*****(Wednesday, 9:34 A.M., Finn's class)*****
"Destiny, Gentlemen. What is it?" Finn gave a philosophical glance through the crowd.
"It's the predetermined order of events," one eager boy shouted from the front row.
"Thank you. Mr. Webster for that standard and superficial definition."
"It's when something is supposed to happen, it's meant to be." Scout said.
With those last words from Scout, Jake glanced quickly at Hamilton to find him looking at her. Her mouth curved into a small smile. Quickly she returned her stare to the grass hoping no one had noticed all they had managed to convey in that one look.
"Do you think life is a series of...'predetermined events'" he glanced at the boy in the front row with a slight smirk, "or is it something you have control over, that you can change?"
"It's easier to think that it's predetermined because then you don't blame yourself for things...it's like 'it's not my fault that this didn't happen, if it was meant to be it would have.'" Will said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, but life would be so much better if you could change it, make things go the way you want them to." Scout leaned back with his hands behind him on the grass. He stared at the sky as his thoughts traveled to Bella.
*****
Will's Voice Over: To say that 'my life is how I choose it' puts to much pressure on people. Then It would make us question everything that happens. Destiny exists, how else could I have gotten into Rawley? Even after cheating on the entrance exam I was given a second chance and I made it. And what about my father? Will he always be so distant, so uncaring, or could I have changed that? Is it partially my fault? If you thought like this then everything you do would become a question...should I do this, what effect will it have on my life? If we examined every choice, every possibility, would it really make life so much better?
*****(Wednesday, 3:25 P.M.)*****
When the school day had finally ended, Scout headed toward town. Friendly's diner had kept him on the payroll over the 3-week break from summer session to fall semester. He liked the work, even though he didn't need the money. It gave him a sense of independence and self-reliance that most of the Rawley students couldn't understand since their wealthy parents gave them everything. He didn't want to rely on a man who hardly had time for him except when he needed to look like the caring father on the campaign trail. Sure he loved his father and his father loved him but it seemed more like a habitual love formed from his supporters wanting him to be close to his son than a natural parent instinct to love their child.
As he approached the diner, he saw Bella working on an old Lexus hand-me-down, no doubt a Rawley kid's car. As he headed toward her, his face showed a sad smile as he remembered the destiny conversation in Finn's class.
"Is something wrong?" Bella asked.
"No." He said, quickly changing the topic, "So, how you hanging in there?"
"Well, I think the Lexus is going to survive the night." She joked, not wanting to express real emotion in front of someone who would pity her.
He smiled but then continued, "I mean about the garage."
"Well, we got the auction moved back to next week, but it's still not looking good." She stared blankly at the Lexus trying to blink back her tears. He put his hand on her shoulder and shook her slightly to get her to look up into his eyes.
"It will be okay, I promise."
"Yeah," she nodded slightly, "I know." Thinking about what her life would be like without the only place she has ever known as home.
*****(Wednesday, 3:43 P.M.)*****
Hamilton walked down the hallway toward Jake's door. As he brought his hand up to the door to knock, he smiled to himself.
"Come in," Jake shouted as she typed on her computer, not bothering turning around as a knock came from her door.
"Hey."
She smiled to herself, "I thought it was you." Still typing on her computer.
"Who else could it be?" He approached her desk where she was sitting.
"Oh, one of my many other boyfriends."
"Not funny." He whispered as he bent down and kissed her neck. "What are you working on?" He glanced up at the computer screen.
"Just writing an e-mail to my mother." She said while closing the lap top
"What about?" He stood and paced the room.
"Nothing important." She tried to get away from the subject. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, you know what I came for..." he smiled as he fell to the bed.
She smirked.
"No, but the real reason I came here was to get help for that chemistry test tomorrow, I just can't understand molarity, molality, whatever it is."
"Ah, a trip to my room where the main objective was not to make out? I'm so very proud of you."
"Hey, I never said I didn't want to make out. I mean, what has life come to if studying for a test doesn't involve a little making out?"
She laughed as she bent down to kiss him when her cell phone started to ring. She broke the kiss to pick it up.
"But-" Hamilton pouted.
She held up her finger to silence him.
"Hello?" she said as Hamilton still held her close, trying to remind her of what he wanted to finish.
"Oh, Hi mom." Jake rolled her eyes. He backed away knowing that any phone calls with her mother were important.
"What do you mean you can't come?" Jake said angrily. Hamilton furrowed his brow. The last time her mother had come it was a near disaster.
"But it's my--....Yes, I understand...Yeah, I will...ok...See you at Thanksgiving...Bye."
"What was all that about?" He asked her softly.
She stared at the ceiling trying to hold back her tears. She never understood why she felt the need to be so strong all the time. Even when she had someone she could be completely honest with.
"It's my mother. She's not coming." Tears started to fall down her cheeks. "She can't even make time for her only daughter's 16th birthday."
Hamilton circled his arms around her. She laid her head on his shoulder and gazed out the window. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
"She promised." She broke away from his comfort. "I know it's probably better that she didn't come." She looked down at her hands, afraid to let him see the pain her mother caused. "I just really wanted to..." she looked into his eyes, "believe her...for once." There was a long silence.
"You never told me it was your birthday."
"It's Friday," She said weakly.
"Well, we'll have to do something about that."
And with that she smiled.
*****(Wednesday, 4:17 P.M., Friendly's)*****
"Earth to Scout..."
Scout snapped back to attention.
"Sorry, Will."
"You keep wiping that table like that, your going to wear a hole in it."
Scout hadn't notice that he had been moving the rag in a small circular motion in the same spot for a few minutes now. He had been busy staring across the street.
"You know, you gotta get over her man. You can't keep doing this to yourself."
"Yeah. It's...," he sighed, "It's just so hard not knowing."
"Yeah." A long pause. "Man, we really got to get you a date."
