#Chapter 22: I'm Going To Tell Him
Third Person's POV
Jack and Beth's so called 'date' was now a month ago. After the very night, the girl was attentive, keeping in touch with him. Slowly, it only turned to tasteless greetings. Last week, she wasn't in sight at all. It was as though she was avoiding him. She wasn't even around the gang at the times where they were supposed to meet
Her behavior did not sit well with them. They wondered what had caused her to suddenly become so distant, especially Jack. Each sent countless text messages and miscalled, but there was no response. Rapunzel took in the situation the best, since she knew what was going on.
At the second recess, the gang, as usual, hung around the apple tree. They told each other dry 'Hey's, before sitting under the shade
"I hope she's okay. I wonder what's bothering her?" Anna mumbled
"Who?"
"Beth, duh," Merida told Eugene
"Tried contacting her for an entire week. She keeps dropping the call," Kristoff said
"She'd usually say hi. That's kind of a luxury now though. And when I try to say hi myself she'd downright ignore me," Jack added. Rapunzel quietly twisted her lips begrudgingly, before hurrily fixing it to a sad frown the best she could. Hiccup remained in a thoughtful, angry silence. He knew EVERYTHING since Beth told him the details the other day, and it all repeated in his head as he directed daggers to the back of Rapunzel's head
'I can't BELIEVE you...,' his mind screamed over and over. His blood boiled, but it was best to let out his distress internally.
"Good thing I'm in her class at the end of the day. I'm gonna go talk to her then." Jack stood up and stretched his arms. Hiccup found a flash of Rapunzel's hand reaching for the silverette's wrist, but cleverly took it back.
"What are you gonna do?" Hiccup asked, venom under the flat of his tongue, but still hidden nonetheless. He did not want his best friends to feel perplexed. And he also knew well that she would need a lot of time and space to think
Behind his straight lips, Jack's jaw clenched. "If she's gonna keep giving me the cold shoulder, then I'm gonna use my trump card." He pushed his glasses up his nose, and left the gang behind
In class, at the last bell
"Time to wrap things up. Don't forget the project guys and I want it ready on my desk by next week. No excuses!" Jack announced. Mournfully, the students put away books and left.
Beth tucked in a last notebook in her bag and slung it to her shoulder. Walking away with Hiccup beside her, they talked about a new laptop brand that Hiccup had been wanting for a long while. The one he currently had was no longer able to take in any more content and was unbearably laggy. He asked Beth if his choice was a good idea.
"I think it's a lot better for you to have one custom made. It's more durable and you can choose the specifications yourself. It's pricey, but worth it," the platinum blonde suggested
A deep, firm voice interrupted, and had them stop in their tracks
"Mind staying in class for a few Miss Winters? There's something we must discuss concerning your grades," Mr. Overland said in his chair, eyes focused on a pile of papers on his desk as he scribbled ticks and circles. He wasn't even looking at her. The way the chill in his eyes wasn't directly pointed to her made her feel more anxious.
If it were anything else, she'd politely turn him down. But this was about her grades. The number one judge of her graduation. Waters she should swim in with care. She did not want to disappoint her family by falling behind.
She turned to Hiccup. "Go on ahead Hic. I'll call Tadashi to pick me up when I'm done. Talk later okay?"
The brunette took a glance at the silver-haired teacher and bit his lip, before nodding and plastering a smile. Then left
"Close the door please, and lock it."
Beth squinted an eye. A man requesting a lady to lock a room they're in was everything sketchy. But she couldn't imagine Jack in such a fashion. She decided to keep her suspicions to herself and did as she's told. The snap of the key made her toes curl.
"Um, you said something about my grades, sir?"
"Nothing about it," he said with a flattened tone. A single hand wrote on an agenda.
Beth crossed her arms. "Then why did you ask me to stay?"
The teacher slammed his agenda shut hard. "Because I want to talk about us, Beth."
He stood up and went toward the door. Beth couldn't move at his every step.
'I should have known!'
Her eyes searched for the view of skies and grass that windows provided, or anything that she could use to escape. But this classroom was one of the few in the university that had none.
"Stop looking around Beth. I know you're trying to escape," Jack stated. "But I won't let you go. There's still one end of the deal."
