Living and dying,
the beginning and the end,
of the journey.
~Journey, Calvin J. Winston
Calvin's eyes followed Hayden until she left the cafeteria. It hurt. It hurt more than he would like to admit. He wanted to stand up and follow her, make her feel better, but when he remembered what she did, he didn't feel like moving.
He knew what they did to her the other day wasn't nice but she should've seen it coming. After everything that happened, she shouldn't have come to their table, acting like nothing was wrong and even trying to apologize. He hated the fact that he pretended he didn't see her almost cry after they refused to even acknowledge her presence.
When Mason tried to go after her, Calvin and Wren gave him an ultimatum -- them or her. He chose them that day, but today, he followed her.
The thing that hurt Calvin the most was the way he found out. After seeing her in a distressed state when they came back from Dr. Francis's office, he had called him to ask what was going on with Hayden. It was then that he accidentally called her Jaz and Calvin just knew it was her.
Everything instantly clicked. He had thought of her being Jaz more times than one, but when he asked her or tried to reference it, she avoided the topic or straight out lied to him. It wasn't the hiding that hurt him, it was the lies she had fed him.
She had led him on, thinking she was someone else. She concealed her true identity from him, even though all he had ever wanted to do was help her. It hurt to think she didn't trust him enough to be truthful with him while he was willing to risk everything for her.
Her betrayal reminded him of what his mom did. Eliza had planned to change her course to become an artist, but their Dad didn't agree. She had to study business. "No daughter of his would waste herself sketching!" he had roared when she told them. She begged their mom to help him understand. Sketching was the only thing that made her life worth living.
She closed the door on her face.
The next morning, Calvin found her dead in her room. She had overdosed purposely. She left a note with only two sentences.
I tried to live for you but I couldn't. Forgive me, Calvin.
YOU ARE READING
The Art of Finding Jasmine Rose Peters
Teen FictionIn which two lost kids are forced to write a book while trying to find themselves. * Hayden James has enough to deal with when she moves to the small town of Greenside to pursue her lifelong dream of attending Winston Royal Academy, but gets more...
