Back in the room, Hamilton was still in shock. He still cannot believe that he saw
Jake. "What is she doing here?"
Hamilton asked himself silently.
"Hamilton, earth to Hamilton," Elise waiving her hand
in front of Hamilton's face trying to get Hamilton back to reality again. "What's going on with you? It's like you've seen a ghost or something."
"Oh I'm sorry. Don't worry. I'm fine." Hamilton
kissed Elise. "So can I help you with
anything?"
"Hamilton, are you sure you're okay? Is there anything that you're not telling
me?" Elise asked with a worried tone in her voice.
"I'm fine," Hamilton assured his girlfriend, and
began helping Elise unpack.
Hamilton and Elise had only been going out for five
months. However, he never told her, or
any of his past girlfriends about Jake. How could he explain his relationship with Jake? Jake was his first love, the love of his
life, and his soul mate. He and Jake
were together for about a year, and it was the most wonderful time of his
life. Even though for the most part of
the relationship they were apart, they were very close. They called each other, send e-mails, and even
tried to see each other once in a while to preserve the relationship. They had shared an intense relationship, and
passion for one another that will bond them forever. Nevertheless, Hamilton tried to repress all those feelings for it
seemed that he was the only one who felt that way about the relationship that
he and Jake shared. In the end,
everything was not enough, and their love for one another was not that strong
as Hamilton thought. Jake made that
clear two years ago when she broke his heart.
Hamilton remembered the day he received that God
forsaken phone call from Jake. Jake was
in Europe with her mom, while her mom was doing the Les Misèrables
European tour. Apparently, Jake met
someone, and fell madly in-love with. She said that what they had was just a fling, and that they had a
fun time together, and it was time for them to move on with their
lives. Oh how those words coming from
her tortured him. Hamilton was
devastated, and became depressed for a while. He could not believe what Jake did to him, and he felt that he never
really knew her at all. However after a
while of hating and anger towards Jake, Hamilton realized that although he may
not be able to forgive Jake, he would always love her, and there would always
be a special place in his heart for Jake. Jake and their relationship were an important part of his life, although
it ended painfully. Now, seeing Jake
once again had brought up all the memories, and feelings that Hamilton though
he had kept away. So many questions to
ask but they would all have to wait, at least for now.
********************
Jake found herself driving towards Rawley Lake. Every time she needed to be by herself to
think or contemplate about her life, she had always managed to end up by the
lake. The gentle waves of the lake
always had some kind of calming effect on her. "What is Hamilton doing here?" Jake asked herself while sitting on dock,
and staring at the lake.
A month after Jake and Hamilton had broken-up, Jake
found out from Bella that Hamilton had left Rawley to go to a boy's academy in
Maine. Jake knew that she had hurt
Hamilton badly but she felt that breaking-up was the right thing to do. Coincidentally within that month, Jake's mom
got another part in a play in London, and decided to live in there permanently. Knowing Jake would not like living in London,
Jake's mom decided to send her only daughter back to the place where she
thought Jake will be happy, and that place was Rawley Academy.
When Jake found out that her mom had arranged her to
be enrolled at Rawley Academy for Girls, she was hesitant at first. However, Bella, Scout and Will assured her
that it would be fine. They also told
her that Hamilton had decided not to home to Rawley as much as possible.
When Jake returned, it took a while for her to cope
with the memories. Fortunately, with
the help of Bella, Scout, and Will, she was able to move on, and enjoyed her
life at Rawley. She never saw
Hamilton. Even when he would
occasionally, which was almost never, return for school breaks, she always made
sure that she was not around Rawley before he returned, and he was gone when
she came back. Jake also made sure that
Bella, Scout, and Will never mention her attending Rawley Academy to
Hamilton. She also tried as much as
possible not to get any news about him. However, with the little news that she did receive about Hamilton, she
knew he was happy with his life in Maine.
"What am I going to do?" Jake said while trying to
figure things out.
Jake remained by the lake for a while. She was still not sure of what she was going
to do. However, the only thing that she
did know was that Hamilton was back. Sooner or later the truth will come out, and more pain will come.