He smoothly pulled the key from the door and let it drop into his shirt pocket. A finger pushed back his glasses as he neared her
The blonde panicked. 'Should I punch his stomach? Slap his face? I could kick him in the-'
With her mind still a mess, she was already cornered by a tall silverrette. Quickly, she swung a foot up under his chin, trying to knock him unconscious. He saw the movement of her leg and caught it with a single hand. Her limb still in his grip, he pushed her to the wall. When she grunted from the contact, he released his grasp on her leg and held her still by the arms. Tightly
'Shi!t, how can he move so fast?'
Gritting her teeth, she tried to twist her arms, but their current positions left her disadvantageous. His overall presence weakened her. The strong touch he had was undeniable
"What do you want?!" she yelled
"Why you avoiding us? Your friends?"
The door handle suddenly shook, trying to enter whoever was outside. A knock was then heard. Probably the janitor ready with a mop and wet cloth. Jack mouthed 'stay quiet' with unmoving eyes. Beth chose to be just as still
"In a moment please! I'm just about to wrap things up!" The visible silhouette under the doorway then left.
Now, back to business.
"I have my reasons okay?! And it's nothing to worry about!"
"Tell me anyway. Or I'm never going to let this go." To prove his point, Jack curled his fingers to the point of crossing at her wrists. Beth could feel them sweating against her skin. Jack's breath fanning at her neck only crushed her peace of mind further
"I-I...I ca- I can't tell you Jack. If you'd really like to know, I-I suggest you talk to Rapunzel," she said. Jack crossed his brows in confusion at the mention of another person's name. Beth took advantage of the situation and threw her arms to a loop, breaking free and swiped the keys that dangled from his pocket. The door was unlocked letting the blond flee out
The walls looked like incomprehensive blurs to her. Everything looked wider and shorter than usual. It was only when she stopped in front of Tadashi's car that she pressed a sleeve to each eye that everything became clear again. With shaky fingers she opened her phone to call Tadashi, to get away from school, from Jack, from anything. She just wanted to be in her room, far from all the frustrating confusions about relationships and people. Was this what it's like to have friends? Beth did not want to find out the answer.
Her fingers kept slipping over her phone screen slick with tears and never managed to make the call, and the girl slowly drift to her knees
Thinking back, she made it sound like it was all Rapunzel's fault. She would never mean it in such a way. She was trying so hard to make her happy.
Few more tears passed down and Beth nearly choked when one entered her mouth. 'What have I done? Rapunzel will never forgive me.'
"Beth? What's wrong?" Tadashi came into view, a familiar face. The girl stood up and buried her face into his chest.
"Why are you crying? What happened?!" he asked, brushing a thumb on her wet cheek
"I-I''m fine. Just..just some mood swings, al-l-right?"
Tadashi stopped wiping her tears away with saddened eyes, and Beth realized she made someone else feel bad. The part he curved a smile afterward in an attempt to make her feel a little better made it more terrible.
"Alright then. Let's go home."
"Yeah, let's."
The two then drove away from the university. Beth crossed her legs and leaned her cheek to the window, thoughts of what would happen next floated in and out of her mind like falling pictures.
Rapunzel's POV
After the bell, I went to order my weekly cream Cappucino at the nearest coffee shop. It was always nice to just sit down and look out the window with a flavor on your tongue
But this time, I really needed to calm myself down after seeing how Jack was so insistent on meeting Beth. That glare Hiccup gave me made me realize that the business between me and Beth was no longer a secret
'No, she brought this upon herself. I never asked her to avoid the entire gang. All I asked was for her to avoid Jack!'
But it didn't work. It had backfired even. Beth's neglection towards Jack only made him come to her even more, in all hopes to have her gain affection toward him.
My grip on the mug got harder as I imagined that Jack kept trying, kept hoping that Beth might have feelings for him.
'Why can't he just give up on her? Why is he trying so hard for someone who doesn't want hin back? There are better girls for him. She doesn't even care about him!'
I took a last gulp of cappuccino and dashed outside. There was only one way to put an end to this mess. Something that I must do or he was going to keep hanging onto her. Beth had broken our promise first. I no longer had any obligations to be sympathetic to her anymore. If getting down and dirty was what it took to make Jack mine, then so be it.