Scout laughed but continued to wipe down the same table and stare out the window.
*****(Wednesday, 4:20 P.M.)*****
Hamilton and Jake walked into town.
"You wanna stop at the diner, I'm kinda hungry?"
"When are you not hungry?" Jake laughed as Hamilton guided her toward Friendly's.
"Hey guys." Will said as Jake and Hamilton entered.
"Hi Wi--" Jake was right in the middle of her sentence when they heard:
"HEY JAKE, COME HERE!" The turned around to see Bella waving from across the street.
Jake smiled, "I'm gonna go talk to Bella for a second."
"I think that's a good idea." He glanced around to see an empty diner and kissed her on the cheek. He moved to the booth where Scout was cleaning when Will joined them.
"What's up, Will?"
"Not much, it's been kinda a slow day."
"What's all that about?" Scout nodded to the window where they could see Bella and Jake. Bella was hugging Jake, who appeared to be crying.
"I'm sure it's nothing," He paused and continued on, "Hey guys, It's Jake's birthday on Friday and I was wondering if we could have a surprise party here for her, like we did Bella? Sorry it's such short notice-"
"I'm sure it would be fine, It just has to be after closing at 10:30."
"Okay!" He grinned.
"So who are we going to invite?"
"Everyone!" Hamilton said excitedly, already planning everything in his head, "Definitely the crew team, you guys, Bella..." he continued with no signs of stopping.
"How about we take care of the guest list," Will interrupted, "And you take care of decorating and cake and stuff, ok?"
"Yeah! We'll I better be going I've got to get started." Hamilton left quickly afterwards.
Will shook his head, "Man, he's got it bad."
"Yeah." Then with a sudden look of confusion on his face, Scout asked, "Hey, what do you get a girl who is pretending to be a guy?"
*****(Thursday morning, 9:26 A.M.)*****
Scout and Will headed toward their co-ed English class.
"HEY WILL AND SCOUT!" Jake caught up with them.
"Hey Jake."
"Where's Hamilton?"
"Yeah, you two are usually like, attached at the hip or something."
"Very funny Calhoun. He's showing some new girl around or something, I think she's gonna be in our Lit. class."
"I hope she's hot." Scout said wishfully and Will elbowed him. "What?"
Jake laughed. They all sat down under the shade of a tree while the other students started to arrive. Hamilton approached laughing and arm in arm with a beautiful girl.
"Told you she would be hot." Scout whispered to Will. Jake just shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"Hey guys. Cameron, this is Will, Scout, and Jake." He said Jake's name with a special smile and Scout and Will just looked at each other and smirked. "Guys, this is Cameron." He let go of her arm and took his seat next to Jake. She chose a seat next to Scout.
"Hi. It's nice to meet--"Scout started when Finn interrupted him.
"Today we are going to discuss The Great Gatsby, which all of you were supposed to have read before today." There was a rise of laughter. "Secrets. Gatsby lied to people to create the perfect image of what he thought Daisy would want. And for a while he actually succeeded in winning her, but was it worth the price he paid? You are going to have to write an essay-" there was a collective groan from the class, "...about what secrets have done to your life and whether they were worth keeping or confessing."
Cameron leaned over to Scout. "Is he always like this?"
"Yeah, pretty much." He chuckled
"I think it would be exhausting to be so philosophical all the time, wouldn't you?" As she laughed, he noticed how her light brown hair shined in the morning sun and how her blue eyes sparkled.
"Mr. Calhoun. Since you seem so interesting in talking how about you tell us what the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg represented?"
"Uh..."
"That's what I thought."
*****(Thursday, 10:39 A.M.)*****
"That was great, Scout." Jake laughed after class as Will, Scout, and she headed to the dorms.
"Yeah, shut-up Pratt. I bet you didn't know the answer."
"Maybe I didn't, but I wasn't not paying attention and flirting with the girl next to me either. I know better than to do that when I don't want to be called on."
"But you don't know enough to stop flirting with your boyfriend in public. How do you think those gay rumors get started anyway?"
She punched him in the shoulder playfully.
"Ow."
"Next time I'll hit you below the belt." She shouted over her shoulder as she ran to join Hamilton, who was still finishing the tour.
"You know, Cameron did seem pretty into you, maybe you should ask her to Jake's party." Will said when Jake was safely out of hearing distance.
"I don't know, I mean, Bella is gonna be at the party."
"That's the point, if you have Cameron there, you won't be constantly thinking of Bella."
"Maybe. I don't know." He sighed.
"Cameron likes you man, and you're just going to give up a chance with a beautiful girl like that? I'm sorry, Scout, but the you and Bella thing- It's not going to work. You and her...you're related, and you can't just erase that."
"Maybe your right." Scout conceded.
Will put his arm around his shoulder as they walked to the dorms, "I'm always right."
Scout laughed and shook his head.
*****(Thursday, 11:13 A.M., the gas station)*****
"Bella, phone for you." Her father called at the foot of the steps.
She raced down the stairs, "Thanks Dad!" He smiled softly.
"Hello?"
"Hi Bella..." there was a long silence, "...It's your mom."
"Yeah, what do you want?"
"I was wondering if you would go out to dinner with me this weekend. There are some things I really wanna talk about with you....and...I miss knowing you."
"Well whose fault is that, mother?" Bella said letting her anger get the better of her. "How can you even call yourself my mother, you were never there when I needed you most. Real mothers can't just leave their children without a second thought."
"I'm sorry-"
"I don't want to hear 'I'm sorry'. Don't you understand? That will never make up for what you've missed."
Silence.
"No, I guess you couldn't understand." Bella hung up the phone. She breathed out a loud sigh as she sat at the stool next to the kitchen counter. With her elbows on the counter and her hands over her eyes, she cried.
