This is part two to the story. I'm thinking of doing a third part. Let me know if you're what you think about that. Make sure you leave a review and let me know what you think about this story, or any of my others.
Erin fixed the stupid skirt and finished packing up her backpack before heading to another first day of school. She pulled the stupid socks up to her knees and put on those stupid black shoes. Another school year of private school, another year of the bitches Erin thought as she walked down the stairs to grab a banana before heading off to the place Hank said would give her the best education.
"Ready for your first day? You read that summer reading book they assigned?" Hank looked up from his paper.
"Yes Hank, I also wrote that stupid 3 page paper they assigned about what I learned this summer."
"That's all you're going to eat?" Hank asked worriedly.
"Yes, I'll see you when you get home from school," she sighed annoyed and closed the front door behind her as she sluggishly walked in that direction.
Supposedly Jay was going to this school. So he said the first week of camp. Apparently all of his buddies showed up the second week, and that first night's conversation was never brought up again. The one thing he forgot to mention that night was that when his friends arrived he was going to act like an ass. Erin was considered one of the guys for the rest of the summer. She wasn't quite ignored, but ignored as a girl that liked him. She certainly did not fit in with the girls and the boys were childish. But, it was better to hang with childish boys than it was to hang with preppy girls. So that's the way her crappy summer went, bugs, boys, and bleak. As the camp days passed, there was one less day of her being stuck in that hell hole.
She arrived at the school, stares and whispers, just like normal. Almost like they all hadn't spent almost 3 months apart. She walked up to her locker, and fiddled around until the bell rang. First days were the worst, there was nothing to do. She couldn't even do her homework in homeroom because there wasn't any to do. Walking into the classroom she sat down in the same seat she sat in last year.
"Erin Lindsay?" The teacher asked.
"Yes?" She looked up from her backpack.
"You've moved a seat back," the teacher pointed to the seat behind her and returned to his morning newspaper. Erin looked around confused. She correctly identified the culprit of the reason for the seat move. Jay Halstead sat in the front corner of the room, alphabetically pushing her to the very last seat in the class room. The back corner, where she felt like she belonged but up until now hadn't actually been. She stared daggers at him as he smiled and winked. She picked up her bag and angrily plopped in the seat behind.
The two girls who usually sat in front of her began their usual morning gossip. "Look at the new guy in the corner," the brunette said as she nodded in the direction of Jay. Both girls' heads turned.
"Look at those eyes," the blonde smiled. "I could totally see him in my bed in the next few weeks," she winked. Erin scoffed at the comment. "You got something to say Erin?"
"You're talking about the kid like he's a piece of meat," she stated.
"And you know from experience?" The brunette laughed and high fived the blonde.
"Forget about it," Erin mumbled and put her head down. Jay knows so much about her, and if he becomes friends with the bitches something else could slip out. It's bad enough that they know where her real parents are. She never really told him about her dad, but after today he's going to end up knowing. Erin heard the bell ring, she picked up her backpack from the desk and ran out of the room. At least with this new seat she was closer to the door. She walked in the direction of the next class and heard her name being called from behind her. Jay Halstead was running to catch up.
"Erin?" Jay spoke out of breath.
"Jay," Erin stated as she leaned against the wall.
"What not happy to see me?" Jay asked confused.
"We didn't exactly end up on the best of terms last time we saw each other," Erin replayed their parting in her head.
XXX
Jay stood holding his bag on his shoulder. "I'll see you in school," he looked at the ground and walked around Erin.
"That's it?" Erin asked annoyed. "You ignore me for three weeks, and all you have to say for yourself is I'll see you in school?" Erin asked in anger.
"Yeah, that's it," he walked away.
XXX
"I'm sorry about that," he looked down again, sadness wiped across his face. "I had just found out that my mom wasn't doing too well. The chemo hadn't halted the cancer," he confessed.
"Yeah well Hank called that day to tell me Camille had stage 4 breast cancer, and the chemo wasn't working either," she pushed back. "So that isn't an excuse, because I was feeling the exact same thing you were," she whispered softly she wasn't even sure he had heard her.
"I'm sorry," he sighed. "I didn't know."
"That's because you never asked," she shook her head and stepped around him. She walked into her next classroom and sat in the back. She watched her classmates file in, Jay included. He looked at her, and sat on the opposite side of the room. Erin watched as the girls from their homeroom sat around him.
"My name's Brittany," the blonde twirled her hair and leaned over.
"Hi Brittany," Jay swallowed. He glanced over towards Erin, and she made no move telling Jay that she even cared that he was talking with the 'bitches'.
"We saw you talking to Erin outside," the brunette eyed Erin.
"Yeah, so?" Jay felt uncomfortable. They seemed to see the conversation they had, probably didn't hear it. But Jay and Erin had revealed a lot about themselves. Stuff they only knew about each other. So he waited until they revealed their purpose for bringing it up.
"So, you know she's a drug addict right?" Brittany pushed.
"Yeah, and she's homeless," the girl Jay didn't know the name mentioned.