My feet made a hasty beat of steps and stopped just at the door. Before my fingers could reach the handle, the curve of the metal shook first and I immediately slid behind a pole next to the door. I tilted my head forward to see a flash of platinum blonde disappearing into the hall in fast pace, one of distress. Something must have happened before I arrived
A part of me wanted to chase her down to see what went wrong, but I shook it off. It is time for the ruthless Rapunzel to show. I went inside the classroom. And there was Jack, sitting on the floor with his back to the wall and a saddened face to the ceiling. He took off his glasses and wiped his face with his sleeve. As much as I knew to feel sorry, I couldn't help but admire the way his hair brushed back and his skin that glistened from sweat. He was gorgeous.
Taking soundless steps inside, I sat next to him. He was still silent even when I scooted a little closer, making the atmosphere more awkward. I wrapped my arms around my knees
"H-hey Jack, is it okay if I tell you something?" I croaked. Not turning his neck, his irises poised to my direction. I held my breath at the sight of his eyes, but I tried to gather all the confidence
" I'm sorry, I know that you don't look like you want to meet anyone right now, but I've been keeping this to myself for so long and I just can hold it in any longer," I said. My confession began with a deep, trembled breath
Jack's POV
"I love you Jack. Ever since you stepped inside the classroom and talk about yourself. You're so nice to everyone, you handle matters in such a cool way, and there are more things about you that made me fall deeper," Rapunzel spoke. But anything she said slipped past my ears like blurry letters. My mind was still wrapped onto what happened earlier. The more I thought, the more I was swept to a mightier hurricane of questions. I thought I was on the verge of a migraine.
'What's with her and trying to pair me and Rapunzel? Why would she keep going knowing that it's causing her so much pain? Does she really not have any feelings for me...?'
I didn't know what Rapunzel's intentions were, but Beth was slowly breaking. She didn't even want to look at me. Would we be more closer than now if the green-eyed blonde had never budged in?
My chest burned with a shaking temper. Rapunzel really needed to learn a lesson (no pun intended).
"So..how about it?"
I was snapped from my thoughts. "Pardon?"
I did not catch whatever the blonde was saying. At all.
"Will you go out with me? I have liked you and admired you so much. Can you...accept me?" she said. I was disgusted at how she even had the nerve to bat her eyelashes and leaned her body slightly closer. I was a gentleman. I would never swear in front of a lady.
But I couldn't help thinking that she was acting like a slut.
"Punz," I finally spoke as I sprang from my seated position. "I don't like how this is going. And you need to calm down after what you've done to Beth." My voice was flat, and did not reveal any anger, but it seemed that Rapunzel was clever enough to catch that I was not happy.
And she was not happy either.
"Why do you keep dragging Beth into this?! She DOESN'T like you okay! She doesn't think of you any more than a friend! Look around Jack, there are plenty more fish in the sea! Lots of girls want to be with you but you don't care about any of them just because of one girl! She's not even as pretty as me anyway. What makes her so special?!" Rapunzel yelled.
Honestly, I wanted to beat the sh!t out of her so bad
"Sorry to say Rapunzel, but here's the thing. When someone falls for another, they fight for their affection till their heart is theirs. I haven't seen you try anything for me. What kind of love is that?" I dug my hands into my pockets as my eyes rest to Beth's usual seat.
"But I've given Beth as much care as I could, and although I'm still chasing, I'm happy that at least I can become something for her. I've fallen for Beth far before I met you." Saying all that, I was reminded of the curve of Beth's smile. Warmth and kindness genuine and glowing below her soothing, breathtaking gaze.
A clear vision came of the platinum blonde in her seat. A beautiful kind of unshaking focus on her eyes as she wrote answers on her essay. If only it were real. "I don't exactly understand how it happened myself, but I fell for Beth. And I'm willing to wait for her to accept me, be it months or even years."
I stood to my desk and put away my things in my bag. Slinging it to my shoulder, I went back to Rapunzel. Still on the floor, she had her head hung low even as I stepped in front of her. Now less emotional than before, the guilt was starting to seep in me.
