part nine...
"Will? Will?! Damn it Will what's going on?" Scout was starting to get worried. Will's face was straight as stone, there was no sign of life inside the shell which was currently driving on the highway out of town. Scout continued shouting at Will, but nothing was getting through. In the end he just gave up and settled himself up against the passenger side door. If Will was gonna go all psycho on him then he might as well read the novel he had to read for English Literature for next semester.
Will was grateful when Scout finally shut
up. Will felt bad for ignoring him, but he couldn't find the strength to tell
Scout what was going on. If Monica Pratt was at Rawley Boys talking to Finn, it
certainly couldn't be good news for Jake… And the last thing Will wanted to do
was loose her. She was an inspiration to him. Her courage, her strength,
everything about her. The way she spoke, the way she laughed, even the way she
loved Hamilton… It was something that Will wanted to share in. Not as her
boyfriend, but as a friend… forever. He thought about it as he watched the road
climb and descent, maybe he did love her. For being Jake, for being Jacqueline,
for finding the true fairytale in life… maybe he did. But none of that mattered
now. He had to get to the cabin, so he set his mind back on the instructions
Charlie gave him, and hoped he'd be in time to warn Jake and Hamilton.
~Back at Rawley Academy~
"Look Michael, I appreciate you protecting my daughter, but you cannot possibly think that I am stupid enough to believe that she isn't here. I've read the letters she sent home. I know what she's done, and I want to speak with my daughter now!" Finn looked at the woman in front of him. If he'd ever met a snooty-nosed princess wannabe it was Monica Pratt.
"Ms Pratt, as I have already explained to you your daughter is not here. I don't know what more I can tell you. Perhaps if you'd like to go back to New York, I will ring you the second that she is back on Campus…"
Monica stood up placed her hands on her hips and with a raised voice slowly pronounced her words. "Do you know who I am? I could have your job for this!" Finn had enough at this statement.
"Ms Pratt. I know who you are. You are the only person that I have seen make Jake angry, sad, and feel worthless all with one phone call. You may be able to take my job away from me, but it wouldn't matter because at least I could sleep with myself at night. Your daughter is a truly inspirational think I'm sucking the inspiration bit dry? 'smile' person and she means a lot to so many people around the town of new Rawley. If you would take 30 seconds out of your busy schedule you would probably see that." Finn opened the door and turned to leave.
"Who are you to tell me who my daughter is, and what sort of a mother I am to her. You're such an asshole."
Finn didn't bother to turn around. "The dean's residence is 100 ft from campus, you can see it from the main grounds…. Oh, and by the way. The sign behind your car says 'no parking' if you don't move it I'll arrange for it to be towed within half an hour. Have a nice day…. Maam." Finn slammed the door with a huge smile on his face. That was the most fun he had had in a long time. He marveled at how nice Monica Pratt had been when she started talking to him. All pleasant and respectful, as if they had been best friends for twenty years, but as soon as she didn't get what she wanted she turned into a true and utter bitch.
Finn ran off towards the main residence as fast as his legs would carry him. He knocked on the door and cursed under his breath when Steven answered the door.
"Michael… What can I do for you… Trouble with a textbook?" Steven laughed. He laughed in Finn's face as he always had. In Steven's eyes Finn was just a bookworm, he wasn't going to get anywhere in life. To Steven, life was all about how much money and property a person owned. He was more 'Rawley' than most of the kids that attended.
"Funny Steven, but no. Is Kate here? I need to discuss something with her." Steven eyed Finn off as he tried to calm his breathing down to a normal pace. "Caitlin" Steven glanced behind him for a second until he heard a deep sigh and Kate trudged into the doorway. Finn shook his head and wondered if Steven even remembered that Caitlin wasn't his wife's actual name. She looked startled to see Finn standing there.
"Kate can we talk for a minute? It's important." Kate shoved Steven from the door slightly, asking him to go and check on lunch, which was sitting at the cat's disposal. Kate walked out onto the veranda and closed the door behind her.
"Finn what are you doing here?" She noted the strained look on his face and suddenly got even more panicked than she had been. "Is it my baby? Where's Hamilton? Is he alright?"
"Kate I think I know where Hamilton is, but it's urgent, I need you to come with me right now. We have to find him straight away. Do you still have the key to the cabin?" Kate looked confused, and then proceeded in blushing remembering the last time she had been to that cabin with Finn. "Yes I've still got it, but I only have one copy now. The other one went missing a couple of months ago."
"It's ok Kate, I need you to make some excuse, and tell Steven your going away for the night, maybe a couple of days and that you need to go alone. I'll meet you on the other side of the lake in twenty minutes." With that Finn brushed her hand and took off back through the Rawley grounds.
~At The Cabin~
Jake smiled as she heard the shower still running. She slowly changed out of her now damp towel, and into the fresh clothes that were laid out on the bed in between piles of feathers, savoring the bite of the cool air coming from the lake not less than 100 meters away. She brushed her fingers through her still dripping hair and smiled as she looked around at the mess that her and Hamilton had made with the pillows an hour earlier. Finally the feathers got to her and she gathered one of the now empty pillow cases and started gathering up the snow white feathers which lay scattered literally everywhere in the room.
About ten minutes later Jake heard the shower stop and she stood up admiring how much cleaner the room looked with most of the feathers now contained. She saw some over near the fireplace at the end of the bed so she knelt down to get those, and the ones which had somehow gathered under the bed. As she reached out and scooped the feathers towards her from under the bed her fingers grazed some rough wood. It didn't feel like a scratch caused by someone moving the bed, it was a shape of some sort. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she pushed the bed aside so she could get a better look. It was a carving, like she'd seen on trees in a little park in New York. A sign of true devotion of a couple, something that would grow with the tree, but in this case it was hiding with the floor boards. She read out loud. M & K 4EVA. She sat up confused. She was sure she remembered Hamilton telling her that Kate and Steven were the only ones who had even owned the cabin. And Steven had never even been out there. Hamilton and his mom used to go out there for a break away from the school. K could be Kate she supposed. But who could M be? She sat cross-legged in front of he heart scratched around the words she still ran her fingers lightly over. M… The only name she knew of that started with M was Michael. At least that was the only guy around campus. And that was impossible. The only Michael was… Finn…. It dawned on Jake that all the weird looks between Kate and Finn that she'd noticed since she started at Rawley, the dislike Finn and Steven had for each other, The fact that Hamilton's parents never looked in love, never shared little touches or smiles. It was all because Finn and Kate were in love. But … what about Hamilton?
Jake remembered that she'd heard the shower stop a couple minutes before. She stood up and pushed the bed back into its previous place, just as Hamilton came striding through the doorway wrapped in a towel from the waist down. He walked straight over to Jake, and kissed her. "mmm Hey baby…. Aww you're all dressed" Hamilton put on his best puppy dog face, but all she could give him back was a smile filled with sympathy.
Hamilton looked at her concerned. "What's wrong baby?"
"You'd better sit down Ham…" Jake knew she couldn't keep the truth from him. It wouldn't be fair. She'd lied to him enough in the past, and it was something she didn't ever want to do again, no matter what it concerned.