*******************
Jake looked at her watch and saw that it was almost
seven o'clock. She had been sitting on
the dock for a while, and still had not managed to find a way to deal with her
current situation. Finally, Jake walked
towards her car to get her cell phone, and dialed Will's room phone.
"Hello," Will answered.
"Hey Will, it's Jake."
"Jakey, you're back. How are you?"
"Will, are you busy?"
"Actually, I'm getting ready to go to the gas
station to meet up with Scout and Bella." Will answered, and sensed that
something was wrong with Jake. "Jake
are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Jake lied. "Actually, I'm also going to meet up with
Bella and Scout. I just want to know if
you want to ride with me."
"Yeah, that would be great. It'll give us time to catch up a bit."
"Great, I'll be in the parking lot in five
minutes. Okay, see ya, bye."
"See ya." Will hung up, and was sure that something was troubling Jake. He would just have to make Jake open up.
Five minutes later, Will walked towards the parking
lot, and saw Jake standing by her car. Will smiled as he saw Jake, his Jacqueline, his best friend.
"So, who is this fair creature that has captured my
eyes? Could it be the lovely Jacqueline
Pratt?"
"Will, stop it," Jake replied with a smile. Jake walked towards Will, and gave him a
kiss on his cheeks and a hug. "You're
crazy."
"That's why you love me."
"Yeah, sure," Jake answered. "Come on, let's go. Scout and Bella are waiting for us."
Jake and Will got into the car, and drove to Bella's
gas station. On their way, Will noticed
that Jake was not herself. "Okay Jake,
spill, and don't tell me that nothing's wrong because I know you."
"Will, what are you talking about?"
"Come on Jake," Will pleaded. "You haven't been yourself since we left
Rawley. Look at you, you're driving but
I don't even think that you're paying attention to the road. I wasn't going to say anything but I want to
get to the gas station in one piece, you know. So, come on tell me, what's wrong?"
Jake glanced at Will, and immediately drove the car
towards the side of the road, and parked. Jake paused and stared at the space in front of her for a moment to
think of what she would say to Will. Then, she finally said, "Hamilton's back."
"What? What
do you mean Hamilton's back?" Will asked trying to understand what Jake had
just told him.
"I mean, he's back, like he's here in New Rawley to
stay for good. He'll be attending
Rawley Boys again."
"When did he return?"
"I don't know, I just saw him this afternoon. What am I going to do?" Jake looked at Will trying to get a reaction
from him.
"Jake, this is big." Will looked at Jake with disbelief, and at the same time feeling
for his friend "You're probably in
shock right now. I mean, you haven't
seen him in like what two years, and now he's back."
"You're telling me. I managed to attend Rawley Girls in the last two years, and was able to
not let him know about it. Now, he's
back, and I don't know what to do.
With a confused impression, Will asked, "What do you
mean you don't know what to do?"
"I mean I don't know how to handle the
situation. It's weird seeing him
again. I'm all confused." Jake was on the verge of crying. "I didn't expect that seeing him once again
would bring up all the memories, especially the painful ones."
Will brought Jake close to him and hugged her. "Jake it will be okay. Always remember that I'm here, we're all
here, Scout and Bella, for you like we've always have. You're not alone."
"Thanks Will." Jake pulled away from Will, and wiped her tears. "He hates me you know."
"Huh? What
are you talking about?" Will asked.
"Do you remember when Hamilton and I broke up?"
"Yes, I remember Hamilton being depressed and
sulking all the time, then he left, and you returned to attend Rawley
Girls. I never really understood why
you two broke up, or better yet, why you broke up with him," Will told Jake as
he tried to remember. "You know Jake,
even though we're best friends, I never made a habit on prying on your private
affairs. However, I know, we all know,
that you always had issues regarding Hamilton. I mean there must be another reason on why you insisted on keeping your
being here at Rawley a secret from him. I'm pretty sure that if you had told him from the beginning that you
were here that he would have handled it." Will looked at his distraught friend. "So, maybe now it's time that you tell me the whole story."