*****(Thursday, 11:32 A.M., Jake's room)*****
"You know he did this to get back at us." Hamilton grinned as he sat at Jake's desk.
"Yeah, watch him make us read ours out loud," She laughed. "My biggest secret is that I'm not the Jake Pratt that everyone thinks I am..." She stood up from the bed pretending to be talking to a crowd. "...I'm actually Jacqueline Pratt, the daughter of actress Monica Pratt." They laughed.
"Yeah, but its worth it. I would write a thousand dumb essays to be with you."
"Well, I do believe that's the sweetest thing a boy's ever said to me." Jake joked in a southern accent as she batted her eyelashes.
"So...are you glad that you kept the secret?" Hamilton asked softly.
"Well, sometimes I wish I could tell everyone. I wish I could still do dumb girly things like read Seventeen, and paint my fingernails, and go shopping. They seem so stupid..." she laughed, "...but the funny thing is, I miss doing them. Most of all, I wish that I could be with you without people thinking we're gay." Hamilton looked down guiltily. She knelt in front of him and lifted his chin until his eyes met hers. "But then when I look into your eyes, I never want to be anywhere but here, no matter what I have to do to stay."
He smiled and hugged her.
*****(Thursday, 12:02 P.M., cafeteria)*****
"So Cameron-"
"Everyone calls me Cam."
"Ok Cam," Scout continued, "Where are you from?"
"Well," she laughed, "There's a relatively complicated answer to that simple question. I was born in San Francisco, but I've lived in New York, Canada, Africa, and most recently London."
"Wow." Scout said impressed.
"Yeah, that's pretty 'wow' worthy. So why do you move so much?" Will asked.
"My father's a writer and he moves to the location where he is setting his book, to get a good background."
"Really?" Will asked, interested.
"Yeah," Scout leaned over to Cameron, "Will is the local wanna-be writer, so he's probably going to ask you like, a million questions about writing."
"Ok," She whispered back, "I'll be prepared."
"So how long does it take your father to write a book?" Will asked.
Cameron looked at Scout and tried to stifle her laughter.
"What?" Will said confused, "I'm interested." Causing them both to laugh loudly.
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get some more Jell-O." Will said with feigned anger as he grabbed his tray and walked toward the lunch line.
"You do that." Scout said.
When they finished laughing there was an awkward silence between them. Scout mashed his food aimlessly with a plastic fork while Cameron stared at her empty food tray.
When they glance up at each other simultaneously Scout laughed, "Hey, there's this thing tomorrow, ...well actually it's Jake's surprise birthday party..." he took a deep breath, "...and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me...?"
She didn't respond, she only looked at her food tray.
"I know I just met you. It doesn't have to be a date, we could just go as friends...or we could go separately and just see each other there...or..." Scout rambled quickly.
"I would love to." She looked up at him and smiled.
He breathed a sigh of relief, "You...you did mean go as my date, right?"
She laughed and nodded.
"Ok, just making sure."
*****(Friday, 8:18 A.M., Jake's room)*****
Hamilton opened Jake's door quietly and brought in the tray. "Wake up, gorgeous!" He turned on the lights.
"Ham, it's 8:18 in the morning!" Jake said groggily as she put the pillow over her head.
"So?"
"So! Class doesn't start until 9:30. I don't need to be up for like another 45 minutes!"
"I have a surprise..."
She removed the pillow and squinted in the morning light.
He brought out the tray from behind his back, "Happy Birthday!" He had piled on everything that Jake could ever possibly want for breakfast. There were donuts, strawberries and whip cream, croissants, toast and jam, blueberry muffins, orange juice, and apple juice. He set the tray on her bed.
"Thank you Hamilton." She got up and hugged him. She scooted over in the bed to make room for him. With the tray on their laps they ate breakfast together.
*****(Friday, 3:43 P.M., the gas station)*****
Bella heard a car approaching as she bent over the engine of a beat-up old pick-up truck. The car pulled into the gas station next to her.
"I'll be with you in a moment." She wiped her hands on the dirty rag flung over her shoulder.
"Bella..."
She turned around to see her mother.
"I know you didn't want to see me, but I really need to talk to you."
"Why?" she nervously tucked her hair behind her ear, smudging a line of oil on her face.
"Seeing you a couple weeks ago made me realize that I don't know you, that I've missed so much. My little baby grew up." She reached up to wipe away the smudge. Bella jerked away. "I care about you..."
"If you care so much then why are you auctioning the garage? This is the only place that Grace and I've ever lived and your going to take it away from us! You hurt daddy so much when you cheated on him and your still hurting him now 10 years later. You were selfish then and you haven't changed."
"If I signed the garage over to your father, could we have a fresh start?"
"We could never have a fresh start, I can't just forget 10 years of pain..." Bella sighed.
"But...?"
"But we could start again...without forgetting. Remembering is what keeps history from repeating itself."
There was a long pause. Both stared at the ground, not quite sure what to say next.
"Thank you, Bella."
She nodded as her mother climbed into her car.
"Mom?"
Her mother turned toward her and smiled gently.
"I have just one question before you leave..." She approached the truck and put her hands on the halfway rolled down window, "Did you sleep with Senator Calhoun?" Bella held her breath.
"Yes," her mother looked away, "I did."
"Is he my father?" She asked softly, almost whispering.
"No, sweetie," She reached up and stroked Bella's face, "He's not."
*****(Friday, 9:33 P.M., Jake's room)*****
"Hey, what are you doing?" Hamilton asked as he entered Jake's room.
"It's this new thing people are doing called working, I'm sure you haven't heard of it." She said, facing her lap top.
"Hey you shouldn't be working," He swivelled her chair around to face him, "it's Friday night and more importantly it's your birthday."
"What's behind your back?" she asked trying to peer around him.
"I found it in the 'lost mail' section." He smiled triumphantly.
