A little bit of Jarley alert. Lengthy chapter, and very intense, so… I hope you enjoy!
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
After making sure that no one is paying attention to her, Marley opens her pink notebook and starts writing secret things in it again. Her hand works furiously, filling the neat lines on the notebook, overflowing the page with words. She writes until one entire page is full, closes the book, and hurriedly jams it into the front pocket of her backpack. After closing her locker shut, she jogs away, heading over to PE.
Halfway across the corridor, Marley is surprised by someone wrapping an arm around her waist. She looks up to find Jake grinning at her. "Hey beautiful," he whispers, kissing her temple and pulling her closer to him. "Running somewhere?"
Marley gives him a smile; this time, she doesn't even force it. Although Ryder is occupying her thoughts recently, a part of her is still reserved for Jake. She's got to admit, he's a pretty amazing boyfriend. Although he's not as romantic as Ryder, at least he's caring and affectionate. Marley constantly tries to remind herself of why she had fallen over Jake in the first place: his cool attitude, his handsome face, the kind heart behind all those bad boy attires. He's her boyfriend, of course she loves him.
"We're late for PE," she says, wrapping her arm around his waist as well. "Come on, I bet Ryder's waiting for us already."
They start to walk together, arms around each other's waists. Jake keeps telling her how beautiful she looks today, and Marley snuggles herself onto his shoulder as she blushes.
At one point, Jake turns around to give her hair a kiss, and the corner of his eye catches something falling to the floor. "Oh hey," he says, breaking apart from her. "Marley, I think you dropped your notebook."
To Marley's horror, she finds that her secret pink notebook has fallen out of her backpack. Jake bends down to pick it, but Marley frantically stops him. "Give me that, Jake," she says in a panic, trying to grab the book from Jake's reach.
"Aww, you look so tense. I wonder what's in this thing?" Jake teases as he takes the book off the floor in one quick swipe. He runs away from her, clutching the book in his hands, laughing as Marley tries to snatch it from him.
"Jake, I'm serious! Give it back!" she wails, trying to catch up with him.
Jake laughs, mischievously waving the book in the air. "What's in this book, anyway? Are you secretly a witch of some sort, or –" He stops short as he flips the notebook open. He stares at the page he has opened, wide-eyed, disbelieving. He turns a few more pages over, his expression turning rigid as he takes in what is in front of him. His jaw clenches, and his hands start to tremble.
Marley tries to seize the book from him, but he pulls it out of her reach.
"What is this?"
He sounds broken, furious, ashamed. He swallows and tries again. "What is this?"
Marley looks away from him, cheeks burning, lip quivering. "Nothing," she whispers.
"Nothing?" Jake repeats, his voice betraying him again. He waves the book in front of Marley. "Well if it's nothing, then how do you explain this?" He holds a page of the book open with his fingers. Plastered on the notebook is the unmistakable picture of Ryder, sitting in his truck, grinning at the camera. Underneath the picture is the caption, "Ryder, after Grease show, October 2012."
Marley casts her eyes to the floor. She is on the verge of tears. She's so embarrassed that she can't even answer Jake anymore.
"If this isn't enough, want me to read what's written on the next page to you?" Jake challenges, his face flushed with anger and pain. He looks like he's about to cry too.
"Please don't," Marley mutters, closing her eyes.
"October 27th, 2012. Ryder took me for ice cream tonight. He knew my favorite flavor and toppings, I can't believe he actually remembered. Then he gave me this adorable teddy bear, and before he dropped me home he kissed me on the cheek. I swear, I saw stars in his eyes." Jake takes a deep breath as he mouths the rest of the page silently to himself.
"I wrote that on October, okay? We weren't even together yet," Marley says, her voice shaking.
"This goes way after October, Marley!" Jake nearly shouts at her. He roughly turns the pages until he finds another picture of Ryder, this time in his football uniform, giving the camera a thumbs-up. "'Ryder, January 15th, 2013, winning another football championship'? January? We were together by January, Marley! Why did you still write this, then? 'Ryder did a perfect touchdown, and I think he's the best player in the field, the football team is lucky to have such a great guy for their new quarterback.'" He breathes out heavily, running a hand through his thin layer of hair.
"Jake, stop," Marley pleads. "Jake, please, please, just stop. Just – just stop, please. Please, just give it back to me. Just give it – Jake, please!"
