick me up all the time to go to shopping. All I had to do was call and he'd be to my house within five minutes, honking his horn in my driveway yelling, "Hurry up, slow poke! The mall isn't open all night!" Those were the pre-Erica days. The days where we would just spend hours chatting on my bed, shoveling ice cream in our mouths and watching movies.

It was as if Erica had brainwashed him. Jake used to text me everyday. Nothing complex, but just short and sweet texts like, 'Rise and shine', or 'Good night V'. As soon as he started dating that Erica chick his text messages started to drift, sometimes only delivering once every few days. Cute, good morning texts soon became nonexistent and good nights drifted away just like our bond was.

The car began to approach Peyton's driveway as she practically hopped her way out of her front door. "Yo! Where's my coffee?" she giggled, sliding into the passenger side seat.

"McDonalds is right across from the mall. Please tell me you can wait that long without having caffeine withdrawal or something messed up like that."

"Eh I'll try, but I'm not making you any promises." Peyton has a great sense of humor. That's what I loved about this girl. She has always got something funny to say and she always knows how to make me laugh.

The rest of the car ride was filled with small laughs, of course. As we approached Mconalds Peyton began to speak seriously.

"Now hmmm what should I get? Oh! I know I'll get a large Frappe and a hash brown and one of those Egg McMuffin things!"

"Umm Peyton, I said nothing about a hash brown, an Egg McMuffin or a Frappe. I said I'd buy you c-o-f-f-e-e. Coffee. Not all this expensive food. Just a coffee."

"But V! You know I get cranky when I'm hungry. Plus I'm obsessed with their frappes!"

"Fine I'll get you a small frappe and one hash brown. That's my deal. Take it or leave it."

"Fine. I guess I could deal with a hash brown and a stupid small frappe." She pouted, sinking back into the seat.

"Peyton, you know this stuff's expensive and I need my money to buy Mallory's present."

"Well technically you don't need to buy her a present," she pointed out. "You don't need to buy anything, it is a free country."

"Exactly why I don't need to buy you an Egg McMuffin, a hash brown, or a large frappe," I pointed out, emphasizing the fact that I had just taken advantage of her statement.

"Hey, that's not fair! Using my own words against me? That's cold V. Real cold."

"Hey, you completely set that one up for me. That would make it your fault," I giggled, reaching into the side door of the car to retrieve my wristlet. It was way too easy to get this girl worked up. That's what I loved about her, you could mess with everything she does and it'll still end in giggles and wide grins. That's what I've needed the most lately, someone to cheer me up when in a moment where seems as if a smile will never become familiar to my face ever again.

"Welcome to McDonalds, may I take you order?" a muffled voice jumped through the speaker.

"Yes, could I get a hash brown and two medium frappes, please?" I could make out Peyton's silent happy dance out of the corner of my eye. "You're welcome," I whispered, giving her arm a slight nudge.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Violet! You're the bestest friend ever!" she giggled, giving me a tight squeeze.

"Would that be all?" the voice mumbled through the receiver, breaking through our moment.

"Yep that would be all."

"Okay, your total is $6.98 at the first window."

"Thank you."

"Yay, yay, yay, yay! Thank you VV! You're the best!" Peyton squealed, hopping in her seat.

"You know it's really not normal for a girl to get this excited over McDonalds, right?" I reminded her, removing seven ones from my wristlet.

"I honestly don't care, food is food and that is really all there is to say," she grinned ear to ear. As the car started rolling father towards the window where her food awaited you could see the twinkle in her eyes grow even brighter. I made myself a mental note to get Peyton a McDonald's gift card for part of her graduation present.

It has only been a few long weeks since prom but it already feels like forever ago. Graduation is still quite a ways away but it's never to early to start thinking of ideas, otherwise I'll be doing what I am now and going out last minute to buy gifts.

I've already decided on Peyton's gift. Of course the McDonalds gift card but I also want to burn a CD of all of our favorite songs so that she has all of them together on one CD for when she's missing me or wants to remember old times.

That is only a minor part of her gift though. I was going to give this next part to Jake also, but since we're not talking anymore I don't see the point.

I plan to make Peyton a giant photo album. Not just a boring only photo album, no. This photo album will be huge and have captions under every single photo so she'll never forget old memories. I have known Peyton since I was in kindergarten so I have plenty of amazing photos to add to it. I want to include everything from Halloween to shopping trips and just days at home hanging out.

She is going to love it and if it goes as planned it will surely make her shed a few tears. It's probably bad if I tell you that it is my goal to make my best friend cry, but in this context, if she cries it will be a truly beautiful moment for the both of us.

Peyton quickly swallowed the last bite of her hash brown as my car screeched to stop in the closest parking spot we could get to the doors.

It was Saturday morning, so the mall was usually crowded at this time, making it very difficult to get a good parking spot.