She took the box from him and set it in front of her. "No wonder...my mother addressed it to Jacqueline Pratt at Rawley Girls."
"Open it!"
"I'm afraid." She stared at the package.
"Why?"
She sighed, "I've had such a wonderful day, I don't want this to ruin it."
"C'mon."
She grabbed scissors and cut the tape holding the brown box closed and took out a wrapped parcel inside. She stared at it doubtingly. She glanced up at Hamilton and he gave her an encouraging nod. She took the present and slowly slid off the ribbon and took off the wrapping paper.
"Great, Bath and Body Works stuff and an N*SYNC cd." She laughed angrily, "She doesn't know me at all."
"I'm sorry." When he hugged her, he saw a smaller gift still in the box, partially covered by styrofoam squares. "You forgot one." He picked it up and gave it to her.
"It's probably a Britney Spears cd." She tore away the paper. Her face softened when she saw the gift. It was a 3x5 picture of her and her mother, looking at each other and smiling.
He kissed her forehead and hugged her, "Maybe she knows you a little more than you think."
*****(Friday, 10:41 P.M.)*****
"Where are we going Hamilton?"
"You find out soon enough." He lead her towards Friendly's, his hand over her eyes.
"You know, I can cover my own eyes."
"Yeah, but I'd have to trust you to let you do that."
She punched in the direction his voice was coming from but missed by a couple of inches.
"Nice try," he laughed, "but I'm the one who can see, remember? We're almost there."
She heard a door open and she was lead through.
"Open your eyes."
She opened her eyes but before she could register where she was the lights came on.
"SURPRISE!" The room was filled with about 30 people she knew. A big banner hung in the middle of the room that said 'Happy Birthday' with everyone's signatures and well wishes on it. The counter was filled with all possible snack food imaginable and a large chocolate cake.
She jumped back, startled, almost tripping over Hamilton. Laughter filled the room.
"Wow..."
*****(Friday, 11:02 P.M., Friendly's)*****
"Bella, this is Cameron."
"It's nice to meet you, Cameron. Where are you from?" Bella asked politely.
"That's a long story, trust me." Scout finished for her. Cameron looked at him and laughed.
Bella felt a little hurt that he already had a private joke with this girl.
"I moved here from London."
Everyone looked over their shoulders as music started blaring from the back of the diner.
"Would you like to dance, Scout?" Cameron asked when a slow song came on the radio.
"Sure."
As she lead him closer to the radio, he glanced back at Bella. She looked away, she couldn't bring herself to look at him.
"Dance with me Bella." A familiar voice came from behind her.
She smiled at Will, he always knew when to rescue her.
"Thanks." She whispered.
While they danced, she laid her head on Will's shoulder. She noticed how spirited Scout seemed with Cameron. He wasn't wearing that sad expression he always had around her. They looked so happy.
*****(Saturday, 1:11 A.M., Rawley Lake)*****
Will and Bella sat on the dock with their jeans rolled up and their legs dangling in the water.
"I'm really glad we had a party for Jake, she really needed to know people cared for her."
"Me too."
It seemed that with the stilling lake, their words stopped too. Until a long gust of warm air came, reviving the conversation.
"My mother came to see me today, well actually..." she said looking at her watch, "yesterday."
"What did she say?"
"She gave us back the garage."
"That's great, Bella."
But she still wore a sad expression. "I asked her..." She didn't need to finish that sentence, Will knew what she was talking about.
"And?"
"He's not...my brother." She sat staring at the lake, "I thought I would be so happy to find out, but I don't know. These wounds are still healing and I don't know if I'm ready to just...rip them open and start over. We've been through so much pain...I mean we thought we were related for God's sake...and what if I tell him and it doesn't work out. It's just so complicated." She sighed. "And then there's Cameron. Did you see how happy he looked with her? How simple his life is with her? I think he deserves that. That's something I can't give him. I just don't know anymore if telling him is the right thing to do."
"The truth is a very important thing, but so are you and Scout. It's your decision, but ultimately you have to think of what's best for everyone in this situation."
She nodded, "Thanks Will." She kissed his cheek.
"No problem." She picked up his arm and placed it around her shoulder and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. She placed her hand between them on the dock and he covered it with his own. Together they listened to the lake and the late night crickets.
*****(Saturday, 11:32 A.M., the gas station)*****
Scout jogged over to the garage. "Hey, I thought you looked hungry." He held up a wrapped hamburger in one hand and a coke in the other.
"Thanks." She sat on the bench, unwrapping her hamburger, and Scout sat next to her in comfortable silence.
"Listen, Bella..." He began, "I saw your mom here yesterday, and I just want to ask you this and I promise it will be the last time." He paused, "Are we...?" He let the sentence hang in the air as the moments passed by.
She nodded, not looking at him. They sat for a while, each looking in opposite directions.
"Well, I better get back to work," She said, standing up and placing the hamburger on the bench, "Thanks for the food." She headed toward the car she was fixing.
"Hey Bella," Scout stood as she turned around, "I thought of one."
"One what?"
"A song lyric, you know..."
She nodded for him to continue.
He looked into her eyes for the first time that day, "Life's so different than it is in your dreams."
"Oh, Scout..." She whispered. She walked over, hugged him, and with that...let him go.
*****
Will's Voice Over: Destiny. I do believe it exists. Some things are just meant to happen and some people are just meant to be together. (Cut to: Jake jumping up, with her hands in the air, from the couch in the common room after winning a video game. Hamilton remains seated and gives her an evil glare.) There are no other explanations for them. But recent events have also made me wonder about a flexible future, one that you mold for yourself. (Cut to: Bella watching Scout head back toward the diner.) It's something I'll never know, but I will always find myself wondering about. I guess, all I have left is to accept that life is a little bit of both. I just have to move forward, tread on, and never doubt that this is my life. The past is unchangeable, but the future...that's a different story.