"Yeah, she's a homeless drug addict," Brittany laughed as glared in Erin's direction. Erin smugly smiled back and returned her eyes to her notebook.
"I hear her father's in jail, and her mother is so fucked up she doesn't even notice her kids some days," the other girl laughed. Erin pulled her head lower and lower into her backpack. Trying to stay hidden from the world.
"Did she tell you this?" Jay questioned. By the sound of his voice, Erin knew he was about to explosively yell at them.
"No, but we have our own ways of figuring out stuff," Brittany winked at Jay.
"So you're going off of your own ways, when instead you could have asked Erin?" Jay laughed. "That's really childish, don't you think?" He turned around. "Don't you think that if her mother was neglectful, she would want people in school to be understanding, nice, and even a little bit understanding?" Jay raised his voice.
"God, I didn't think you were her boyfriend," Brittany laughed at his outburst.
"I'm not her boyfriend," Jay defended and Erin inwardly sighed. "But I am her friend," Jay stood to walk over towards Erin. "By the way, she's not a drug addict. You don't know the first thing about her. So why don't you just take those sick twisted lies and shove it," Jay turned at confidently sat in front of Erin.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"You didn't tell me it was this bad," Jay spoke saddened.
"You never asked," Erin whispered again.
"I can't believe you haven't punched someone yet," he laughed.
"Would if I could Halstead," she laughed along. "As much as I appreciate you sticking up for me, I still don't forgive you for what happened this summer."
"I'm sorry Erin, I hadn't realized I was ignoring you."
"It's not about you ignoring me Jay. We had such an intimate conversation that first night. I told you secrets I have never told anyone ever before. And you just…" Erin paused.
"I just what?" Jay asked waiting for the reason why she was so upset.
"You just acted like nothing ever happened, treated me like one of the guys for the rest of the summer. I'm always being treated like one of the guys. Jay, I don't want to be just one of the guys," she whispered more softly. Hopefully preventing everybody else from seeing her vulnerability.
"One of the guys?" Jay questioned.
"Nevermind, just pay attention," Erin pointed to the front of the room where the teacher was standing.
"What do you mean, one of the guys Erin?" Jay questioned a little louder.
"Excuse me Mr…" the teacher stated.
"Halstead, Jay Halstead," he stated.
"Would you like to spend the next hour and a half teaching the class about British Literature, or shall I?" The teacher reprimanded.
"The topic is all your's Sir," Jay turned around and faced the front.
"Thank you Mr. Halstead."
For the rest of the period Erin was making her escape plan. She had basically just told Jay she didn't want to be just friends. He was such a boy. She gave him an opportunity to apologize for real, and he decided to play dumb. Either he was playing dumb, or he actually was dumb. Didn't really matter at this point, because no way was she going to bring it up again. She certainly wasn't going to let him bring it up either. Finally after the agony that was British Lit, Erin ran out of the classroom towards the girls bathroom.
As she sat in the stall on the end waiting for a decent amount of time before people began leaving for the day. Suddenly she heard the door open and girls walk in. Naturally, lifting her feet as to pretend no one else was in the bathroom so she could overhear their conversation.
"Okay good, no one's in here," the one voice said.
"Did you hear the way he defended her? It was almost like the guy met her before today," the second said.
"I just can't believe he told you off like that in the middle of the hallway," the third said. "I only witnessed the end after class."
At this point Erin was confused, because Jay told Brittany off before class started, not after. It could possibly be that they weren't talking about her. But people are always talking about her, so that would be completely new.
"He said something along the lines of her not being a drug addict, and needing support not hate," the first said.
So now Erin knew, they were talking about her.
"I don't understand. I mean she comes from the other side of Chicago. The bad side, I mean her father is in jail. I would know, my dad put him there," the second voice said again.
"It's almost as if this guy is in love with her. He basically threatened my life. He told me that if I didn't stop hounding her about her past he was going to kill me," the first voice said.
"He said that?" The third voice exclaimed shocked.
"Well, no. But he did say I should stop," the first voiced. Erin snickered, this girl mentioned that so out of proportion. But Jay stuck up for her, even though she never gave him a reason to, and he was kind of a jerk all freakin' summer. He was sweet, and she could tell that Jay cared about her.
She barged out of her stall, staring at the three girls in the bathroom and ran out. She ran in the direction she thought Jay would be. She spotted him, hanging around her locker. She rushed over and wrapped her arms around him. She whispered into his ear, "thank you".
"For what?" Jay asked confused.
"Thank you for today. For fighting for me, for sticking up for me," she let go of him and smiled.
"I told you, I've got your back," he responded.
"I appreciate that," Erin responded as she opened her locker and deposited the books.
"You headed home?" Jay asked.
"Yeah, I've got to get home. Hank's waiting for me, and I have to watch Justin when he gets home.
"Mind if I walk you home?" Jay almost pleaded.
"Sure, but if Hank kicks you out, don't say I didn't warn you," Erin laughed.
"Fair enough," Jay followed. Erin and Jay walked out of the school together. "So about that 'not being one of the guys' conversation?" He laughed.
