Chapter Twelve

Jenny refused to look at me, and Sawyer couldn't tear his eyes away. Jenny lead the cheers perfectly, as she'd always done, and Sawyer lost his team the first game of the season.

I walked over to Uncle Nathan after the court was half clear from spectators and participants.

"That was too bad," I remarked. He glanced sideways at me.

"My best player was distracted for some reason," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Jenny," I supplied quickly. Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Sure. You look just like your mother," he said, glancing at my uniform.

"Yeah. Less so than Lauren though. Do you think I look at all like my Dad?" I asked anxiously.

"A little, I guess. How's Jenny coping?"

"I wouldn't know, she's not talking to me or our parents. She calls mom Peyton behind her back," I said sadly.

"See, this is exactly what they've been trying to avoid for seventeen years. Guess that kind of fell through," he said.

"Oh, completely. I gotta go," I said, walking away as John came to join me.

I wore jeans and a more demure shirt at the party at the West house. It's less packed than usual, though I didn't know why. I spotted Sawyer and Jenny in the crowd, though not together. I quickly placed myself among a group of cheerleader friends, giving coy glances to John.

We weren't together, not exactly. If I'd heard of him doing things with other girls, I wouldn't have cared less. When he kissed me, I felt nothing but his lips. But I could tell by Sawyer's face that it drove him crazy, to not be able to protect me or control my life in the least.

Not like I missed him, or anything.

After a quarter hour with my friends, John came and whispered in my ear and I followed him to a spare bedroom. As he opened the door for me, I stopped, struck dumb at the sight that met my eyes.

Jenny was forcefully kissing Sawyer. His six pack was revealed and her shirt was off. They were kissing so hard they gave the impression of devouring one another. My eyes flashed to her, calculating. She loved Rhys. Despite his faults, really she did. She'd broken up with him less than a week previously. She felt nothing whatsoever for Sawyer Scott. Was she doing what I thought she was doing? Was she being that evil?

They didn't notice as I pulled John with me back through the door. I didn't reveal my thoughts to him as we found a room and began to heavily make out, stopping just shy of losing my virginity. He drove me home at eleven and kissed me gently on the lips in a way that showed that he cared a lot more than I did.

Lauren gave me a blank stare as I walked past where she was reading in the family room. I stopped and entered through the door. She rolled her eyes.

"Come one, Lala. This is insane, it's not your battle or mine," I reminded her, using her baby name.

"Yeah, but I can't just back down," she reminded me.

"Sure you can! Sweetie I've missed you. I can't stay all by myself any more. It's lonely," I admitted.

"I've missed you too," she said tearfully. I leaned forward and we embraced.

"Jenny and Sawyer made out tonight," I revealed. Her eyes grew wide. Briefly I recalled how crazy she'd been about him three weeks previously.

"But she likes Rhys," she said in confusion.

"Yeah, I know. I'm really afraid that she just did it to get back at him, and that's gonna break his heart," I said sadly. She nodded as Jenny glided past. I stood up to quickly follow her.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, breaking the two week long silence.

"What?"

"You made out with Sawyer Scott! You don't even like him!" I reminded her.

"Oh, come on. Like you give a damn about John Fenning," she said.

"That's different, John doesn't give a damn about me either. He hasn't been in love with me since he was eleven. His heart doesn't break every time I get back with a boy," I said. She gaped.

"Sawyer actually likes me?"

"Yes!"

"Oh God. I did it to get back. He's going to be so hurt," she said.

"Yeah, he will. And it's your fault. I can't believe you'd do that to someone you care about," I said. She glanced quizzically at me.

"Oh my God," she said at last.

"What?"

"You're in love with him," she accused.

"With who, Sawyer?" I asked.

"Yes, of course! Oh, you make so much sense to me now! You're completely in love with Sawyer Scott!" she said gleefully.

"No, Jenny, I'm not," I said.

"You are! You totally are! Oh, you have to tell him! Our parents are going to love it! You're going to get married freakish young too, right?" she asked excitedly.

"Jenny, I'm not in love with Sawyer. I'm not in love with anybody," I promised.

"Liar."

"I'm not lying," I whispered.