HI EVERYONE! Thank you again for all of the fantastic reviews! I can't stop writing! Sorry for this chapter- it's a little heavy but it gives a lot of insight into Jane's past. I hope you like it!
Four: The Fair
Seth's POV
It had been an entire day since I had dinner, or rather, lunch, with Jane, and I missed her terribly. I realized only after I left her house that I still hadn't gotten her phone number. I was mentally kicking myself, because though I left not soon after lunch, there was most definitely a hint of flirting in her responses, and that meant that I just might have been able to have been the luckiest guy in the world by snagging her phone number.
My friends were all going to the fair tonight, which came to Forks every year and was the biggest event that this small town could count on. Basically, if you lived in Forks, you went to the fair. I wondered if Jane was going, but then I stopped wondering, because I found myself wondering who she was going with and if any of those people were male and if she had any type of relationships with them and... ugh. I was diving myself mad!
Jane hadn't mentioned anything about a boyfriend, and I could imagine that if she had one she would have had a problem with me coming over all afternoon, and that he would have been the one to fix her showerhead, but I couldn't be entirely sure. Just because she didn't have a boyfriend didn't mean that there wasn't someone in the picture.
"Yo, Sethy," Embry smacked me as he walked by. "We're heading out. Are you coming?"
I rolled my eyes at the nickname. Originally, it was something that Scarlett had penned for me, but eventually the men of the pack picked it up; only, it wasn't cute coming from their mouths like it was from Scarlett, as much as it was condescending.
"No I'm good," I replied, not even attempting to hide my depression anymore.
"You hung up on little Jane Mcalaster?" Embry asked with a smirk.
"Not as hung up as you were on little Lena Lahote," I offer him a sarcastic smile.
Leah and Scarlett, who were in earshot burst out laughing, and I smiled at the small victory.
"Speaking of Jane," Scarlett came up to me. "Why don't you invite her?"
I moaned. "Because I still don't have her phone number."
"You could always find it online," Lena suggested. "I'm actually pretty sure Leah found it on her twitter."
"Sure," I rolled my eyes. "Because that wouldn't be creepy at all."
Lena chuckled. "Better than sitting here miserable about it."
"She's probably already going with someone else," I grumbled to myself.
"Well you won't know until you ask," Scarlett shrugged. "Why don't you go see if she's busy. Besides, if you're not going tonight, you have nothing better to do."
"Isn't that a little weird, though?" I asked her honestly. "Showing up randomly at her house for the second time in two days?"
Scarlett shrugged. "Weird or romantic, take your pick."
"Come on Scar," Paul called out to her. Scarlett offered me a small smile, squeezed my knee, and then followed the rest of them out the door.
I pretended that I didn't have my mind already made up for ten minutes before leaving Em's house and hopping in my car.
Jane's POV
I was just about to draw my third bath in two days when I heard a knock at the door. Immediately, I was hesitant. No one came by anymore, especially without calling first, and it was already dark outside. I wasn't usually this hesitant, but after what happened to me walking home from work the other night, I found myself being extra careful.
Since I skipped work the last two days until my eye healed enough so that I could cover it with concealer, I picked up a Sunday shift today at the bookstore, even though today was usually my off-day. I had been on high-alert on the bus-ride home, and made sure to say that I had an appointment so that I couldn't stay beyond dark so that it was light when I was coming home.
For a split second, I wondered if those guys had come back. Then, I reminded myself that they had absolutely no idea where I lived. On second thought, there had been a lot of gang violence around that area recently, what if I offended them and they came after me? Now you're just being paranoid, Jane! I reprimanded myself. Even so, my logic didn't help my to sleep without the light on at night.
I hesitantly opened up the door and then immediately let out a breath of relief that was quickly halted by a gasp of excitement and shock at seeing Seth on my entryway. I knew that I should be more cautious around him, especially since I barely knew him, but I didn't want to. I had been thinking about him nearly every second of every day since he came over the other night.
"Seth?" Was all I managed to get out, and even that sounded embarrassingly high-pitched.
"Hi Jane," Seth smiled that incredible, giant smile that displayed his two adorable dimples and made my knees weak.
"Hi," I answered back softly.
"What are you doing?"
I gulped. "Ugh, well, I, ugh, just got home," I lied terribly, thankfully Seth didn't seem to notice. I didn't want him to think I was as boring as I actually was. It was the weekend, after all.
"Are you busy tonight?"