*****
The end
"Destiny, Gentlemen. What is it?" Finn gave a philosophical glance through the crowd.
"It's the predetermined order of events," one eager boy shouted from the front row.
"Thank you. Mr. Webster for that standard and superficial definition."
"It's when something is supposed to happen, it's meant to be." Scout said.
With those last words from Scout, Jake glanced quickly at Hamilton to find him looking at her. Her mouth curved into a small smile. Quickly she returned her stare to the grass hoping no one had noticed all they had managed to convey in that one look.
"Do you think life is a series of...'predetermined events'" he glanced at the boy in the front row with a slight smirk, "or is it something you have control over, that you can change?"
"It's easier to think that it's predetermined because then you don't blame yourself for things...it's like 'it's not my fault that this didn't happen, if it was meant to be it would have.'" Will said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, but life would be so much better if you could change it, make things go the way you want them to." Scout leaned back with his hands behind him on the grass. He stared at the sky as his thoughts traveled to Bella.
*****
Will's Voice Over: To say that 'my life is how I choose it' puts to much pressure on people. Then It would make us question everything that happens. Destiny exists, how else could I have gotten into Rawley? Even after cheating on the entrance exam I was given a second chance and I made it. And what about my father? Will he always be so distant, so uncaring, or could I have changed that? Is it partially my fault? If you thought like this then everything you do would become a question...should I do this, what effect will it have on my life? If we examined every choice, every possibility, would it really make life so much better?
*****(Wednesday, 3:25 P.M.)*****
When the school day had finally ended, Scout headed toward town. Friendly's diner had kept him on the payroll over the 3-week break from summer session to fall semester. He liked the work, even though he didn't need the money. It gave him a sense of independence and self-reliance that most of the Rawley students couldn't understand since their wealthy parents gave them everything. He didn't want to rely on a man who hardly had time for him except when he needed to look like the caring father on the campaign trail. Sure he loved his father and his father loved him but it seemed more like a habitual love formed from his supporters wanting him to be close to his son than a natural parent instinct to love their child.
As he approached the diner, he saw Bella working on an old Lexus hand-me-down, no doubt a Rawley kid's car. As he headed toward her, his face showed a sad smile as he remembered the destiny conversation in Finn's class.
"Is something wrong?" Bella asked.
"No." He said, quickly changing the topic, "So, how you hanging in there?"
"Well, I think the Lexus is going to survive the night." She joked, not wanting to express real emotion in front of someone who would pity her.
He smiled but then continued, "I mean about the garage."
"Well, we got the auction moved back to next week, but it's still not looking good." She stared blankly at the Lexus trying to blink back her tears. He put his hand on her shoulder and shook her slightly to get her to look up into his eyes.
"It will be okay, I promise."
"Yeah," she nodded slightly, "I know." Thinking about what her life would be like without the only place she has ever known as home.
*****(Wednesday, 3:43 P.M.)*****
Hamilton walked down the hallway toward Jake's door. As he brought his hand up to the door to knock, he smiled to himself.
"Come in," Jake shouted as she typed on her computer, not bothering turning around as a knock came from her door.
"Hey."
She smiled to herself, "I thought it was you." Still typing on her computer.
"Who else could it be?" He approached her desk where she was sitting.
"Oh, one of my many other boyfriends."
"Not funny." He whispered as he bent down and kissed her neck. "What are you working on?" He glanced up at the computer screen.
"Just writing an e-mail to my mother." She said while closing the lap top
"What about?" He stood and paced the room.
"Nothing important." She tried to get away from the subject. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, you know what I came for..." he smiled as he fell to the bed.
She smirked.
"No, but the real reason I came here was to get help for that chemistry test tomorrow, I just can't understand molarity, molality, whatever it is."
"Ah, a trip to my room where the main objective was not to make out? I'm so very proud of you."
"Hey, I never said I didn't want to make out. I mean, what has life come to if studying for a test doesn't involve a little making out?"
She laughed as she bent down to kiss him when her cell phone started to ring. She broke the kiss to pick it up.
"But-" Hamilton pouted.
She held up her finger to silence him.
"Hello?" she said as Hamilton still held her close, trying to remind her of what he wanted to finish.
"Oh, Hi mom." Jake rolled her eyes. He backed away knowing that any phone calls with her mother were important.
"What do you mean you can't come?" Jake said angrily. Hamilton furrowed his brow. The last time her mother had come it was a near disaster.
"But it's my--....Yes, I understand...Yeah, I will...ok...See you at Thanksgiving...Bye."
"What was all that about?" He asked her softly.
She stared at the ceiling trying to hold back her tears. She never understood why she felt the need to be so strong all the time. Even when she had someone she could be completely honest with.
"It's my mother. She's not coming." Tears started to fall down her cheeks. "She can't even make time for her only daughter's 16th birthday."
Hamilton circled his arms around her. She laid her head on his shoulder and gazed out the window. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
"She promised." She broke away from his comfort. "I know it's probably better that she didn't come." She looked down at her hands, afraid to let him see the pain her mother caused. "I just really wanted to..." she looked into his eyes, "believe her...for once." There was a long silence.
"You never told me it was your birthday."
"It's Friday," She said weakly.
"Well, we'll have to do something about that."
And with that she smiled.
*****(Wednesday, 4:17 P.M., Friendly's)*****
"Earth to Scout..."
Scout snapped back to attention.
"Sorry, Will."
"You keep wiping that table like that, your going to wear a hole in it."
Scout hadn't notice that he had been moving the rag in a small circular motion in the same spot for a few minutes now. He had been busy staring across the street.
"You know, you gotta get over her man. You can't keep doing this to yourself."
"Yeah. It's...," he sighed, "It's just so hard not knowing."
"Yeah." A long pause. "Man, we really got to get you a date."
