Get ready for some angst!
Marley was still kind of in shock from when Jake told her that he loved her. In a good way, of course, but it was still hard to focus on anything else. The following Monday at school, Marley still had a hard time focusing in her classes. Biology was the worst. She and Jake kept on passing not-so-subtle glances at each other, she had missed the whole entire lesson on the immune system.
"Hey, Marley and I are gonna go back to your house now since you have to retake that history test," Kitty said right after school.
"Alright, I'll meet you guys later," Jake said, kissing Marley's cheek.
"See you," Marley waved.
"You seem...different," Kitty observed as she and Marley walked to her car. "Did you guys, like, do it last night?"
"What? No!" Marley said, appalled. "He, um, told me he loves me."
"Awwww," Kitty gushed. "How sweet. You are so lucky."
Marley grinned. "Yeah, I know."
"Hey, so grab a drink or whatever you like, and make yourself at home," Kitty said once they got to Jake's house. "I'll be right back."
"Wait, where are you going?" Marley asked, not really wanting to be left alone.
"I just have to stop at my place for a sec. I promise I'll be right back."
"O-Okay," Marley said, taking a seat on Jake's couch. "I'll be here."
"You better," Kitty said as she walked out the door.
Marley let out an audible sigh as she tried to make herself comfortable. She grabbed the remote control and turned the TV on. After flipping through multiple channels of sports games and reality tv shows, she finally settled on The Vow. She had always liked that movie. Marley was a total sucker for romance.
After a couple minutes, someone started banging on the front door, startling her. She jumped up and ran the door, expecting it to be Kitty. However, when she opened up, an unfamiliar boy's face smiled back at her.
"Um, hi?" Marley squeaked.
"Hey, is Jake home?" The boy asked, letting himself inside without permission.
"Um, no, so I really don't think you should be in here."
"Hey, you're that girl from the party," the boy exclaimed. "Remember me? I'm Ryder."
Memories from her first outing with jake flashed through her mind. "Oh yeah," she recalled. "You were that guy who handed me that drink that Jake told me not to have."
"You could have drank it," Ryder said. "There wasn't anything bad in it."
"I'd rather not take my chances."
"So..." Ryder said. "Are you and Jake a thing now?"
Marley nodded. "Yep."
"Hmmm. He doesn't really seem like your type."
"And what would my type be exactly?" Marley asked.
"Guys who aren't criminals." Ryder shrugged.
Marley's eyes widened. "He's not a criminal," she whispered.
"Oh, so he didn't tell you everything then."
"W-What?"
"I'll let Jake talk to you about that. Speaking of Jake, where is he?"
"He's taking a test at school."
"So why are you here all by yourself?" Ryder asked in a way that made Marley a tad bit nervous.
"Kitty was here but had to run home. She'll be right back." Marley looked over to the door, hoping Kitty would return soon. She didn't feel so comfortable with Ryder staring at her like that.
"Well in the meantime, why don't we get to know each other a little better?" Ryder slid on the couch next to Marley.
"Um."
"You know Jake's bad for you, right?" Ryder whispered in her ear. "He's done bad things in his past."
Marley shuddered. "I don't care about the person he used to be."
"Fine then. But when he gets sent to juvie again, I won't be the one to bail him out this time."
Suddenly, Marley was saved by the sound of jingling keys outside the door. And when Kitty finally opened the door and let herself inside, Marley almost ran to hug her.
"Ryder? What the hell are you doing here?" Kitty asked, looking disgusted.
"I just stopped by to see Jake, but I ran into his pretty little girlfriend instead," Ryder said with a creepy grin on his face.
"Yeah, well if I see you bothering her ever again, I'll crack your head open with my fists," Kitty threatened. "Now get the hell out of here!"
"Alright, alright." Ryder put his arms up in defense. "But I'm sure I'll see you later," Ryder winked at Marley, causing shivers to run down her spine.
"Get out!" Kitty shoved Ryder out the door. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry." She ran over to Marley, who was shaking slightly. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"He just came in, looking for Jake," Marley explained. "He started telling me not to be with Jake because he's a criminal or something, and then he started hitting on me in a really creepy way."
"Okay, first of all, Jake's not a criminal. Well, unless there's something he never told me. But Ryder does that a lot. You know, hitting on people like that. Happened to me."
"But you're into girls."
"Never stopped him. He was the one to confirm my love for girls. He kissed me, and I was utterly disgusted. Listen Marley," Kitty put her hand on Marley's shoulder, "even though you're with Jake, Ryder's going to still hit on you. He's gonna make you want to break up with Jake to be with him. Don't give into it. He'll mess with your head, trust me. And don't ever be alone with him."
"T-Thanks for the advice," Marley said. "So he wasn't telling the truth about Jake being a, a criminal, right?"
Kitty sighed. "Honestly, there's still some things he's kept a secret from me, so I don't know. But you should talk to him about it."
"Are you sure?"
Kitty nodded. Yeah, I'm sure."
Jake came home an hour later. Marley and Kitty were currently both laying on the couch finishing up The Vow.
"If you tell anyone this, I'll freaking murder you, but I actually really love this movie," Kitty had said earlier.