My heart stopped beating for a moment. "No," I replied slowly.
"Good," Seth's face broke out in a smile. "Do you want to go to the fair with me? We're all going!"
A surge of adrenaline, fast and hard, went surging through my veins, filling my entire body with warmth. Nervous butterflies began swarming around in my stomach. I wanted nothing more than to go to the fair with Seth, and plus, I adored the fair; it would have been the first year that I wouldn't have been going. Only, I was nervous beyond all explanation.
"Who is we?" I heard myself asking as I twiddled with my fingers nervously.
"All the guys you met during breakfast," Seth replied, "And some of their girlfriend's, too. You'll like them, I swear."
A sinking feeling that felt a lot like a boulder dropped down into my stomach. I was always so intimidated meeting new people, but especially other girls. I was shy, and to many girls that came off as one of two things, either weird or aloof, and neither were something to be proud of.
"I don't know," I answered hesitantly. "I have work tomorrow."
"We could only go for a little while," Seth smiled hopefully. "Please? It'll be fun."
I opened my mouth to say no, but then realized that all I wanted in the whole, entire world was to hangout with Seth. When I was with him I never wanted him to go, and when I was without him I spent my time convincing myself that we could never work.
"Okay," I heard myself answering, and I thought, if this is doomed, I might as well have some fun before it falls apart.
I let Seth in and he waited in the entryway as I ran upstairs and changed into a pair of cut-off jeans and a loose, white v-neck. I pulled my uncooperative hair up into a messy pony, added a teensy bit of blush, and then grabbed my favorite, white sneakers that had seen better days as I ran down the stairs.
"Ready," I blushed, as I hopped down my steps.
Seth saw me, smiled, and then opened the door for me to walk outside.
"Do your parents mind?" He asked as he closed the door.
"They're not home," I quickly replied, and to my delight, he had brought his Jeep.
Once we got to the fair and walked the mile it took to actually get inside form the parking lot, it took a few minutes before Seth was finally able to track down the rest of his friends. I was extremely uncomfortable, not only because I hated meeting new people, but also because I did not have a big friend group of my own, and I felt a little bit insecure about it.
"Oh, there they are!" Seth exclaimed. I forced a smile and then followed by his side towards the group of very intimidating looking people. Once I get up closer it only got worse.
These "girlfriends" as Seth had referred to, were some of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. There were two blondes, that just had to be related, because they both looked like they could be Victoria's Secret Models, a brunette that looked un-humanly stunning, a girl with dark hair that had a faint resemblance to Seth, but was tall, skinny, and intimidating, a woman with dark hair and gorgeous curves that looked to be more like Emily's age, a younger girl with long, golden hair and a pretty face, and always-stunning Emily.
I felt like I wanted to die.
"Hey, guys, it's Seth!" The older but still breathtaking blonde one pulled on one of the men I met earlier's arm.
"Seth!" He said, and immediately all of them turned to him, or rather... to us. I immediately took a calming breath and attempted to hide my nervousness. I rolled my lips around together and then finally winded up biting the corner of it to stop that.
"You must be Jane! I'm Renesmee, it's so nice to meet you. We've heard so much from Seth!"
They had? I raised my eyebrow, suddenly turning to look at Seth, who was staring daggers at Renesmee. I couldn't help but giggle.
"I'm Lena!" The younger, sexy blonde bombshell one leaned into, Embry's (was that his name?) side. "You're so pretty!"
"Oh, well," I blushed and placed a piece of hair behind my ear, not sure what to say to that.
"Awe, look, Scar," Embry nudged her shoulder. "We've got another blusher!"
Scar gasped. That was quite an odd name. "So I'm not alone anymore!" She smiled and blushed a little bit at the same time, which made me feel loads better. Usually I was alone in my blushing. "Scarlett," She introduced herself. Now, that name made much more sense now.
"I'm Kim!" The dark-haired woman waved. "And this is my daughter, Morgan," She points to popular-looking girl with the long hair, who waved. "And you already met my husband, right?"
"She most certainly did. Jane Mcalaster, how are you?" One of the bigger ones held out his hand and grinned.
I smiled, unable to help myself. "Jacob, right?"
"Jared," He nodded his head sadly. "My wife would probably prefer me to be Jacob."
"Would you be quiet," Kim laughed and smacked his chest.
"Sorry," I blushed.