Scout laughed but continued to wipe down the same table and stare out the window.
*****(Wednesday, 4:20 P.M.)*****
Hamilton and Jake walked into town.
"You wanna stop at the diner, I'm kinda hungry?"
"When are you not hungry?" Jake laughed as Hamilton guided her toward Friendly's.
"Hey guys." Will said as Jake and Hamilton entered.
"Hi Wi--" Jake was right in the middle of her sentence when they heard:
"HEY JAKE, COME HERE!" The turned around to see Bella waving from across the street.
Jake smiled, "I'm gonna go talk to Bella for a second."
"I think that's a good idea." He glanced around to see an empty diner and kissed her on the cheek. He moved to the booth where Scout was cleaning when Will joined them.
"What's up, Will?"
"Not much, it's been kinda a slow day."
"What's all that about?" Scout nodded to the window where they could see Bella and Jake. Bella was hugging Jake, who appeared to be crying.
"I'm sure it's nothing," He paused and continued on, "Hey guys, It's Jake's birthday on Friday and I was wondering if we could have a surprise party here for her, like we did Bella? Sorry it's such short notice-"
"I'm sure it would be fine, It just has to be after closing at 10:30."
"Okay!" He grinned.
"So who are we going to invite?"
"Everyone!" Hamilton said excitedly, already planning everything in his head, "Definitely the crew team, you guys, Bella..." he continued with no signs of stopping.
"How about we take care of the guest list," Will interrupted, "And you take care of decorating and cake and stuff, ok?"
"Yeah! We'll I better be going I've got to get started." Hamilton left quickly afterwards.
Will shook his head, "Man, he's got it bad."
"Yeah." Then with a sudden look of confusion on his face, Scout asked, "Hey, what do you get a girl who is pretending to be a guy?"
*****(Thursday morning, 9:26 A.M.)*****
Scout and Will headed toward their co-ed English class.
"HEY WILL AND SCOUT!" Jake caught up with them.
"Hey Jake."
"Where's Hamilton?"
"Yeah, you two are usually like, attached at the hip or something."
"Very funny Calhoun. He's showing some new girl around or something, I think she's gonna be in our Lit. class."
"I hope she's hot." Scout said wishfully and Will elbowed him. "What?"
Jake laughed. They all sat down under the shade of a tree while the other students started to arrive. Hamilton approached laughing and arm in arm with a beautiful girl.
"Told you she would be hot." Scout whispered to Will. Jake just shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"Hey guys. Cameron, this is Will, Scout, and Jake." He said Jake's name with a special smile and Scout and Will just looked at each other and smirked. "Guys, this is Cameron." He let go of her arm and took his seat next to Jake. She chose a seat next to Scout.
"Hi. It's nice to meet--"Scout started when Finn interrupted him.
"Today we are going to discuss The Great Gatsby, which all of you were supposed to have read before today." There was a rise of laughter. "Secrets. Gatsby lied to people to create the perfect image of what he thought Daisy would want. And for a while he actually succeeded in winning her, but was it worth the price he paid? You are going to have to write an essay-" there was a collective groan from the class, "...about what secrets have done to your life and whether they were worth keeping or confessing."
Cameron leaned over to Scout. "Is he always like this?"
"Yeah, pretty much." He chuckled
"I think it would be exhausting to be so philosophical all the time, wouldn't you?" As she laughed, he noticed how her light brown hair shined in the morning sun and how her blue eyes sparkled.
"Mr. Calhoun. Since you seem so interesting in talking how about you tell us what the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg represented?"
"Uh..."
"That's what I thought."
*****(Thursday, 10:39 A.M.)*****
"That was great, Scout." Jake laughed after class as Will, Scout, and she headed to the dorms.
"Yeah, shut-up Pratt. I bet you didn't know the answer."
"Maybe I didn't, but I wasn't not paying attention and flirting with the girl next to me either. I know better than to do that when I don't want to be called on."
"But you don't know enough to stop flirting with your boyfriend in public. How do you think those gay rumors get started anyway?"
She punched him in the shoulder playfully.
"Ow."
"Next time I'll hit you below the belt." She shouted over her shoulder as she ran to join Hamilton, who was still finishing the tour.
"You know, Cameron did seem pretty into you, maybe you should ask her to Jake's party." Will said when Jake was safely out of hearing distance.
"I don't know, I mean, Bella is gonna be at the party."
"That's the point, if you have Cameron there, you won't be constantly thinking of Bella."
"Maybe. I don't know." He sighed.
"Cameron likes you man, and you're just going to give up a chance with a beautiful girl like that? I'm sorry, Scout, but the you and Bella thing- It's not going to work. You and her...you're related, and you can't just erase that."
"Maybe your right." Scout conceded.
Will put his arm around his shoulder as they walked to the dorms, "I'm always right."
Scout laughed and shook his head.
*****(Thursday, 11:13 A.M., the gas station)*****
"Bella, phone for you." Her father called at the foot of the steps.
She raced down the stairs, "Thanks Dad!" He smiled softly.
"Hello?"
"Hi Bella..." there was a long silence, "...It's your mom."
"Yeah, what do you want?"
"I was wondering if you would go out to dinner with me this weekend. There are some things I really wanna talk about with you....and...I miss knowing you."
"Well whose fault is that, mother?" Bella said letting her anger get the better of her. "How can you even call yourself my mother, you were never there when I needed you most. Real mothers can't just leave their children without a second thought."
"I'm sorry-"
"I don't want to hear 'I'm sorry'. Don't you understand? That will never make up for what you've missed."
Silence.
"No, I guess you couldn't understand." Bella hung up the phone. She breathed out a loud sigh as she sat at the stool next to the kitchen counter. With her elbows on the counter and her hands over her eyes, she cried.
*****(Thursday, 11:32 A.M., Jake's room)*****
"You know he did this to get back at us." Hamilton grinned as he sat at Jake's desk.
