Chapter 12: Rumors

The next day at school everyone is staring at Jake like he had two heads. Jake is confused about this. Max isn't in school. At lunch Jake is wondering why everyone is staring at him.

"Why is everyone staring at me?" Jake asked John, Nick and Rob.

"Because of what you did to Max." John replied.

"Where is he anyway?" Jake then asked them.

"He's in the hospital." Nick told him.

Jake is stunned.

"What happened that he's in the hospital?" Jake then asked them.

"On his way home from your house he was hit by a car and broke his leg." Rob explained.

"That still doesn't explain why people are giving me dirty looks." Jake told them.

"Rumor is that you pushed him in front of the car." Nick told him.

"I would never do that." Jake said to them.

Justin walks up to them.

"What do you want Justin?" Nick asked him.

"I'm not here to talk to you three losers. I'm here to talk to Jake." Justin told them.

"What did I do now?" Jake asked him.

"Are the rumors true?" Justin asked him.

"What rumors?" Jake asked him.

"The rumor that you pushed Max in front of that car that hit him." Justin told him.

Jake looks at Nick, John and Rob, then he looks at Justin.

"Yeah, it's true. He was annoying me." Jake told him.

John, Nick and Rob get up and walk away in disgust after what Jake told Justin.

"Forget about those losers. You're hanging with me and my friends now." Justin told Jake.

"Cool." Jake replied nerously.

After school Jake sees Nicole and walks over to her.

"Hey Nicole." Jake said to her.

Nicole ignores him.

"Nicole I said 'Hey' ." Jake told her.

Nicole turns around and gives him a disgusted look.

"What's wrong with you?" Jake then asked her.

"Why did you push Max in front of that car?" Nicole asked him.

"I didn't." Jake replied.

"Justin is telling everyone that you told him you did push Max in front of that car." Nicole explained.

"I lied to him." Jake told him.

"Jake, what did to Max after what he did for you is unforgivable." Nicole told him.

"What did he ever do for me?" Jake then asked her.

"He was the reason I went out with you. I really wasn't going to ask you out until he told me that you were a nice guy and were funny." Nicole explained.

"He was the only reason you went out with me?" Jake asked her.

"He was the determining factor." Nicole told him.

"If he didn't tell you I was a nice guy you wouldn't of gone out with me?" Jake then asked her.

"I wanted to know what you were like before I went out with you." Nicole explained.

"You could of asked me." Jake told her.

"Of course you would of told me you were a nice guy. Me and Max are good friends. He was the first person I became friends with when I first moved here." Nicole told him.

Nicole then leaves annoyed at Jake. Jake is about to go after her but, Justin comes over and him and they go to the corner store. Justin and his friends steal stuff from the store and Jake steals something too. The cashier sees them and stops them Justin and his friends run and get away but, Jake's shirt gets caught on a shelf corner and he's stuck. The cops are called. When the cops get there Jake is the only one still there. The cop that puts Jake in the back of the car is Jesse Mantia. (He's a Captain in the Miami Police Department and Mark Mantias Dad.)

"Jake, you're lucky that the owner is going to let you go if you do some work in his store." Jesse told him.

"I'm thanking my lucky stars." Jake said to him sarcastically.

"Don't give me an attitude." Jesse told him.

"I'm not giving you an attitude." Jake replied.

"I've deal with punks like you for twenty years." Jesse told him.

"I'm not a punk." Jake told him.

"Then stop acting like one." Jesse said to him.

Jake sighs, crosses his arms and sits back in the seat. Jesse drives Jake back to the Baker house. Jesse tells Tom and Kate what happened.

"Jake in the living room now!" Tom yelled at him.

Jake goes in the living room.

"Stealing? You were caught stealing." Kate told him.

"You're lucky Jesse got there first and worked it out with the owner of the store." Tom then told him.

"I don't need this." Jake told them as he went to get up from the couch.

"Did we say this discussion was over?" Tom asked him.

"No." Jake replied.

"Then sit back down." Tom then told him.

"You're grounded for a month. No, skateboarding, hanging out with friends, playing videogames or anything else you like to do." Kate then told him.

"And you're on dish washer duty and you have to take out the garbage for a month." Tom then added.

Jake gets up from the couch and goes to his room.