Page 83 of The Second Kiss
He hit a nerve. I can’t keep quiet anymore. “See that’s the problem Jake, she's not good enough for you, but she thinks she’s too good for you. And somehow she’s convinced you that you aren’t good enough for her either.”
He stares at me. “You don’t like her.”
“No,” I stare back at him.
“Is that why you–”
Oil spills over the edge of the pan. Jacob swears and tries to move it. It splashes over my shoulders and drips into my hair. I scramble to get the second pan under the oil that seems to be coming from everywhere.
"Damnit, Jess hold it steady!"
We're both covered in oil by the time I get the extra drum underneath the oil. Another time, this would have been hilarious. We would have laughed about it and moved on, but the tension between us has been building for too long.
“You probably think I did that on purpose too,” I say as I pull my way out from under the car. “Like what happened with your stupid girlfriend’s stupid pants.”
He stands, looking at me like he doesn’t have any idea what I’m talking about. “I never said you spilled the ribs on purpose. Did you?”
“No! It was an accident. But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t a complete bitch when she was here.”
Jacob stares at me. I know he’s shocked by what I just said. I don’t swear, ever. I don’t even think I've even called Lexie that word. “You’re wrong. You don’t even know her.”
A warning voice in my head is telling me to keep my mouth shut, but I’m tired and frustrated, especially with Jacob. I ignore it. “You really think I’m wrong? She tries to act so sweet, but all the time she acted like it was beneath her to even be at our house. We went out of our way to be nice to her, and she treated us like we were all her servants. She treats you the same way, Jacob. It makes me sick.”
I’m out of breath. Jacob looks stunned. His eyes are a mixture of hurt and anger. He turns on me. “What do you know about anything? You’re just being immature.” He might as well have slapped me. His words sting just as much .
“You can dish it out but you sure can’t take it. It’s fine for you to give your opinion about who I should spend my time with, but if I try to point out the obvious, I’m immature.” All I want now is to hurt him as much as he hurt me. “Once you told me that it wasn’t nice for pretty women to play with men’s hearts. Now you’re the one that’s being played. Only you’re so blinded by the pretty face that you don’t even realize it.”
Jacob lets out a long angry breath. “Don’t try to do me any favors. I’m done with you. Do whatever you want, go out with whoever. I won’t be around to get in your way.” He slams down the hood of my car and starts to walk away.
I can’t let it go. “I may be just an immature kid, but at least I know who my real friends are.”
I run into the house and slam the door behind me. Mom looks up from the computer in shock when she sees my face, stained shirt, and oil coated hair. I don’t answer the questions in her eyes. I run up to my room and slam the door behind me.
Jacob is still working on my car when I get out of the shower after washing my hair about ten times. At some point he must have come in and changed into one of Matt’s old sweatshirts.
Why did he stay? It should make me feel guilty. Instead, it just makes me more mad at him.
I can only think of one thing to do.
Tyler is sitting on his bed listening to his headphones and doing homework when I walk in his room without knocking.
I unplug his headphones and sit on the bed.
“Hey! What gives?” he yells.
“Do you still have all of your lawn mowing money in your sock drawer?’
He looks at me suspiciously. “How do you know that?”
Like it’s not common knowledge. “Can I borrow some?”
“What about your own money?”
“I need cash, now. Some of us actually keep our money in the bank.”
“Why?” he's obviously waiting for the catch.
“Just don’t ask questions okay? I’ll pay you five bucks for the loan.”