"Pay, you remember that time you, me and Jake came here around last Christmas and Jake almost ran over that old lady crossing the parking lot?" I recalled, grinning like a child being given candy. "She smacked her cane against the car door and everything."

"Oh my gosh! Yes! That was so funny! I thought that lady was going to beat Jake up right there in the middle of the parking lot!" She burst out laughing remembering old times.

"Didn't she like curse at Jake through the window?" I giggled, removing my keys from the ignition. She burst out laughing even harder this time.

"Ye-ye-yes sh-she did" she spit out in between fits of laughter. "That must've been like the best day ever! Well I mean not for Jake of course. He must've been traumatized by the old women."

"He deserved it," I muttered, slamming my drink into my mouth. "He deserved every second of it."

"Violet..."

"What? He could've killed her!"

"V, something tells me that's not at all why you think he deserved almost being beaten up by an old lady," she gently whispered, lifting her straw to her lips.

"Well it is."

"You're still upset about prom, I get it. It's only been a few weeks since you guys stopped talking." she whispered, touching my hand. "It's got to be hard, but you'll get through this trust me." The conversation was starting to touch a weak spot in my heart. I glanced up at my best friend, a single tear rolling down my cheek.

"I miss him Peyton," I whispered, burying my face in her shoulder. "I just, I just don't know what to do." The tears started to flow faster and faster from my eyes, surely smudging my makeup.

"Hun, like I said things will get better. Maybe you need to just-"she paused, "I don't know, never mind," her voiced dropped quickly, like she was hiding something.

"No, what were you going to say?" I sniffed, lifting my gaze to lock with hers. "Tell me."

"Fine, don't yell at me, but I was going to say maybe you should just let Jake back into your life."

"What? You mean forgive him?" I asked her, shock overruling my voice.

"Yeah, I think it would be good for you, both of you actually."

"What do you mean both of us?" I questioned, sitting back up in the seat. I smoothed out some of the wrinkles that had formed in my tank top as I waited for her to answer.

"Violet, please trust me when I say that I've noticed that Jake seems to be going through the same hell you have the past few weeks." she said confidently. I lifted my straw stirring the contents left of my drink, doing my best to avoid her gaze. I was afraid that if I let myself look at her again that it would once again trigger unwanted emotions.

"How do you know that?"

"V, you guys are practically the same person. The past few weeks you guys have both practically looked like zombies," she giggled giving my shoulder a playful punch. "He misses you too V."

"I just don't think that he'd just let me back in right away like that."

"He might, you never really know," she reminded me. I opened the car door, signaling that my sudden burst of emotions was winding down. Peyton followed close behind me.

"Exactly, we don't know."

"Will you promise me something?"

"It depends," I said cautiously.

"Promise me that if Jake says something to you, anything, that you'll answer him, let him in even," she pleaded. It took me a moment before I could decide if that were a good idea or not. As we approached the glass door to the mall I decided that it couldn't hurt, as long as the conversation didn't get too emotionally threatening.

"Fine I'll do it."

"Oh my gosh! Really? You'll really do that for me?" she squealed grabbing my elbow. I glanced over at her, curious of her reaction. Her face presented an ear to ear grin and her eyes were lit up like holiday lights. Her entire figure just reminded me of a young child making up on Christmas morning.

"Yeah, sure. But uh why does this mean so much to you?" I was afraid that I already knew the answer to my own question.

"Summer is coming quickly V and you know as well as I do that summer changes people. If you guys don't figure things out now there may never be a way to get what you guys had back."

It was true the summer really did change people. Some for the better, but for others not so much.

Freshman year Peyton dated Jason Martinez, the sweetest most down to earth kid you could ever meet, but they only lasted a few months. He may have been insanely down to earth but they just didn't have enough in common.

It was hardly a breakup, more of an agreement. Both saw it coming and just agreed that it would be for the best that they split.

The rest of the school year and then summer sped by in the blink of an eye. Before we knew it the last day of school dragged by in a flurry of excited smiles and teary eyes.

That summer I hung out with my friends most everyday, so it wasn't so bad.

The first day of Sophomore year was shocking. There he was, Jason Martinez, hanging out with the smokers at the corner of school property after school that day.

Little Jason Martinez the sweetest boy in school freshman year was now hanging around the local druggies. Of course that would never be Jake hanging out there, but it just goes to show that the summer truly does do something permanent to people.

"You're talking about Jason aren't you?"

"Yeah, how'd you know that."

"Well, if I were to be completely honest I'd say that is was pretty much the first thing that came to my mind, but let's make this conversation more interesting and say that I can read minds," I giggled, pushing open the tall mall doors. Peyton, being the humorous girl she is played along.

"Er me god! Are you really? That is so freaking awesome!" she shrieked, jumping up and down like an eight year old. "Tell me what I'm thinking about right now!" At this point we were almost fully out of the food court and heading towards JCPennys and of course attracting a few curious eyes, but we didn't care.

"Uh right now?"

