"Clare, where are my socks?" a flustered Jake called into the hallway from his room, an empty sock drawer hanging from his hands. When he woke up that morning and went to grab some socks to wear for graduation, Jake was quite shocked to find that every last pair of socks seemed to be missing. Though he wasn't sure why she would have taken his socks, of all things, there was no way it wasn't her.
Not hearing an answer from his step-sister's room but rather a bit of shuffling, Jake sighed and walked the short distance to her room. Throwing open the door and finding her pulling up her blanket, Jake rolled his eyes and went to sit at the foot of her bed. She whined as the bed went down, but Jake ignored her and placed the empty drawer on the floor. Finally turning to her, Jake let out a short laugh and gave her a look.
"So, I know you're not that lumpy and you didn't gain all that weight over night..." he trailed off, patting the space around where her stomach would have been under the blanket, but where instead were all the socks from his room. "Would you like to explain to me why you stole my socks on one of the most important days of my life?" His eyebrow immediately rose as his question was posed and he waited for her response.
Defeated, Clare let out a sigh and shook her head, wiping under her eyes even though no tears were forming. She then reached beneath the cover and grabbed a pair of socks before chucking it at his head. "Just take your stupid socks and go, Jake," she demanded bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest and turning her head away from him, clearly not wanting to deal with Jake, though he wasn't sure why.
"You have quite the arm..." he muttered, rubbing the spot she had hit on his temple as he gazed at her, waiting a moment in hopes that she would speak up. When she didn't, he scooted up the bed, tossing the socks he found on the way into the drawer on the floor. "Hey, Clare, look at me, dammit, will you?" he asked gently, but she refused, her head cocked tightly towards the window as silent tears fell from her eyes.
"Why haven't you left already? You're gunna be late," she replied more bitterly than before, finally turning to face him. It was clear just how unhappy she was with Jake. He just wanted to know why, but he really did have to leave. Asking her now would not be the right time to do so.
With a hefty sigh, Jake rose from the bed, grabbed his drawer and walked to the doorway. Before he left the room, he called out to her over his shoulder, "You're coming today, right? It would really mean a lot to me." In reply she groaned, making her step-brother rolled his eyes as he left to get changed for graduation.
A few hours later and the ceremony was all done. It was official, Jake was a free man. He would no longer have to deal with the trivial drama of high school, be home before midnight each night, and he definitely didn't have to make his bed every morning. It was the transition from his old prison to his new life, and it was perfect for him. That weekend he would be moving out of the Edwards-Martin household and into the cabin.
It had taken him months to get his father to agree to the proposal, but eventually Glen Martin agreed. After all, Jake had kept up his end of the bargain; he applied to a few universities, even though he had no intention of going, and he promised to pay rent and abide by any rules his father-landlord imposed on him. It only made sense to Jake that he stay in the same place he had learned to love all his eighteen years of life. Even though his father seemed set on the idea, letting Jake live his life just as he wanted to, there seemed to be someone who didn't support the decision.
"But why can't you just stay here? What difference does it make living in the cabin and living here? You don't haveto go all the way up there," Clare nagged Jake as he sat in his room, packing his belongings to bring up with him. Looking up from the box he was working on, he saw her standing in the doorway, her arms across her chest in a supposedly stubborn stance, though her eyes told a different story. In them, Jake could feel the same kind of hurt she exhibited the day of his graduation.
Sitting up straight, Jake pat the space next to him, beckoning her to join him on the floor. After a moment of mental debate, Clare huffed and stomped over to the space, plopping down next to him. Ignoring her for a few minutes, Jake continued packing as he tried to figure out just how to answer her question. Seemingly growing tired of his silence, Clare reached over to what he was picking up and took it from him, staring at him to show that she wanted answers.
"Clare..." he started off slowly, still not exactly sure how to word things to her. Taking the shirt she had stolen back, he continued on packing, not being able to bring himself to look over at her."I can't live here all my life. I'm a graduate now, a man, if you will. Living here will just hold me back. I need to get out and live my life, Clare. Can't you understand that?"
Hearing a whimper followed by a sniff, Jake's head jerked up and turned towards her, finding that she wasn't looking his way. For the second time that week Clare was crying over him leaving and it tore Jake's heart into two. Though he felt slightly awkward, never really sure what to do when someone started crying, Jake put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer, trying to calm her down.
"You can't really blame me. You know that I've hated it here," he whispered to her, reminding her of things he had told her in the past. She groaned and he swore he saw her eyes roll. "Why, because you can't smoke here anymore? Because I made them put that curfew on you? It's not all that bad," she countered, causing Jake to laugh lightly.
Seeing her frown, Jake couldn't help but smirk to himself, finding it kind of funny how frustrated she was getting over not understanding him. "Well, those are very accurate factors of my decision, but not exactly. I just need to be on my own back in the country that I love." Still, Clare didn't seem to buy the truth as she pushed his arm from her shoulders and moved away from him.
Now it was Jake's turn to roll his eyes at his stubborn sister.. "Look at it this way, Clare. Would you like it much to live here but not be allowed to read your books? Or if you could never watch the Twilight movies?" he tried to rationalize to her, making her see things his way. She grumbled and muttered, "That's not the same," but Jake could tell that he had gotten into her head at least a little bit. "But since you're so insistent on leaving, whatever. I won't miss you," she spoke darkly, as if wanting Jake to believe her lie, but he knew she wasn't serious. After a few minutes she left, leaving Jake alone once again to finish his packing.