"I'm Jacob," The one with the straight model, un-human looking angel girlfriend waved. The one with the weird name's arms were around his stomach, and she flashed a brilliant smile as Jacob waved.
"It's nice to meet you all," I offered a small smile.
"Awe, it's nice to see you again, Jane." Emily was the only one to break that invisible wall to come over and hug me, and once she did, I realized that she have the most incredible, warmest hugs ever. It reminded me of my mom's hugs.
"Thank you," I blushed once I pulled away. "I love the fair! I'm so happy Seth invited me. Thanks for letting me crash your party."
A few of the men scoffed. "Don't be silly," Paul told me with a smile. "You're welcome anytime."
Scarlett looked up at him and smiled so widely and genuinely, that I couldn't help but stare. Paul looked down, smiled a small smile at her, and then gently squeezed her cheeks before quickly pecking her on the lips. I quickly looked towards my feet. That was adorable; it was like a Nicholas Sparks movie moment.
"So are you the kinda chick that rides the rides or just wants guys to score them prizes at the carnival games?" The very intimidating, younger blonde one asked.
I chuckled. "Definitely a rider."
"Jared shut up," Seth spoke quickly.
I turned towards him, confused, before Lena quickly cut in. "Good!" She smiled. "Because this one gets motion sickness," She pointed up at Embry who rolled his eyes. "And I need a partner. Come on!"
She grabbed my hand and then began pulling me.
"Oh," My eyes widened as she started dragging me along.
"Oh come on!" I heard Seth call out after us.
"Sorry Sethy!" Lena called back. Once we reached a popular spinning ride, Lena let go of me, and instead latched onto the wire fence.
"Sorry I took you away from Seth," She told me now. "Embry really goes get motion-sickness, and I never have anyone to ride with."
"Oh, it's okay," I nervously placed my hair behind my ear. I swear this girl looked like the definition of the hot cheerleader in a movie who would torture other girls just for fun. She was ridiculously attractive. If I was gay, which I wasn't, but if I was, I would most definitely find her super hot.
"I wanted to steal you away before Morgan could voice her distaste of me," She stated rather blunty. "Her and I don't always see eye-to-eye, which is very non-beneficial in the whole not having a riding partner situation, because we're the two left out, but I promise you the rides just aren't fun when you look over to see the other person you're sharing a seat with glaring at you."
"Really?" I asked her, not wanting to pry, and kind of surprised that she would let me in on this information after just meeting her.
"Yep," She popped the "p". "Most girls think I'm a bitch."
My eyes widened. I chose to remain silent.
"But I'm not," She quickly cut in. "Swear."
I nodded my head slowly.
"Sorry," She sighed. "I'm terrible at girl talk. I should have been born a guy, I swear."
I giggled, because this girl was worse at small-talk than I was, and suddenly she was laughing back with me.
"Well I don't think you're a bitch," I told her once we calmed down. "And I'm terrible with girl small talk, too."
Lena chuckled. "It's getting better as I get older. I blame the cut-throat dance world for my personality. Always keeps me on guard."
"I feel you," I let out a long breath. "It's not as glamorous as dance, but I was competing with a few kids from my year for a chemistry grant and I thought a few of them were going to kill me before they lost to me."
"Did they manage?" Lena joked.
"They tried!" I giggled. "One hacked my computer and deleted my sources cited page. Thankfully I had already covered my bases and had it saved as a draft on my email."
"Seriously?" Lena's mouth dropped. "How did you manage to survive is the real question though?" Lena chuckled. "I could use the advice."
"Easy," I smiled widely. "I won!"
"Ugh!" Lena moaned loudly. "I love you already!"
I burst out laughing. "Where do you dance?"
"Well I actually attend New York Ballet. They fly me out for practice right now. I really want to move there but my parents won't even entertain the idea until I'm eighteen," She rolled her eyes. "But they said that they wouldn't entertain the idea of Embry and I dating until I was 18 either and I got that down to 16 so we'll see what I can do about that."
"No way!" I couldn't believe my ears. All of the other information that she had given having gone in one ear and out the other, only able to latch onto one single thing. "You're at New York Ballet? My mom went there!"
Lena's eyes popped. "Really?"
"Yeah! She was a ballerina! She loved it! She even met my dad there; he was the son of her teacher. He used to come in and clean the studios for extra cash after class, and she used to sneak in at night for extra practice. He helped to keep her secret in return for a date."
"No way!" Lena's eyes were shining brightly. "That's so amazing! That's like my dream! Only, Embry wouldn't be caught dead in a ballet studio."