"I lied to him." Jake closed her eyes then opened them and looked at Will again. "I told him that I met somebody in
Europe. I told him a lot of awful
things so he would hate me. I really
hurt Hamilton's feelings."
"Why would you do that?" Will asked.
"Will, please don't be mad at me," Jake pleaded
trying to explain to her friend her reasons. "I had to do it even though it was very hard for me. But you have to understand, at the time, I
didn't know if I could still come back at Rawley, and I didn't want Hamilton to
wait, to wait for nothing. I thought I
was doing him a favor or something." Jake looked down for a moment as tears came running down her cheeks, and
then looked up again at Will's face. "He hates me that's why in the last two years, I tried so hard not to
let him know that I'm here. Please
Will, don't be mad."
"Oh Jake, I'm not mad, it was your decision. However, now I understand why you've never
really moved on."
Confused on what Will said. "What do you mean never moved on?"
"I mean you're still in-love with him."
"No, Will, you're definitely wrong about that," Jake
said with a small laugh as she wiped her tears. "I may be confused, and have issues regarding Hamilton but I'm not
in-love with him." Jake looked
at Will straight in his eyes, "I'm not really. Not anymore."
"I don't know," Will said skeptically. "I think you're still in denial."
"Will, you're crazy." Jake shaking her head, "You
don't know what you're talking about."
"Really? Jake, why do you think you're feeling confused right now?"
"Like I said I don't know how to deal with Hamilton being
around, and how to deal with his hatred towards me."
"Are you sure that's the only reason?"
Jake was taken aback of what Will asked her. "I—," Jake said as she shook her head, and
turned it away to look outside the car's window.
"Jake, I'm going to tell you something but don't
take this the wrong way, okay." Will
touched Jake's chin, and guided her to face him again. "When we were dating, there were times that
I felt you're not really completely into the relationship."
"Oh Will, I'm sorry, I didn't realized that I made
you feel that way," Jake interrupted looking Will directly with an apologetic
eyes. "I didn't mean to-"
"Jake, it's okay," Will interrupted, then took
Jake's hands, and held it tight. "It's
okay, we're better off as friends anyways. I think even you knew it then. Have you even thought about why you never really had a serious
boyfriend? And don't tell me we were
serious because you and I both know we were never that serious."
Jake shaking her head, "But Will—"
"What? Don't
deny it Jake, Jacqueline, you're still in-love, I mean, have feelings
for Hamilton," Will corrected himself. "And your feelings for him have kept you from having a serious
relationship after your break-up with him. What you and Hamilton had was special. You ended your relationship with him so abruptly that you've never had a
closure, and because of that I think you've never really moved on. Am I right?"
Jake looked down to think for a moment of what Will
had just told her, then held up her head again to face Will with a "your right"
expression. " Oh Will, I hate it when
you're right. However, as for Hamilton
he's definitely moved on with his life."
"What do you mean?" Will asked.
"He's here with his girlfriend, and get this she's
my new roommate. Can you say that faith
is really screwing with my life or what?"
Will started laughing. "Jake this is really a screwed up situation."
"I cannot believe you're laughing about this," Jake
said with disbelief. "I'll be seeing
him all the time now that I'm rooming with his girlfriend. I think the two years of avoiding him are
now catching up on me." Jake shook her
head, and sighed. "It's like faith is
saying 'Hey time to catch up on lost times'," Jake said jokingly, and joined
Will in laughing.
Will stopped laughing. "Jake, seriously, whatever
happens remember that I'm here for you, always. You're my best friend for crying out loud."
"Thanks Will. You're the greatest. I don't
deserve you."
"I know," Will said smirking at Jake. "Come on let's go, enough with all the
drama. Besides, Bella and Scout are
probably wondering where we are. Tonight,
we'll forget all our problems, and just have fun. It will be great," Will assured his friend.
Jake smiled at Will, and gave him a quick kiss on
his cheeks. "You're right." With that, Jake started the car, and drove
towards the gas station.
