Hearts ✓

Eight 💕

People get hurt from naivety, and I'm one of them.
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Friday morning, I wake up to the sound of my sister wailing from the bathroom at six fifty in the morning while I'm still trying to wrap myself up from a somewhat lying down position with my feet dangling from the corner of the bed. The duvet is draped over my legs, but Taylor's loud screaming seems to be reverberating both me and the blanket off the bed.

From my bedroom, I shout, "Taylor, will you keep your pimple hiatus to a minimum, some of us have got real-life issues."

My sister, Taylor, takes this as a cue to stick her head out the bathroom to stare at me, annoyedly, before I add, "There's a reason people invented makeup, and there's a reason why it still exists."

My dad from downstairs hears the commotion, and instead of being the authoritative figure that stops the conversation reaching borderline argument, he shouts "You just got burned by Callie," to my sister who instantly growls before slipping back into the bathroom.

I finally decide to rise from my cozy duvet and get ready for school. I pound the bathroom door so hard that my dad actually walks up to express that he is not in the mood to be repairing anything and makes my sister finally surrender the bathroom to me.

When she comes out, I notice the layers of makeup caked onto the face, and I help her apply it properly, she thanks me, and I begin to get ready.

I'm nearly done, when my dad calls up to me. "Callie?" He says. "Someone's here for you."

"Who is it?" I shout back.

"I'm not allowed to tell."

Today, my mom had to leave early because of some business issue and would only get back later tonight, my dad on the other hand was the manager and therefore could come in slightly later than the employees.

I rush downstairs and grabbed an orange, only to find Jake waiting for me. "Please tell me your joking." I tell my dad.

"I can hear you too." Jake laughs.

"Well I'm taking my car," I start. "So you can walk by yourself."

"Or, you could walk with me." He smiles.

"I didn't waste sixteen years of my life waiting for a car only not to use it." I point out.

"Can I ride with you then?"

"Fine." I knew Jake wouldn't stop, so I might as well save my ears the trouble of endless blabbering and myself from being late, as well as the 'be punctual' speech, and just let him come with me.

Jake was unusually silent in the car. "Why did you disturb me only to be so silent?"

Then I start to notice the bags forming deep under his eyes. The sparkle and the tint of mischievousness in his eyes has slightly faded. His eyes hold no emotion, looking duller than usual.

"I don't know." The tired smile is back.

"I can be just as pushy as you are, you know." I said hinting him to tell me what was actually going on.

"I-I haven't been sleeping as much lately."

Instead of asking for more, I simply drive calmly to the school parking lot. "I'm not going to push it," I start. "But I know there's more to it."

And for some reason he breaks down. I don't see the tears in his eyes, or the shaking from fragility, I just see a normal boy, who's so lost in his thoughts you just know something isn't quite right.

"I haven't told anyone before." He starts.

"I don't expect to be the first." I sigh.

"Thanks for not pressuring me." His smile is genuine.

"Anytime." And with that, we part ways heading towards our different first periods. During the times I take books out of my locker, I don't find him pestering me. I don't see him again at lunch either. At first, I start to get worried, wondering if I might've pushed him to much that he caved in this morning, but when he doesn't show up for math, I know he's ditched school, and I know exactly where.

The final moments of math are eating me alive, it's as If it's enjoying the torture I'm being put through, my plan was to bolt to where he was and when I get there, I'll make it up as I go, but math felt like it was going to be a million light years before that would be possible.

And the the impossible happened: the bell rang.

I was the first out of the door and first out of the school. I would tell Lauren about it later. Because she was a previous victim of the dare, I felt like I could confide in her more easily than the others. I also found myself talking to her more often than the others.

I parked my car, mastering the parallel parking before making my way into the forest I still didn't know the name of. Jake had said that turning left would lead to the cliff, so I did just that.

Jake was sitting peacefully, sprawled against the rocks, nowhere near the edge of the cliff. I had approached him and silently sat beside him, hoping he wouldn't get mad for disturbing his private time.

"It was my parents." He suddenly blurted.

My head snapped in his direction. "What?"

"They're fighting every day, and I-I just can't sleep knowing that they're fighting."

I don't really know what to say, reassuring someone has never been my forte, so I just decide to hug him, and we lay like that for a good five minutes before I wish him luck and tell him I have to go.

And suddenly I feel much closer to him.

My brain snaps back into reality. It tells me: be careful, people get hurt from naivety, and you are one of them.