"Embry seems really nice," I nodded my head.
"Embry's the best," Lena smiled. "We've been best friends since I was born, but we've been dating for almost two years now."
"That's cute," I smiled at the story. The age gap suddenly made a little more sense.
"Did you ever dance?" Lena asked me.
"Oh," I laughed at myself. "Trust me, my mom tried. It was embarrassing. For the both of us. I'm much better at things that require a small amount of hand-eye coordination."
"You're in school, right? Chemistry, you said?"
I nodded my head. "I love it."
"What do you want to do with it?" Lena inquired.
"Preferably find a cure for brain cancer," I smiled at her. "But I would settle with just being published."
"Wow," Lena's eyes widened. "That's a little more important than leaping in the air in perfect form."
"Hey, maybe the cure to brain cancer requires some dance therapy. We'll save the world together!"
Lena laughed. "I want to meet your mom. What's her name? Maybe I've heard of her."
I opened my mouth and then shut it again. "Ugh," I began, and thankfully, just then, we were ushered onto the ride.
After that first ride, Seth and Embry found us, and then rode the rest of the rides with us. As promised, Embry did, in fact, get motion sickness, but he waited at the bottom as I rode with Lena, while Seth rode as a single rider behind us, which I thought was sweet.
What I learned about Seth is that he was just as fun as he was cute. Embry cussed like a sailor, but I never heard Seth cuss even once. He rode every single ride and always seemed interested in what I had to say, which was slightly intimidating, but even more surprising. I had never been with a guy that actually preferred to hear me talk versus talk themselves. To be entirely honest, I worried sometimes that my appeal was in the fact that I was such a good listener. With Seth, though, it seemed the opposite.
Towards the end of the night, Lena was attempting to convince Embry to go on the Ferris wheel with her, while Seth suggested cotton candy. We were debating between the two, though I really couldn't ever say no to cotton candy.
"Come on, Emb," Lena begged. "It's not even a ride! Look, there's a two-year-old getting on it. I'm pretty sure I just saw someone bring a baby!"
"Lena," Embry narrowed his eyes. "I do not appreciate being mocked!" Both Lena and I stifled a laugh. "And like I told you; it's not about the speed or spinning, it's the height."
Lena giggled. "You're really scared of heights, babe? You're like ten feet tall how is that even possible?"
"You're so lucky you're hot," He sighed.
I blushed and looked away.
"Do you want to go on the Ferris wheel?" Seth asked me quietly.
I peered over at him. "I don't care," I whispered back.
Seth nudged my shoulder. "Come on, Jane. Do you want cotton candy or Ferris wheel?"
I smiled at him. "I wouldn't mind a break."
"Perfect," He smiled widely at me. "Cotton candy and lemonade it is!"
"No lemonade," I argued with him. "I'm pretty sure I'm allergic."
"To lemons?" Seth asked with concern.
"No, to lemonade."
Seth blinked at me. "What?"
I sighed. "No one believes me but I am 100% sure I am allergic to lemonade, okay?"
Seth burst out laughing. "That's impossible, Jane! If you're allergic to lemonade you would have to be allergic to lemons or sugar, too."
"Or I'm allergic to the combination of lemon and sugar," I argued. "I'm telling you! I get a terrible stomach ache every time I drink a cup!"
"Well do you drink it quickly?" He asks me.
"Who doesn't drink lemonade quickly?" I asked him.
"I really don't think you're allergic to lemonade, Jane."
"Hey Jane," Embry called over to me before I could argue with him. "Does your dad work in law?"
I shook my head.
"Really? Hm," He looked disappointed.
"Are you still on this," Lena rolled her eyes. "You know you don't know everyone in the world, Embry."
"I know I've heard that name before," He shook his head. "It's been bothering me."
"Hey guys!" The taller, dark haired girl that never said her name from earlier came up from behind us, and draped her arms over our shoulders. "I've been looking for you."
"Hey Leah," Seth smiled warmly at her. My face dropped. Seth looked at Leah differently than he looked at the other girls, even gorgeous Lena. It made my stomach drop.
"This one," She pointed at Lena, "Dragged you away before I could introduce myself. I'm Leah, Seth's sister."
Immediately, my face heated up in embarrassment. I couldn't believe that I had felt threatened by Seth's sister! I was so embarrassed! I completely understood the slight resemblance now, in fact, that more that I looked at her the more that I could see similar qualities that she had to Seth. They had the same shaped eyes, same nose, and they both had dimples.