"Yeah, watch him make us read ours out loud," She laughed. "My biggest secret is that I'm not the Jake Pratt that everyone thinks I am..." She stood up from the bed pretending to be talking to a crowd. "...I'm actually Jacqueline Pratt, the daughter of actress Monica Pratt." They laughed.
"Yeah, but its worth it. I would write a thousand dumb essays to be with you."
"Well, I do believe that's the sweetest thing a boy's ever said to me." Jake joked in a southern accent as she batted her eyelashes.
"So...are you glad that you kept the secret?" Hamilton asked softly.
"Well, sometimes I wish I could tell everyone. I wish I could still do dumb girly things like read Seventeen, and paint my fingernails, and go shopping. They seem so stupid..." she laughed, "...but the funny thing is, I miss doing them. Most of all, I wish that I could be with you without people thinking we're gay." Hamilton looked down guiltily. She knelt in front of him and lifted his chin until his eyes met hers. "But then when I look into your eyes, I never want to be anywhere but here, no matter what I have to do to stay."
He smiled and hugged her.
*****(Thursday, 12:02 P.M., cafeteria)*****
"So Cameron-"
"Everyone calls me Cam."
"Ok Cam," Scout continued, "Where are you from?"
"Well," she laughed, "There's a relatively complicated answer to that simple question. I was born in San Francisco, but I've lived in New York, Canada, Africa, and most recently London."
"Wow." Scout said impressed.
"Yeah, that's pretty 'wow' worthy. So why do you move so much?" Will asked.
"My father's a writer and he moves to the location where he is setting his book, to get a good background."
"Really?" Will asked, interested.
"Yeah," Scout leaned over to Cameron, "Will is the local wanna-be writer, so he's probably going to ask you like, a million questions about writing."
"Ok," She whispered back, "I'll be prepared."
"So how long does it take your father to write a book?" Will asked.
Cameron looked at Scout and tried to stifle her laughter.
"What?" Will said confused, "I'm interested." Causing them both to laugh loudly.
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get some more Jell-O." Will said with feigned anger as he grabbed his tray and walked toward the lunch line.
"You do that." Scout said.
When they finished laughing there was an awkward silence between them. Scout mashed his food aimlessly with a plastic fork while Cameron stared at her empty food tray.
When they glance up at each other simultaneously Scout laughed, "Hey, there's this thing tomorrow, ...well actually it's Jake's surprise birthday party..." he took a deep breath, "...and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me...?"
She didn't respond, she only looked at her food tray.
"I know I just met you. It doesn't have to be a date, we could just go as friends...or we could go separately and just see each other there...or..." Scout rambled quickly.
"I would love to." She looked up at him and smiled.
He breathed a sigh of relief, "You...you did mean go as my date, right?"
She laughed and nodded.
"Ok, just making sure."
*****(Friday, 8:18 A.M., Jake's room)*****
Hamilton opened Jake's door quietly and brought in the tray. "Wake up, gorgeous!" He turned on the lights.
"Ham, it's 8:18 in the morning!" Jake said groggily as she put the pillow over her head.
"So?"
"So! Class doesn't start until 9:30. I don't need to be up for like another 45 minutes!"
"I have a surprise..."
She removed the pillow and squinted in the morning light.
He brought out the tray from behind his back, "Happy Birthday!" He had piled on everything that Jake could ever possibly want for breakfast. There were donuts, strawberries and whip cream, croissants, toast and jam, blueberry muffins, orange juice, and apple juice. He set the tray on her bed.
"Thank you Hamilton." She got up and hugged him. She scooted over in the bed to make room for him. With the tray on their laps they ate breakfast together.
*****(Friday, 3:43 P.M., the gas station)*****
Bella heard a car approaching as she bent over the engine of a beat-up old pick-up truck. The car pulled into the gas station next to her.
"I'll be with you in a moment." She wiped her hands on the dirty rag flung over her shoulder.
"Bella..."
She turned around to see her mother.
"I know you didn't want to see me, but I really need to talk to you."
"Why?" she nervously tucked her hair behind her ear, smudging a line of oil on her face.
"Seeing you a couple weeks ago made me realize that I don't know you, that I've missed so much. My little baby grew up." She reached up to wipe away the smudge. Bella jerked away. "I care about you..."
"If you care so much then why are you auctioning the garage? This is the only place that Grace and I've ever lived and your going to take it away from us! You hurt daddy so much when you cheated on him and your still hurting him now 10 years later. You were selfish then and you haven't changed."
"If I signed the garage over to your father, could we have a fresh start?"
"We could never have a fresh start, I can't just forget 10 years of pain..." Bella sighed.
"But...?"
"But we could start again...without forgetting. Remembering is what keeps history from repeating itself."
There was a long pause. Both stared at the ground, not quite sure what to say next.
"Thank you, Bella."
She nodded as her mother climbed into her car.
"Mom?"
Her mother turned toward her and smiled gently.
"I have just one question before you leave..." She approached the truck and put her hands on the halfway rolled down window, "Did you sleep with Senator Calhoun?" Bella held her breath.
"Yes," her mother looked away, "I did."
"Is he my father?" She asked softly, almost whispering.
"No, sweetie," She reached up and stroked Bella's face, "He's not."
*****(Friday, 9:33 P.M., Jake's room)*****
"Hey, what are you doing?" Hamilton asked as he entered Jake's room.
"It's this new thing people are doing called working, I'm sure you haven't heard of it." She said, facing her lap top.
"Hey you shouldn't be working," He swivelled her chair around to face him, "it's Friday night and more importantly it's your birthday."
"What's behind your back?" she asked trying to peer around him.
"I found it in the 'lost mail' section." He smiled triumphantly.