"I only like you as a friend Punz. No more, no less. The girl who I love is Beth, and that is never gonna change. But hey, don't cry over me. Keep your head held high and find someone else to love you back. You just gotta fix that attitude of yours. I'm sorry if what I said hurt you in any way. I hope you find someone in the future. Later Rapunzel."
I gave her a pat on the shoulder before leaving and went straight home, believing that I told her the right thing
I was also thinking of ways to apologize to Beth. Though she tried to hide it, I could already tell that she was a sensitive person. Therefore, I didn't want to make her feel more ashamed.
But Beth still had this silly mindset that Rapunzel liked me and I liked Rapunzel, I definitely got to cover that up first. Yes, I admitted now that I love her, and I wouldn't let her go until she loved me too.
Rapunzel's POV
I couldn't move. For a second, I didn't even believe I had any muscles. Jack spoke from the deepest truth, and it drowned me breathless. I felt so weak and my heart stung.
'He really loves Beth. And I can never change him.'
I curled into a ball as Jack's words sunk deeper and deeper. Did everyone think of me like how he does?
He was right. I was never loved myself. My parents never came home to see me, and what was painful was that I didn't even care. They were strangers. I wasn't raised by them. My guards and maids did that job for them. I was so mad at my situation that I slowly became a bad child just to get their attention, but they only pushed me away further and assigned even more guards and maids to look after me.
"Rapunzel? What's going on?!" I tiredly turned my head to see my childhood friend Eugene. Now that I thought about it, ever since Jack came, I barely spoke to him.
...Does Eugene think of me like Jack does?
My lips parted to ask, but weren't given a chance as two arms tightly wrapped. A hand drew circles at my back
"Shh, there's no need to talk. I'll wait until you settle down. C'mon, I'll drive you home. Give me your car keys?"
I thoughtlessly nodded and did as so. With Jack's words still clinging to me like wet clothes, I couldn't understand why someone as nice as Eugene would still be friends with a horrible person like me.
The brunette lent me a hand which I took, then he led me to my car.
Kai's POV
I was sitting in the guest room, my hands wet with sweat. Gerda must have felt them as our fingers are entwined and passed me a raise of the brow, but she gave me a smile of fond exhasperation. I smiled back
Abigail just called me to come to her house today, telling me that she had the results ready. I told Gerda everything about the search for Mr. Arendelle's daughter. She couldn't believe it when she heard that there is the possibility that Beth might be the long lost, eldest daughter of Mr. Arendelle. To rest her suspicions, she came along, wanting to find out if Beth was actually Elsa Arendelle, Daughter of Adgar Arendelle.
Abigail walked in with a handful of papers binded with a single paperclip in her hands. "The results are up Kai. The DNA from the XY is a 99% accurate match with the child." She hands the papers to us and Gerda hastily took them to see the rest
"Th-then, how's the other one?" I asked warily
I received a sigh. "The DNA of XX is also an accurate 99% match with the child. Meaning that the XX and XY are the biological parents."
The last sentence shot through me like a bullet, and Gerda was crying uncontrollably as Abigail tried to comfort her. She knew about our Beth situation for a while since she's like the family doctor.
Beth was never our real child at the start, but she felt too much family and we wanted to keep her for ourselves. We didn't take this in easily, it was rather like a threat. The part that Beth might leave us for her real parents didn't make it easier. If that ever happened it'd be like tearing a too large hole open. How would she ever react? Not even Tadashi or Hiro knew about this. How would they react? How-
"Kai, how are we going to tell her? She's going to lose her mind, she, I, we, oh what should we do? She has all the right to know," Gerda sobbed. I was at a loss for answers myself, so I could only held her, told her she wasn't alone, for all it's worth.
We just needed the right timing to tell her. A day when she would know every bit about who she really was.
OMGG I'M SOOO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN A LONG TIME! T_T the truth is I was busy fixing this story and so many plot changes. I haven't update more but I promise you for the next I'll update as best as I can. This book haven't died guys so please I suggest you to read it from the beginning again because the story line is completely changes :) please tell me in the comment section if there's mistakes and mess.
Stay awesome and keep reading!