"Hi," I managed to get out.
"Hi," Leah smiled. "Are you having fun?"
"Yes," I smiled just a bit.
"What did you guys ride?" Leah asked.
"Well we would have ridden everything if Embry wasn't such a sissy," Lena nodded her head seriously.
Embry rolled his eyes, leaned out, and then pushed her down, but made sure to catch her before she actually went down.
"There you guys are!" Scarlett and Paul came running up to us, with the rest of Seth's friends running after them.
"Thank God!" Paul hugged Scarlett from behind. "This one made me ride on the Crazy Twister seven times in a row! I think I died."
"Did Embry manage to ride any?" Emily joked with Lena.
"Mcalaster!" Embry suddenly exclaimed. I jumped back, not having expected it, and in an instant Seth's hand was on my lower back, keeping me steady. I looked up at him, my cheeks flaming red and every nerve in my body on edge. He seemed concerned, and he didn't remove his hand even after I was standing.
"The Indy-500 lawsuit! I knew I knew that name!" Embry exclaimed proudly. Only, for me, every single fiber of my being had just froze. Oh no, I thought, as hot, heavy, overwhelming dread filled my entire body. "Are you related to them?"
I gulped. My throat had gone too dry to answer.
"What's that?" Lena asked him.
"Some really fucked-up story about a husband and wife who were killed in a car crash from some idiot going 100 miles an hour on a back-road. I can't legally say his name, but he was the shining star of car-racing, still is! The dead people's kid got about 100 million dollars out of it!"
I bit the insides of my cheeks so that I would not start to cry. I could feel it, the humiliation looming. I kept my eyes straight on the ground.
"Oh, that's so sad," Scarlett said. "Are you related, Jane?"
I gulped and finally looked up. I kept a mask of insignificance on my face as I slowly nodded my head. "My parents," I finally gave away, quickly brushing some hair behind my ear and standing up straighter as if to prove that this didn't affect me, though I was sure that every single one of them could see right through me.
Suddenly, my worst fears came true as I watched every single one of Seth's friend's faces fall. Embry looked like he had seen a ghost, Lena's eyes were wider than saucers, and the rest of the group I was far too petrified to even attempt to make eye contact with.
I let out a steadying breath and pressed my craned my neck from side to side before attempting to stand up straight. I was so uncomfortable with attention, and this particular kind of attention was the very worst kind.
"Oh, shit," Embry finally spoke, breaking the silence. "I'm sorry Jane." He did look sorry, but I didn't care.
"It's fine," I quickly brushed him off. I just wanted to stop talking about it.
"Hey, want to go get that cotton candy?" Seth suddenly cut in.
I swear, I almost burst out crying in relief. I gratefully peered up at him and nodded my head quickly. Seth smiled warmly, reached for my hand, and then then led the way in the opposite direction.
Seth held my hand on the way to the snack stand, which aided just a little bit in helping me to forget the utter humiliation that I just suffered with all of Seth's friends. That was the exact reason why I hadn't wanted to meet his friends! Everything was great and normal until suddenly my dead parents were brought up and then everyone looked at me with pitty and had no idea how to talk to me. I had seen it too many times for it not to be something that made me never, ever want to bring up my orphan status ever again.
I got pulled from my thoughts once Seth handed me a bag while at the same time paying. I immediately realized that because I had been so distracted, he had managed to pay without me noticing.
"You didn't have to buy this for me," I narrowed my eyes at him while I ripped open the bottom of the bag and took a bite of the delicious, pink cotton candy. It melted on my tongue; before Embry's come-to-Jesus moment, it would have added to the enchantment of the night, but now, it was a sweet ending to a bitter pill to swallow.
"Don't worry about it," Seth replied, his face concerned.
I swallowed down a sudden lump in my throat with the sugary, sweet cotton candy. I stared at the bag in my hand, suddenly not very hungry anymore. "This isn't pitty food, is it?"
Seth's eyes widened. "What? No, Jane. Of course not."
"Because if it is I don't want it." I could feel that my entire face had been engulfed in a red mask; it happened whenever I got upset in any way, and right now I was upset, annoyed, and very embarrassed.
"That's not what it is," Seth replied softly. "I was going to buy it for you before I knew."
I bit the inside of my cheek and stared at him for a moment, wondering if I should believe him. Finally, I nodded my head.