But he's not done. He looks through the other pages in silent agony. There is a picture of Ryder playing the drums on Glee practice. There is another picture of Ryder dozing off in class, his face planted on his textbook. Finally, Jake found one picture that hits his nerve.
It's a picture of Ryder and Marley; he has his arm wrapped over her shoulder, and both of them are grinning at the camera. Jake remembers this picture: he had taken the shot himself, around a month ago, when he hadn't had a clue that Ryder had backstabbed him and kissed Marley after Valentine's Day. A month ago. Gosh, he feels so stupid!
"'Ryder on February, a week after he kissed me. I know I should feel really awkward about this, and I shouldn't be this close to him, but I can't stop thinking about the k –" Jake closes his eyes, his heart aching and his eyes stinging from the upcoming tears. When he speaks next, he tries to keep his voice under control.
"You said," he says, his breathing ragged with anger, "you wouldn't leave me for him."
"I won't! I'm not!"
"THEN WHAT IS THIS!" Jake yells so loud several passing students jump in surprise. He throws the notebook to the ground, kicking it with his foot. Tears start flowing down Marley's face. "You said you chose me over him. You said that you wanted to be with me, not him!"
"I do!" Marley cries, choking back sobs.
"Well, you have a very funny way of showing it," Jake says, his eyes glinting dangerously. He takes no pity in Marley, who is now a crumpled, crying mess. All he feels inside is his personal heartache, his breaking heart, his crushed soul. Her betrayal. The one he loves the most, has betrayed him in the worst way possible.
"Did you plan that kiss too? Huh? Did you two plan on that kiss after Valentine's Day, after all those stupid things I did for you, just to make you happy? Did you plan that and you decided to confess to me because you thought it would get me to break up with you, so you could be with him? Is that it?"
"Jake, no, I swear," Marley chokes. "Jake, you're not thinking straight, please stop it. Don't make it worse, don't make it worse, please…"
A sudden realization hits him. "Are you Katie?" he asks.
"What?" Marley is so surprised that she looks up at him.
"Are you Katie?" Jake demands, a new kind of horror creeping up inside of him. "Are you that weird online girl who's been flirting with Ryder for the past few weeks? Ryder's never met her. It could have been anyone, as far as we know. Are you Katie?"
"What? No!" Marley says, flabbergasted. "No, Jake, I swear! I wouldn't do that to Ryder, I –"
"Why wouldn't you?" Jake asks, and his voice chills Marley to the bone. "You had the heart to do this to me. Why not him?"
Marley cannot give him an answer. To be honest, she doesn't even know herself. She didn't mean to hurt Jake; she really didn't. She never wanted to hurt anybody. The only explanation she can give herself is that she wasn't even thinking of Jake when she wrote down all those things about Ryder. Jake had been removed temporarily from her mind. When she opened that notebook, her world was filled with Ryder. So no, she didn't do this to hurt Jake purposefully; but how does she explain how she feels to Jake?
"Oh," Jake says, suddenly understanding what Marley's silence means. "Oh, I see." He takes a deep breath, and raises his arms in total defeat. "I'm done with you," he tells her. "I don't want to see you again. If that's how you want to play it with me, then fine. Go and find your new boyfriend instead."
With that, Jake leaves her, giving the notebook one last good kick.
"Jake, please…"
Marley begs for him to wait, but he completely ignores her. She calls his name, again and again, but he's not turning back. Not this time. He'll be missing school for the rest of the day.
Marley slumps down to her knees, cradling the fallen notebook to her chest. The book seems to burn into her flesh, eating her away, reminding her of her guilt. She sobs, but no matter how guilty she feels for betraying Jake, she can't bring herself to let her notebook go.
Pretty intense chapter, I suppose? For all of you Jarley shippers, I'm sorry for the disappointment over this… riot. I don't want to make Marley the bad guy, it's just that I see the Ryder-Marley-Jake triangle as a very complicated relationship, and I think there's more to it than just Jarley being all lovey dovey and Ryder being pushed to the sideline. Remember the Ryley kiss on "I Do", and Marley's dilemma over her feelings? So please don't see Marley as the bad guy, she's confused herself. At least my Marley is confused. The real Marley seems to have made up her mind completely…
Anyways, what do you think will happen to Jarley next? And what will Ryder think over all of this?