As I walk past Jake, he grabs onto my hand, I turn and see his confused face, but I shrug his hand off and march forward. I don’t really know why I’m pissed at him, all I know is that if she was his date that night, there is no way I would even know who Jake Andrews is.

I stand in front of James and kick his shin gently.

He looks up at me, eyes almost fully hooded, bloodshot.

When he sees me, he straightens up a bit and tries to act not so drunk.

“Mikayla,” he slurs, and get’s up form the chair. Surprisingly, he doesn’t act as drunk as he looks.

“Have you come back for me, baby? Have you forgiven me? Please say yes.”

“No James, I just-"

“I’m so glad, baby, so fucking glad,” he interrupts while throwing his arms around me, lifting me, spinning me around.

“James, put me down, shit!”

He does, and I start walking away, back to my own group.

He follows.

“Shit, Mick, I’m sorry. I don’t know what the fuck-, just wait, please.”

I make it half way before he catches up to me and grabs my arm, forcing me to turn around.

“I’m sorry, Mikayla. I’m so fucking sorry.” Tears are running down his face faster then he can wipe them away.

“God, you’re so fucking beautiful, I just love you so much.” His voice is strained.

And then…

He reaches into his pocket…

Pulls out a little black velvet box…

And starts to get down on one knee.

The second I see the box my eyes snap shut, I can’t watch this happen.

I don’t open my eyes.

Not when I feel him get down on the ground.

Not when I feel his hand take mine.

And not when I hear him say, “I asked your dad and everything, I got this for you the day before prom…”

Chapter 34

*Jake*

I’m being held back by Logan and Cam as I watch that asshole get down on one knee, with a fucking ring in his hand, holding hers, asking the girl that I love, to marry him.

And I can’t do shit about it.

Her eyes are shut, and when she opens them, she says something to him. He stands up wiping his fucking face. She says something else and he looks to the ground, nodding, and then they leave.

They walk away from this place and leave.

And I have no idea what the fuck just happened.

***

It’s 3 in the goddamn morning and she’s still not in her room. I should know, because that’s where I am, waiting for her.

Like an abandoned fucking puppy.

Finally, I hear a car door slam and I rush to look outside. She pays the cab driver and starts her way upstairs.

She has to know I’m here because the lights on.

When she opens the door, she pauses when she sees me, then walks past me, like I’m not even fucking here.

She gets in the shower, and 5 minutes later she’s out, dressed in pajamas and crawls into bed.

“Are you going to marry that asshole?” I ask, because I need to know, so that I can prepare my head for the moment she breaks my heart.

“No, Jake, I’m not.”

Thank fuck.

“So what the fuck? You just leave? Don’t bother calling? You didn’t bring your phone with you. Where were you all night, Kayla? Did you fuck him? For old times sake? Just one last hurrah?”

She starts crying and I know I’m being a dick.

I calm myself down a little.

“I really want to feel okay about all of this, Kayla. But I don’t know what the fuck is going on. You have to tell me something.”

“What? Like you tell me?” she spits out.

“What do you mean?”

“Marisa?”

Fuck.

“You didn’t tell me you had a supermodel girlfriend that was supposed to be your prom date. Instead you end up with me. The stupid girl who’s boyfriend had been screwing her best friend for two years and was too fucking clueless to know. And you take pity on me and hang out with me. Then my fucking family are murdered, I have no one, so now you’re stuck with some strange girl sleeping in your fucking bed, taking over your fucking life and you can’t get fucking rid of me.” She wants to yell but she’s keeping it together.

“She wasn’t my girlfriend,” I whisper.

She laughs once. “That’s it? That’s all you have to fucking say?”

I start to speak but she cuts me off. “We talked,” she says, exhausted. “James and I, we talked. That’s all. He asked my dad permission to marry me. I didn’t know. I wanted to know what my dad had said to him, because I need a memory of him, of them, of my family. Because I’m starting to forget them…” Her voice breaks as tears flow and a sob overcomes her entire body.

“I feel like I’m starting to forget them, Jake, like they’re fading away and I don’t want that. What your mom did with this room… for me, I felt like they were here with me. I could even smell the memories in my blankets and clothes. But it’s all going. The memories are fading and sometimes…” she stops, closes her eyes and takes a breath… “sometimes, when I close my eyes, I can’t see them anymore, and I don’t want to forget them. He helped me remember them, Jake. That’s all.”

I crawl into bed with her and tuck her head under my chin.

“You’ll never forget them, Kayla. They’ll always live in your heart.”

Its quiet for the longest time as she cries quietly into me. When the sounds stop and I think she’s fallen asleep, she whispers, “Jake, when we get to the house, I’m going to find a job, and then I’m moving out. I can’t be this broken girl anymore.”

I don’t say anything, because fuck, what can I say? It’s the last thing I ever wanted.

Chapter 35

*Mikayla*

Moving day.

It would be an understatement to say that things have been awkward between Jake and I since the night of the bonfire.

Now, we’ll be living together until I can save up enough money to move out.

I want to tell him that it’s not because of him, but because of me. That I don’t want to feel like our circumstances are the only reason we feel the way we feel for each other, If he feels anything for me at all.

I had organized for movers to take some of the furniture from storage to the house. Mandy was there to oversee it all.

After some very tearful goodbyes and a billion ‘thank yous’ from me to Mandy and Nathan, I went to say goodbye to Julie.

She’d been in her room most of the day. I guess she wasn’t very happy about us leaving. I had gotten close to Julie over the last couple of months. She didn’t replace Emily, but she came pretty close.

I wanted to give her a special gift, so I had written her her own fairytale and got it professionally illustrated.

It was about a little girl who was a Princess, of course.

She wore a cape, as part of her costume, because she believed that one day, she’d be able fly and dance in the clouds.

Her older brother, the Prince, was a secret superhero, who went around at night saving the world, in his baseball gear, of course. His powers came from his right hand. He would raise it to the sky and the sun would beam down on it. His hand held the strength of a thousand men. The Queen and King, her parents, were also heroes, but not your normal, everyday ones. They were the kind that loved and cared for those that didn’t have anyone else to love and care for them.