~Kerin
Jacob
leaned in the kiss me, and I could feel myself leaning into as well, but before
our lips could touch there was a knock on the door. At first I decided to ignore
it, until I heard Landon call my name through the door. I immediately jumped up
away from Jacob, and Landon knocked again.
“Peyton
it’s me,” Landon said through the door.
“Uhh…
one second,” I called out and then I turned to Jacob and whispered, “It’s Landon.”
“I
know,” Jacob said with a smile, and then I realized Jacob was still undressed.
“Go put
some clothes on,” I whispered.
“Why?”
he asked.
“Just
go,” I said.
“Fine,”
he said walking to his room. I took a deep breath before going over to answer
the door.
“Hey
Landon,” I said when I opened the door.
“Good
morning beautiful,” Landon greeted me, “Are you ready to go?”
“What?”
I asked.
“To
class?” he said.
“Oh um…
I uh… see I…” I stammered.
“Oh hey
Landon,” Jacob said coming out of his room with sweats and a t-shirt on,
“Peyton was just about to call you, she’s not going to class today. I have this
family thing, and she agreed to accompany me.” Jacob lied smoothly, saving me
from my stammering mess.
“Oh is
that true Peyton?” Landon asked, and I nodded my head.
“It’s a
ceremony for his parents,” I said.
“Oh
okay. I’ll call you later then,” he said, then leaned down and kissed me before
we said our goodbyes. I closed the door and turned around to find Jacob staring
at me, but before I could say anything, he quickly walked over to me, and
crashed his lips down kissing me roughly.
“I
don’t like him kissing you,” he said when we parted lips.
“I’m
sure he wouldn’t like you kissing me either,” I said with a smile, “And at
least he can say he’s my boyfriend.”
“Oh and
what does that make me? Just some guy you slept with last night?” he said with
a smile,
“Yeah
what was your name again?” He laughed.
“Yeah
funny.” I laughed.
“Hey, I
thought you said you weren’t going to your Aunt’s today.”
“I
wasn’t. I’m still not, but you needed an out. I could tell you didn’t want to
talk to Landon just yet.”
“Well
thank you, but you should go.”
“Only
if you come with me.”
“Okay
fine.”
I went to get dressed in something
more appropriate for the ceremony. I settled on a plain black dress, and my
black pumps. While I waited on Jacob, I decided to call Joshua to tell him that
we would be attending the ceremony, and he was very happy that Jacob was
coming. Once Jacob was ready we got in his car, and headed to his aunt’s house.
The ceremony was very touching. A lot of people got up and shared stories about
Jacob’s parents and spoke of what they meant to them. Mr. and Mrs. Blake were
much loved people. Neither Jacob nor Joshua got up to speak, but I tell they
were both affected by the ceremony nonetheless. When the ceremony was over,
there was a reception in the backyard. Jacob immediately found the open bar,
and headed over to it. I hope the bartender would realize he was too young, and
not give him anything, but I seriously doubted it. I went over to sit at one of
the tables and wait on him. Jacob returned with his drink, and I gave him a
look, and he promised he wouldn’t drink that much. We talked about the ceremony
for a while until a man came over to us. On closer inspection I realized he was
a priest based on his collar.
“Hello
Jacob,” he said when he approached us, “You probably don’t remember me. I’m
Father Calhoun. I work at St. Michael’s, we spoke a few times.”
“Yeah I
know. I remember. How are you?” Jacob said.
“I’m
good, how are you son?” Father Calhoun asked.
“I’m
fine,” Jacob said.
“That’s
good to hear. You know I was thinking about our last conversation, before you
left St. Michael’s, and I want you to know that I’m still here for you, if you
ever need to talk or anything,” Father Calhoun said.
“Uhh…
thank you,” Jacob said uncomfortably.
“I’m
serious Jacob. Don’t let it control you,” Father Calhoun said whispering the
last part. Jacob didn’t respond.
“Okay
well – oh who is this lovely lady with you?” Father Calhoun asked.
“Oh this
is my um… this is Peyton,” Jacob said.
“Hi
nice to meet you,” I said.
“Nice
to meet you too,” Father Calhoun said, “well I better get going but it was nice
to see you.”
“Yeah
you too,” Jacob said.
“And
remember if you ever need anything,” Father Calhoun said.
“Yeah
I’ll remember,” Jacob said. Father Calhoun then turned around and walked away.
When he was out of sight, I decided to ask Jacob what that was all about.
“What
was that about?” I asked.
“Nothing…
I think I’m gonna get another drink,” Jacob said starting to get up.
“No,
Jacob stay. Talk to me,” I said pulling him back into his seat, “You can trust
me.” He didn’t say anything. I thought about my conversation with Paul, and
thought maybe if he knew I knew part of the story, he would be more comfortable
with telling me the rest.
“Jacob,
yesterday I talked to Paul, when you left. He told me about you guys – about
your friendship, and how it ended,” I said.
“What?
How I beat the crap the out of him?” he said.
“Yeah,
but he told me why. He told me how these guys were taunting you – some guy
named Craig or something. Look I understand. Jacob, I’m not judging you. You
can trust me.”
“What
do you want me to say? Yeah what Paul said was true. I let them get to me, and
I took it out on Paul.”
“Yeah I
get that, but I don’t understand why you would hang with them after what they
did to you.”
“Because
I had to.”
“Why?”
“I
can’t say.”
“Yes
you can.”
“It’s
not that easy.”
“It is
that easy.”
“No
Peyton, it’s not. If I said something to you, I don’t know what would happen…”
“Trust
me.”
“I do
trust you, but I –”
“Jacob,
I love you. Okay? You can tell me.” Jacob hesitated before he spoke.
“Okay I
–” Jacob was interrupted by guy walking up to us. I had never seen him before.
“Hey
Jacob,” the guy said with a smirk.
“Craig?”
Jacob said surprised.
“You
look surprise to see me,” Craig said.
“What
are you doing here?” Jacob asked.
“I came
here to check on my boy. Make sure he’s alright. Make sure he’s being a man of
his word, you know what I mean?” Craig said.
“Yeah I
know,” Jacob said.
“Good,
so who is this pretty lady?” Craig asked looking at me.
“This
is Peyton,” Jacob said.
“This
is Peyton? Oh wow! Hi Peyton, I’m Craig. I’ve heard so much about you,” Craig
said with a smile.
“Hi,
nice to meet you,” I said politely.
“Yes,
it is very nice, and Jacob I would hate to see something happen to your lovely
friend here, so I suggest you keep our arrangement,” Craig said smiling at
Jacob. Jacob face flushed white, but he didn’t respond.
“Okay
well bye now,” Craig said with a wink before walking away.
“What
arrangement?” I asked as soon as Craig was out of earshot.
“I’m
definitely going to get that drink now,” Jacob said getting up.
“No
Jacob,” I said trying to pull him back down.
“No
Peyton, please don’t try to stop me,” he said as he pulled away and headed to
the bar.