"I don't want to talk about it. I said what I needed to say, and it flew right over your head. I'm not going to repeat myself," Erin rushed ahead.
"What do you mean it flew right over my head?" Jay questioned as Erin walked a little faster. "Erin, slow down," he tried to keep her pace.
"By not one of the guys did you mean that you didn't want to be my friend?" He questioned. "Erin just give me a hint," that sparked Erin to stop in her tracks and turn around.
"You want a hint? Was the hint on the beach the first night not a hint? Or how about third week when I wanted to go out on a canoe together? How about that time that where I was sitting alone on the bleachers watching everything go on around me, but you ignored that and continued to play football with your friends?" Erin spout angrily.
"What?" Jay asked confused.
"You know what? Nevermind. Go home Jay," Erin continued walking.
"I wanted to kiss you that night on the beach, that first night," Jay confessed. "I didn't though, because that would make camp more awkward and more difficult, for both you and me. So I didn't, but I did want to," he walked closer to her. "I couldn't canoe with you. If I did, I would've purposely tipped us so we could head back to the cabins and I could kiss you," he took another step. "When you were sitting on the bleachers alone, all I wanted to do was go up to you, put my arm around you, pull you closer, and kiss you," he took another step. He finally reached her, standing right behind her. "Every time I look at you, all I think about is kissing you," he confessed.
At that last confession, Erin turned around. "You want to kiss me?" She asked.
"I've never wanted anything more," Jay let out a deep breath.
"Oh," Erin sighed.
"Oh?" Jay asked confused.
"No one has ever told me that," she looked at her feet. Since when has she been shy?
"Well, can I kiss you Erin Lindsay?" Jay asked softly as Erin nodded her head. Jay leaned forward, wrapping his hand around her neck, pulling her head closer and closer to him. Finally, after what Erin thought was a lifetime, he pressed his lips to hers. Softly, yet firm, the anger and hurt from the beginning of their conversation forgotten. All too soon, Jay pulled away and Erin released a quiet whimper. A smile wiping across her face. "For the record Erin Lindsay, I don't, never have considered you one of the guys," Jay leaned in for a quick kiss.
"I should get inside," Erin pointed to the house behind her.
"That's your house?" Jay questioned.
"Yeah," she laughed.
"So I'm guessing the guy staring out of the window is Mr. Voight?" Jay pointed to the guy looking out of the house. Erin jumped around and stared Hank in the eyes. Hank left the window and suddenly the front door opened.
"Just don't say anything stupid," Erin whispered as Voight walked up to confront them.
"Erin," Hank stated as he crossed his arms.
"Hank, this is Jay. We met at camp this summer," she tries to break the tension.
"So I sent you up there as a punishment, and you've been kissing boys all summer?" Hank raised his eyebrows.
"No, I hadn't kissed any boys. That was a, first thing," Erin stumbled. Jay stepped around Erin and stuck out his hand.
"Mr. Voight, I'm Jay Halstead," Voight took the kid's hand and stared him down. Jay winced at the silent interrogation. Jay and Hank released their hands.
"Hey, Erin I'll see you in school tomorrow," Jay nodded in her direction and took off in the other direction. Erin watched him walk away and turned her attention to Voight.
"He's a nice boy," Erin told said as she walked past Voight and into the house.
"I doubt that. He kissed you in the middle of the street, in front of your house," Hank said as he followed her into the house.
"That is a long story, with a complicated backstory Hank," she provided.
"So you went to a camp, kissed a boy all summer, then he moved here and kisses you on our front lawn?" Voight insisted. "He doesn't sound like a nice guy to me Erin."
"He is a nice guy Hank. He sticks up for me at school. He helps me understand and cope with Camille. He's been the best thing that I have ever done," Erin wiped a tear.
"What?" Hank questioned.
"His mom got diagnosed with cancer right around the time as Camille," she explained. "He told me at camp, and then I told him, and he hugged me and told me everything was going to be okay," Erin cried.
"But we didn't tell you until you got home from camp," Voight reasoned.
"You're right, but a couple weeks before I left, I heard you and Camille arguing about whether or not you should tell us. I was dying up there Hank. Dying that I couldn't be here for you and Camille when I should have been. But up there, Jay held my hand as I told him and then I held his. Isn't that worth something?" Erin asked.
"Yeah kid, it is," Voight finished. "Finish your chores, I'll be at work. Camille's asleep up stairs try not to wake her," Voight said before he headed out of the front door.
Erin went about doing her chores. Thirty minutes later she heard a knock on the door. She opened the door and saw Jay standing there. "What are you doing here?" Eriin questioned.
"Is it safe?" Jay laughed as he peaked inside the house.
"He left a half hour ago," Erin laughed.
"Phew, I was afraid," Jay took a step inside.
"What are you doing here?" Erin asked again.
"I forgot something," Jay smirked.
"What did you forget? You never even came inside," Erin laughed when suddenly his lips were on her's again.
"I forgot to kiss you goodbye," Jay laughed as he parted.
"Yep, you did forget that," Erin agreed.
