Sparks ✔️ EDITING

C H A P T E R 66

My mother and I arrived from our mini trip a couple of hours ago, but I didn't feel up to going out. I didn't want to see certain people, mostly Seamus, but I know Mason and Mike would want to talk and I'm not too thrilled to explain why I went out of town.

I left because I wanted a break but I know I can't run away from all my problems. One, it's not healthy. Two, you'd just make it worse. Three, the problem will still be there after returning. It's all true, but I'm not jumping back into my old routine. I want to switch things up, stir the mix. I want to do something unpredictable and this trip I went on was unexpected. For me, my mother and my friends.

Grabbing my journal, I walked down the pebble path and sat in the tire swing. Instead of writing, I wanted to say what I was thinking out loud. I wanted to scream and yell. I have always kept my feelings in a journal, a notepad, my phone...they were always hidden because I was too afraid for people to think that I'm not happy or I'm not what they expect me to be.

To people, I have always been this sweet, smiley girl and because of how much people believed I was, I thought it was mandatory for me to be their image.

I'm not saying that I'm depressed or that I am never happy, because I am beyond grateful for who I am, but when times got hard, I was supposed to have a smile plastered on my face and I didn't feel comfortable changing that. So, I kept my emotions in a journal and never in my life have I expressed what I'm actually feeling out loud and it's about time I do.

So I did. I sat by the river for almost two hours, just talking. I didn't need to talk to a person, I just needed to put my words out there and relieve everything that I was holding in. I talked about how upset I am about what happened with Seamus, about Jasmine's accident, Joe's passing, Caden leaving and what I was hoping for in senior year.

It felt different; it felt strange but in a good way. However, I was interrupted by the sound of pebbles crunching under someone's feet. Glancing up, it was the one person I never imagined would be here.

"Mind if I join?" Jake asked, making his way over to me and taking his shoes off. I was sitting on the bank of the river, the water gushing around my feet as I swirled them around.

"I'm not going to stop you," I shrugged.

"I remember the first time I came here, your mother told me you were here and we-" he began.

"We went for a swim," I finished smiling.

"It was freezing," he laughed, shaking his head.

"That was a good day," I nodded, letting out a deep breath, staring at the river.

"It was," he agreed, pulling out a handful of grass. "Between you and I, what was the real reason why you left for the day? Luce said you headed to the mall with your mom to shop for people. But you wouldn't go with your mom, you probably would've taken Luce," he explained, turning all his attention to me.

"I don't know," I shrugged, twisting to face him. "I guess I just needed space."

"Space from the town or space from the drama it came with?" He asked, furrowing his brows.

"Both?"

"I wanted to come by and tell you that Payton left, for good this time," he assured, taking his feet out of the water.

"Why? I thought you two-" I started, shaking my head.

"I told her that I didn't want to choose between you and her like I did before. She told me that if she left, she wouldn't be coming back and to be honest, I didn't care at that point as I knew it wouldn't work out. I knew that since the day she came back," he said, crossing his legs and twisting towards me.

"Jake ," I breathed. "I don't think we belong to each other in that way," I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and laughed uncomfortably.

"I don't either," he shook his head. "That's why I wanted to apologise about how I responded to things. We are better off as friends and I see that now. This whole summer has been a maze; a maze that I couldn't figure out. When I asked you to be my girlfriend, I knew I was taking a big risk. I mixed up our friendship with a relationship and that was my fault," he replied, scratching his neck, clearly feeling uncomfortable about the whole situation.

I sat looking at him throughout his mini speech and admired how he said every word like he meant it.

"It's not your fault," I assured. "We're young, we're suppose to make stupid decisions. I'm just glad everything worked out in the end. Payton was just a person who never belonged in our timeline and it was about time she moved on with her life. Even though she was a dramatic-filled, pessimistic person, she did make our friendship stronger," I smiled, reaching my hand to squeeze his hand for reassurance.

"Cheers to that," he responded, squeezing my hand back. "Friends?" He offered, spreading his arms out, waiting for a hug.

"Best friends," I answered, and fell into his arms. We didn't hug for too long as that would make things a bit awkward. After a few seconds, we were both back to normal and started at the water again.

"So now that we're friends, I need a favour from you," he laughed, making me sit up straight and squint my eyes at him.

"You're joking right?" I crossed my arms.

"Please," he begged, flashinh me his puppy eyes. "Can you please tell Seamus we're good?" He wondered, laughing.

"What? Why?" I asked, surprised.

"He, um, hates my guts and I don't know why. We were close when we hung out at Mike's house. Now, he blocked my number and I just don't know why. I asked Mike and he said it was because of our break up."

"I'll see what I can do," I promised, not entirely sure how I'm going to keep the promise.

"Thanks, I didn't want to start senior year with someone mad at me," he chuckled.

"Understandable," I nodded. "Still attending Oakleaf?" I wondered.

"Yep, my parents are forcing me to even though nearly all my friends are going to Edgewood," he complained.

"You have Mike," I teased.

"Yeah, who's homeschooled for being kicked out of so many schools," he laughed.

"Will any college accept him?" I questioned.

"Maybe a community college, but that's just being nice," he replied. 

"I don't know how you two are friends, all you do is make fun of each other," I stated, slowly getting up.

"You know, I often wonder the same thing, but being able to tease your friend and them being able to tease you back, is one of the many hints that you have a great friendship," he winked.

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Authors note:

WOW. WOW. WOOOOOWWW. IM SHOOOK! 8 k views ahhh! Thank you all sooo much xx I appreciate every single reader :*

Sparks is coming to an end VERY soon! But I am currently writing a new story, which let me tell you, is by FARRRR wayyyy more descriptive and just written better. So I hope you join me in that journey soon!