"Please don't tell me you've left me for Kitty. Even though she's prettier than me and smells better," Jake joked when he saw the two together.
Marley laughed, sitting up on the couch. "Don't worry, you're the only guy for me," she yawned, stretching her arms.
"Wake up, fat ass," Jake said to a sleeping Kitty, who had drool dripping down her chin. Kitty jerked awake and gave Jake the finger.
"Your 'pal' Ryder was here earlier," Kitty said.
"What? Why?"
"He was looking for you, but found something much better," Kitty said, glancing at Marley. "He was hitting on her. Nothing bad or anything, but just the usual crap he pulls. He did say something that kind of startled Marley, though."
"What?"
"He said something about you being a criminal," Marley spoke up. "And he said that he won't be bailing you out of juvie next time."
"What!?" Kitty shouted in alarm.
Jake's face went noticeably pale.
"Holy shit, you're totally hiding something from us," Kitty said, her face growing red with anger. "I thought you told me everything about you."
"Jake, what's going on?" Marley said, her face laced with concern.
"I haven't been completely honest with the two of you," Jake said, looking down at his feet.
"Was that asshole right? Did you fucking go to jail?" Kitty yelled, causing Marley to flinch due to her use of foul language.
"It was years ago, Kitty. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd freak out."
"What the fuck did you do, Jake?" Kitty asked. Marley could swear she almost saw stream rise out of Kitty's ears.
"It was nothing, really."
"Obviously not since you went to jail!" Kitty screeched. "What did you do?"
"I just, I-I shoplifted something from a store with some guys. I got caught, and I was sent to juvie."
"What store?" Kitty asked.
"Best Buy."
"What did you steal?"
"A cell phone."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted one, okay? I stole a stupid $20 phone for my own selfish reasons. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Jake shouted.
"Why the hell wouldn't you tell me something like that? Sure I would be mad, but I'd just be like, oh you're a dumbass, or something like that."
"You guys, calm down," Marley said softly.
"How can you be so calm about this?" Kitty said. "Your boyfriend's a liar! He lied to you about being a criminal!"
"I'm not a criminal!" Jake shouted. "I've just made some mistakes."
"Please stop," Marley begged, her eyes filling up with tears.
"Marley, you have to listen to me," Jake pleaded. "I'm not the guy I used to be. You have to believe me."
"You promised no more secrets," Marley said, her voice cracking. "You lied to me."
"I'm so sorry, Marley. I didn't mean to. I didn't want you to know about that part of my life because I was afraid you would see me differently."
"Oh she sees you differently alright," Kitty muttered.
Jake moved his hand to wipe away a tear that Marley didn't even realize was halfway down her face. She jerked away slightly.
"Marley, please."
"I-I'm sorry Jake, but I can't deal with all of this. It's just too much."
"A-Are you breaking up with me?"
I don't know," Marley whispered. "I feel like I should, but..."
"Please don't," Jake begged. "We can make this work. I promise I'll tell you everything."
"There you go again, promising stuff. But how do I know you'll keep it?"
"Come on, Marley, I'll take you home." Kitty got up and grabbed Marley's hand. "Jake needs to realize the mistake he's made. We trusted him, and he let us down."
"You guys, please listen to me," Jake said in a way that broke Marley's heart. She wanted more than anything to run into his arms and tell him that everything's going to be okay, and that she forgives him.
But things weren't always that easy. Jake didn't want Marley to know about that part of his life. It was a time that he wanted to erase completely from his memory. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible.
Jake didn't come to school the next day. Marley stood by her locker, replaying everything that happened last night in her head. She wished she could just delete everything that happened, and go back to the night where Jake told her he loved her. She knew Jake still loved her, but did she still love him? No, of course she did. She would never stop loving Jake. This was just a fight. Not a break up, she hoped. All couples fought. It was normal. Right?
The bell for second period snapped Marley out of her deep thoughts. She rubbed her tired, burning eyes and headed to gym.
I'm really sorry for yelling last night," Kitty said, coming up to Marley after lunch. "It was totally uncalled for."
"It's okay," Marley tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.
"Chicks before dicks, right?" Kitty said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah..."
"Look, I'm not feeling so great, so I think I'm gonna go home," Kitty said.
But we still have half the day left."
"I know, but I feel like I'm gonna pass out. I'll see you later, though."
"Uh, okay," Marley said, watching Kitty walk out the building to the parking lot, where she left without anyone noticing. Marley really wanted to chase after her and skip the rest of the day as well, but remembered she had two major tests today that she couldn't miss. Fuck school, Marley thought. She gasped out loud when she realized that she just swore for the first time in her life. Granted, it wasn't out loud, but still. It felt good.
Marley walked out the school building at the end of the day, ready to finally go home and take a long bath. Maybe she would even watch some reruns of The Bachelor with her mom. She felt her phone suddenly vibrate wildly in her pocket. Seeing Kitty's phone number light up, she answered it, hoping Kitty could join her in her Bachelor marathon. But before she could even get a word in, Kitty started sobbing violently.
"M-Marley? There's b-been an accident."
I feel bad for ending this chapter here, but it makes it more interesting and dramatic. I hated writing Ryder as such a bad guy, but it had to be done. Hope you all liked this chapter!