Secrets Don't Last A Lifetime

Chapter 22 - "Disttracted"

Heeeeyyyyy. Remember when I said I would try and update once a week? For a while, I did stick to that, but I completely underestimated the effort it took to write a SINGLE CHAPTER. I mean, the first few chapters were short and crappy, but I updated. If I were to publish a good one, IDEK how long it'll take. So, I won't be updating once a week. I don't do it anyways, so it's kind of clear. But please be patient. I'm not giving up on the book, I'm still going to update, but not as much as I used to. Don't have an update schedule, so I'm really in the dark here.

ANYWAY! Recap of the last chapter:

SO, Jason and Amanda work at Sweet and Salty with a nice old lady named Veronica, and this female dog of a girl named Hannah. Jason and Hannah have history... blah blah blah, Jason messes around. A lot. On one of their shifts, Amanda serves this guy named Grayson, and no, not Grayson Dolan. Anyway, they trade numbers and some girl walks in the door. Lo and behold, it's Alissa, who is Jason's ex. How fun. I love myself. They all start freezing, Jason has a flashback about the time she cheated on him with Hunter Hayes, and then they talk a bit. He says, "A year can be a long time" - chapter title reference. Yay! Then Jason gets a call from his mom after he hangs out with Amanda (Lots of awkward tension) and she's crying because his dad is with her. He drives over there, gets brutally beat by his dad, tells his mom to leave him, and then drives to Jacob's since he doesn't have a place to stay. Then Jacob calls Amanda, she rushed over, tends to Jason, then leaves him to sleep. Next morning, she tells Jason she'll let his coach know he's sick.

BAM! OH YEAH! By the way, I changed the title of the book. When The Last Petal Falls just wasn't sticking, and I think that my past self wanted to be #deep with a metaphor for time. Secrets Don't Last A Lifetime is much better in my opinion.

So, now, here is the actual chapter. Unedited. Like all my chappies.

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Amanda's POV

"I can't believe this," I said. "I should've put the pieces together."

I was sitting in the passenger's seat of Jacob's car, leaning my head against the window, with all my emotions running amok. Seeing Jason last night completely beaten up - his eye swollen shut, and his knuckles and face cut open, a feeling of queasiness settled itself into the pit of my stomach and never left. Mostly because I knew how it felt. I knew how it felt to get thrown around, and I knew how it felt to lose hope.

I especially knew how it felt to get physically abused. From what I knew, Jason told me his dad never laid a hand on him or his mom, so I was shocked to say the least. He named it as emotional abuse. Delivering words that hurt just as much as a shove into glass would've.

"It's not your fault," Jacob said, running a hand through his hair. "You're not around him 24/7. I am. I knew something was up, but didn't want to push it. Should've just stuck with my gut."

"It's not your fault," I said indignantly. "I mean, he's told me about everything. And I just thought that it all settled dow-"

"How about it's no one's fault?" He interrupted.

Blowing out a deep breath, I closed my eyes and nodded. "Good idea."

After simultaneously wallowing in self-pity, Jacob and I pulled up to the school. Kallie, as usual, was waiting for us by the front door, looking around aimlessly while rocking back and forth on her heels. I looked beside me and saw Jacob with a smile on his face.

"I've been meaning to ask," I trailed. "How're things with you and Kallie?"

"Better than ever," he said, still smiling like an idiot. His look of joy then turned into one of anger.