She took the box from him and set it in front of her. "No wonder...my mother addressed it to Jacqueline Pratt at Rawley Girls."
"Open it!"
"I'm afraid." She stared at the package.
"Why?"
She sighed, "I've had such a wonderful day, I don't want this to ruin it."
"C'mon."
She grabbed scissors and cut the tape holding the brown box closed and took out a wrapped parcel inside. She stared at it doubtingly. She glanced up at Hamilton and he gave her an encouraging nod. She took the present and slowly slid off the ribbon and took off the wrapping paper.
"Great, Bath and Body Works stuff and an N*SYNC cd." She laughed angrily, "She doesn't know me at all."
"I'm sorry." When he hugged her, he saw a smaller gift still in the box, partially covered by styrofoam squares. "You forgot one." He picked it up and gave it to her.
"It's probably a Britney Spears cd." She tore away the paper. Her face softened when she saw the gift. It was a 3x5 picture of her and her mother, looking at each other and smiling.
He kissed her forehead and hugged her, "Maybe she knows you a little more than you think."
*****(Friday, 10:41 P.M.)*****
"Where are we going Hamilton?"
"You find out soon enough." He lead her towards Friendly's, his hand over her eyes.
"You know, I can cover my own eyes."
"Yeah, but I'd have to trust you to let you do that."
She punched in the direction his voice was coming from but missed by a couple of inches.
"Nice try," he laughed, "but I'm the one who can see, remember? We're almost there."
She heard a door open and she was lead through.
"Open your eyes."
She opened her eyes but before she could register where she was the lights came on.
"SURPRISE!" The room was filled with about 30 people she knew. A big banner hung in the middle of the room that said 'Happy Birthday' with everyone's signatures and well wishes on it. The counter was filled with all possible snack food imaginable and a large chocolate cake.
She jumped back, startled, almost tripping over Hamilton. Laughter filled the room.
"Wow..."
*****(Friday, 11:02 P.M., Friendly's)*****
"Bella, this is Cameron."
"It's nice to meet you, Cameron. Where are you from?" Bella asked politely.
"That's a long story, trust me." Scout finished for her. Cameron looked at him and laughed.
Bella felt a little hurt that he already had a private joke with this girl.
"I moved here from London."
Everyone looked over their shoulders as music started blaring from the back of the diner.
"Would you like to dance, Scout?" Cameron asked when a slow song came on the radio.
"Sure."
As she lead him closer to the radio, he glanced back at Bella. She looked away, she couldn't bring herself to look at him.
"Dance with me Bella." A familiar voice came from behind her.
She smiled at Will, he always knew when to rescue her.
"Thanks." She whispered.
While they danced, she laid her head on Will's shoulder. She noticed how spirited Scout seemed with Cameron. He wasn't wearing that sad expression he always had around her. They looked so happy.
*****(Saturday, 1:11 A.M., Rawley Lake)*****
Will and Bella sat on the dock with their jeans rolled up and their legs dangling in the water.
"I'm really glad we had a party for Jake, she really needed to know people cared for her."
"Me too."
It seemed that with the stilling lake, their words stopped too. Until a long gust of warm air came, reviving the conversation.
"My mother came to see me today, well actually..." she said looking at her watch, "yesterday."
"What did she say?"
"She gave us back the garage."
"That's great, Bella."
But she still wore a sad expression. "I asked her..." She didn't need to finish that sentence, Will knew what she was talking about.
"And?"
"He's not...my brother." She sat staring at the lake, "I thought I would be so happy to find out, but I don't know. These wounds are still healing and I don't know if I'm ready to just...rip them open and start over. We've been through so much pain...I mean we thought we were related for God's sake...and what if I tell him and it doesn't work out. It's just so complicated." She sighed. "And then there's Cameron. Did you see how happy he looked with her? How simple his life is with her? I think he deserves that. That's something I can't give him. I just don't know anymore if telling him is the right thing to do."
"The truth is a very important thing, but so are you and Scout. It's your decision, but ultimately you have to think of what's best for everyone in this situation."
She nodded, "Thanks Will." She kissed his cheek.
"No problem." She picked up his arm and placed it around her shoulder and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. She placed her hand between them on the dock and he covered it with his own. Together they listened to the lake and the late night crickets.
*****(Saturday, 11:32 A.M., the gas station)*****
Scout jogged over to the garage. "Hey, I thought you looked hungry." He held up a wrapped hamburger in one hand and a coke in the other.
"Thanks." She sat on the bench, unwrapping her hamburger, and Scout sat next to her in comfortable silence.
"Listen, Bella..." He began, "I saw your mom here yesterday, and I just want to ask you this and I promise it will be the last time." He paused, "Are we...?" He let the sentence hang in the air as the moments passed by.
She nodded, not looking at him. They sat for a while, each looking in opposite directions.
"Well, I better get back to work," She said, standing up and placing the hamburger on the bench, "Thanks for the food." She headed toward the car she was fixing.
"Hey Bella," Scout stood as she turned around, "I thought of one."
"One what?"
"A song lyric, you know..."
She nodded for him to continue.
He looked into her eyes for the first time that day, "Life's so different than it is in your dreams."
"Oh, Scout..." She whispered. She walked over, hugged him, and with that...let him go.
*****
Will's Voice Over: Destiny. I do believe it exists. Some things are just meant to happen and some people are just meant to be together. (Cut to: Jake jumping up, with her hands in the air, from the couch in the common room after winning a video game. Hamilton remains seated and gives her an evil glare.) There are no other explanations for them. But recent events have also made me wonder about a flexible future, one that you mold for yourself. (Cut to: Bella watching Scout head back toward the diner.) It's something I'll never know, but I will always find myself wondering about. I guess, all I have left is to accept that life is a little bit of both. I just have to move forward, tread on, and never doubt that this is my life. The past is unchangeable, but the future...that's a different story.
*****
The end