Ghost of You ✧ jordan baker [2]

12. me, myself, and i

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Stacey wasn't surprised when Jordan was contempt with staying with her for at least another night. She didn't have a problem with him staying either, but Darnell was getting the rough end of things. Her, along with Hayden, told him to stay at his friend's place for the meantime. Darnell wasn't thrilled by it, but if it saved Stacey from being brought into even more drama, he was willing to comply.

It wasn't until the next night when Hayden gave the all clear for Jordan to leave, making the paparazzi think Stacey was going to be at a restaurant all the way in the Upper East Side. He booked a flight for him, suggesting he leaves as quick as he could. The whole day was spent ordering food in and watching TV. Stacey was on her laptop most of the time, working on new ideas for her brand and marketing tactics. She would catch Jordan staring at her multiple times, his eyes filled with admiration. She couldn't deny she felt like she was having a glimpse into her future. It was a picture painted in her mind so clearly when she was dating Jordan: them married after a long day at work, chilling in their living room while watching TV. She pushed that thought out of her head almost immediately when she saw Jordan was now catching her staring.

Jordan was now grabbing his bag as Stacey walked with him to the door. She knew he had to go, but her heart was longing for him to stay. Even though the events that happened almost two months ago were fresh in her mind, she saw a glimpse of who the new Jordan is.

"When are...um, coming back to Beverly Hills?" asked Jordan.

"Probably a couple of weeks. Just so I can get situated back before senior year," said Stacey.

Jordan nodded. He reached for the door handle, but before he did, he grabbed Stacey's hand. "I have to know, is there still a chance for us? Because these last couple of days were amazing and reminded me how we were before everything."

Stacey didn't want him to leave without an answer. Throughout the whole day, she was thinking about her choices. She hated that she had to choose and potentially lose someone in the process. However, she had made up her mind. It was the best one for her.

"I don't want to say anything right now," Stacey told him. "I think for right now, I want to be by myself . With everything that has happening this past year, I never had the time to put myself back together. And I'm not saying I regret getting back together with you, because that was something I wanted, but I think it was just bad timing for us. It still seems like bad timing too, but I want to take this last year in high school day by day. So much could happen."

Jordan stayed silent for a moment, not knowing what to feel. She didn't choose Darnell, but there was still uncertainty for them in the future. "Okay, I respect that. Just know, no matter what happens, I'll always be here for you."

Stacey smiled. "Same here, Jordan."

Jordan brought her into a hug, placing a kiss on her temple. "I'll see you soon, Stace."

"See you."

Jordan walked out the door and Stacey closed it behind him. She took a deep breath, wondering how it would be like when she flew back to California. However, she had to worry about Darnell first. He was supposed to be back at around midnight.

She sat down on the couch and opened her laptop again. She worked until the sun set between the tall buildings of New York City and the stars twinkled the sky. Her eyes were tired from looking at the computer for most of the day, but she got most of her work sent into Hayden for review.

The door opened a little after midnight, Darnell walking through with his small bag he packed. Stacey stood up, not sure whether to go up and hug him, or just start the awkward conversation already.

"Hey," Darnel said. He put his bags down and went up to hug her. He pulled away after a couple of seconds, glancing around. "So, how was it with Jordan?"

She wished he hadn't asked that, but what she learned from him was that he wasn't afraid to ask the awkward questions. "I'll admit, it was fun. He took me all around the city. And from what you can tell from drama sites, he did spend the night."

Darnell nodded. He didn't ask anything else about that night, instead he told her something she didn't expect. "I'm going to make this easier for you. I'm going back to Crenshaw in a couple of days. My internship program ended and I don't see a reason to stay here. I would stay here for you, but I can tell your heart is still with him. I can't compete with a romance like you guys had. I wish we would've met earlier, maybe we would've had a real chance."

Stacey was taken aback from what he said. This made her feel a bit more comfortable with telling him who she chose, but she was a bit disappointed that he didn't fight somewhat for her. "I told Jordan, and I was going to tell you that I chose myself. I couldn't choose between you two and I don't need a boyfriend right now. As much as I would've loved to try with you, I don't think I could ever put a hundred percent of myself into it when...my heart is still with Jordan."

Darnell sighed. "Yeah, I figured that. It's okay though. We had a little summer fling, I liked it."

Stacey blushed. "Yeah, yeah it was something."

Darnell tucked her hair behind her ear, an unspoken farewell to their summer as he went back to his room. Stacey walked back to her room as well, her nerves rising even more for her return to Beverly Hills in just a few weeks.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone started ringing. A name of someone she hasn't heard from all summer flashed before her. She swiped right, pressing the phone against her ear. "Hey Spencer, long time no talk."

"I know," he sighed. "I'm sorry about that. It's just...there's something you need to know and you're going to hate me for not telling you."

END OF PART 1

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so sadly, we'll have to wait until january for part 2 of this book where season 3 starts. it should've started now and this would've been perfect timing, but ya know, covid happened lol

we also know what spencer's talking about and i wanted to dive deeper into his and stacey's friendship this part as well, but i have no idea what's up with spencer's arm and how it's impacting the storyline, so i was trying to keep that part vague as possible

i hope you guys enjoyed this part because i wanted to have more of a focus on stacey's career. also, i'm solid on the decision stacey made. after clayton and jordan, she needs some time to herself. well, i'll see you guys in january. be patient, stacey will be back soon!

-brooke