"Yep, tell me what I'm thinking about at this very second miss psychic, mind reader, awesome lady!" Peyton giggled, poking my arm.

"Well alright you're thinking about-"

"Wait! Don't you have to like close your eyes or something otherwise the signal won't properly make it from my mind to yours?" she shrieked and slapped my arm, forbidding me from going any farther in my "reading".

"Ah! Yes, thank you! Wouldn't want to mess up your reading." It's times like this that I am so glad that I have a friend like Peyton with whom I can act totally stupid with all the time and it be considered normal for us.

"You're very, very welcome mind reader V!" she giggled and grabbed my face in her hands. "Anything for you."

"Alright let me start," I demanded shoving here hands from my face so they dropped to her side.

"Yes ma'am!" I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and continued walking.

"I'm getting something," I started as she squealed in excitement. "You're thinking about-"

Bam.

My eyes immediately fluttered open to meet the chest of a tall boy, probably about my own age.

"Sorry, I uh didn't see you there," I stuttered bending down to pick up my wristlet which had fallen out of my hand when I ran into the boy.

"Probably because you had your eyes close," the voice suggested sarcastically.

Wait a second. I knew that voice. I've know that voice forever. I tilted my neck upward to look at his face. I knew that face anywhere.

"Jake," I breathed stepping backwards. "What are you-"

"Can I talked to you for a minute?"

"I don't know, I mean I'm kind of in a hurry."

"Please it'll only take a minute, I promise," he pleaded. I could make out a look of desperation in his eyes, like he truly needed to talk to me, like he truly has missed me all these weeks. I glanced over to my right where Peyton had been standing but she wasn't there. I frowned and turned back to Jake.

"Sure I guess it couldn't hurt," I decided.

In my mind I knew that it really could hurt. This could end badly. It could end worse than it had before.

"Great," he smiled and lifted his hand to run his fingers through his dark, chocolate brown hair. "Let's uh, why don't we go sit down over there," he gestured towards an empty table towards the edge of the food court.

"Sure."

As we walked I watched his every movement carefully through the corner of my eye. He seemed tense, maybe even nervous to be talking to me. That wasn't at all the Jake that I remembered. The Jake I knew was laid back and always had something to say.

"Are you uh, are you okay?" I asked him, glancing up to meet his eyes. I was surprised to see that his eyes were glistening with a thick coat of tears.

"No, Violet. I'm not okay." He whispered pulling out a chair gesturing for me to sit. Throughout my entire friendship with Jake never once had I seen Jake as upset as he is right now. Even when his old dog died never once had a tear escaped his eyes. This wasn't like him at all.

"Jake, what's wrong? I've never once seen you cry. What happened?" There was a whole minute of painful silence between us, but never once did his eyes leave my own.

"V, listen this wasn't my choice or anything please just keep that in mind when I say this," he said cautiously. V. I haven't heard Jake call me that in what seems to me to be forever. The way it just rolls off of his tongue sends sparks flying through my body. Sure Peyton calls me that too, but it's just the way he says it that send shivers up my spine and makes me grin. Jake's voice quickly interrupts my thoughts. "Violet, I'm moving." I practically choked on my own spit when the words left his mouth.

"You're, you're what?" I stuttered. I could feel a new batch of the tears from earlier today surface once again.

"I'm moving, Violet." he whispered, reaching across the table to hold my hand, which of course sent a flurry of unwanted emotions through me. There is no way he could be moving. Not him. Not now.

"Wh-where are you moving to?"

"New York City," he whispered, squeezing my hand even tighter.

"No. No. No, this can't be happening. Not to you," I choked, letting a single tear rush down my cheek. New York City was so far away. At least eight hours from here. This can't be happening.

"I though you hated me."

"What? Why would you think th- oh," as I began to object I remembered that I had been acting like I hated him lately.

"You want to tell me what's going on with you, since apparently you don't hate me."

"Um not really," I confessed, avoiding eye contact. There was no way that I could tell this boy the truth; that I acted like I hated him because I couldn't stand to see him with another girl. "I mean I can't tell you, not now anyway."

"Why not?" he grinned, as I looked up to meet his gaze.

"I can't tell you that," I reminded him, returning his grin.

"When can you tell me?"

"When do you leave?"

"At the end of the summer," my heart stopped beating, at the end of the summer? That was only a few months from now.

"I'll tell you then," I stated as I stood up from the table. As I began to walk away, still unsure of where Peyton had gone Jake gently grabbed my wrist and spun me around.

"I missed you, V don't ever do anything like that to me again." he breathed, pulling me in to give him a hug.

"I won't, I promise," I choked out the last word, pressing myself closer to him. "I missed you too, Jake."

I missed our hugs. Hugging him right there in that moment sent all of my previous emotions rushing back to me again. All I wanted to say to him was three words, eight letters. I miss you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys! I spent a lot of time writing this chapter and I think it turned out pretty great! So let me know what you think of it and don't forget to vote:)

~Keeks02