"I'm sorry," I told him honestly. "I just hate telling people about that because it just... changes things. Suddenly people look at me different, like they have no idea what to say around me."
"I'm not looking at you any different," Seth shook his head at me easily. "I promise."
I knew better than to believe any man's promise, but the way that Seth was looking at me made it hard for me to remember that.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"Don't be," Seth told me definitively. "I understand. It's rough. I was the same way about my dad for a few years after he passed. I was fifteen at the time. How old were you?"
My mouth parted and suddenly I stopped walking. In my wildest dreams, I would have never, ever guessed that Seth had lost a parent, too. Seth was just so well rounded. He didn't seem to carry any pain with him. He seemed so happy.
"Eighteen," I whispered.
"I'm sorry," Seth said honestly.
"No I'm sorry," I told him, hoping that I sounded as earnest as I felt. "I didn't know."
"That's okay," Seth grinned at me. "Neither did Embry."
"I'm not mad at Embry. I hope he doesn't think that."
"He's a lawyer," Seth explained, "He probably just worked the case."
I bit the inside of my cheek, hoping that my distaste for his profession wasn't obvious on my face, only, Seth noticed.
"He really didn't mean to hurt your feelings," Seth pushed, thinking that I was angry with his friend. "Or call you out like that. I'm sure he thought it was a distant relative or something."
"No really, Seth," I quickly attempted to recover. I didn't know much about Embry, or any of Seth's friends for that matter, but they had saved me from being possibly raped not too long ago. Plus, I liked Seth's friends. I didn't want them to think any differently of me, even though I knew that the information they just learned always changed how everyone thought of me.
"It's not him," I sighed. "It's just... what he does. After going through something like that, I just don't have the greatest respect for his profession."
Seth thought about this for a moment as we walked, and then finally leaned down to speak softly to me. "What do you mean?" He asked, and his face showed genuine interest.
I tried to figure out how to put it into a perspective that he would be able to understand. I tried to just figure out where to start. It was all too complicated. There was too much to the story for it to be able to be firmly grasped by someone who hadn't lived it, but that was just the problem. I was the only one who had lived it, and in my effort to get someone else to understand, I blurted out the first thing that I thought to say.
"Do you want to know what the going rate for two dead parents is?"
Seth's POV
I deflated. "Jane," I said, my heart completely shattered by her question "You don't have to-,"
"56 million dollars," She cut me off. There was an undeniable pain behind her eyes that I couldn't look away from. It was so easy for her to mask it, but in this moment when it was just me and her, I could see. She was haunted by so much. It gave me a glimpse behind shy and timid Jane, who I could now see was so much more than that.
"56 million dollars," She repeated, her voice a mere whisper. She turned forward and we both walked along for a moment. The florescent lights were illuminating her into all different colors. Suddenly, the popcorn didn't smell as incredible anymore.
Jane crossed her arms overtop of her chest and then tilted her face to me. "I didn't want it, you know," She admitted quietly. "I still don't."
I nodded my head slowly, not quite sure what to say to that. How could I ever possibly make this any better? It just sucked. That was it, plain and simple.
She turned to me. "I didn't."
"I know," I answered back quietly.
"No," Jane's voice was harsh, like she really needed for me to believe her. "I really didn't. After my parent's funeral I got a call from a lawyer, who I now know to be from Embry's company, and he took me into a room with all of these big executive people with briefcases and serious expressions and they slid over a paper to me. It literally said, 'in retribution for the loss that you have suffered, we offer $56 million dollars to the daughter of Amelia and Mark Mcalaster," Jane scoffed. "Retribution? Really?"
I remained silent.
"And then I had to sit there for hours as they went on and on about how they hoped that this would help me through such a difficult time in my life, as if some million dollars could make up for the fact that both of my parents were dead."
"Jane," I finally whispered.
Her eyes met mine, and I couldn't help myself. I reached out for her hand squeezed it. She appeared surprised at first, but her hand was soft; it fit into mine easily, and after a while, she relaxed it. Our fingers laced together and I rubbed my thumb along the side of her palm.
"You know," I began. "You're not going to be sad forever, Jane."
Jane's breath caught in her throat. She peered up at me sadly with two giant, glowing brown eyes. "But what if I am?" She whispered.
Sorry for the heavy chapter. Who guessed right about Jane's past? Let me know in the comments! As always, follow, favorite, and review for another chapter!
